16. ABSOLUTISM, CONSTITUTIONALISM, AND THE SEARCH FOR ORDER, 1640

Quiz for Document 16.1: Marie de Sévigné, Letter Describing the French Court (1675)

Printed Page 539

1. Marie de Sévigné’s perspective is that of

a devoted follower of Louis XIV who is overawed by his court.

a commoner who can look at the court only with envy.

a member of the royal family.

an aristocratic woman who enjoys gossip about leading figures at the court.

2. What is the overall impression that Marie de Sévigné gives about the activities of Louis XIV’s court?

Members of the court thought only about the king and his personal life.

Members of the court cared only about the lavish entertainments put on for them by the king.

French reversals on the battlefield affected aristocrats and members of the court because nobles served in the armies.

Aristocratic women like Sévigné disdained the court and its activities.