Fronde in Paris and coins of Louis XIV

Louis XIV (1643-1715)

Paris and the Fronde: 1648 - 53
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The start of the reign of Louis XIV was a confusing time in France and in Paris. The principal players were Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII and mother of Louis XIV, the young Louis XIV, the prince of Conde, the vicomte de Turenne, Cardinal Mazarin and the people of Paris.

Louis XIII and cardinal Richelieu died close in time to each other, leaving Anne of Austria regent of France for the young king Louis XIV. Anne chose Cardinal Mazarin, an Italian, as her primary minister. The youth of the king and newness of the regime lent itself to opportunism among those who sought primary influence over the king, or even to displace him. It was a time of shifting alliances and a period where a revolt that started among the commoners was taken up by the nobility.

Phase one started with the commoners. Horne (106), citing Voltaire, observes “The civil wars started in Paris just as they did in London, over a little money.” The rebels were referred to as ‘frondeurs,’ called so after a fronde, or a sling, that was used to throw stones. Mazarin’s residence was a common target. The early revolt of the commoners, lasting over 1648-49, triggered an opportunistic response by some of the nobility to assert their influence over the king. The vicomte de Turenne was an early leader of the anti-monarchist movement. Allied with the Spanish, he led a force close to Paris where they were stopped by the prince of Conde, allied at the moment with the royals. This segued to phase two of the revolt, the Fronde of the Princes.

The Fronde was in command of Paris by the start of 1649. Conde was with the royals, Turenne with the Fronde and a warrant was issued by the parliament in Paris for the arrest of Mazarin. In spite of this unrest, France was not yet ready to go down the English path, which had recently led to the execution of Charles I. It would be a century and a half before the French embraced regicide.

By 1651 Anne and Louis made one of their temporary returns to Paris, where they came to be virtual prisoners in the Palais Royale, built by Richelieu and called then the Palais Cardinale. Mazarin was in exile in Germany. Meanwhile, Conde fell out of royal favor and a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Fortuitously for the royals, Turenne had lost the support of his army and was himself temporarily in exile. Over these years, Louis was alternately welcomed and threatened in Paris. Louis sought to make himself welcome in Paris. For example, on regaining the city in 1651, following the example of Henri IV when he took Paris, Louis issued a general amnesty.

While in exile, Mazarin was still an active participant in French politics. He advised Anne. He reached out to the Fronde. He reentered France leading a small army to support the royal cause. At the same time, Turenne was switching allegiance to support the king, as Conde was becoming the rebel. In 1651, Louis was 13 and came of age. He took control of the government, but did not center it in Paris.

These were truly complicated times, very disadvantageous to Paris. From Horne (107) “By this time Paris was reduced to a state of anarchy and misery – and hunger. Intermittently besieged by Conde and his squabbling princes, cut off from outside supplies, starvation was constantly in attendance, with fears of the repetition of 1590.”

In 1652 (July 4), a meeting of the Paris bourgeois, aimed at restoring order in Paris, was interrupted by Fronde supporters of Conde, who slaughtered 100 of them. But this was a deadly blow to Conde, who lost serious prestige as a result of the massacre. He suffered a further defeat in the field (also 1652?) when Turenne attacked his army. The revolt of the Fronde was effectively over in Paris. It lingered another year in the countryside. Guizot puts it like this (195-6) “The Fronde was all over, that of the gentry of the long robe as well as that of the gentry of the sword. The Parliament of Paris was once more falling in the State to the rank which had been assigned to it by Richelieu.” It was not to finally achieve the authority it wanted until 1789. For now, France was entering the age where Louis was said to declare and act as if ‘l’etat c’est moi.” This painting by Hyacinthe Rigaud shows a very imperial (and older) Louis XIV.

Louis was able to re-enter Paris yet again, wisely choosing the Louvre for its better defenses over the Palais Royale. Conde was tried (in absentia) and condemned to death, although he was later pardoned. This unsettling set of experiences with Paris, combined with a preference for the country, led Louis to ultimately abandon Paris for Versailles.

Sources

Guizot, France, vol. 4, 176 – 196

Horne, Seven Ages of Paris

*http://heraldica.org/topics/france/rois_ic.htm