Louis XIV, King of France, signed letter – letters of grace, pardon, and remission, 1682

  

LOUIS XIV, King of France - Signed letter - Letters of grace, pardon, and remission - 1682. Letters with cord and large seal in majesty of the king (green wax, with counterseal bearing the arms of France), unfortunately incomplete and broken. Dimensions: 46 x 60 cm. Interesting act by the sovereign Louis XIV, by which the king grants his pardon and remission following a crime, thereby halting the course of justice.

The document recounts the facts: two men in Bordeaux, having become friendly, decided to have supper together in the evening. During dinner, they began speaking about the French language. One maintained that the word “retirance” was a French word; the second said that this word did not exist, unlike the word “retraite.” The first man became angry and called the second “an innocent” and “little boy.” He threatened to “slap his face” and said that if he were outside, “he would give him a lesson.” The first man left the inn and waited for the second to come out; when the latter saw him, he took another street. The first man pursued him with his sword and wounded him. A fight with swords followed, during which the second man, using his short sword, wounded the first man in the head, who died from his injury. The second man, imprisoned, asked King Louis XIV for grace, pardon, and remission.

Louis XIV granted his request: “the supplicant did nothing except in just and natural defense of his life, which [the other man] wanted to take from him; he did everything possible to avoid this misfortune, and he most humbly begged us to grant him our letters of grace.” The king continued: “wishing to prefer mercy to the severity of the laws, by our special grace, full power, and royal authority, we have quit, pardoned, and remitted to the said supplicant. We pardon and remit the act and case as set forth above, together with all punishment, fine, and civil and criminal bodily offense.” Assertion of the king’s full authority: “We nullify all defaults, sentences, judgments, and arrests that may have followed therefrom”; and he imposes “perpetual silence on the attorney general and his substitutes,” provided that the other man’s death did not result from a “duel or premeditated encounter.