Le roi chevalier en France au XVIe siècle. Construction et vocation du modèle

Abstract

This paper aims at demonstrating that the figure of the knight-king in the Early Modern period, in particular in the case of king Henry II of France, was based on a sense of vocation as a warrior. This calling was not only a matter of theological-political theory – the king, by divine election, becomes the Military wing of God. But it also met the military nature of the royalty and its necessary preparation since childhood. More than this, the calling of the knight-king was an eminently social thing, and came out as the projection of the ideals and expectations of nobility.