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Article: Saint-Simon, Louis De Rouvroy (1675–1755)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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SAINT-SIMON, LOUIS DE ROUVROY (1675
–
1755)
SAINT-SIMON, LOUIS DE ROUVROY
(1675
–
1755), duke and peer of France, whose memoirs depict courtly life and politics during the reign of Louis XIV and the regency. Saint-Simon was the offspring of a favorite of Louis XIII.
Having lost his father at the age of eighteen, he served in the army and tried to gain prominence at the court. Soon, however, disappointed by Louis XIV's perceived neglect of the nobility, he retired from the military and incurred the king's disfavor. Instead of a promising career, he thus embarked upon the path of a clandestine and critical observer of the court.
Although removed from the king's favor, ...