Ben Wilson

And he's forced to retire to his estate where he rests and recovers over the course of a year. And over the course of that year, he does recover his sight. So I wonder if there were like some shards that got in his eyes and cut him up. But anyways, he's blind, but over the course of a year, he gains his sight again.

Ultimately, you know, with him sidelined and recovering without Rochefoucauld's involvement, the frond fails and peace is restored under a powerful monarchy, the thing that they had been opposing. And look, all these efforts were ultimately doomed to fail. The 17th century was a time of transition from a feudal order to a powerful centralized nation state based system.

Ultimately, you know, with him sidelined and recovering without Rochefoucauld's involvement, the frond fails and peace is restored under a powerful monarchy, the thing that they had been opposing. And look, all these efforts were ultimately doomed to fail. The 17th century was a time of transition from a feudal order to a powerful centralized nation state based system.

And this was enabled by the firearm, and nothing was going to change that. Even if they had succeeded with the frond, it would have been short-lived, and they probably would have lost to nearby nations who had adopted a centralized nation-state with large, massed armies of firearms. So... You know, there's nothing that he really could have done in the long term to be successful.

And this was enabled by the firearm, and nothing was going to change that. Even if they had succeeded with the frond, it would have been short-lived, and they probably would have lost to nearby nations who had adopted a centralized nation-state with large, massed armies of firearms. So... You know, there's nothing that he really could have done in the long term to be successful.

But it is this sort of, like, beautiful, doomed, last-ditch effort. I guess he just, like, he doesn't want to accept the future. He wants to go down fighting for this thing that he loved. So, yeah, you can think of Rochefoucauld's scheming and fighting as basically, like, the Western European chivalric version of The Last Samurai, okay?

But it is this sort of, like, beautiful, doomed, last-ditch effort. I guess he just, like, he doesn't want to accept the future. He wants to go down fighting for this thing that he loved. So, yeah, you can think of Rochefoucauld's scheming and fighting as basically, like, the Western European chivalric version of The Last Samurai, okay?

And look, the actual policy issues at hand in the Fronde were extremely trivial for that reason. It was a war fought over small points of etiquette and little courtly favors. And that is because ultimately those are symbols of a changing order. Here's what biographer Edmund Goss writes about it.

And look, the actual policy issues at hand in the Fronde were extremely trivial for that reason. It was a war fought over small points of etiquette and little courtly favors. And that is because ultimately those are symbols of a changing order. Here's what biographer Edmund Goss writes about it.

He says, "...the aims of La Rochefoucauld, in support of which he was ready to sacrifice his country, were of a class that must seem to us now petty in the extreme." He wanted the tabaret, the footstool for his duchess. In other words, the right to be seated in the presence of the members of the royal family.

He says, "...the aims of La Rochefoucauld, in support of which he was ready to sacrifice his country, were of a class that must seem to us now petty in the extreme." He wanted the tabaret, the footstool for his duchess. In other words, the right to be seated in the presence of the members of the royal family.

He wanted the privilege of driving into the courtyard of the Louvre without having to descend from his coach outside the walk-in. He demanded these honors because they were already possessed by the families of Rohan and the Bouillon. It is extraordinary to consider what powerful effects such trumpery causes could have.

He wanted the privilege of driving into the courtyard of the Louvre without having to descend from his coach outside the walk-in. He demanded these honors because they were already possessed by the families of Rohan and the Bouillon. It is extraordinary to consider what powerful effects such trumpery causes could have.

But it is a fact that the desolating and cruel wars of the Fronde largely depended upon jealousies of the Keres and Tabaret, while Rochefoucauld's support of the rebellion, frankly and openly, was based upon it. So look, I think two things can be true at once. On the one hand, these changes were symbolic of power dynamics at court and a changing world order. And at the same time...

But it is a fact that the desolating and cruel wars of the Fronde largely depended upon jealousies of the Keres and Tabaret, while Rochefoucauld's support of the rebellion, frankly and openly, was based upon it. So look, I think two things can be true at once. On the one hand, these changes were symbolic of power dynamics at court and a changing world order. And at the same time...

Francois de la Rochefoucauld was extremely proud and vain and was willing to fight and kill and die and burn the world down for the privilege of being able to enter the palace without having to leave his coach and for the right of his girl to be able to sit with the members of the royal family. he is essentially a gangster.

Francois de la Rochefoucauld was extremely proud and vain and was willing to fight and kill and die and burn the world down for the privilege of being able to enter the palace without having to leave his coach and for the right of his girl to be able to sit with the members of the royal family. he is essentially a gangster.

Like, he's a gangster, albeit a very well-cultured and extremely well-mannered gangster, which is part of what makes his next act so interesting. So the frond has bankrupted him. He's poured a lot of money into this rebellion, which ultimately fails.

Like, he's a gangster, albeit a very well-cultured and extremely well-mannered gangster, which is part of what makes his next act so interesting. So the frond has bankrupted him. He's poured a lot of money into this rebellion, which ultimately fails.

And his first move is to get his fortune back by networking his way into some good business contracts and through clever business schemes, many of them hatched by his chief servant, the head of his household. And then he spends most of his time away from his estate in Paris in literary groups. He himself becomes the star writer of France at the time.