Household appointments and dismissals at the court of Louis XIII

Abstract

This article looks at the impact on court office-holding of one of the most celebrated royal favourites of the seventeenth century, Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes, who was in favour from 1617 until 1622. During these five years, he was responsible for appointing forty-two noble men and women to high office in the households of Louis XIII, his queen Anne of Austria and his brother Gaston d'Orleans. They were his dependents appointed for their personal loyalty and political usefulness to him, including influencing opinions, providing information, acting as messengers and go-betweens and helping him to get rid of rivals and enemies. Half of them left office within five years of his death in December 1621, and three-quarters within ten years, a much higher departure rate than in the general household population. More than half of them were dismissed by Richelieu after he came to power in 1624 because he loathed Luynes and regarded his household appointees as untrustworthy. There is clearly a need for more studies of the political ties and activities of royal household members during this period.