In a few minutes I’m going to tell you more about the history of the Palace of Versailles and the people who lived there after Louis XIV, as I promised in my post last week. But, before I do that, I want to tell you a bit more about King Louis XIV himself (who had the palace built in the first place) and why he was also known as the Sun King.
I thought perhaps it was because he was good and kind and so the people of France called him the Sun King because they thought the sun shone out of him, but Mum says it was just the opposite.
Instead of being good and kind, he was so arrogant that in the early years of his long reign he adopted the sun as his personal emblem.
He did this because he seriously believed that not only the members of his court but also the whole of France – and possibly the rest of the world as well – revolved around him, just like the planets revolve around our sun.
And, as if this wasn’t bad enough, he also felt and showed nothing but contempt for his subjects, believing that it was their duty to provide for his over-the-top luxurious lifestyle, no matter how poor, cold or hungry they were themselves.
On the other hand, through various wars against the Dutch, the Spanish and the English, he managed to gain more territory for France both in Europe and overseas. This meant that by the end of his reign France was probably the largest and richest country in continental Europe – with most of the wealth and all of the glory going to the king.
However even the wealthiest and most powerful people don’t live for ever and eventually in 1715 Louis XIV died, just a few days short of his 77th birthday. But, because he’d reigned for so long, he’d already outlived his son and his grandson and so he was succeeded by his great-grandson who became Louis XV at the age of five.
As well as inheriting the kingdom of France and all its territories from Louis XIV, however, Louis XV also inherited his great-grandfather’s contempt for his people. And, although the country was wealthy when he became king, this situation gradually changed. The economy began to slow down, while a series of unsuccessful wars cost a lot of money and lost some of the territory which had been gained under Louis XIV.
But Louis XV didn’t care. Instead he spent lavishly on the interior of the palace at Versailles and also on the gardens which surrounded it, making them even more beautiful.
Special attention was paid to the part of the garden just to the south of the palace as not only could this be seen through the seventeen windows of the room known as the Hall of Mirrors, but also the image reflected back from each of the seventeen huge mirrors which were on the opposite wall, making it seem as if the room was surrounded by the garden.
And, though Louis XV had a wife – the Polish-born Marie Leszczynska – and they had two sons and eight daughters, he also had several mistresses. The best known – and favourite -of these was Madame de Pompadour…
…for whom he had the Petit Trianon built in the grounds of the palace at Versailles…
Other mistresses included Madame du Barry…
…and four of the five de Mailly-Nesle sisters!
No one is sure how many children these many mistresses bore him, but when Louis XV died in 1774 at the age of 64, he no longer had a legitimate son to succeed him. This was because one of the sons with his wife had died in infancy and the other one had died in 1765 at the age of thirty-six. Fortunately this son (also called Louis) was married – to Maria Josepha – and they had eight children, three of whom would go on to become king of France, as Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X.
I’ll have to tell you more about them in my next post, however, as it’s getting late and I’m getting hungry. So please take care, stay safe – and look out for some more tales from me soon!
Follow my next blog: 279. MY MUM THE STORY-TELLER – PART ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE
21/09/2023
Wilf the bear-faced blogger 