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Book Reviews

Book Reviews BOOK REVIEWS Potter, Mark, Corps and Clienteles. Public Finance and Political Change in France, 1688-1715 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), x + 228 pp., £45.00, ISBN 0 754 63726 3. In historiography, the France of Louis XIV will occupy always a special position for the grandeur of the Roi de Soleil and the immense radiation of his power. Yet numerous historians have also pointed to the weaknesses of French absolutism: above all, the countless privileges that existed restricted the fl exibility of the crown. Still, these constraints did not pre- vent the France of Louis XIV remaining quite successful in wars, despite the fact no “ fi nancial revolution” (like the British or the Dutch) took place. In this book, Mark Potter aims to explain the success of the king in raising su ffi cient funds (above all loans) for the warlike strategies in the last three decades of his reign. The author sets out to show how the king was able to deploy the structures of privilege to his own advantage. While avoiding the con- frontational policy of Richelieu and Mazarin, Louis XIV deliberately supported the privileged class of royal o ffi cers. In the 1680s, rules con- cerning http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Early Modern History Brill

Book Reviews

Journal of Early Modern History , Volume 10 (3): 231 – Jan 1, 2006

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2006 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1385-3783
eISSN
1570-0658
DOI
10.1163/157006506778234153
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS Potter, Mark, Corps and Clienteles. Public Finance and Political Change in France, 1688-1715 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), x + 228 pp., £45.00, ISBN 0 754 63726 3. In historiography, the France of Louis XIV will occupy always a special position for the grandeur of the Roi de Soleil and the immense radiation of his power. Yet numerous historians have also pointed to the weaknesses of French absolutism: above all, the countless privileges that existed restricted the fl exibility of the crown. Still, these constraints did not pre- vent the France of Louis XIV remaining quite successful in wars, despite the fact no “ fi nancial revolution” (like the British or the Dutch) took place. In this book, Mark Potter aims to explain the success of the king in raising su ffi cient funds (above all loans) for the warlike strategies in the last three decades of his reign. The author sets out to show how the king was able to deploy the structures of privilege to his own advantage. While avoiding the con- frontational policy of Richelieu and Mazarin, Louis XIV deliberately supported the privileged class of royal o ffi cers. In the 1680s, rules con- cerning

Journal

Journal of Early Modern HistoryBrill

Published: Jan 1, 2006

There are no references for this article.