Friday 19 July 2013

Blaspheme & Insult

As a person of note in the 18th century you simply just had to put up with a constant stream of demeaning and cruel pamphlets, lampoons and verses. But this particular one is something special because it does not just insult the King (Louis XIV) but also uses a religious verse to do so. When Louis XIV had his affair with Madame de Maintenon at the end of his reign, the situation was not going as planned. His minister Charmillart was blamed for the troubles of France and the people were (as usual) far from happy and expressed their displeasure in the following manner:
Our Father who art in Versailles,
Thy name is no longer hallowed;
Thy kingdom is diminished;
 Thy will is no longer done on earth or on the waves.

Give us our bread, which on all sides we lack,

Yield not to the temptations of la Maintenon

And deliver us from Charmillart. Amen.


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