Siamese embassy of King Narai to
Louis XIV in 1686, led by Kosa Pan.
Engraving by Nicolas Larmessin.
Portrait of Louis XIV (gray pastel on
paper by Charles Le Brun, 1667,
Louvre Museum)
Louis receiving the Doge of Genoa
at Versailles on 15 May 1685,
following the Bombardment of
Genoa. (Reparation faite à
Louis XIV par le Doge de Gênes. 15
mai 1685 by Claude Guy Halle,
Versailles.)
Siamese court, which granted Mergui as a naval base to France. However, the death of
Narai, King of Ayutthaya, the execution of his pro-French minister Constantine Phaulkon,
and the siege of Bangkok in 1688 ended this era of French influence.[55]
France also attempted to participate actively in Jesuit missions to China. To break the
Portuguese dominance there, Louis sent Jesuit missionaries to the court of the Kangxi
Emperor in 1685: Jean de Fontaney, Joachim Bouvet, Jean-François Gerbillon, Louis Le
Comte, and Claude de Visdelou.[56] Louis also received a Chinese Jesuit, Michael Shen
Fu-Tsung, at Versailles in 1684.[57] Furthermore, Louis's librarian and translator Arcadio
Huang was Chinese.[58][59]
By the early 1680s, Louis had greatly augmented French influence in the world.
Domestically, he successfully increased the influence of the crown and its authority over
the church and aristocracy, thus consolidating absolute monarchy in France.
Louis initially supported traditional Gallicanism, which limited papal authority in France,
and convened an Assembly of the French clergy in November 1681. Before its dissolution
eight months later, the Assembly had accepted the Declaration of the Clergy of France,
which increased royal authority at the expense of papal power. Without royal approval,
bishops could not leave France, and appeals could not be made to the pope. Additionally,
government officials could not be excommunicated for acts committed in pursuance of
their duties. Although the king could not make ecclesiastical law, all papal regulations
without royal assent were invalid in France. Unsurprisingly, the Pope repudiated the
Declaration.[4]
By attaching nobles to his court at Versailles, Louis
achieved increased control over the French
aristocracy. According to historian Philip Mansel,
the king turned the palace into:
an irresistible combination of marriage market, employment agency andentertainment capital of aristocratic Europe, boasting the best theatre, opera,music, gambling, sex and (most important) hunting.[60]
Apartments were built to house those willing to pay court to the king.[61] However, thepensions and privileges necessary to live in a style appropriate to their rank were only
possible by waiting constantly on Louis.[62] For this purpose, an elaborate court ritual wascreated wherein the king became the centre of attention and was observed throughout the
day by the public. With his excellent memory, Louis could then see who attended him at
court and who was absent, facilitating the subsequent distribution of favours and positions.
Another tool Louis used to control his nobility was censorship, which often involved the opening of letters to discern their
author's opinion of the government and king.[61] Moreover, by entertaining, impressing, and domesticating them with extravagantluxury and other distractions, Louis not only cultivated public opinion of him, but he also ensured the aristocracy remained under
his scrutiny.
Louis's extravagance at Versailles extended far beyond the scope of elaborate court rituals. He took delivery of an African
elephant as a gift from the king of Portugal.[63] He encouraged leading nobles to live at Versailles. This, along with the prohibition
of private armies, prevented them from passing time on their own estates and in their regional power bases, from which they
historically waged local wars and plotted resistance to royal authority. Louis thus compelled and seduced the old military