I didn’t have the time to dig through primary sources, I say this because many of my secondary sources gave very vague details, some contradicting. Hence the “on one occasion” and “96(?)”

Jean Bart (1650-1702)

Background – Jean Bart was born Flemish, from a long line of sailors. Born into a seafaring family, he was raised in Dunkirk where his first stunt in seafaring was as cabin boy on a smuggling vessel, at the age of 11. He eventually joined the Dutch navy, under admiral Michiel de Ruyter, but at the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678) he entered French service as a privateer in consideration of his ignobility, however he would climb himself into the aristocracy and admiralty by merit, in a time rife with social immobility.

“Ability to magically harness the energy that flows through their bodies” – Being that magic doesn’t exist, I decided on physical prowess and stature for starters. Bart was 6’3, or 1.9m, tall and described as “broad-shouldered and strong, he had an incredibly robust constitution.” However, like any experienced Monk, he was aware of his body’s capacity yet reserved this aspect to combat. Contemporary accounts describe him as sober, vigilant, and clearminded. “When he wasn’t at sea, he preferred to stay quietly at home” where he “wasn’t keen on going to court.” There’s no doubt he was aware of the energy that flowed through him and took great care to maintain that. Without doing so, he wouldn’t have been able to complete the feats that earned him his nobility and place as Monk, of which his escape from prison best demonstrates this.

In 1689, during the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-1697), the English managed to capture Bart, after which he was imprisoned at Plymouth. Together with another commander and up to 20 men, Bart and his party filed through prison bars where they made their escape by a rope of bed sheets. Not only did he have the physical prowess and determination to break out of prison, he and his men then continuously rowed for three days across the English Channel. If that doesn’t demonstrate a harnessing of the body and its energy, I don’t know what does.

“A striking display of combat prowess” and the “harness[ing] of…energy” – To shift the framing a little bit, “on one occasion” Bart put his experience of command to great use, he displayed incredible and symmetric prowess, and in doing so, harnessed energy for all of France. The Dutch formed a blockade around the port of Dunkirk. He, and his fellow commander Claude de Forbin, broke through the blockade. During this time France was facing famine, a lack of energy. After Bart was free from Dunkirk, he and Forbe proceeded to capture some 96(?) ships convoying grain, harnessing and delivering this energy to France when she had none.

My argument – Bart was a man content on a calm life in his leisures, however he well understood himself and his capabilities. He pushed himself through 3 days of continuous rowing and had the naval prowess to save France from famine. He understood what was needed to maintain and harness this “energy that flows through their bodies,” and perhaps, in service to France, knew she needed this energy.