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A Party at Chantilly
As Louis XIV announced his intention to pay a visit to le Grand Condé in April 1671, he had no idea that the honour he bestowed upon Condé, the honour of having the King and his whole court as guests for a few days, would end in a suicide. The Prince de Condé had only 15 days to prepare the…
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L’École des filles – The School of Venus
Partly out of boredom, partly out of curiosity, and definitely while I was supposed to do a different kind of research, I have read L’Escole des Filles ou la Philosophie des dames. This scandalously naughty piece of work was written by an unknown person of French origin and first published in Paris in 1655 and caused quite the stir, figuratively and…
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Dangeau’s Diary, April 1685
2nd. — The King bought the Hôtel de Vendome at Paris. It cost him two hundred thousand crowns for the creditors, and six thousand louis to Monsieur de Vendome (Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme). It will be converted into an elegant square and the King will raise at least two hundred thousand francs, by the ground to be…
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“Versailles sounds and looks very silly.” Does it?
It’s been a while now since Versailles has aired in France and I did my last bit of ado on it. Since then the show has aired in several other countries as well, Canada and Belgium, for example, my own native country Germany can watch it on pay-tv right now and it will most likely be view able on free-tv…
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Claude de Vin des Œillets
Claude de Vin des Œillets, dite Mademoiselle des Œillets, was born in the Provence in 1637, as daughter of Nicholas de Vin and Alix de Faviot, better known by their stage name des Œillets, both being actors and country comedians, leading a nomadic life. This lifestyle full of privations came to an end as Nicolas fell ill and died,…
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Dangeau’s Diary, March 1685
4th. — There was a little carousel. It consisted of two quadrilles, the quadrille of the Christians was composed of myself, representing Charlemagne, Monseigneur as Zerbin, Monsieur de la Roche Guyon as Aquilan le Nuir, Monsieur de Liancourt as Griffon le Blanc, the Prince de Tingri as Renaud and Monsieur d’Antin as Roland. This quadrille was dressed in black and…
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Catherine Monvoisin, fortune teller, sorceress and poisoner
France was shaken by a scandal of enormous proportions in the late 1670’s, l’affaire des poisons, in its center the King, various women of the best noble families of France and a woman called La Voisin. Catherine Deshayes was born around 1640 and married Antoine Monvoisin, sometimes spelled Montvoison. He was a jeweller with a shop at Pont-Marie, in…
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Anne-Marie Martinozzi, Princesse de Conti
Born in 1637, as youngest daughter of Comte Girolamo Martinozzi and Laura Margherita Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, Anne-Marie came to France in 1648 together with her mother and sister Laura. Mother and daughters lived first at Aix-en-Provence, then in the Palace of her brother and finally settled at the court of Anne d’Autriche, in the apartment of the…
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Dangeau’s Diary, February 1685
4th. – Madame de Montespan has this day returned from Paris, where she had passed two or three days during her absence, the King went every evening after supper to Madame de Maintenon’s. I learn that the Dauphine named, at the commencement of the ball, those who were to lead off the dance with the Princesses of the blood; this…
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A very handsome door, or the first meeting of Louis XIV and his bride Marie-Thérèse
Marriage in the 17th century was mostly a matter of politics, either that of a country or family politics to rise in rank or preserve it. Grooms and brides hardly knew each other, or in case of Louis XIV and his Spanish bride, had never seen each other before. Their marriage was part of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, thus…
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Philippe-Jules Mancini, Duc de Nevers
Filippo Giulio Mancini was born on May 26, 1641 in Rome as second son of Girolama Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, and the Italian aristocrat Lorenzo Mancini. Just like his sisters, he adopted the French version of his name upon being brought to France. Cardinal de Mazarin had not only just great plans for his nieces, but also…
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Olympe Mancini, Comtesse de Soissons
Born on July 11 in 1638, as Olimpia and third child of Lorenzo Mancini and Geronima Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, Olimpia adopted the French version of her name, Olympe, as she came to France along with her sister Laura Mancini, her brother Paul and cousin Anne Marie Martinozzi. The first set of Marazin relatives in France, which quickly…
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Hortense Mancini, Duchesse Mazarin
Born on June 6 in 1646, Ortensia was the second youngest of the Mancini sisters, who along with their Martinozzi cousins were known as les Mazarinettes. Ortensia was six years old as she arrived in France with her sisters and like them, swiftly adopted the French style of her name, Hortense. She was part of the second group of…
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A day in the life of Louis XIV…
From Levee to Couchee, Louis XIV followed a strict schedule, as did all the members of the Court, all regulated like clockwork, allowing the officers in the service of the King to plan their work as accurately as possible. “With an almanac and a watch, you could be three hundred leagues from here and say what he was doing”. – Saint…
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Marie-Anne Mancini, Duchesse de Bouillon
Born in 1649, to Girolama Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, and Lorenzo Mancini, a Baron and necromancer, Marie-Anne Mancini was the youngest of the five famous Mancini sisters, who along with their Martinozzi cousins became known as the Mazarinettes. Marie-Anne Mancini was the last to join her sisters, brothers and cousins in France. Aged only 6 upon her…
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Château de Saint-Cloud, Une Histoire.
There is a gem, just west of Paris, which once was a place as grand as Versailles, the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud. Close to the banks of the Seine, on an elevation with a magnificent view of Paris, stood a much admired château, surrounded by a large park, fabulous bosquets and fountains. The Russian Tsar Peter I was there in 1717,…
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Dangeau’s Diary, January 1685
1st. — The King gave Monseigneur, le Grand Dauphin, a New Year’s present of four thousand pistoles, besides the fifteen hundred he allows him monthly. He also presented Monsieur with a similar gift. 2d. — The Nuncio came, on the part of the Pope, to solicit a month’s delay for the Genoese. The King replied, that he was resolved to…
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Thoughts on Versailles, the Season One Summary
What a ride that was, hm? Love, sex, murder, torture, blood, plotting, we had it all.
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Thoughts on Versailles, Episode Ten
THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS, SO PLEASE REFRAIN FROM READING IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE EPISODE YET. IT IS LESS OF A REVIEW AND MORE OF STATEMENT OF WHAT I THINK OF THE EPISODE ALONG WITH SOME HISTORICAL FACTS AND WHATEVER CAUGHT MY ATTENTION AS YOU CAN READ HERE.
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The Grand Lever of the King
If you are Louis XIV, you can’t simply get up in the same way like the peasant down the road or the Vicomte in the chambers above you. Non, your awakening needs to have style and be of grand proportions, just like everything else. It needs to be of a dimension big enough to remind everyone of the fact that…
