Les entrées royales ou le plaisir du prince

François Moureau : Royal entries or the prince's pleasure. This article considers royal entries as exceptional shows with a single performance. In the 18th Century, the ' Entrée ', in which the deified Prince showed himself to the people, became a ritual ceremony directed by Parisian civil servants or local authorities, who stuck to rigid, stereotyped patterns. There was no local colour or enthusiastic crowds ; everything was French, monarchical and unified. Rare popular exuberance or aberrations such as the royal illness at Metz were integrated to emphasize the permanence and inevitability of royal power. All this can be seen in the accounts of ' Entrées ' which were splendid works intended to immortalise the King's memory and actions. The decline of this dramatic genre after 1750 proves that here, as elsewhere, the time was ripe for reform.Moureau François. Les entrées royales ou le plaisir du prince. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°17, 1985. Le protestantisme français en France. pp. 195-208