Louis XIV’s Paris: Government and Ceremony

Ceremonial life and etiquette in Old Regime France has certainly attracted its share of attention. Yet, because of the King’s presence at Versailles, the pomp of that sumptuous establishment has overshadowed the colour and pageantry of the capital, Paris - the seat of law courts and administrative tribunals, a centre of economic life, and home of a half-million residents. Courtiers might look to Versailles; but Paris still remained a city rich in traditions dramatized in ceremony and portrayed in symbolism.

Its heraldic emblem, the ship, reminded everyone that the waterways were the most practical route for commerce destined for Paris; by Louis XIV’s time the sun shone out of the city’s coat-of-arms to proclaim the King’s mastery of his capital. Paris was prepared to receive royalty, foreign ambassadors, and Papal legates with solemn pomp in triumphal entries and to commemorate events of significance to the state or the city with fireworks, bonfires, and trumpet blasts.