The Porte Saint-Denis Reconsidered in the Aftermath of the Fronde: Urban Development in the Reign of Louis XIV, Vincent de Paul, and Saint-Lazare

This article takes a fresh look at the revitalization of Paris by King Louis XIV (1638–1715) following his victory in the civil war known as the Fronde by focusing on the Porte Saint-Denis. This was the triumphal arch built in 1672 by François Blondel, the founding Director of the Royal Academy of Architecture (Académie royale d’architecture). Blondel’s monument has long been considered the gold standard of French Baroque Classicism; however, the critical studies of architectural historians have stopped at the foot of rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis. By contrast, Zurawski scrutinizes the site. Consisting of this ancient thoroughfare to the royal abbey of Saint-Denis and its location in the far northwest quadrant, the present-day tenth Arrondissement, its dominant property was the first Vincentian motherhouse of Saint-Lazare. In sum, her analysis introduces, then interlocks, the dramatic stories that led to the raising of Porte Saint-Denis in large measure as a tribute to Vincent de Paul’s heroic support of the boy king, notably in the perilous Prise de Saint-Denis (of 1652). These revelations include Vincent’s direct role in negotiating the peaceful ending of the Fronde on behalf of Louis XIV. And despite the subsequent redevelopments of the quartier through the ages, one may still imagine Saint-Lazare coming into view in the near distance through the aperture of Porte Saint-Denis.