Abstract EN:

In 1663, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Superintendant of the King’s Buildings, gathered a small team composed of members of the Académie Française: the petite Académie was born. Entrusted with the responsibility of writing the history of the Roi Soleil (Louis xiv) in tokens, inscriptions and medals, it soon became an essential actor of royal propaganda. In 1701, it was institutionalised and became the Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Letters). In the early 18th century, the institution started to add some finer historical studies to its panegyric task. The Académie, a royal institution, then became a reflection of the figure of the Lettered Prince. It thus became an essential link in the Republic of Letters. The way this academy functioned during a century reflects a changing world, between the values of the Grand Siècle (17th century) and the innovations of the period of Enlightment in the 18th century.