ABSTRACT
The creation of a regular, in some respects modern, army in the personal reign of Louis XIV would not have been possible, however, without the unprecedented concentration of power in the hands of the king and his ministers. The French army which won the battle of Rocroi in 1643, the year of Le Tellier’s appointment as secretary of state, owed little to training or discipline. The French were little used to the large-scale operations of armies which had advanced the art of war since 1618, nor the cohesive professionalism required of an army like the Spanish which had generally to fight far from home. Le Tellier was one of several ministers who had learned their trade as intendants attached to an army. He used them on a regular basis as the instrument of civilian control.
