ABSTRACT
Jean Perrault's version of Le Grand Conde's life embodies the official view that he had been totally assimilated into the louisquatorzien ideology of the final years of the century. The intellectual freedom that had seemed to keep him outside the mainstream of conformity had been satisfactorily neutralized, serving as a last glorious proof of the efficacy of grace. Conde had always been keen on acquiring paintings and sculptures and, even during his period of rebellion, had continued to collect and commission them, despite his financial problems. Conde was driven by his intellectual curiosity and, with due allowance made for the constraints of the time, his cultural eclecticism. All the orators followed the expected pattern, covering Conde's military achievements, listing his moral and intellectual qualities and commending his return to the Church as the supreme act of an exceptional life. The orators were, of course, united in their belief that Conde's greatest exemplarity was as a Christian.
