Louvois, Marquis De, Francois Michel Le Tellier (1641-1691).

Letter Signed, Regarding the Annexation of a New Room to the Hospital

      Versailles, December 7, 1689. -One-and-a-quarter pages with over 80 words penned in French on both sides of a 12-3/4 inch high by 8-1/2 inch wide sheet. In reply to a letter of November 30th, the Marquis de Louvois writes that the King is in favor of annexing a new room to the hospital since there is insufficient room to house all of the sick. Signed "Louvois". Annotated in ink at the top of an attached blank leaf "Lettre du Mqrs de Louvois du 7 Decembre, concernant la nouvelle Salle de l'hospital". Folded, else near fine. Francois-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois (1641-1691; though sometimes his birth date is given as 1639). French Secretary of State for War to King Louis XIV who, with his father, increased the French army to 400, 000 soldiers. Louvois succeeded his father as war minister in 1666. Turenne, recognizing his talent during the War of Devolution, instructed him in the art of providing armies. During the brief years of peace which lasted from 1668 to 1672, Louvois devoted himself to organizing and building the French army by enrolling the nobility and gentry into its ranks. He reorganized the order of merit and founded the Hotel des Invalides. The changes brought about by Louvois led to French victories in the Franco-Dutch War (1672-78). Louvois played major roles in the capture of Strasbourg and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Indeed, Louvois is credited with inventing the dragonnades, a policy that sought to intimidate Huguenots families into either leaving France or converting to Roman Catholicism by billeting especially troublesome dragoons within Protestant households. Louvois' sudden death in 1691 was accompanied by suspicions that he may have been poisoned.