François Bluche (17 September 1925 – 28 June 2018) was a French historian. He painted a largely positive portrait of Louis XIV in his biography, attributing to him substantial cultural and political achievements. Bluche saw Louis as a precursor to

enlightened despotism Enlightened absolutism (also called enlightened despotism) refers to the conduct and policies of European absolute monarchs during the 18th and early 19th centuries who were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, espousing them to enhance ...

and argued that his reign witnessed the birth of modern France. In his view both Louis' creation of a centralised, powerful monarchy and his wars of conquest benefited the French people. The book was translated into English by Mark Greengrass and published in 1990. Peter Burke labelled Bluche a "neo-traditionalist" who had written a "moderate but firm apologia for Louis XIV, a reaction against what the author calls the 'black legend' of the reign". During the 1960s he was arrested for suspected involvement in an assassination plot against President de Gaulle. Bluche was awarded the Grand prix Gobert in 1961 for his book ''Les magistrats du Parlement de Paris au XVIIIe siècle'', the

Prix Feydeau de Brou Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...

for ''Les magistrats du Grand Conseil au XVIIIe siècle'' (1968), the

Prix Broquette-Gonin The prix Broquette-Gonin was a former prize awarded by the Académie française. It rewarded four disciplines: history, literature, philosophy and poetry. A separate prize was awarded by subject. Prix Broquette-Gonin (history) The prix Broque ...

(literature) for ''Le despotisme éclairé médaille'' (1970), the Prix Feydeau de Brou for ''La vie quotidienne de la noblesse française au XVIIIe siècle'' (1974) and the

Prix d’Académie Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...

for the ''Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle médaille de vermeil'' in 1991.François BLUCHE

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

website, retrieved 8 July 2018.

Works

*''Marie-Josèphe de Saxe'' (Paris: Hachette, 1970). *''Louis XIV'' (Paris: Fayard, 1986). () *''L'Ancien régime. Institutions et société'' (Paris: Éditions de Fallois/Librairie générale française, 1993). () *''Louis XV'' (Paris: Perrin, 1999). *''Richelieu'' (Paris: Perrin, 2003). ()

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bluche, François 1925 births 2018 deaths 20th-century French historians Winners of the Prix Broquette-Gonin (literature) Historiography of France