Christiaan Huygens – A family affair - Proeven van Vroeger

Therefore it would be sensible for Christiaan Jr. to dedicate the following treatise on the
pendulum clock to the King. 420
iii. Success – Founding member of the Académie Royale des Sciences
Not much later Christiaan was asked to become a founding member of the Académie,
after first receiving another “present” of 500 escus, awarded by the King. 421 With the
membership of the Académie and an income of 6000 livres, Christiaan Jr.’s patronage by the
King became a fact. This laudable event was reason for Constantijn Sr. to send Colbert a letter
to thank him for his “protection” of his son, stating that the “clemence” of the King and Colbert
outweighed the efforts he had done as a father to care for his son’s interests. 422 In the following
years, Constantijn Sr. would repeatedly assure his and his son’s gratitude for the King’s and
Colbert’s patronage and favors. 423
Christiaan Huygens Jr.’s membership of the Académie des Sciences came at the end of a
process of obtaining the influential patronage of the French King, Louis XIV and his first
minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Christiaan Jr.’s membership has often been taken as a
singular point of attention, appearing almost out of the blue, while in fact this neglects an
important socio-political process preceding this great honor for Christiaan. I think it is for this
reason that there has been paid hardly any attention to Constantijn Sr.’s role in these
mechanics of patronage.
Though it remains hard to determine the exact influence that Constantijn Sr. exerted
on Christiaan Jr.’s position at the French Court and within the Académie, his role in obtaining
the privilege for the pendulum clock with the French King and his letters to Colbert
concerning his son seem to be important indicators that his influence was substantial. They
seem to betray a much greater significance for Constantijn Sr.’s activities at Versailles for the
history of science than has been supposed previously. The audiences for diplomacy and the
natural sciences often largely overlapped at the greater courts, bringing the “fields of
420 Ibid., Vol. V, No. 1349 (Mar. 10, 1665)
421 Ibid., Vol. V, No. 1464 (Sept. 17, 1665): Christiaan Jr. wrote a thank you note to Louis XIV and
indicated that he awaited the King’s orders on when and how to come to Paris. Christiaan also sent a
thank you note to minister Colbert: Vol. V, No. 1463 (Sept. 17, 1665)
422 HUYGENS, C. (1911) BW., Vol. 6, No. 6543 (Apr. 8, 1666). Also published in: Vol. VI, p22
423 Ibid., Vol. 6, No. 6596 – Constantijn Sr. to Colbert (Jan. 6, 1667). Also published in: Vol. VI, p97.
The following year: HUYGENS, C. (1911) BW., Vol. 6, No. 6685 – Constantijn Sr. to Colbert (Dec. 20,
1668). Also published in: HUYGENS, C. (1888) OC., Vol. VI, p303
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