La flottille du Grand Canal de Versailles à l’époque de Louis XIV : diversité, technicité et prestige

Abstract

While the splendour and greatness of the Grand Canal of Versailles has often been discussed, the impressive flotilla that evolved there from 1669, and the importance of the staff that was allocated to it have rarely been evoked. There is no doubt that the gathering of these various ships participated in the demonstration of the king’s splendour. However, it should not be studied only for its aesthetic, playful, and festive aspects, but also deserves to be examined for its scientific dimension. Indeed, the flotilla of Louis XIV was not only constituted of sailing ships, rowboats, gondolas and barges, it also comprised merchant and war ships, frigates, galleys, hoys, brigantines… It was, therefore, closely connected to French maritime history. In addition, to meet such an encyclopaedic initiative, typical ships of a region or a country were brought in (gondola, peota, English yachts…). Furthermore, the Grand Canal was also a pretext for inventors to carry out technical experiments, testing their machines there. Finally, the construction of these prestigious ships followed a well-defined process. Ordered in the ports of France, they were for the most part dismantled and sent by inland waterways. Correspondents supervised the transport in order to be sure of the exact reassembly of the pieces at the time of the receipt.

Keywords

• Abraham Duquesne
• Anne Hilarion de Costentin comte de Tourville
• Anthony Deane
• brigantin
• chaloupe
• fagot