Versailles season two… what happened and what not?

In spirit of last season’s what happened and what not, we shall look at season two as well. If you have not finished the season yet, you should probably not read any further, because spoilers.

Did Rohan get executed for kidnapping the Dauphin?

The Chevalier de Rohan never managed to kidnap the Dauphin, but he was executed for planning to do so. Unlike in the show, his tongue was not cut out nor was he blinded first. Rohan did not lose his head in Versailles either. He was executed on the grounds of the Bastille in Paris. More about it here.

Is Madame Agathe real?

She is not. She is one of many fictional characters, which have been inspired by historical ones. In her case, the inspiration is a certain La Voisin. A Parisian sorceress with connection to the court. More about her here.

What about Father Pascal and Father Etienne?

Father Pascal is fiction, but father Etienne is real. His full name is Étienne Guibourg and he was part of La Voisin’s clique of friends. He is a priest that turned to the dark side of things and performed magic rituals.

Who else is fictional?

Apart from Madame Agathe and Father Pascal, Fabien is still fictional and so are Claudine, Sophie, Gaston de Foix and his mama, the Duc de Cassel, Thomas Beaumont, Colbert’s niece Isabelle and the nun that once was a Duchesse.

Was one of Louis XIV’s ministers poisoned?

If someone died a sudden and fast death, people always suspected poison to be the cause. In 90% of the cases, no poison was involved and the cause of death a natural one 17th century history could not understand yet. As for Louis’ ministers, none of them was poisoned. Yet it is indeed true that some people attempted to poison others in order to gain wealth or positions at court.

Did Philippe act as replacement for the King?

Non. That never happened. It is true that France made a deal for better trading access, but Philippe had nothing to do with it nor did he ever act as replacement for his brother.

Did Madame de Montespan’s daughter die?

Madame de Montespan had quite a few children. Two of them, a son and a daughter, with her husband. This daughter died not yet aged twelve. With the King, Madame de Montespan had seven children. The first-born daughter died aged three. Their third child, a boy, died at the age of ten. The fifth child, a daughter again, died aged six. You can read more about Madame de Montespan here.

Did Madame de Montespan care so little about her children?

If you compare your mother to a 17th century noble-woman mother, you would probably come to the conclusion the noble woman was a bad mother. Although children were of much importance, it was not fashionable for a 17th century woman to care for her children by herself. Once born, the children were given into the care of people who knew much better how to take care of them, thus the mother might have had not that much contact with them. Some mothers did take more interest in their children than others as well. In case of Madame de Montespan it was a little difficult, since her children with the King had to remain hidden from the world for a while. Thus even if she wanted, she could not have visited them too often. She did visit them on several occasions and she had an interest in them, but her interest was more regarding to what they could be once grown up. The death of her children did always affect her greatly in the later years. In case of the first-born daughter with the King, it is said that she did not care too much. Madame Scarron took the mother-role for the children instead.

Did Madame de Montespan try to poison the King and did black masses? 

It is not quite clear what happened and what did not happen in regards of Madame de Montespan and those matters. She was named by people and accused to have tried to win the King’s love by performing black masses, in which she acted in at least once as an altar, and was accused of putting love potions in the King’s drink and food. Whether that is true or not, nobody can say for sure. The people who accused her of doing this, accused her as they were in prison and tortured. One of those people also said that Madame de Montespan wanted to poison the King as he had no interest in her anymore. You can read more about it here.

Did the Chevalier de Lorraine point a gun at Philippe?

The chances that this actually happened are very slim. Just like the chances of him wanting to shoot himself.

Did the Chevalier de Lorraine gamble Philippe’s money away? 

He did spent quite a bit of Philippe’s money, but contrary to what he is like in the show, the actual Chevalier had a bit of money himself and also several properties. He never sold drugs either to get money. Click here for more talk about the Chevalier.

Did Louis make the Queen Regent as he went to war?

He did this. It was tradition to do it, but contrary to what is shown in the show, the Queen had far less power. The historical one had no clue about how to rule, since she was never taught and had no interest in it. Here‘s more about her.

Did Louis XIV fall in love with Madame Scarron and made her a Marquise?

Yes to both. She came to court as the widow of a poet and acted as governess for the children of Louis and Madame de Montespan. Louis got to like her after a while and made her a Marquise. He also fell in love with her. You can read about her life here.

If you have some more what happened and what not questions, leave a comment below and I make sure to add them.