King of France (1754–1793) who ascended the throne at nineteen, presided over one of history’s most turbulent reigns, forged the Franco-American alliance that secured American independence, and ultimately perished on the guillotine during the Revolution he could neither master nor escape. DS (“Louis”), one page, approximately 12.5 x 9.5, on vellum, 24 September, circa 1774. Royal brevet de pension (pension warrant), issued at Versailles, countersigned in a bold hand by Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, Louis XVI’s Foreign Minister and the most consequential French diplomat of the eighteenth century.
The document opens with the ceremonial formula “Aujourd’huy vingt quatrième du mois de Septembre” (Today, the twenty-fourth day of the month of September), and locates the act at Versailles. The text records that His Majesty, wishing to acknowledge the services of a noblewoman — identified in the document as a subject of the Archbishopric of Cambrai — hereby grants her an annual pension of eighteen hundred livres drawn from the revenues of the Archevêché de Cambray (Archbishopric of Cambrai), to be paid permanently by the Archbishop and his successors in perpetuity. The document further states that, having commanded the present brevet to be issued, His Majesty has ordered it countersigned by a Minister and Secretary of State in his Council. The upper left corner bears the manuscript heading: “Brevet de pension / Archevêché de Cambray.”
Signed at the lower left in the king’s characteristic secretarial hand, “Louis,” and countersigned at the lower right by Vergennes with his large, looping paraph. Vergennes (1719–1787) served as Foreign Minister from 1774 until his death, and is credited with negotiating the Treaty of Alliance with the American colonies in 1778 — the intervention that proved decisive to the outcome of the Revolutionary War. Documents bearing both signatures represent a convergence of two of the most historically significant figures of late Ancien Régime France.
In fine condition , with expected overall age toning to the vellum, intersecting horizontal and vertical fold lines from original folding, and scattered light foxing spots throughout; text and both signatures remain boldly legible. Currently handsomely framed in an ornate gilt frame with white linen mat, accompanied by a contemporary oval portrait engraving of Louis XVI in court dress.
Executed in the first months of the king’s reign, this brevet is a direct artifact from the opening chapter of one of history’s most consequential reigns.
Louis XIV (5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any sovereign. An emblematic character of the Age of Absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV's legacy is widely characterized by French colonial expansion, the conclusion of the Eighty Years' War involving the Habsburgs, and his architectural bequest, marked by commissioned works of art and buildings. His pageantry, opulent lifestyle, and ornate cultivated image earned him enduring admiration. Louis XIV raised France to be the exemplary nation-state of the early modern period, and established a cultural prestige that lasted through the subsequent centuries until today.
With Full JSA & One of a Kind Collectibles LOA's