Astree, 1619: The ``Justice'' of Louis XIII and the ``Laws'' of the Pastoral

What is the relationship between the third part of Astree, which appeared in 1619, and Louis XIII's rise to power two years earlier? After formulating ideas about Honore d'Urfe's writing as political action ``from a distance,'' this article focuses on the possible meanings of the letter dedicated to ``Louis the Just'' and then on three exemplary stories from the curial world that were inserted into pastoral fiction: these show that kings and sons of kings are agents contributing to the degradation of chivalric values and doubts about monarchical sanctity-while the preservation of the meaning of the laws of love and history is left up to the pastoral world.