La Cassette de Louis XVI

Focusing on the end of the Ancien Régime, this article offers a unique perspective on the relationship of members of the royal family to money and, first of all, to their personal funds. It reveals the running of a little-known, although documented, aspect of curial expenditure. The management, paym...

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Main Author: Benoît Carré
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre de Recherche du Château de Versailles 2025-03-01
Series:Bulletin du Centre de Recherche du Château de Versailles
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/crcv/40513
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author Benoît Carré
author_facet Benoît Carré
author_sort Benoît Carré
collection DOAJ
description Focusing on the end of the Ancien Régime, this article offers a unique perspective on the relationship of members of the royal family to money and, first of all, to their personal funds. It reveals the running of a little-known, although documented, aspect of curial expenditure. The management, payment and allocation of pensions from the Cassette (coffers) of Louis XVI form the case study which allows us to present the history of the cash reserves of this sovereign but also to analyze the relationships between the king and his entourage. The structures inherited from the previous reign and the changes made by the King from 1780 are presented and make it possible to expose the way in which Louis XVI ensured control of his personal expenses, autonomously and outside of any ministerial oversight. In the final part, an examination of the coffers of the queen, the king’s brothers and Mesdames Tantes allows us to place the history of the king’s reserves in a comparative perspective, which reveals the differentiated strategies of the members of the royal family in the management of their funds and the distribution of pensions from these same funds.
format Article
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issn 1958-9271
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Centre de Recherche du Château de Versailles
record_format Article
series Bulletin du Centre de Recherche du Château de Versailles
spelling doaj-art-5887b25603f045bfb61d2d28eac322882025-08-20T03:07:34ZengCentre de Recherche du Château de VersaillesBulletin du Centre de Recherche du Château de Versailles1958-92712025-03-0110.4000/13jdgLa Cassette de Louis XVIBenoît CarréFocusing on the end of the Ancien Régime, this article offers a unique perspective on the relationship of members of the royal family to money and, first of all, to their personal funds. It reveals the running of a little-known, although documented, aspect of curial expenditure. The management, payment and allocation of pensions from the Cassette (coffers) of Louis XVI form the case study which allows us to present the history of the cash reserves of this sovereign but also to analyze the relationships between the king and his entourage. The structures inherited from the previous reign and the changes made by the King from 1780 are presented and make it possible to expose the way in which Louis XVI ensured control of his personal expenses, autonomously and outside of any ministerial oversight. In the final part, an examination of the coffers of the queen, the king’s brothers and Mesdames Tantes allows us to place the history of the king’s reserves in a comparative perspective, which reveals the differentiated strategies of the members of the royal family in the management of their funds and the distribution of pensions from these same funds.https://journals.openedition.org/crcv/40513Louis XVIcourt of France18th centuryfinancespensions
spellingShingle Benoît Carré
La Cassette de Louis XVI
Bulletin du Centre de Recherche du Château de Versailles
Louis XVI
court of France
18th century
finances
pensions
title La Cassette de Louis XVI
title_full La Cassette de Louis XVI
title_fullStr La Cassette de Louis XVI
title_full_unstemmed La Cassette de Louis XVI
title_short La Cassette de Louis XVI
title_sort la cassette de louis xvi
topic Louis XVI
court of France
18th century
finances
pensions
url https://journals.openedition.org/crcv/40513
work_keys_str_mv AT benoitcarre lacassettedelouisxvi