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Thoughts on Versailles, Episode Two
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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Thoughts on Versailles, Episode One
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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Philippe de Lorraine-Armagnac, dit le Chevalier de Lorraine
Born in 1643 (day and month unknown), Philippe was the second born son of Monsieur le Grand, Henri de Lorraine, pair de France, Comte d’Harcourt, d’Armagnac, de Brionne, and de Charny, Vicomte de Marsan and de Pagny, Grand écuyer de France, Vice-Roi de Catalogne in 1645, grand Sénéchal de Bourgogne, Gouverneur d’Anjou, and Marguerite-Philippe du Cambout. Philippe’s father, Henri, did his first…
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The Black Nun of Moret
There are many interesting tales that once circulated at the court of Louis XIV in form of juicy gossip and this one is especially juicy by all means. It is the tale of a dark skinned nun confined in a convent with the name Louise-Marie-Thérèse. Now, that isn’t too unusual by itself, but have a closer look at her name…
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Dangeau’s Diary, November 1684
4th. — Three new actresses were chosen for the King’s company and the Dauphine gave them an admonition to behave well for the future. 5th. — A play was performed in the evening. It was Mithridates, which the King had chosen, as his favourite play. The Princesse de Conti (Marie Anne de Bourbon, daughter of Louis XIV and Louise de la…
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L’Homme au Masque de Fer, The Man in the Iron Mask
We all know the story of the mysterious prisoner in the iron mask Alexandre Dumas tells us in his 1847 roman The Vicomte of Bragelonne and that has been put on the screen in various forms with various alterations ever since. Dumas tells us of a man imprisoned “for the good of France” shortly after his birth, this man is…
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Louis de Bourbon, Comte de Vermandois
Louis de Bourbon was born at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 2 October 1667 as youngest of five illegitimate children of Louis XIV and Louise de La Vallière. His three older brothers already died before his birth, Charles de La Baume Le Blanc in 1665, and Louis and Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc in 1666. Louis, named after his…
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Louise de Kérouaille
Born on 6 September in 1649, into a noble but relatively poor Breton family, Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, was the daughter of Guillaume de Penancoët, Seigneur de Kérouaille, and Marie de Ploeuc de Timeur. Louise was introduced, at an young age, into the household of Henriette d’Angleterre, Duchesse d’Orléans, sister of Charles II of England, and sister-in-law…
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What goes where, or how Louis XIV discovered beds are not only made for sleeping….
What goes where. An essential thing to learn, even more so for a King who has to father an heir and a few spare ones to make sure. In case of Louis XIV, we have some records as to how he learned what goes where and the woman who introduced him to the pleasure of horizontal bed gymnastics. Her name…
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Even a Sun King is not safe from being beaten up… by his brother.
Boys will be boys, brothers will be brothers, and no matter how great the love for each other, they will play pranks on each other and they will quarrel. This was not different as Louis XIV and his brother Philippe were children, yet in their case every little quarrel could lead to the outcry of a Kingdom and could be…
