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WHEN we think at all of Louis XIV, it is generally in terms of the gorgeous portraiture of Rigaud and the vivid word-pictures of Saint-Simon. We see the Grand Monarque in his ermine-lined robes of State, sceptre in hand, arm on hip, gazing out on the world with affable condescension and consummate pose. We see the epitome of majesty: grace, dignity, command. It is a disillusioning experience to turn from this figure to the Louis XIV as seen in private life by his doctors. A new and disconcertingly human Sun King emerges. One begins to discern a man plagued by chronic infirmities of all kinds; pestered by doctors and surgeons; subjected to incredible purges, enemas, and emetics; treated often like a small boy who really does not know what is good for him; occasionally driven to rebellion but on the whole remarkably tolerant of his medical advisors. In the seventeenth century, it was the fortunate man who could not afford medical treatment. The higher one's station in life the greater became one's medical woes. One of the most scathing critics of seventeenth-century doctors (but unfortunately a hypochondriac who could not leave doctors alone), the famous Madame de Sevigne, recognized this truth. When her three-year-old grandson fell sick and, to her dismay, was promptly bled, Sevigne commented wryly: 'I fear that they do this to our child so as to honour him, as they do to the children of the King.... 20I

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Of all the liberal arts no two would appear to be more closely and naturally interrelated than literature and history. Doubtless one can enjoy and appreciate much in belles-lettres even though handicapped by a limited knowledge of history, but the serious study of any body of literature would generally be admitted to presuppose a reasonable mastery of the historical milieu. In some instances, even a superficial understanding of a literary work would be impossible without the ability to place it in proper historical context. That literature is closely akin to history can be vouched for by the many who have been exposed to literature courses in college wherein the “background” seemed to outweigh in importance the creative achievements under study.

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