Ben Wilson

I know it's like a lot of French names, but hopefully that helps you like get it straight a little bit. Okay. So Queen Anne of Austria turns on her old buddy Rochefoucauld. This doesn't stop him from plotting, of course. Nothing ever does. There's another small revolution called the Fronde. And Rochefoucauld is one of the preeminent supporters of it. And they're trying to prop up.

I know it's like a lot of French names, but hopefully that helps you like get it straight a little bit. Okay. So Queen Anne of Austria turns on her old buddy Rochefoucauld. This doesn't stop him from plotting, of course. Nothing ever does. There's another small revolution called the Fronde. And Rochefoucauld is one of the preeminent supporters of it. And they're trying to prop up.

The king has two sons. So they're trying to prop up one of the princes as the new king. They're still young, but they're teenagers, and so they're old enough to kind of be aware of what's happening and support one side or the other. So one of these princes supports the Fronde, and once again, Rochefoucauld has an adventure smuggling someone across France. This time, it's this little prince.

The king has two sons. So they're trying to prop up one of the princes as the new king. They're still young, but they're teenagers, and so they're old enough to kind of be aware of what's happening and support one side or the other. So one of these princes supports the Fronde, and once again, Rochefoucauld has an adventure smuggling someone across France. This time, it's this little prince.

And it is while he is fighting with this prince that he is fighting just outside of Paris, and he is shot by an arquebus, which is a form of early musket. He's shot in the face. And I'm not quite able to get, like, the... biology of what happens. I've tried looking this up and no one's totally clear on it, but he gets shot in the face and this immediately blinds him. He can't see.

And it is while he is fighting with this prince that he is fighting just outside of Paris, and he is shot by an arquebus, which is a form of early musket. He's shot in the face. And I'm not quite able to get, like, the... biology of what happens. I've tried looking this up and no one's totally clear on it, but he gets shot in the face and this immediately blinds him. He can't see.

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.

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.