Monarchy: A Study of Louis XIV

Foreword by Roger Buck

Monarchy—or Plutocracy? This is the rousing question the great Hilaire Belloc placed before his readers in this masterly 1938 work. Belloc, grown old, now realised the revolutionary dreams of his youth were naive. The great liberal insurrections, which supposedly led to Democracy, had yielded instead to secretive control by shadowy Capitalistic elites. As provocative as this thesis was in 1938, many today harbour similar suspicions of entities as varied as Wall Street, Washington, the European Union and the World Economic Forum. Could the only answer be a Catholic Monarchy, which naturally favours Distributism and a true democratic spirit? Today’s readers may well wonder after pondering these pages! For although this book is ostensibly a biography of France's illustrious “Sun King,” it is, in reality, much more than a simple narrative of the life of Louis XIV.

Rather, it is a study of the mysterious nature of Monarchy. Moreover, Belloc states “the matter which I think is central to this study and which I have particularly emphasised is the natural conflict between Monarchy and the Money-power.”

For in Seventeenth Century France, Louis XIV combatted the new financial elites with a certain success—unlike his ill-starred Stuart cousin James II, the last Catholic king of England, who fell before the power of Protestant monied interests. Here is an epic tale, wherein Capitalism triumphed in the emerging Anglosphere, while a flawed Catholic King in France took instead “the road less travelled.” Filled with fascinating insight, this book offers a rich Catholic meditation on the roots of modernity as well as a profound enquiry into matters as varied as French royalty, European tradition and economic justice.

This new edition features an unusually extensive foreword by Roger Buck, which enters into Belloc’s life and thinking. It also clarifies the book’s historical setting for modern readers, who may be insufficiently aware of this time-period in France and England.