Alexandre Bontemps, « favori » de Louis XIV ?

Abstract

The concept of favourites is complex, and over time its terminology has evolved. While it initially assumed a military aspect – which in the second half of the seventeenth century could, to a lesser extent, still be the case, according to Jules-Louis Bolé de Chamlay’s path: in the shadow of the powerful Louvois he maintained a privileged relationship with the monarch, who used it in his cabinet strategy as “minister of the Occult War” (see Philippe Cénat, Chamlay. Le stratège secret de Louis XIV [Paris: Belin, 2011]) – a governmental one as well as having a strong family clan, it seems that this political notion later became a concept of intimacy and friendship, which is undoubtedly the case with Alexandre Bontemps. Under the reign of Louis XIV it is not so much the term “favourite” that should be used, but rather that of beneficiary or recipient of royal favour, which everyone could one day claim according to the monarchical system of the Ancien Régime, but with more less enthusiasm and/or persistence. Bontemps, like others, was able to enjoy this privilege for nearly fifty years.

Keywords

• Alexandre Bontemps
• Louis XIV
• favourite
• court of France
• servant