Fearing the King may tire of her, she is said to have sprinkled love potions into his food; potions made from Spanish fly, iron filings, sperm and menstrual blood. It was even claimed she had a priest perform a sacrilegious mass over her naked body, which involved the sacrifice of an infant. As well as two massive wings for the nobility and princes of the blood, he added the architecturally splendid Great and Small Stables capable of housing horses , the artificial Lake of the Swiss Guards replacing a marshland known as the stinking pond and completed the 1,metre Grand Canal after more than a decade of digging.
Boats would regularly be seen on the water, among them gondolas presented to Louis by the Republic of Venice.
Building went on from dawn to dusk, with up to 36, people working in the gardens in dire and dangerous conditions. Injuries became a daily occurrence, and so many died that bodies would be quietly removed at night in bulk. It was worth any price. He had her imprisoned. It was not only the human cost that mounted. Taxation, and more efficient tax collection, had helped with the astronomical cost of Versailles, but minister of finances Jean-Baptiste Colbert went further by turning the palace into a showcase of French manufacturing.
A spectacular gallery with wide windows on one side, overlooking the gardens and a wall of mirrors on the other, Louis used it to host major events, including diplomatic meetings with the Doge of Genoa and ambassadors of Siam and Persia. The hall was the shining gem in the Versailles crown. The purpose of Versailles was not just to inspire awe, though, but also deference and servitude. By putting the court under his roof, Louis could control his nobility with a tight grip in a velvet glove.
Contact with Louis became currency, and the worst thing for the King to say about a courtier was that he never saw them. Louis turned his life, movements and even ablutions into a daily performance, governed by a seemingly endless list of detailed rituals and strict rules of etiquette — all in order to keep the nobles busy.
All revolved around the Sun King, starting when he first awoke. Meals were a spectator event, dances had to be joined in the correct order of rank and people had to know what type of chair they were permitted to sit in.
Living at Versailles was an expensive business. Courtiers had to be seen in the latest fashions, which cost so much that they could bankrupt the wearer — or they had to borrow from the crown, making them more dependent on Louis. Maintaining the proper degree of fashion was crucial, so after Louis began losing his hair and had a risky operation on his bottom, huge wigs and groin bandages became all the rage.
Life at Versailles was controlled by a series of bizarre decrees on etiquette and decorum. Forget them at your peril…. Life at court could be far from glamorous, not least as the building spent years at a time under scaffolding. Perhaps the greatest problem was the lack of toilet facilities — courtiers thought nothing of answering the call of nature in the corridors. French women wielding scythes and banging drums storm the palace of Versailles on October 6, during the French Revolution.
Protests became frequent and pamphlets depicting the debauched gambling, sexual liaisons and wanton spending of the royal family at Versailles appeared across the country. For many French folks, the Austrian-born queen, Marie Antoinette, became a hated symbol of all that was wrong at Versailles.
In the lead-up to revolution, rumors of the extravagance and excess of Versailles reached an all-time high. And so, it is not surprising that when revolution finally came, Versailles was one of the first places attacked. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History. The size and location of the room a person got depended on their rank and standing with the king.
While the crown prince known as the dauphin got a sprawling apartment on the ground floor, a servant may have nothing more than a space in an attic or a makeshift room behind a staircase. Louis XIV's bedroom was built on the upper floor and located centrally along the east-west axis of the palace. It was the most important room and was the location of two important ceremonies where the king would wake up lever and go to sleep coucher surrounded by his courtiers.
The king also had a ceremony for putting on and taking off his hunting boots. Each action he would took having a meal, strolling through the garden became symbolic metaphor for his divine presence," explained Gudek Snajdar. The interaction between the visitor and the king could be directed here in the most careful fashion. Spawforth notes that a courtier in wrote that "most of the people who come to the court are persuaded that, to make their way there, they must show themselves everywhere, be absent as little possible at the king's lever , removal of the boots, and coucher , show themselves assiduously at the dinners of the royal family The king had his throne in the "Apollo Salon" and worshiped in a royal chapel, which spanned two stories, which Bajou notes was built between and Despite the richness of the palace, the kings had to make do with makeshift theaters up until when Louis XV allowed the building of the royal opera.
It contained a mechanism that allowed the orchestra level to be raised to the stage allowing it to be used for dancing and banqueting. Spawforth notes that the opera required 3, candles to be burned for opening night and was rarely used due to its cost and the poor shape of France's finances. According to Schmidt, to our modern eyes, Versailles is a perfect example of baroque and rococo architecture.
But, said Gudek Snajdar, the French of the time would not have considered it baroque. It would have gone against his sense of absolutism, said Gudek Snajdar, the belief that he is at the center of everything. Some art historians now call the style of the Louvre and Versailles "French classicism. Other types of baroque architecture featured symbolic art, but not necessarily with the emphasis on divine right, kingly power and timeless rule.
Throughout the palace you will find the intertwined L's of his name. It all serves as a constant reminder that he is the king and all power comes from him by the grace of God.
The decoration also emphasized the achievements of the king. Victory in battle features prominently in these narratives, with one example showing Louis with his army crossing the Rhine River in He is dressed in Roman clothes, his long hair flows behind him, and he holds a thunderbolt like a projectile.
Like the god, Louis XIV was a warrior fighting to restore peace; he was also a patron of the arts and the source of all privileges. Though the unstinting regularity of his life and with the public getting-up and going-to-bed ceremonies, he hammered home the symbolic parallels.
The Palace of Versailles is replete with representations and allegorical allusions to the sun god laurel wreathes, lyres, tripods combined with royal portraits and emblems. To honour this pledge and preserve the religious unity of his kingdom, he cracked down on the Jansenists of Port-Royal and ordered the persecution of Protestants. The previous policy of religious tolerance was abandoned with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in Protestants were forced to convert, and over two hundred thousand fled the country.
From his base in Versailles, Louis XIV ruled over a centralised, absolutist state which revolved entirely around him. The King lived in the main wing of the palace, on the first floor, in a suite of three apartments reserved for his use. He applied a strict etiquette at court, a set of rules and protocols by which his noble courtiers were obliged to abide. With the help of Colbert , he oversaw the administrative and financial reorganisation of his realm, and also set up manufactures and worked to boost trade.
With Louvois he reformed the army and enjoyed a string of military victories. Revise your French history with help from the artworks of the Palace of Versailles! Through our new partnership with the French American Cultural Foundation, American citizens can easily support the Palace of Versailles.
During these difficult times, the Palace needs your support more than ever. Discover more on this Foundation. Discover the history of the Palace of Versailles and its characters in this illustrated video for young and old alike!
0コメント