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Thoughts on Versailles season two, episode four….
Bonjour. Comment allez-vous? Did something happen last episode? Something dramatic? Like someone getting stabbed? Ah, oui. Fabien got a knife in his chest and we start with him pulling said knife out. He yells for the guards and collapses. It appears the guards found him and he is brought to Claudine. He will live, for it appears his heart might…
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Thoughts on Versailles season two, episode three….
The last episode finished with the screams of Madame de Montespan and the dramatic/mysterious blowing out of candles as a certain Madame Agathe turned her cards. Now we see Louis in his Apollo costume, the one he originally wore during the Ballet Royal de la Nuit. It was first performed in 1653 and took a whole thirteen hours. Louis XIV…
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Thoughts on Versailles season two, episode two….
Here we are again. Back in Versailles with episode two. The last episode finished with a solar eclipse and a beheading, now we start in with a yawning Louis XIV walking through a salon. Our King seems unable to sleep and is nearly hit by a falling chandelier. Bossuet thinks it’s a bit of a sign. The historical Bossuet was quite…
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The two marriages of Philippe de France
A 17th century marriage was more or less a business contract. It was about wealth, titles, patronage, heirs, and if one was a member of a royal house about politics. Everyone involved was aware of it. Monsieur had the bliss, he would probably call it misfortune, to be married twice. As brother of the Sun King it was his duty to…
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Thoughts on Versailles season two, episode one….
March 27 was the day we had all waited for. The day we finally got some new Versailles. The excitement was great. The feelings aflutter. What will this new season bring? Like pretty much everyone else, I followed what happened between season one and season two on various social media platforms. I eagerly jumped at any new footage from the…
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Dangeau’s Diary, April 1686
5th. — Quinault has requested the King to excuse him from writing operas. During his last illness, some scruples occurred to him. His Majesty has acquiesced in his wish. He is about writing a poem, explanatory of the paintings of Le Brun in the gallery of Versailles. 18th. — The King has sent the Duc de la Force to Saint-Magloire. It…
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Élisabeth-Charlotte du Palatinat, Duchesse d’Orléans
She is known under many names and one of my favourite people in history. In Germany most people know her by her nickname Liselotte von der Pfalz. In France she is Élisabeth-Charlotte du Palatinat or de Bavière, some call her la Palatine or simply Madame. As she was born in Heidelberg on May 27 in 1652, her parents gave her the name Elisabeth…
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Versailles Season Two: La première….
Yesterday, March 27, the day had finally arrived. Versailles season two started. Did I watch it? Oh, oui. Canal + spoiled us with two new episodes yesterday, but do not worry… I shan’t spoil you too much here. Firstly because my French is not good enough and secondly because I plan on doing the proper reviews when I get the dvd.…
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Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche
Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche was born on September 10 in 1638, five days after her future husband, which made many believe they were meant for each other. As daughter of the reining King of Spain Philip IV and his Queen Élisabeth de France, sister of Louis XIII, Marie-Thérèse was Infanta of Spain – meaning as much as Princess – from the day she…
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Versailles goes Down Under
You might have heard of the fabulous exhibition the National Gallery of Australia and the Chateau de Versailles have set up in Canberra. Treasures such as paintings, tapestries, furniture, and even Latona herself, the large centrepiece of the Latona fountain, travelled all the way to Australia for the first time ever. My partner-in-bonbon-devouring Jules Harper payed the exhibition a visit, brought…
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Carrosses à cinq sol, the first public transport system of the world
Many things of our modern world have their origin in 17th century France and were invented during the reign of the Sun King. Champagne is one, public street lighting a other, high heels as well, public transportation too. The Carrosses à cinq sol -carriages for five sol- have their origin in the year 1661 and were the very first public transport system…
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Guy-Armand de Gramont, Comte de Guiche
Guy-Armand de Gramont, mostly just called by his second name Armand, was born on November 25 in 1637. He achieved fame due to his bravery on the battlefield, his libertine lifestyle and his scandalous affair with Philippe de France, brother to the great Sun King. Armand was the first-born child of Antoine III de Gramont, Peer-Duc de Gramont and Marshal…
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Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Montespan
Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart was born on October 5 in 1640 into the ancient house of House of Rochechouart. Dating back to the days of Charles the Bald, who ruled as King of the Franks from 840 to 877, the House of Rochechouart teamed up with the House of Montemart, a Montemart is first mentioned in 1094, by marriage in 1205. Making them…
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Dangeau’s Diary, March 1686
26th.— On the 13th of January, Monsieur Girardin, the King’s ambassador at the Porte, assembled all the French residents, and in the King’s name announced to them that none but Catholics should henceforth enjoy the privileges and functions granted to the nation by the King’s protection and that he would give them four months to receive the necessary instructions. 28th.…
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The contest for precedence, or a turbulent day on London’s streets…
A long-lasting dispute over whether the Spanish ambassadors had precedence over the French, or the other way around, reached a bloody pinnacle on the streets of London on September 30 in 1661. On that very day the new Swedish ambassador was to arrive in London and according to custom, the King’s barge was to meet him at Gravesend and accompany him to Tower-Wharf. The…
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Anne-Madeleine de Conty d’Argencourt
Before Marie Mancini and Louise de La Vallière, Louis XIV, aged tender sixteen, had a fling for a certain Mademoiselle de la Motte-Argencourt. Born in 1637 or 1638 to Pierre de Conty d’Argencourt and Madeleine de Chaumont de Bertichères, Anne-Madeleine de Conty d’Argencourt was around the same age as Louis XIV. She was baptised on September 20 in 1641 and entered the household of Anne d’Autriche later…
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Bonne de Pons, Marquise d’Heudicourt
Bonne de Pons was born between 1641 and 1644 in Poitou to Pons de Pons, Seigneur de Bourg-Charente, and his wife Elisabeth de Puyrigaud. Bonne is the youngest of the couple’s three children, having an older brother, Renaud de Pons, and an older sister, Marie Elisabeth de Pons. Bonne’s family was of old nobility and related to many great names, among them César…
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Versailles Giveaway!
It is time for a giveaway again. Hurray! Enter the form below for a chance to win a Sun King notebook with matching pencil and a utterly cute Versailles memory card game featuring many historical people from the time of Louis XIV, everything coming straight from the boutique of Versailles. Like last time, we use the rafflecopter widget. To enter you…
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Louise de La Vallière, Duchesse de La Vallière et de Vaujours
Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc was born on August 6 in 1644 to Françoise Le Provost and the officer Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc. Her father Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc was a member of the poorer branch of the House of La Baume and Seigneur de la Vallière as well as Govenour of the château d’Amboise.…
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How and when to sit….
At Louis XIV’s court even the most simple of tasks, like placing one’s behind on a piece of furniture designed for it, was an utterly complicated matter at times. Not just was it very important how one sat down, sitting down at the wrong time on the wrong chair could mean one’s ruin. Who could sit where and when…
