‘From Shoemaker I Could Become Councillor’: Merchant Courtiers’ Strategies and Ambitions

Abstract Chapter 7 examines the merchants and artisans employed by Louis XIII’s court and their role within court society. The chapter emphasizes how large and varied the groups of merchants working for the court were as well as the different methods of remuneration employed by the court. Merchants mitigated risks involved with contracting with the court and maximized profits by forming associations with each other and by subcontracting part of their work to Parisian merchants. Court merchants benefited tremendously from exemptions from tax and custom duties, exemptions from guild structures, and the right to have their cases tried by the Provostship of the Household. Their exemptions led them to clash frequently with tax farmers and urban guilds, and it was a considerable advantage to be able to turn to the Provostship for support as it also relied on court merchants to help reinforce its own contested jurisdictional claims. Court merchants and artisans additionally exploited their court connections to participate in court society, pursue noble marriages for their daughters, acquire household offices, and elevate themselves into the nobility. The chapter reveals that court merchants were fully fledged courtiers, for whom the opportunity to participate in court society was one of the primary motivations for contracting with the court.