‘The God of the Race’: Louis XIII and his Itinerant Court

Abstract Chapter 8 is concerned with the peripatetic nature of Louis XIII’s court. It highlights just how extensive and frequent Louis’s voyages were, challenging narratives that the court was becoming increasingly fixed in Paris. It reveals the physical dangers the court faced while on the move, the extent to which Louis’s progresses impeded the natural running of government, and the devastating impact the court could have on the towns it sojourned in. However, progresses could not be avoided as they continued to be vital tools for exerting political pressure, securing provinces, meeting with other sovereigns, building relationships with notables and provinces, and responding to political and security imperatives. Progresses allowed the court to participate in royal entries, the organization of which French monarchs had more influence over than has often been assumed. The chapter also exposes the complex mechanisms that underpinned the court’s travels, securing lodgings for and supplying the court during its travels. Even when the court remained in the Île-de-France region, it was by no means fixed, and Louis split his time across a variety of palaces, the most important of which were the Louvre in Paris, Fontainebleau, and the two châteaux of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. As the reign wore on, the king spent less and less time in Paris and more time in Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, fuelling the construction of noble palaces in these two towns. Cardinal Richelieu sought to establish his own separate nexus of power in Rueil not far from Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Versailles, accentuating the polycentric nature of the court and undermining royal prestige.