On this day, Louis XV writes to the Duke of Parma:
“My very dear grandson,
I hope that the Pope will be elected before Pentecost if he has not been already, for the Spanish cardinals should have arrived at the end of last month and it seems that those gentlemen are beginning to be bored.
I was well aware that the florin is worth only 50 sols of our money, which I thought was for the good of your children; you thought otherwise. You are the master, and I approve all that you have done.
The return of the cold wild from the north is not doing my arm any good.
I embrace you very tenderly my dear grandson,
Louis.”
Commentary:
Clement XIII died on 2 February. The feast of Pentecost, known to Anglicans as Whit Sunday, is celebrated 50 days after Easter. In 1769, it falls on 14 May. The conclave that is underway at this time is one of the longest in history. It has been sitting since 15 February and will go on until 19 May, so the King’s hope will be disappointed, but only by a few days.
Pictured: Giovanni Ganganelli (1705-1774), painted while still cardinal; participating in the conclave at this date, he will eventually be elected, taking the name Clement XIV. Credit — By Unidentified painter - https://bbcc.ibc.regione.emilia-romagna.it/pater/loadcard.do?id_card=167383, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62337444
It is not clear to me why the Spanish cardinals should already be bored if they only arrived within the last couple of weeks. There must be some irony here, or perhaps the King is referring to the members of the conclave in general.
The editor of the letters surmises in a footnote that the currency discussion has to do with the negotiations for Ferdinand’s marriage to the Archduchess Maria Amalia. The florin, known in German as gulden, is the currency of the Habsburg dominions.
The translation from the French is my own. Images that are not my own are in the public domain; I only explicitly credit them when the uploader has made it a condition of sharing his/her work via Wikimedia Commons. Words in italics in the body of the post or bold italics in verbatim translations and image captions are in the Glossary; the royal family and other Bourbons are in the Who’s Who guides; information about the sources is in the Bibliography; all of these are in the Resources section and freely available to paid subscribers and Grandes Entrées. If you have questions, please ask in the comments.