“Turks” on Display during the Reign of Louis XIV

Abstract

This article examines the display of subjugated “Turks” as an underexplored aspect of propaganda for Louis XIV. It argues that esclaves turcs painted on the ceilings of Versailles or circulated in medals and almanac prints were more than figurative, but referred to the actual bodies of Ottoman and Moroccan slaves toiling on Mediterranean galleys. Whether real or imagined, submissive “Turks” projected royal power. They advertised the Sun King's ability to vanquish religious enemies while deflecting attention from his willingness to maintain diplomatic and commercial relations with foreign ‘infidels.’ However, they were also unstable symbols deployed by Louis XIV's critics to condemn his rule.

Mirror Reflections: Louis XIV, Phra Narai, and the Material Culture of Kingship

“…32 Others would cite Louis's admiration for, and collusion with, Asian rulers like the Ottoman sultan or the Siamese king as evidence of his own penchant for 'Oriental' cruelty and oppression. 33 The idea that the Sun King would be infl uenced by China and Siam in fashioning his own courtly culture, material environment, and royal image was understandable in the early modern period but became inconceivable to many observers in the nineteenth century, when French imperial and colonial involvement in Asia propounded a clear hierarchical distinction between a 'civilized' West and an inferior East. By the time relations resumed between France and Siam in the mid-nineteenth century, the sense of commensurability and mutual desire that underlay their earlier encounter had largely faded from view.…”