During the reign of Louis XIV, few courtiers led careers as full and consequential as that of François Fénelon. Born in 1651 to a nobleman from an ancient line but with little wealth, Fénelon was well schooled through scholarships, rising as a young priest, scholar, teacher, and administrator through the Church hierarchy. The 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes gave Fénelon the opportunity to distinguish himself as an educator at a school for girls who had recently converted from Calvinism to Catholicism. A rising star in King Louis XIV's court, he was mentored by the Crown's leading theologian and political theorist, Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, and rubbed shoulders with notables like the Duc de Saint-Simon. These associations led to his appointment as special tutor for Louis XIV's three grandsons, one of whom eventually became Philip V, king of Spain. Fénelon's own ambitions were rewarded in 1695, when he was appointed Archbishop of Cambrai. Over the course of his decorated career, Fénelon wrote theology, mysticism, and pedagogy, as well as more lighthearted fictional literature. He died in 1715, a few months before Louis XIV's own death.

在路易十四统治时期，很少有朝臣的职业生涯能像弗朗索瓦·费内隆那样充实而重要。Fénelon 于 1651 年出生于一个古老的贵族家庭，但财富很少，他通过奖学金接受了良好的教育，在教会等级制度中成为一名年轻的牧师、学者、教师和行政人员。1685 年南特法令的撤销使 Fénelon 有机会在最近从加尔文主义皈依天主教的女子学校中脱颖而出，成为一名教育工作者。作为国王路易十四宫廷中的一颗冉冉升起的新星，他得到了王室首席神学家和政治理论家、莫城主教雅克·贝尼尼·博须埃的指导，并与圣西门公爵等名人擦肩而过。这些联想导致他被任命为路易十四三个孙子的特别导师，其中一位最终成为西班牙国王菲利普五世。Fénelon 自己的野心在 1695 年得到了回报，当时他被任命为康布雷大主教。在他辉煌的职业生涯中，费内隆撰写了神学、神秘主义和教育学，以及更轻松的虚构文学作品。他于 1715 年去世，比路易十四去世早几个月。