succeeded the King his Father the 14th of May 1643. He was declared Major or at Age the 7th of September 1651. Consecrated at Reims 1654 and Married at St. John de Luz's the 9th of the same Month 1660. As to his Consecration or Anointing for so the French call the Coronation of their Kings though the Medals made on that occasion bear date the 31th of May you are to remark that it was not performed till the 7th of June of the said Year 1654. I thought I could not give you a more faithful Draught of the Person of our Invincible Monarch than that which I have borrowed from the words of the late Archbishop of Paris in the History that Illustrious and Learned Prelate composed of Henry the Great Yes Sir saith he to him Heaven has given you a generous good and bounteous Soul a Wit sublime and capable of the greatest things an happy and easy Memory an Heroick and Martial Courage a clear and solid Judgment a strong and vigorous Body and over and above all this another very particular advantage and that is That Majestic Presence that Air and Gate almost Divine that shape and that beauty worthy of the Empire of the Vniverse that attracts the Eyes and Respect of the whole World and which without the Force of Arms and without the Authority of Commands wins you all those to whom your Majesty is pleased to shew your Self The King of France is called Most Christian for the great and Signal Services received by the Church and the Holy See from this Crown He is also for the same reason stiled the Eldest Son of the Church and by several Bulls of Popes a priviledge has been granted to the Kings of France that they should not be liable to Excommunication nor their Subjects absolved of the Oath of Allegiance due to them This Monarch is in point of precedence the first King of Christendom notwithstanding the opposition of the Kings of Spain who never disputed or did so much as take place next after our Kings before the time of the Emperour Charles the Fifth and then other Kings preceded them It is true indeed that that Emperour being likewise King of Spain because his Ministers and Ambassadours preceded those of France as representing the Emperour the Spaniards under his Successour Philip the Second who was only King of Spain endeavoured under that pretence in the Year 1558. at Venice to gain the Precedence of France but that Republick regulated that dispute and ordered the Precedence to be continued to the Ambassadours of France as Pope Paul the Fourth had done before And Philip the Fourth the King of Spain last deceased agreed to it by the satisfaction he caused to be made to the King of France by the Marquess de la Fuente his Ambassadour Extraordinary in the presence of eight Ambassadours and twenty two Residents or Agents the 24th of March 1662. for the Assault made by his Ambassadour on ours in England in October 1661. The Title of the King of France is so Excellent and so much exalted above that of other Kings that Suidas an ancient Greek Author writes that in the World when it is said only the King without naming who it was meant of the King of France Matthew Paris calls him Terrestrium Rex Regum the King of Earthly Kings And Bodin says that that King is Emperour in France and many assert it to be a common notion of all the Nations of the World that the Quality of King is much more sublime than that of Emperour Pope Gregory the first lib. 9. Ep. 6. Writing to Childebert King of France says that the Kings of France as much surpass all other Kings of the Earth as the Royal Dignity is exalted above the rest of men CHAP. IV. The Genealogy of the Royal Branch of Bourbon SAint Lewis the Ninth of that Name had four Sons of which there was none but Philip the Bold and Robert his Fourth Son that left Issue Of this Robert Count of Clermont who was afterward Lord or Sire of Bourbon are descended our Kings in manner as follows Robert Count of Clermont in the Country of Beauvais Married Beatrix Sole Heiress of John of Burgundy Count of Charolois and of Agnes Daughter of Archimbald the Younger Sire of Bourbon and by her he had Lewis Sire of Bourbon in favour of whom the said Land Sirerie Lordship or Barony of Bourbon was erected into a Dutchy or Peerage by Philip de Valois in the Year 1329. which Lordship belonged to him in right of his Mother whose Name he bore according to the Articles of the Contract of Marriage between his Father and Mother Lewis had Issue Peter Duke of Bourbon and James Earl of Ponthieu and de la Marche Constable of France But because the Masculine Line of the said Peter is extinct we shall leave it to speak of that of James of Bourbon Earl of Ponthieu James of Bourbon Earl of Ponthieu had John of Bourbon by Jean de Chatillon Daughter of the Earl of St. Paul John of Bourbon had by Catharine of Vendome Sister and Sole Heiress of Bouchard last Count of Vendome James King of Naples who leaving no Children transferred the Birth-right to his Brother Lewis Lewis of Bourbon Count of Vendome Grand Master of France had by Jean Daughter of Guy Count de Laval Lord of Gaure John the Second of that Name Earl of Vendome John the second of Bourbon had by Isabelle of Beauvais Daughter of the Lord of Pressigny Francis his Successour and Earl of Vendome and Lewis Prince de la Roche Sur-Yon Francis of Bourbon had five Children by Marie of Luxemburg Countess of St. Paul the Eldest was Charles Count and made Duke of Vendome by King Francis the First Charles the First of Bourbon Duke of Vendome had seven Male Children by Francise Daughter of Renie Duke of Alencon of which there were but two that left Issue viz. Antony of Bourbon who succeeded him as first Heir and was afterward King of Navarre and Lewis of Bourbon Prince of Condé Duke of Anguien Marquess of Conti Count of Soissons which latter had among other Children Henry the First of that Name Prince of Condé whose Son Henry the Second Prince of Condé was Father of Lewis of Bourbon Prince of Condé of Armand of Bourbon late Prince of Conti and of Anne-Geneveve of Bourbon Dutchess of Longueville who had Children as we shall say afterward Antony of Bourbon Duke of Vendome had by Joan d' Albret Queen of Navarre Daughter of Henry the Second of that Name King only of Navarre and of Margaret d' Angouleme-Valois Daughter of Francis the First King of France Henry the third of that Name of Navarre who reuniting together the two Crowns of France and Navarre was named Henry the Great the Fourth of that Name King of France and Navarre Father of Lewis the Just and Grandfather of Lewis our glorious Monarch who by his great Actions as well as his Grandfather has
make the second Trusse of his Bed that is they sold the second and third Quilt of the Kings Bed after the Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber have folded the first and the Sheets 'T is their right to put the Dauphin to Table he having no Table-Carrier When the King or the Dauphin have occasion to wash either their Feet or their whole Bodies in a Bath the Fuel-Officers are to heat and pour in the Water and while the King or Dauphin are in the Bath when any Perfumes are to be burnt one of the said Officers is to hold the hot Pan on which the Perfumes are cast When any Officer of the Kings Houshold is Arrested or made Prisoner the Fuel-Officers are charged with the Prisoner and the Fuel-Office is made their Prison 'T is at this Office that the Kings Visits the Poor on Maundy-Thursday By his Chief Physician and others and the Chyrurgion of the Houshold wipes their Feet If the King happen to eat with another King or Queen the King of France as performing the Honours due from a Person in his own House to a Stranger his equal will yield to that Crowned Head his Cadenat that is his own Plate and Service which is the greatest piece of honour of the Table together with his Captain of the Guards and his Chair and then it would be the Fuel-Officers Duty to put the King of France to Table that is to say to present his Most Christian Majesty a Chair and take it away again when he rises from Table as it was determined at Fountainbleau at the Marriage of the Lady Marie-Lewise of Orleans to the King of Spain who in Quality of Queen of Spain eat several days with the King Besides these there is at the Fuel-Office one Deliverer of the Wood one Porter that serves the Chamber with Wood and three Servants of the Office The Kings Table-Carriers and those of the Houshold eat at the Fuel-Office The Kings Table-Carrier likewise gives the King his Chair when he Dines in Publick The two Table-Carriers of the Houshold have 200 l. Wages paid by the Treasurers of the Household and 600 l. more each at the Chamber of Deniers for their ordinary Furnitures There is likewise one Joyner in Ordinary who among other things furnishes Box-Branches on Palm-Sunday at the Kings Chappel Two Chair-men for business In all these Offices there are some Servants All the Officers of the seven Offices have always priviledge to wear a Sword in the Louvre or elsewhere and to wait with their Swords by their sides if they please The five Offices of the Houshold are composed as you see of Chiefs Aids and Grooms and are regulated after the same manner as those immediately belonging to the King Besides the seven Offices there is a new Kitchin which was established in the Month of September 1664. called the Little-Common Kitchin to serve the Great Masters and Great Chamberlains new Table Of which we shall now name the Officers Other Officers belonging to the seven Offices There are still some others that may be reckoned as belonging to or dependant on the seven Offices as the Deliverer out of the Ice who has his Place by Commission and receives at the Chamber of Deniers for Wages Diet and all together half a Crown a day paid by way of Extraordinary He distributes Ice not only for the Kings Table but for all the Tables of the Houshold and to the Princes and great Lords of the Court. There are four Barber-Chyrurgions belonging to the Houshold that are Sworn by the Chief Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber who have 200 l. a piece yearly Wages on the Book of the smaller Accounts and 150 l. for dressing on occasion the Pages of the said Chamber They shave the poor Men on Maundy-Thursday and wash their Feet They Accompany the Chief Physician when he visits the said poor Men. After these we may place the Purveyors and the Merchants that furnish necessaries which are the Bakers the Vintners the Linen-Drapers and others who keep to the bargain they have made with the Kings Officers so long as they please and so long as no body offers to do it cheaper but if they furnish any thing that is not so good as it should be the Masters and Comptrollers of the Houshold and other Head-Officers may buy more elsewhere and bate or cause it to be bated in the said Merchants Bills The Baker has 150 l. at the Chamber of Deniers for Covertures There are three Purveyors who have 200 l. likewise at the Chamber of Deniers for Covertures A Customary allowance called a Parists for what he ordinarily furnishes is paid to the Baker Vintner and Purveyor when they are obliged to go further from Paris than the distance specified in their Bargains The Vintner is likewise allowed for following the King or Dauphin out of the Kingdom when they stir out of it according to what is agreed on in the Contract made with them I shall add this one Remark that when the Court is upon the march there is allowed for the House where the Goblet is lodged 3 l. or a Crown for the Kitchin of the Mouth 5 l. for the two Common-Kitchins both Great and Little 3 l. each for the Pastry-Cooks lodging 20 pence and the like price for the Housing taken up by the Common-Pantry Buttry and Pastry as likewise by the Fruitry and Fuel-Office which is called paying the De Roy or allowance due from the King for House-room for his Offices The Officers of later Creation for the service of the Great Masters and Great Chamberlains Table are A Master of the Houshold Waiting at the Great Masters new Table who has 1000 l. yearly Another Master of the Houshold Waiting at the Great Chamberlains new Table at 600 l. This latter has an Ordinary of Bread and Wine allowed him in the Establishment of the Houshold and he takes his Ordinary of Meat upon what is served off from this Table He has inspection over the Officers of the Little-Common Kitchin and of the Fruitry and over the Merchants that furnish the necessaries as far as concerns the service of the Great Chamberlains Table Four Ushers of the Little-Common Kitchin serving each three Months by turns He that serves the first quarter beginning from New-Years-Day has 400 l. at the Treasurers and 100 l. at the Chamber of Deniers He that serves the second quarter has 500 l. all at the Treasurers of the Houshold He that serves the third quarter has likewise 500 l. at the same Treasurers and he that serves the last has 400 l. at the said Treasurers and 100 l. at the Chamber of Deniers There are two Aids in Ordinary at 400 l. Wages These Ushers and Aids make ready the Meat for both the said new Tables Besides which there are One Porter belonging to the Little-Common Kitchin who has for Cords Pails and Brooms six pence a day One Servant of the Little-Common who has 100 l. a year extraordinary Wages allowed him upon the
though they have not the Stage that is the usual time of Residence and Officiating there from which they are exempt The Priviledges of the Chyrurgions By a Declaration of Lewis the Thirteenth in favour of his Chyrurgions viz. to his Chief Chyrurgion in Ordinary and to eight other Chyrurgions in Ordinary quarterly Waiters they are priviledged to keep or cause to be kept open Shop and set out a Chyrurgeons Sign with the Kings Arms Exclusive to all Chyrurgeons who are forbid to molest them under pain of being fined 3000 l. and paying all Costs Dammages and Interest in Case of Contravention which concludes thus Given at Paris the 26th of August in the year of our Lord 1636. and of our Reign the Twenty Seventh Signed Lewis and Lower De Lomenie And on the side is written the Registring of it in the Parliament of Paris the 28th of March 1637. Collationed or Compared and Signed Farcette Which is confirmed by a Decree of Verification in Parliament the 18th of July 1637. There is a Declaration of the late Queen Mother for her four Chyrurgions of the 20th of October 1637. Verified by a Decree of the 20th of April 1638. Another Declaration of the late Duke of Orleans for five of his Chyrurgeons of the 26th of February 1638. Verified by a Decree of the 7th of September 1638. And lastly Another Declaration of the late Prince of Condé for four of his Chyrurgeons of the 29th of January 1639. Verified by a Decree of the 23d of March following Besides which there is an Order of the Court for the Master-Chyrurgeons at Paris Importing a Confirmation of the Declarations made in their favour in 1642. The Priviledges of the Life-guard Men. By a Decree or Order of the Privy-Council bearing date the 27th of June 1651. given against the Court of Aids of Rouen after several Suits of Law the Kings Life-guards are maintain'd in their Quality of Squires and in their exemption from Taxes and all other Impositions A like Sentence was given by the Council of State the 4th of June 1653. in favour of the Guards of the Gate Other Priviledges belonging to all the Officers of the Kings and other Royal Houses All the Officers and menial Servants of the Kings and of other Royal Housholds excepting a few whose Offices are too mean are noble that is are Gentlemen by their Places if they be not so otherwise as long as they are in Place and may bear a Crest above their Coats of Arms. All the Officers of the seven Offices of the Chamber and others wait always with their Swords by their sides unless it be when they are troublesome to them and may wear them always both in the Louvre and elsewhere Most of the Officers have the Quality of Squires if they be Sword-men or of Counseller if Gown-Men and are called Officers in Ordinary though they are but Quarterly or Half-yearly Waiters They enjoy all the Priviledges of Gentility Safeguards exemption from Taxes and other Duties Committimus c. as we have shewn above CHAP. XXVII Of the Military Officers and Troops of the Kings Houshold THE Kings of France have always kept several Guards for their Security and to preserve a Life that is the Lives of their Subjects We read in Gregory of Tours in the eighth Chapter of his seventh Book that Gontran King of Orleans or of the Burgundian part of France seeing his two Brothers Sigebert King of Mets or Austrasia being that part of France towards Germany including Lorrain and the Neighbouring Provinces and Chilperic King of Paris and of Soissons had been assassinated placed a great Guard about his Person about the year 587. without which he never went to Church or to his Recreations So upon different occasions the Guards have been reinforced and augmented Philip Augustus being in the Holy Land in the year 1192. established Serjeants at Arms or Mace-Bearers as may be seen in the Great Chronicles where the Old Historian La Montagne speaking of the Assasines or rather Arsacides a Desperate sort of people of Syria whom their Princes used to send to assasinate the most couragious and active Princes among the Christians uses these words When the King says he heard this news be began to be fearful of himself and by advice of his Council resolved to have his Person well guarded and chose Serjeants with Macis well armed and accoutred who were night and day to attend him to guard his Person The said King made use of the said Serjeants at the Battel of Bouvines who behaved themselves that day so valiantly that St. Lewis in the year 1229. founded for them in memory of that action the Church of St. Catharine du Val of the Scholars of Paris according to an Inscription to be seen upon two Stones at the entring into the said Church which contains these words At the intreaty of the Serjeants at Arms Monsieur St. Lewis founded this Church and laid the first stone of it for Joy of the Victory obtained at the Bridge of Bouvines in the year 1214. The Serjeants at Arms then in being had the keeping of the said Bridge and vowed to God that if he would give them the Victory they would found a Church and dedicate it to St. Catharine which was performed accordingly Where it is remarkable that there are four Serjeants at Arms represented upon those two Stones but in a different manner There are two upon one of them holding in their hands their Maces at Arms and armed Cap-a-pee to represent the Serjeants at Arms as they were in the Army and upon the other stone there are two more whereof one is Clothed with a Coat with great Sleeves cut in Labels wearing a Collar hanging down upon his Breast and I suppose that signifies the Usher at Arms Waiting at the Door of the Chamber for still to this day the Ushers of the Chamber bear Maces on Festival days to guard the Kings Person in the Day-time The other is wrapped up in a long Cloak well furred with shaggy furr with a Bonnet on his Head and his Mace in his hand which represents the Serjeants at Arms that watched by night And Du Tillet in his Chapter of the Marshals pag. 282. writes that some of them were appointed to carry Maces before the King in the day time and were called Vshers at Arms whose place is now supplyed by the Ushers of the Kings Chamber and others to guard his Chamber in the night time These Guards then took their name from the Arms they used and so when they quitted the Mace to take the Bow they were called Archers Charles the Seventh entertained a Guard of Scotch selected out of the Auxiliary Forces brought over to him by the Earls of Bucan Douglas and other Scotch Lords to drive the English out of France Philip de Comines calls them the Silver Guards because their Coats or Jackets called Hoquetons were set with spangles of Silver and Goldsmiths Work Lewis the Eleventh being at Puiseaux on the 4th
standing Wages Board-Wages and other Fees above 13000 l. yearly for he has 1800 l. yearly standing-Wages paid by the General Treasurer of the Kings Houshold half a Pistol a day or 1825 l. yearly Board-Wages paid by the Master of the Chamber of Deniers 8000 l. Pension paid at the Treasure Royal which amounts in all to 11625 l. Besides which he has Meat for his Broth consisting of twelve pounds of Meat viz. Beef Mutton and Veal in equal portions and a Fat valued at 37 d. and six deniers or a half-penny the King allowing for the whole 4 l. 17 d. half-penny a day which he receives all in money on those days the Officers of the Dauphins Mouth make ready no Victuals for him as usually in Journies c. But upon other days when they dress Victuals for him the said Officers give him but a Crown a day and a certain portion of Meat for his Dinner and Supper agreed upon between him and them He has likewise a Loaf called the Loaf of Essay or tasting Loaf and a Bottle of Wine called the Bottle of Essay or the tasting Bottle every day from the Kings Baker and Wine-Merchant One Chyrurgeon in Ordinary who has 1000 l. standing Wages and half a Pistol a day or 1825 l. Board-Wages One Barber in Ordinary who has 700 l. standing Wages and a Crown a day or 1098 l. Board-Wages One Cash-Keeper or Pay-Master for the Dauphin and all the Children of France at 400 l. standing Wages and 1464 l. Board-Wages One Arquebuse or Armour-Bearer whose appointments amounts to 2200 l. For Hunting one chief Hunter a Pack of Hounds with Officers belonging to it for the Hare and his Highness taking a fancy lately for Wolf-Hunting since the year 1682. maintains for that sport a Pack of a hundred Hounds and twenty Saddle Horses four Lieutenants in Ordinary four Prickers or Huntsmen two Servants of the Blood-Hounds c. The four Lieutenants in Ordinary have each of them 1500 l. yearly appointments paid them out of the Dauphins own private Money-Box or Privy-Purse by the hands of his said Highnesses chief Valet de Chambre or Waiting-Man Both they and the rest under them are Commanded by the Grand Louveteer or Wolf-Hunter of France Two Yeomen or Grooms of the Bed-Chamber who have each of them 400 l. standing Wages out of the Privy-Purse of the Kings Bed-Chamber 180 l. gratuity at the Treasure-Royal and 732 l. Board-Wages at the rate of 40 d. a day One Master of the Mathematicks at 1500 l. Salary who is the Famous Monsieur Blondel who was formerly Envoy Extraordinary to the Northern Kings to the Princes Electours of the Empire and the Grand Signior One Reader One Master Designer who has 300 l. standing Wages paid by the Treasurer of the Houshold 1200 l. Board-Wages at the Chamber of Deniers and 1200 l. Gratuity at the Treasure Royal. One Writing-Master 1200 l. one Fencing-Master 1800 l. one Dancing-Master who has 2000 l. standing Salary out of the Privy-Purse and 100 Crowns Extraordinary when his Highness is abroad in the Country or in the Field One Musick-Master who has 600 l. out of his Highnesses own Privy-Purse Three Yeomen or Grooms of the Wardrobe who have every one 732 l. Board-Wages at the rate of 40 d. a day and 240 l. gratuity at the Treasure Royal. One Landress of the Body 600 l. and One Starcher of the Body at 1000 l. yearly Salary standing and Board-Wages One Porter or Burden-Carrier of the Bed-Chamber who has 30 d. or half a Crown a day or 549 l a year Board-Wages The King being minded to place several Persons of Quality about the Dauphin continually to attend him as his Gentlemen in Ordinary without creating any fixed Offices or Places of that nature made choice for that purpose of nine Lords of his Court viz. the Count de Torigny the Marquiss of Florensac the Count of St. Maure the Chevalier de Grignan the Marquiss of Dangeau the Count of Chivergny the Marquiss of Thiange de ChalenCay the Marquiss d' Vrfé and the Marquiss d' Antain His Highness had three chief Pages called the Children of Honour of whom there remains but one who is at present Bishop and Duke of Laon and one of the antient Ecclesiastical Peers of France These Lords or Gentlemen of Honour have every of them a Pension of 2000 Crowns When the Marshals of the Lodgings or chief Harbingers mark them out Lodgings when they follow the Court they stile them Gentlemen of Honour to the Dauphin Besides these there are two Gentlemen that have been Pages to his Highness to whom the King gives 3000 l. Pension and two present Pages of his Bed-Chamber a Governour of the Pages who has 2000 l. out of the Privy-Purse one Servant or Groom of the Pages and a Sub-Groom one chief Master of the Horse and twelve Footmen Other Officers belonging to the King that after their Quarters Service to his Majesty go and serve the Dauphin Officers under the Great Almoner An Almoner a Chaplain a Clerk of the Chappel and a Groom of the Chappel Vnder the Great Master of the Houshold One Master of the Houshold two Gentlemen Waiters the Masters of the Chamber of Deniers and the Comptrollers-General of the Kings Houshold are likewise so at the same time to the Dauphins and send thither one Comptroller one Clerk or Deputy of the Chamber of Deniers and two Clerks Deputies of the General-Comptrollers serving six Months each Two Chiefs of the Goblet viz. One Chief Pantler and one Chief Butler of the Mouth and one Aid to them both The Officers of the Goblet are allowed 3 l. or a Crown augmentation for every Meal the Dauphin eats in private The said Officers are moreover allowed for Salt Pepper Herbs and other things for the dressing of their own diet because his Highness keeps no common Kitchin 45 l. every Quarter There are two Grooms or Yeomen of the Goblet who have for furnishing Cups Glasses and other things for his Highnesses Table 36 l. a quarter and 50 l. a piece for Cloaths every year An Usher of the Mouth who has 150 l. Wages and 40 d. augmentation to furnish inter-Messes at every Meal his Highness eats at his own private Table One Master Cook at 150 l. Wages one Rosting-Cook and one Boiling-Cook at 100 l. Wages each these three have besides for looking after the Vessels 30 l. quarterly and the Rosting-Cook 6 l. a quarter more for furnishing great Knives one Porter of the Mouth who has 75 l. standing Wages and 36 l. quarterly for furnishing and looking after Pots and Pans Cords Pails and Brooms c. The Grooms and Porters of the Goblet and of the Mouth are allowed 6 l. a quarter for Straw and the three Grooms of the Kitchin have each of them 50 l. a year for Cloaths They that serve under them as Children of the Kitchin have each of them 8 l. a quarter for Larding Pins and Packthred An Usher of the Hall A