Louis_XIV's July 13, 2011 blog

Louis_XIV Alignment: Sarcastic Good

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Wednesday blog

JULY 13, 2011 @ 04:14 PM

I'm writing these lines on July the 14th, 1711. Seventy-eight years from today, an angry mob of thousand furious Parisians will storm a city prison defended by a fistful of old men. The attackers will loose a hundred men, kill seven and free all the poor, poor, oppressed prisoners - four forgers, two madmen and one deviant aristrocat.

Yay.

I understand that in your time, it's still a public holiday in France. Excuse me if I find this somewhat peculiar.

ericwine

Charlotte Hall, MD

January 2007

JUL 13, 2011 05:49 PM

France is a republic in our time, though perhaps not like the Swiss and Dutch republics of your time. Your descendant, Louis XVI, was not nearly as good a king as you were. The prison raid was the first in a series of events that led to his being deposed and executed, the monarchy replaced by the First Republic, though this "Republic" was little more than an orgy of looting and butchery. Afterward, two French Empires, a Bourbon restoration and no less than four Republics! The holiday is meant to honor the concept of a French Republic.
On the other hand, though few of them want a king back on the throne, today's French fondly remember you and the Corsican general as exemplars of French glory.
Interestingly, in my time zone, your entry is recorded as having been submitted at 7:14 in the evening.