Monarchs and Nobility as Patrons of the Enlightenment

Monarchs and Nobility as Patrons of the Enlightenment
The Enlightenment, stretching from the latter half of the 17th century to the start of the French Revolution, marks a philosophical turn away from the obscurantism imposed by the Church during the Middle Ages. Two major classes – the clergy and the aristocracy – wielded power over the mass of the people. The king served as a guarantor of the status quo, ideologically protected by the dogma known as the ‘divine right’ of kings to govern. The exercise of reason posed a serious threat to the established order. Given that the French Revolution may be seen as the culmination of enlightened thinking, it is odd to imagine that the very classes threatened by the enlightened thinkers were prepared to patronise them. It was in the interests of the privileged classes to curry favour with them out of fear of possible exposure in the press, and also to show them off as acquisitions which convey the prestige of the patron. This essay attempts to show how patronage varied throughout Europe.

1. Monarchs and Nobility as Patrons of the Enlightenment Catherine the Great (reign 1762 – 1796)

2. A philosophical turn away from the obscurantism imposed by the Church The Enlightenment, stretching from the latter half of the 17th century to the French Revolution in 1789, represented a challenge to the existing social order. The clergy and the aristocracy wielded power over the mass of the people. The king served as a guarantor of the status quo , ideologically protected by the dogma known as the “divine right” of kings to govern.

3. What is Enlightenment? Sapere aude ! (Dare to know!) (Kant, 1784). Knowledge represented a challenge to the existing social order. So why would monarchs and nobles patronise enlightened thinkers? Surely they were aware of the danger of unrestricted knowledge?

4. The Duchess of Maine (1676-1753) Dedicated herself to the pursuit of artistic activities at Châtenay and Sceaux Château: ‘ ce ne fut plus chez elle que divertissements galants , bals singuliers , fêtes et spectacles ’ (Saint-Simon) Wished to attract notable figures from the world of arts and letters who might have a role to play in helping her husband influence the choice of successor to the throne. 4

5. Duke of Maine as Aeneas the Duchess of Maine as Dido. Also present are the couple's children, the Duchess's maid of honor, as well as Troy, the painter, carrying a drawing board. 5

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7. Britain Locke received patronage from the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury and Lady Masham , and a royal studentship, which lasted for three decades at Christ Church College, Oxford. H is studentship ended when he was thought to be plotting against King Charles II. Lock’s Two Treatises of Government , which opposed the ‘divine right’ of kings to govern and defended the right of the people to revolt, was published anonymously after James II was deposed. 7

8. The Two Treatises of Civil Government ‘whenever the legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge, which God hath provided for all men, against force and violence’ (§.222). 8

9. France Louis XIV ‘patronized the arts much more than all of the other kings, his contemporaries, put together’ (Voltaire) He, established the Académie royale des sciences and the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres He forbade the courts to admit accusations of sorcery BUT He persecuted Protestants He increased censorship He spent fortunes on wars and on glorifying himself at Versailles. 9 Louis XIV (reign1643-1715)

10. In The Palace of Versailles Control over the courtiers was maintained by a strict code of etiquette, as favours could be bestowed upon those who followed the code most meticulously. The dress code meant that the nobility would spend fortunes trying to keep up with the latest fashion and have to borrow money from the King, thus deepening their dependence on him 10

11. Louis XIV with Courtiers in the Hall of Mirrors (Versailles) 11

12. Encyclopédie (1751-1772) The philosophes , Diderot and d'Alembert edited the Encyclopédie Opened up discussion on all topics Challenged dogma and established authority 12

13. Preliminary Discourse of the Encyclopédie ( d’Alembert , 1751) A tribunal which has become powerful in the south of Europe (…) condemned a famous astronomer for having supported the movement of the earth, and declared him a heretic (...) That is how the abuse of spiritual authority, united with temporal authority, forces reason to silence; just stopping short of forbidding the human race to think. Galileo before the Holy Office ( 1632) (Robert-Fleury, 1847) 13

14. The Marquise de Pompadour (Louis  XV’s mistress) Supported the parti philosophique , a reformist movement influenced by enlightened thinking. As a consequence, Louis XV supported fiscal reforms which would have imposed taxes on the rich, thus breaching the exemption privileges of the clergy and the aristocracy. This increased the antagonisms between the monarchy and the aristocracy. 14

15. Frederick II of Prussia 15

16. ‘ Fridericus Rex Apollini et Musis ’ The ‘sacralization of culture’: ‘the emancipation of high culture from any representational and recreational function and its elevation to become a sacralized activity to be worshipped in its own right’ Blanning (2016) 16

17. Catherine II Empress of Russia ‘ Diderot, d’Alembert and I—we are three who would build you altars.… Would one ever have suspected fifty years ago that one day the Scythians [Russians] would so nobly recompense in Paris the virtue, science, and philosophy that are treated so shamefully among us’. Letter to Catherine II from Voltaire The Inauguration of the Academy of Arts , Valery Jacobi. 17