ABSTRACT
This appendix reproduces the longest of three royal lettres patentes submitted on behalf of Blondel's father to the Cour des aides, a sovereign court established to adjudicate financial matters. Among other functions, the court deliberated claims to nobility, which, if successful, exempted the petitioner and his family from taxes. Blondel's case falls under this heading. The letter, dated October 1659, is signed by Louis XIV and countersigned by Henri-Auguste de Loménie, comte de Brienne. It contains an account, never before published, of Blondel's early military career. All three letters were ratified on 25 September 1666 and, again, by the Conseil du Roi on 18 June 1669.
