Excertped from Lords of France
(page 163) Could the Enlightenment have flourished under any man other than Louis XIII? A man humble enough to allow society to grow, focused on the general safety rather than imposing a vision, an adept administrator who’s presence was not felt throughout his land. Before Louis XIII, we can characterize France by the kings she had; under Henri II she labored under Henri’s vision of France, under Louis XII she went through conflicts regarding her newfound independence and her Protestant inclinations, under Henri I she was dominated by Habsburg interests. But we cannot ascribe a universal vision felt by the people of France during Louis XIII’s reign. We cannot characterize France via recourse to her monarch’s personal foibles. Instead, we can only say that under Louis XIII France entered the Enlightenment. That in the later half of the 17th century, France ceased to be driven by the patterns of a single thinker, and came into her beauteous own.
The arrival of Leibniz in Paris marked one of the first events of the Enlightenment
It is hard to define where the Enlightenment truly began and the Renaissance truly ended, for we still live with many of the antiquated ideas of the Dark Ages. But (end page 163, begin page 164) the evolution from the classical ideas of the Renaissance to the critical theories of the Enlightenment was begun with but could not be completed during the age of Henri II. when Henri’s tyrannical but unquestionably
modern view of culture and politics brought all of Europe out of the worthless philosophies of the past. But the forcefulness of this vision meant that it could never be fully accepted by society so long as Henri was alive; so long as it was explicit it would be attacked by all, and we see that in the Fronde opposition to the state became opposition to everything modern.
With Henri dead, and his less domineering pretender on the throne, France was now able to fulfill the vision set out by Henri II. A part of this was the inherently secular nature of Louis XIII’s rule. Because he had clearly come to power through a civil war, recourse to notions of ‘divine rule’ were an impossibility (and divine rule politics disappeared from France until the 18th century). Instead, Louis ruled on strictly secular terms, going by the vision of authority he brought with him from the East combined with an innate knack for politics. Thus he was able to work towards a transformation along Henrian lines while still being seen as a nonentity outside of military politics.
A painting of Louis XIII during the battle of Hofheim. Note that while the trend of portraying the French king as a young man (started by Louis XII) remained, Louis XIII’s portraitures were generally far more austere regarding supernatural elements than his predecessor, or indeed his grandson
But let us not pretend that the Enlightenment was the product of one man’s policies. Whether the Enlightenment sprung in France or England (a subject which produces much useless argument) is of no importance. Indeed we could say that the Enlightenment was a collaboration of Germans, Dutchmen, Italians, Englishmen and Frenchmen all over Western Europe. It included many elements--great advancements in Mathematics and the Sciences spearheaded by Leibnitz and Newton, attempts at religious reconciliation (again by Leibnitz), interactions with the Near East and Far East, the birth of constitutionalism, and eventually the birth of Empiricism in Amsterdam.
It has also led to some disquieting movements. While those traditionalistic priests who have been threatened by the enlightenment continue to voice their increasingly irrelevant hatred, using arguments as old as time, there is another movement which can only make the modern reader shiver with fear. As the Frondeurs did, they find fault with nearly every element of modern society. The Montaignards, whose thoughts rest on that first nihilist Montaigne, criticize not only the government which has given them the luxury to complain but the (end page 164)
(begin page 168)...but no matter. The Enlightenment began under Louis XIII, and if we were to point to any specific moment, the discovery of modern anatomy would have to be the time. Harvey’s experiments, which he published in the late 1670s and which reached France in 1673, proved that the brain possessed no vessel capable of housing the soul. This was one of several wrenching realizations which started to break the compromise the Church had had with its scientifically inclined followers, wherein new discoveries would be integrated into Catholic dogma. Yes, we can create a universal history so long as it begins with the Garden. Yes, we can accept the existence of physical laws if we also accept God’s constant intervention into them. Yes, we can uncover the mysteries of the human body if we allow for an extant organ housing the soul. This continued failing defense of an active God only ceased with the rise of the Pietist Pope Benedictus V.
The Salon began as a place for discussion in the 1710s, and helped foster the spread of foreign ideas into France
What we can say of France at the time was that it was highly open to foreign ideas. Louis possessed none of the French chauvinism of his predecessor, and Germans, Italians, and Englishmen all flocked into and out of France in search of philosophical careers. Though it is easy to forget Anglo-French engagement over this period was especially fruitful, leading to a deep empiricist and rationalist tradition in both of these countries.
We cannot point to a specific moment, a specific day, when the Enlightenment began. Such is a fault of history. But we can say that under Louis’ purview, French society grew, and the Enlightenment began.
Hey guys sorry for the wait, my keyboard is still messed up so I’ve been doing this on other computers, and I had writers block for a while before I realized that the whole early enlightenment is too large a topic to talk about all at once, so I’m going to sprinkle aspects of it into entries while dealing specifically with divergent elements (the French-English alliance, the Montaignards, the Franco-Dutch influence, the interaction of Europe with China / Turkey, etc. In the meanwhile, this is the 100th entry! Yay!
Although he is dead by now...his legacy is without question!
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