When the Sun Kings Reign Again

Imagine not existence able to sleep in on Sundays, or have a late breakfast, or (tragedy of tragedies) not being able to go to the bathroom lone in peace...

While nosotros may occasionally feel envious almost the lives of the rich and famous, this snapshot of a day in the life of Louis Xiv should assistance us feel very grateful for what we have.

Just think about it... wecould accept been born into the court at Versailles, our lives regimented with armed services precision. Worse, we could have been born the King, every moment crowded with onlookers, and despite our name, the Sun Male monarch, or Le Roi Soleil, near equally free as a caged leopard.

Given the choice, I'd have to turn information technology down, just that doesn't mean I can't be merely a little curious.

The young King Louis XIV

Louis Quatorze , as he is known in France, was an unlikely male monarch.

He was merely four years erstwhile when his begetter, Louis 13, died. His mother took over and became regent while his godfather, Fundamental Mazarin, became chief government minister. (The cardinal and the queen, by the mode, did NOT have an affair, every bit is oft suggested.)

Together, these two co-conspirators ruled France and brought up the young male monarch as a young king should be.

The little rex was precious: It had taken his parents almost 2 decades to give birth to a son, so they called him Louis-Dieudonné, significant "Gift of God". He would grow up actually believing this.

Yes, he was raised to believe he was supreme in pretty much every mode, including spiritually. If you disobeyed him, therefore, y'all would be sinning.

The deeply Catholic young man would forever believe he was the heart of, well, the universe.

It is legal because I wish it.

—Louis XIV

And why was Louis Fourteen called the Sun King?

It'south a name he gave himself!

He saw French republic every bit a kingdom that revolved effectually him, just like planets revolved around the sun. (This theory, called heliocentrism, was but a few decades old, by the way; before and then, anybody was convinced the lord's day revolved around the world...)

So when Mazarin died in 1661, Louis disappointed everyone: he was at present 22, and he decided he was an adult. He refused to appoint a replacement and much to his mother's distress, he simply took over, ushering in an era of absolutism, or absolute power, which is 1 of traits we retrieve about about this Louis.

Powerful as he was, King Louis the Sun Male monarch might, by our gimmicky mensurate, have had absolute power over the lives and deaths of his subjects. What he did not have, however, was power over choosing when to go to the toilet.

The emergence of Versailles

When Louis Fourteen was a child, things in France were messy.

A ceremonious war calledLa Fronde made information technology incommunicable for him to stay in Paris, and later in life he never actually took to the capital. He far preferred the hunting guild at nearby Versailles, where he had played as a boy, and quickly began to transform it into what would become the grandest and virtually opulent of palaces.

In 1682 he moved permanently to Versailles, along with theentire court — courtiers, their families, their servants, and all the trades needed to service what was in effect a 700-room home to thousands (on whatever given day, 3000-10,000 people made up the courtroom at Versailles).

Nobles had no choice: they couldn't choose to live in their own homes. If they were away, Louis would detect and their chances for advancement (or even sometimes survival) would evaporate. So they stayed put, bound by the strictest protocol, in a suffocating atmosphere in which their lives were led at the whim of a dictatorial (though non unkind) monarch.

Every single day, the king would rise at the aforementioned fourth dimension, swallow at the same time, play or work at the same time, and rigorous rules of etiquette would be applied to every unmarried one of his activities. And of class, the court would have to autumn into step.

And by the way, this wasn't all Louis's idea — this heavy etiquette began under François I, a century or so earlier, built-in of a need to codify even the smallest of the king's movements just to highlight his superiority to the residuum of the population.

On a more practical level, managing a bureaucracy of thousands in the days before electronic mail or Whatsapp did require complete predictability and perfect system.

a twenty-four hour period in the life: Louis Fourteen daily routine

Like the balance of us mutual mortals, Louis XIV would start his 24-hour interval the same mode: by waking up.

Waking upwards at the Palace of Versailles: King Louis in the morning time

At viii:15, the king's valet would awaken him, though we don't know how. Did he nudge him? Whisper in his ear? Shake the regal person by the shoulder?

What we do know is that the valet poured a drop of wine into the king's easily and a chamberlain entered with holy water, which the king used for a quick sign of the cross. He would then, propped upward in bed, attend a mini-mass.

In one case the Petit Lever (or Little Awakening) was over, the rex would rise, put on his slippers and bathrobe, and prepare to be fabricated presentable.

At 8:30, the royal medico and surgeon would give him a quick check-upwards. Important nobles, family members and a few favourites would be allowed into his bedchamber while he was being readied — done, combed and shaved.

And and so would the Grand Lever, or primary awakening, begin.

The rex would so sit on his "business chair" (yes, the toilet) and do his businesswhile his barber combed his beard. The hairdresser would also position the rex's "coincidental" wig (he would change it later in the day to something heavier and more than ceremonial — he did, subsequently all, own about thousand of them). By the manner, attending the male monarch during his "business concern" was a much-prized position for which nobles would vie. That said, I'thousand non quite sure what the "attention" office involved...

At this point, countless helpers of every stripe would be helping the king change from his nightshirt into his twenty-four hour period wearing apparel. Up to a hundred or and then (male) spectators might exist watching all this, including notables, guards, wardrobe officials and close royal servants.

Finally, at ix:00, it was fourth dimension for breakfast, normally herbal tea or vegetable bouillon. The king would take a few minutes to choose the day's menus, the master of the clocks would make certain the king's timepiece was right, and the hairdresser would switch the king'southward wig to the more formal model.

So, at 10am, the king would atomic number 82 a procession forth the extraordinary Hall of Mirrors, which separated his grand lodgings from the queen'due south. Well-wishers would be lining the gallery, hoping for a glimpse of the king or, even better, an exchanged word or a slipped note.

The rex would glide away to the imperial chapel for mass.

Versailles: Louis XIV goes to the office

It might take only been a walk down the hall but under this Louis, Versailles was very much a place of piece of work.

At eleven, having saturday through mass, the male monarch looked forward to ii hours of piece of work with his council of ministers (Monday and Wednesday), his gardeners and architects (Thursday), his ministers of finance (Tuesday and Saturday) and on Sunday, he dealt with the state of the nation. Fridays were set aside for affairs of conscience, especially confession.

In these many councils and gatherings, the king would listen a lot, speak little, and then decide.

Food, finally!

It's a rather long fourth dimension to become without nutrient (perhaps he grabbed an apple from a basin on his way through the Hall of Mirrors) but lunch would simply be served at 1pm.

And while it might seem at first sight that the rex only worked two hours a day, that was not the example. He was always "on" — talking to courtiers, dealing with crises, signing documents (few things escaped his eye). The 2 hours before lunch were merely his "function hours".

This meal was relatively private. Louis is believed to accept eaten alone, although some records say he would exist joined by nobles, the same ones who watched him do his business organisation earlier that morn. Not all historians concord and in some versions, only his brother Philippe would nowadays during this smaller meal.

Or, in this case, Molière

All work and no play at the court of Louis XIV?

With his abdomen full and the country at present under control, the king would plough to play in the afternoons.

He loved to hunt until an injury and an anal abcess (which was eventually cured)  made riding too painful, and he would take long walks in the gardens of Versailles (stunning, then equally now). He would often invite someone along, maybe an architect, or a gardener. On rainy days, he would hang out with the ladies.

By 5pm information technology was time for a snack, possibly some pâté and pastries, and a quick trip to the chapel.

Effectually 7pm, Louis would render to his rooms for some family time and a bit of relaxation, peradventure some music or a few card games, or maybe fifty-fifty a dance or two.

The biggest meal of all

At 10pm, well-wishers would crowd the male monarch's antechamber as he readied for the Grand Couvert, or main dinner. His immediately family would sit with him but many would accept had to remain standing.

Tasters stood past to sample every dish and drink, the king ever in fearfulness of being poisoned.

Finally, sated, the king would rise, greet the ladies who were function of court life at Versailles, and take his get out.

Counting sheep

And then, at 11:30pm, his morn routine would outset again, merely in reverse.

The room would be crowded, but thin out as bedtime neared.

The merely difference with the morning ceremony was the appearance of a candle servant: it was dark, different morning, and electricity was withal a couple of centuries in the future.

Belongings the candle was, by the way, a much-desired task and a truthful honor, handled by a unlike notable each dark.

No other era like it

24-hour interval in and solar day out, throughout the reign of Louis Fourteen (which lasted a whopping 72 years and made him the world's longest reigning monarch), this precise system of etiquette was applied.

But just because things happened at a preordained 60 minutes didn't mean they happened in exactly the aforementioned way all the time.

The king, active and athletic, was well known for his mistresses, several of whom achieved supreme condition, had his children and somewhen saw them legitimized.

Our purpose today isn't to talk about history or the accomplishments of Louis Fourteen but for context, it's worth knowing that during his life, the arts flourished and he brought many things to French republic, from fashion to international diplomacy. The country became unbelievably prosperous and France'south sway over Europe was unequalled. He ancestral us every possible literary and creative university, and he bequeathed united states of america Versailles.

Merely the king had overreached: his wars eventually led to defeats, debt and famine, and citizens rebelled. Much to history's chagrin, the deeply Catholic monarch eventually revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had given Protestants the right to practice. This made baptism compulsory and forced some 200,000 Huguenots, as they were called, to flee the country and seek religious freedom elsewhere. In his opinion, his faith was the only faith.

This king, whose daily being was so perfectly stage managed, died of gangrene in 1715. He died much equally he had lived: in command of his emotions and environment, an absolute monarch until the end.

Yet his legacy was non as solid equally one might have idea.

While his artistic, architectural and political accomplishments were remembered and extolled, the ability he wielded at court would never once more be applied with such precision by time to come monarchs. Information technology would take some time, but Louis XIV's descendants would somewhen lighten the heavy ceremonial system, with public awakenings and beddings becoming increasingly rare.

Louis XIV was unique in history, and that is probably a good thing.

facts about louis XIV (Probably Far more yous demand to know)

• While Louis technically became king at the age of four, in 1643, he did and so under the watchful middle of his female parent and Central Mazarin. Only at Mazarin's death in 1661 did Louis really step in and personally rule.

• It'due south impossible to tell pinnacle from the images of Louis XIV — simply what you tin  run into are the high heels and tall wig, which all hints at a modest stature. Information technology is said he was nearly 1m62, or v'iv".

• Louis was fascinated past the Far East and received dignitaries (they were called "embassies") from China and Thailand during his reign.

• Sun King Louis Fourteen married his first cousin, the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain, to mend fences with Spain.

• He was unfaithful throughout life. We can count iv official  Louis Xiv mistresses, and at to the lowest degree xiii unofficial ones. Antonia Fraser details his amorous life in Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King.

• Louis was a lover of the arts, especially trip the light fantastic toe (he is reputed to take been quite light on his feet). He founded a number of academies — of Scientific discipline, of Painting and Sculpture, of Music, of Danse, of Opera, the Naval Academy, Purple Academy... in other words, he was seriously into arts and learning. He besides supported iconic playwrights similar Molière and Racine.

• The American state of Louisiana is named after him.

• All of Louis's male heirs (you had to be male to article of clothing the crown) died before he did, with i exception: the great-grandson who would become Louis XV.

• Louis was buried in the St Denis Basilica but his torso was dug out and destroyed during the French Revolution.

• Louis discriminated. He supported the slave trade and forced slaves to be baptized. This was all laid out in his infamous Code Noir, which outlined the conditions of slavery in French republic's overseas possessions.

and a few final quick fAQs nigh louis XIV of france

Where did Louis XIV alive?

The king spent most of his life at Versailles but before it was "rebuilt", the royal residence was the Palais-Purple, in the centre of Paris, which he hated considering of riots that terrified him when he was a child.

When did Louis XIV rule?

fourteen May 1643 - 1 September 1715

How many children did Louis 14 take?

17 that we know of.

When did Louis Fourteen die?

1 September 1715, a few days before his 77th birthday.

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Bonjour - je m'appelle Leyla!

But don't be fooled by my proper name... My Turkish father may accept won the naming battle but my mother, with 10 centuries of Frenchness behind her, won the teaching war.

And she passed on her fascination with French republic to me.

This Offbeat France travel blog goes beyond the baguette -– we explore curiosities, oddities and mysteries, searching for legends and backstories, all wrapped upward in a passion for history. (Forth with plenty of food stops and many castles – I am French, after all.)

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