Although we spent most of our holiday in Paris itself, there was just time for a little excursion beyond the city. This was to the Palace of Versailles, one of the former homes of the kings of France.
Around 12 miles/19 km from the centre of Paris, the palace, its park and its gardens are now owned by the French government and it’s been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. But, as I’m sure you can imagine, its origins goes back long before that to a time when France was ruled by all-powerful kings who – very confusingly! – all but one seemed to have been called Louis…
From 1589 to 1610, however, France was ruled by Henry IV, the first of the Bourbon kings…
He spent some of his time at the Chateau de St-Germain-en-Laye, about 7 miles/11 km from the small village of Versailles.
Versailles itself was on an important route, connecting Paris with Normandy and the coast. It also had a large forested area with plenty of wild boar, deer and other animals which the king and his courtiers enjoyed hunting and killing.
Henry IV’s son, Louis XIII – who became King of France in 1610 just before his ninth birthday when his father was assassinated – carried on this tradition, having been taken hunting there from being a small child.
Because he was so young on his succession to the throne, however, his mother Marie de Medici – ruled as Regent for the first few years of his reign. This was a bit disastrous for France as she gave important roles to friends and family from her native Italy and of course they didn’t have French interests at heart.
This probably helped to turn Louis XIII into a quiet and suspicious man who enjoyed the peace and quiet of the forest around Versailles as well as hunting there. In fact, he enjoyed it so much that in 1623 – having rid himself of the influence of his mother and her friends – he had a hunting lodge built on part of the site now occupied by the Palace of Versailles.
He enjoyed spending time there, as well as at the Chateau de St-Germain-en-Laye and the royal palace at Fontainebleau where he was born.
But the hunting lodge at Versailles was comparatively simple and although he took his three-year-old son, the future Louis XIV, to live there briefly in 1641when there was an outbreak of smallpox in St-Germain-en-Laye, he never intended it to become a permanent home.
Like his father before him however, Louis XIV succeeded to the throne as a very young child in 1643 and ruled with the help of his mother, Anne of Austria, and various ministers. During this period he also enjoyed spending time at the hunting lodge – so much so that in 1661 he set about rebuilding it into the huge palace we can see today.
By 1682 enough work had been done for Louis XIV to move all his courtiers and ministers there from Paris and make Versailles their main residence, as well as his own. This not only gave them somewhere nice to live and work, but also meant he could keep his eye on them!
And, as well as all the work on the palace itself, vast amounts of work were done to create beautiful gardens where Louis XIV could put on lavish entertainments for foreign diplomats and statesmen, his family and friends – and even for his various mistresses over the years.
But all this work took time, as well as money, and when Louis XIV died in 1715 – after a reign which lasted 72 years – his palace at Versailles was still not quite completed. This job was left to his successors, Louis XV, followed by Louis XVI.
I’ll tell you more about those two – and the rest of the history of Versailles in my next post, however. Meanwhile I’ve found this lovely video of the palace and its gardens for you to enjoy…
Take care, stay safe – and look out for more from me soon!
Follow my next blog: 278. MY MUM THE STORY-TELLER – PART ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO
14/09/2023
Wilf the bear-faced blogger 