Interests, corruption and military effectiveness: the French Army of Italy and the campaign of 1657

Like most other aspects of French politics and government following the end of the Frondes in 1653, the administration of the army has received little attention from historians. Overshadowed by Louis XIV’s assumption of personal rule in 1661 and the long subsequent reign of the Sun King, the few intervening years seem marginal and unimportant. The last book to give detailed attention to the French army during this period was the 1906 study by Louis André, Michel le Tellier et l’organization de l’armée monarchique. André’s thesis presented the war minister, Michel le Tellier, securely re-established in power after 1653, pursuing a series of army reforms that «he had long intended to undertake» . These reforming initiatives paved the way for the administrative transformation of the army that was to be accomplished by Le Tellier and his son, the marquis de Louvois, in the decades after 1661