On this day, Mme de Maintenon writes from Saint-Cyr to the Archbishop of Paris, in part:
“I have spoken to the King twice about the schoolmistresses of the diocese of Séez. Both times he replied very drily both for you and for me. He is very opposed to communities and says that you are too fond of them. I could have given him some reasons for them, but it would have been a waste of words when he was already forewarned. This is the country of aversions and a good noviciate for detachment.”
Commentary:
It is not explained by the editors of the correspondence what the business of the schoolmistresses is about, exactly, but it is seemingly about the implantation or creation of a teaching order of nuns in Séez. In any case, it is plain that Louis XIV does not approve of whatever the Archbishop has in mind. The reference to communities is clear enough. Louis XIV’s view is that there are too many religious communities, which is to say monasteries, convents, etc., in his kingdom.
Pictured: Louis-Antoine de Noailles (1651-1729), Archbishop of Paris since 1695.
The country to which Mme de Maintenon refers is not France, but rather the court. Its denizens often refer to it as ce pays, “this country.”
The irony is not lost on us that the King’s wife is writing this letter from Saint-Cyr, formally the Maison Royale de Saint-Louis, home to a religious community that she founded herself although it was originally meant to be only a school.
Pictured: A view of the former school-convent at Saint-Cyr, now a military academy, as it appears in our time. Credit — Henrysalome, travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1142909
Saint-Cyr, where Mme de Maintenon has a private apartment, is effectively her only escape from court. She goes there as often as she can. She can never stay very long, however, since the King’s need for his wife’s presence and attention is demanding. Her château at Maintenon is slightly too far away to be practical and she will soon make it over to her niece. Saint-Cyr, in contrast, is just on the other side of the gardens of Versailles.
The translation of the letter is my own, as it always is unless I credit someone else.
If you have questions that I have not addressed in the commentary, please ask in the comments.
Why was Louis so opposed to religious communities? Did he have an official policy about it?