ROUE
(roo-AYE)
A
man devoted to a life of immorality Common
clues: Cad; Casanova; Profligate; Lecher; Licentious
sort; Pleasure seeker; Dissolute one; Womanizer; Rake;
Libertine Crossword
puzzle frequency:
3 times a year News: 7
Notoriously Womanizing Directors Video: Casanova
(2005) (BBC)
Philippe
of Orleans
The
word originally comes from the French rouer,
which means to break on a wheel, referring to a form of torture
deserved by such a person. The word was first used in its modern
sense by Philippe, Duke of Orleans. He was known to associate
with companions as licentious as himself – even boasting
that there was not one of them who did not deserve to be broken
on the wheel; therefore his friends were known as Orleans’
roués, or wheels.
The
regent had great qualities, both brilliant and solid, which were
spoilt by an excessive taste for pleasure. His dissolute manners
found many imitators, and the regency was one of the most corrupt
periods in French history.
Philippe
was a professed atheist who boasted to read the satirical works
of François Rabelais inside a Bible binding during mass,
and liked to hold orgies even on religious high holidays. He
acted in plays of Molière and Racine, composed an opera,
and was a gifted painter and engraver. Despite his atheism,
Philippe favoured the Jansenists against the decrees of the Pope.
He
was a great collector of art, and his collection of paintings,
mostly sold in London after the Revolution, was one of the finest
ever assembled.
A
liberal and imaginative man, he was however, often weak,
inconsistent and vacillating. Nonetheless, as Regent, he changed
the manners of the ruler and his nobles from the hypocrisy of
Louis XIV to complete candor. He was against censorship and
ordered the reprinting of books banned under the reign of his
uncle. Reversing his uncle's policies again, Philippe formed an
alliance with England, Austria, and the Netherlands, and fought a
successful war against Spain that established the conditions of a
European peace.
Philippe
promoted education, making the Sorbonne tuition free and opening
the Royal Library to the public (1720). He is however most
remembered for the debauchery he brought to Versailles and for
the John Law banking scandal.
The
city of New Orleans, Louisiana is named after him.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Philippe
II, Duke of Orléans".
04
Lionel Richie hit of 1987
1
We LAT 08 She played Theodora on "Sisters"
1
We NYS 06 "Sisters" Emmy winner Ward
|