The King (Louis XIV) maintains the most impenetrable secrecy about matters of state. The ministers attend council meetings, but he confides his plans to them only when he has reflected at length upon them and has come to a definite decision.
I wish you might see the King. His expression is inscrutable; his eyes like those of a fox. He never discusses state affairs except with his ministers in Council. When he speaks to courtiers, he refers only to their respective prerogatives or duties.
Primi Visconti, Quoted in Louis XIV, Louis Bertrand – 1928
Truly, it was to our amazement that the ailing said they were well. Being Europeans, we thought we had given away to doctors and priests our ability to heal. But here it was, still in our possession. . . .It was ours after all, we were more than we had thought we were.
– Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca to the king of Spain, early sixteenth century
