L’ École Royale Militaire and the Ordre de Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel

Abstract

Wanting to ensure his absolute control over the benefices of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus, King Henri IV (1553-1610) in 1608 fused the papal order with another order of his creation by papal approval – the Order of Our Lady of Mount-Carmel. The French imprint within the joint Orders became more pronounced in the first half of the eighteenth century when the reigning Grand Master had to be of royal descent. The three successive royal masters: Duc d’Orleans, Duc de Berry and the Comte de Provence, ruled the Order during an extremely volatile period. These three magistracies saw the eclipse of the Ancien Regime, the outbreak of the revolution and its immediate aftermath. After the fusion of the two Orders, one harking back to the crusading era and the other the product of the early modern period, the number of admissions increased remarkably throughout the seventeenth century and persisted strongly until 1788. During the magistracy of Duc de Berry more than half of the admissions happened through the newly founded École Militaire at the Champs de Mars in Paris. The connection between the royal school and the royal Order was fundamental in raising the Orders’ prestige during the latter half of the eighteenth century right to the eve of the French revolution. This paper will seek to expound on the connection between the combined Order and the King’s military school in Paris, the changes taking place in the regulations concerning the Order and the École Royale-Militaire, and how the French Monarch made use of the Orders to reward and thus encourage his future officers in their service to the state.