Pierre de Villars: An Ormiste after the Fronde

摘要

The historiography of the Fronde (1648-1653) suffers from a paucity of social studies, such that the civil war which tore France apart during the minority of Louis XIV is usually presented as a vain reaction against the rise of absolutism. What can the fate of the Frondeurs after 1653 tell us in this regard? Pierre de Villars was of the main leaders of the Ormée of Bordeaux. The reconstruction of his career, reflected in the social connotations of the titles he bore, proves that in spite of the solidity and strength of the protection he enjoyed, he had to pay for defeat by abandoning his earlier ambitions. This outcome alters the perspectives and modifies the analyses that have traditionally been advanced where these events are concerned.