Funerals for Foreign Princes at Notre-Dame de Paris, or the Limits of the “Society of Princes” (16th–18th Centuries)

The Death of Princes
By Jean-Marie Le Gall
English

Practice of celebrating funerals for foreign princes was developped in Europe in the sixteenth century. In this context where permanent diplomacy was emerging, this might suggest the advent of a “society of princes”. Actually, these ceremonies were only given for Catholic princes with whom power was at peace, and they concerned neither Protestants – including allied ones – nor the Pope, as an elected and non-hereditary sovereign. In Paris, they mainly provided opportunities to celebrate the growth of Bourbon family in Europe. They were not regulated like ordinary court mournings for dead sovereigns, even those from another religion. In Europe, funeral pointed out the assertion of prestige, relationship and dynastic ambitions, it did not promote a “society of princes” based on formal reciprocity.

Keywords

  • France
  • Ancien Régime
  • princes
  • rituals
  • funerals
  • Notre-Dame de Paris
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