Crisis And Reconstruction:The Evolution Of The Concept Of Aristocracy Serving Monarch In The Early Modern French

Military status was regarded as his duty by the French aristocracy in the late Middle Ages and early modern times,and personal feat was an important way for them to show themselves and provide military services to the king in exchange for a-reward.These personal feats contain the abstract qualities of loyalty,bravery,generosity and fearless,which constitute the main idea that the French aristocrats served the monarch before the early modern times.In the first half of the 17th century,the aristocracy faced unprecedented crises and challenges under the administration of Richelieu and Mazarin,as well as other military and cultural factors.In the face of challenges,the aristocracy had to respond in terms of status,identity and concept due to challenges,and new factors appeared among their conceptions of serving the monarch produced.The new factors in the foregoing concepts of aristocracy developed after Louis XIV’s pro-government,which made the consciousness of aristocracy to serve the monarch show the new characteristics as "old bottled new wine ".Through the establishment of court communication and etiquette norms,strengthening the supervision of the provincial aristocrats and the reform of the army system,the consciousness of hierarchical order and professional skills is increasingly emphasized.Therefore,the vague,abstract concept of virtue that the old aristocracy originally emphasized developed to the consciousness of hierarchy and specialization,and Louis XIV transformed the aristocratic traditional conception in harmony with the old aristocracy.Louis XIV’s accommodation and transformation of the old aristocratic traditional concept is a microcosm of the construction of the French ruling order and the strengthening of absolute monarchy in the early modem times.