| Guarding the monarch is a long-standing tradition in France.Since the Valois Dynasty,Maison militaire du roi has gradually developed from scratch.By the time of the reign of Louis ⅩⅣ,Maison militaire du roi had been shaped but with loosely organized defensive force by successive monarchs.After years of strife and turmoil during the mid-seventeenth century,the shortcomings of Maison militaire du roi were becoming increasingly apparent.The functions of some troops were overlapped,their discipline was slack,and some troops even openly defied the king.Therefore,Louis ⅩⅣ immediately set about reforming Maison militaire du roi while he began his personal rule in 1661.He tried to take control of Maison militaire du roi,expand its size,improve its quality,and devoted himself to remolding Maison militaire du roi into an elite force.In fact,Louis ⅩⅣ’s reform was full of compromise and collaboration.He established the standard for recruitment and promotion that balanced merits and blood,partially abolished the venality in the army,and gave compensation to those who had lost their interests;While providing good education and training for the Maison cadets,he also cultivated and transferred talents for the regular army at the same time.Louis ⅩⅣ carefully coordinated and balanced the interests of the relative parties.Through timely concessions and giving,he consolidated the poor,the bourgeoisie and the nobility and transformed it into a continuous push for the reform,improving the fighting quality of Maison militaire du roi.The compromise and collaboration of the reform were determined by the double dilemma of manpower and money brought by the successive hegemony wars under Louis ⅩⅣ.Such abilities on integrating the overall social collaboration,and the controlling power and leadership that led people to work together for the goals of the monarch,was the key factor of the supremacy of the sovereign authority during the reign of Louis ⅩⅣ. |
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