The Last Days Of Louis XIV – August 30, 1715
The gangrene spreads further. Dangeau notes “the leg was in such a state that it might have belonged to a man who had been dead for six months“.
Louis XIV can still swallow a little jelly and pure water, but his hands need to be held while he is fed, otherwise he would take it out of his mouth again. The King speaks from time to time, but has little consciousness of what happens around him. The despair of his doctors, servants and court. The sobbing of the ladies. The preparations of his funeral.
At around five o’clock in the evening Madame de Maintenon distributes her possessions amongst her servants, and drives off to Saint-Cyr. Never to return. The King wishes it so. Her despair pains him more than his leg.