Original subtitles

in the 17th century there was only one

place to see and be seen the palace at

first saw the greatest legacy of louis

xiv the son king louis xiv spent a

whopping 72 years on the throne during

his reign he turned france from a

country wracked by civil war its dukes

and nobles constantly at each other's

throats into the most glorious and

powerful state in europe and he came up

with a way of running a royal court

that's never been beaten key to his

success with this his palace of

versailles i'm lucy Worsley chief

curator at Britain's historic royal

palaces and I'm Helen caster a historian

with an unhealthy interest in court

politics and intrigue together we're

taking a look at the new French produced

drama

being shown on the BBC it's set during

the building of Versailles this was a

world where life revolved around endless

court rituals where fortunes rose and

fell with the latest fashions and we're

the quickest way to Royal favour was

through the Kings bedchamber - Jadhav

behind the facade louis xiv survival

depended on his creation of Versailles

it was his power base his safe house and

the gilded cage in which he trapped his

enemies never before had a king and his

entire court lived together in a single

Palace this was a new type of building

for a new type of ruler it was a huge

risk it could all have gone horribly

wrong but if anybody could pull it off

it was louis xiv

Louise Palace at Versailles sprang from

surprisingly humble beginnings even the

Kings only brother Philippe was in for a

shock I am about to drag this country

out of the darkness and into the light

we must build our own destiny right here

a new France will be born and this

palace will be her mother palace that

one

our fathers hunting lodge Versailles

the dilapidated hunting lodge and the

tiny hamlet around it was buried in the

countryside 12 miles from Paris the only

link between Versailles and the Capitol

was an old drovers tract it had been

used for bringing cattle to the markets

of Paris in other words their site was

in the middle of nowhere the seat of

power was Paris the royal residence was

the palace of the Louvre the nobles had

their homes close by which meant they

could attend on the king and still enjoy

Fallon Society in the capital and vive

la différence but Louie was passionate

about outdoor pursuits he really enjoyed

country life he began to spend more and

more time at Versailles

Loui expected his courtiers to join him

but not everybody wanted to travel out

into the sticks you really are out in

the wilds here

that's a porous non-existent the sooner

we return to pass the better and even

after the Dukes and duchesses the counts

and mark eases had made it out to

Versailles there was no a decent for

them to stay according to Matt under 7 a

after one visit to Versailles the

courtiers were in a fury because they

said the King didn't take care of any of

them and there was scarcely a hole to

take shelter in the courtiers came up

with a new witticism a bon mo Versailles

they said is a mistress without merit

but the modest hunting lodge was about

to have a makeover when I hosted a party

here a few years ago we did not have the

room to accommodate my friends most of

them had to take rooms in town so I'm

building some myself 400 apartments will

talk

Loui incorporated this hunting lodge

into his plans and it's still there

right at the heart of the later building

Louie added additions that are still

known as the envelope literally

enveloping the original building from

sleeping a cozy 15 or so extra guests

this first phase of construction

provided room at Versailles for 600 of

loonies closest friends and that was

just the start but Louie didn't build

Versailles to be nice to his chums he

did it for the survival of the monarchy

you might be forgiven for wondering why

Louie the 14th would go to such lengths

to keep his throne safe as a royal

historian it's hard to think of another

ruler who comes across as so supremely

confident Louie inherited from his

mother a passionate belief in the Divine

Right of Kings the idea that Kings were

like little mini gods who ruled on earth

in case anyone had missed the point but

Louise Berthe he was given the name of

dear dawn a given by God this is because

miraculously he was his parents first

surviving child after 23 years of

marriage a gift from God indeed Lois

took these ideas very much to heart

Louis self-glorification knew no bounds

he had himself painted in the guise of

Roman emperors as Alexander the Great

even as the omnipotent Greek god Zeus no

hero was too glorious no God to mighty

to escape the comparison and Louie took

his his personal emblem a symbol he

fought fitting for his dazzling godlike

status

the son

the Sun is this Center the heart the

mother of the universe without its

warmth and light all life is gone man

will cease to exist one could almost

believe he was talking about him

Louie was a master of propaganda but

then let all this grandstanding deceive

you in some ways it was a sign of

weakness if he had been absolutely

powerful and totally secure on his phone

then he didn't have bothered Louie had

learned that being King was a dangerous

business are you scared of course you

are if history teaches us one thing it

is this terrible things happen to Kings

Luise greatest fears were founded in the

deep divisions within the country he

inherited in the 17th century France

wasn't by any means the unified nation

we know today different regions have

different laws customs even different

languages and vast parts of the country

were controlled not directly by the king

but by great noblemen the north and east

who defies me they're the Duke of

Cassell Sam to my mind the commands

great influence half the nobility are in

his debt

his family have occupied those lands

since before memory these Nobles had

huge independent powers in the regions

they dominated they didn't even have to

pay the Kings taxes so the king was

locked in a deadly power struggle

constantly competing with the nobles

Louie knew only too well how vulnerable

he was and he'd known it pretty much

since the day he was born during Louie's

childhood the monarchy had tried to

wrest control from the nobles the result

was a bitter civil war in 1651 while

Louie was staying in Paris a riot

erupted the violence came a little too

close to home

the mob broke into the palace and

demanded to see the young king they

marched into his bedroom where Louie

pretended to be asleep

the royal family managed to escape but

Louis was traumatized

the incident had a profound effect on

Louie from that moment on he saw Paris

as a crucible of danger where the people

and the nobles could plot against him

never again would he let chaos and

violence threaten his very being for

Louie

the safest place from which to rule was

not Paris but Versailles mislay our own

foundation here what are you so because

I will not be the king of Paris I know

who I am

I'm louis xiv I'm king of France

to prove who was in charge Louis made

himself an absolute monarch he declared

he was the sole ruler of France and set

about reining in the power of the nobles

this is your king's new law stripping

away the dignity of a true noble

defiling the reputation of a man whose

family forms the bedrock of this country

now once not long ago we knew where we

stood but now we must prove ourselves

now we must sing for our suppers now the

king says I am France but I say it is we

who are France

in this battle Louis had some subtle new

tactics in his armoury Louis solution to

the problem of his neighbors shows just

how good he was at wielding what you

might call soft power keep watched and

learn from the mistakes of other Kings

like Charles the first of England for

example he had taken up arms to defend

his royal prerogative and look what

happened to him but Louie wanted to wage

war with refinement he planned to

devastate his enemies with his

hospitality he was going to overwhelm

them with fancy titles that didn't

necessarily mean anything and above all

he intended to emasculate them by making

them do trivial jobs in his household

here at his new country home of

Versailles

it's no bigger than a broom cupboard as

a matter of fact I believe it was a

broom cupboard

welcome to versa Louie loved to play the

host he kept his course he is busy with

gambling feasting hunting and to top it

all fabulous parties

Louie made sure his dazzling hospitality

would always be remembered let's have a

look at our massive book of pictures of

one of Louie's parties and here is

Versailles looking extremely splendid

these specific drawings were of an

entertainment called the pleasures of

the enchanted island that's a very

alluring name ain't it it is although

after six whole days and six whole

nights I'm not sure how alert anyone

would have felt it was an epic party

based on an epic poem the frenzy of

Orlando the lead role was Roger could it

be possible that Roger himself was

played by the king I think you might

have spotted Louie's role for himself

here right in the middle on his

magnificently rearing horse is Roger I

wonder who is in charge of casting

Louie was a natural showman he had a

reputation as a fine dancer and he never

missed an opportunity to display his

talents but here the real star of the

show was Versailles oh look at this this

is the marble courtyard in the heart of

the palace isn't it decorated with

orange trees on either side to make it

look even more beautiful

splendid hundreds of candles all around

the top look at them standing on the

ledges inside the windows it's true it

was beautiful enough before but now it's

transformed into a nighttime spectacular

and look here's an orchestra say this is

a musical performance and they seem to

be dancing on the stage oh it says it's

a ballet that's right

and a ballet al says a tragedy in music

composed by Louie's own court composer

jean-baptiste Lully one of the greatest

musicians of his day only the very best

for Louie the King was at pains to make

sure his guests didn't miss a single

detail of his palace

one visitor gushed that the festivities

astonished the spectators by their

magnificence novelty and pomp

now this really is a scene isn't it a

nighttime scene of fireworks and

illuminations the palace in the

background the fountains in the

foreground what do you think Helen was

the point of this book of engravings

this is a big PR exercise these are

impressive pictures even centuries later

in black and white but for the rest of

Europe in 1664 this is how you do it so

Louie compiled all the engravings gave

them to ambassadors who then take them

home to their own European king or queen

and say look and learn this is how they

do it in France this is the way to hold

a party and not just in France but

specifically at Versailles forget Paris

that was yesterday's news Louis wanted

the eyes of the world to be on the

palace that he was building once Louie

had captivated his courtiers with the

entertainment server-side he found other

ways to keep them in full to him to keep

everybody in their places Louie

turned his life into a kind of public

spectacle every minutes of every day was

filled with these weird rituals

something quite ridiculous which all the

courtiers had to follow as if it were a

religion all the noblemen that caught

him are required to present themselves

at the appointed hour Dukes before

Marquis I believe

I'm with the Duke only a few however

will be given the privilege of entering

observing and in some cases

participating taking part in Louie's

daily routines was a strictly controlled

business only a chosen a lease could

share in his more intimate moments the

most important ceremony was the king's

levy his rising in the morning it was as

essential to life at Versailles as the

rising of the Sun at eight o'clock sharp

the curtains of the state bed were drawn

back to reveal the king he may not have

slept here but he had to get back in

time and then he was greeted by his

valet good morning

next in came the Kings physician to

check him over his chamber pot was

carried out and this is really nice in

came the Kings nurse that he'd had since

he was a child to give him his good

morning kiss

then came the privileged few who had the

right to attend what was known as the

gand entree they were all highborn

nobles and they helped the king into his

shirt

it sounds menial but it was a huge honor

all you do is designed to be seen and

admired dressing shaving drinking and

eating they are no longer actions but a

performance everything you do is a

display of wealth authority harmony and

modesty and last but by no means least

Pyatt

Louis thought of himself as a god and

now he was worshipped like one even the

most powerful nobles were forced to bow

and scrape but observing Louis strict

daily routine could reap rewards the

clockwork timing of Louise day meant the

courtiers always knew exactly where the

king was and what he was doing and that

meant they could engineer meetings with

him opportunities to ask for the favors

that only the King could give like other

monarchs the King had the power to

transform a courtiers fortunes but Louis

had his own special criteria for

granting requests as Louie progressed

for mass courtiers would line his route

pressing on either side desperate for a

word in the Kings ear if they succeeded

in catching his attention they might ask

a favor for a friend

but if Louis thought that that

particular nobleman hadn't spent enough

time at Versailles he turned the request

down with the words we never see him I

don't know him

it was as if that noble had never

existed the message was clear

Porteous had better sharpen their elbows

and fight their way to the front of the

queue if they wanted to get ahead in

life they had to put in the hours at

Versailles Nobles were now too busy

vying for the Kings attention to plot

against him and they weren't allowed to

go back to their country seats where

they could have fermented rebellion it

was all part of this strange cult that

the Sun King it's as if Louie used his

magnetism to trap his Nobles here in the

gilded cage of Versailles

now Louie could get on with enjoying the

pleasures of life

and there was nothing he enjoyed more

than the ladies he pursued one beauty

after another married and single

highborn and low not for nothing was his

time in power known as the reign of love

here are some of Louie's leading ladies

now kings of fonts often has two wives

one a wife the business in Louie's case

it was Maria Teresa of Spain it was her

job to represent an alliance with

another country and to give him his

official children or heirs but then he

would have a wife for fun a mistress or

in Louie's case mistresses at any one

moment the chief of them was called the

Mitra Steckler ray the declared mistress

I think it's very French but she had the

sort of semi official job title louise

de la Valliere was louise first Mitra

Steckler a the story of Louise de la

Valliere is intertwined with the story

of first sight itself because Louie was

falling in love with her at the same

time as he was falling in love with the

idea of his palace they held twists

there and the Magnificent party the

pleasures of the enchanted Isle was held

to celebrate their love

now Louise's position as chief mistress

was far from secure the other ladies of

the courts all had their eye on Louis

and he was all too susceptible when

Louise came on to the scene knew he was

already having run on a scandalous

relationship with Honorius of England

she was wait for this his brother's wife

and his own first cousin

springers from

and there were plenty of other

contenders vying for luiz de la

Vallieres prized role of chief mistress

enter attend ace the Montes pan how many

of you had I do not call because why

would one more make any difference hard

to say without partaking why is that

surely after a certain time it's just a

number is it not it depends on the

number pattern aris was devastatingly

intelligent and confident and prissy and

manipulative she made friends with

Louise in order to get close to their

king false friend I am boring and you

are funny perhaps when he returns make

between a good mood for me talk to him

make him laugh if he's naked humor I

might just have a chance did you do that

it was like a try

now Louie didn't stand a chance he fell

under the spell of attorneys very soon

he just had to make love to her three

times a day and he was so keen that he

would start to undress her even before

her ladies had left the room and she was

equally enthusiastic it was said that

her powder lit very easily it wasn't

long before attorneys usurped her

so-called friend Louise and took her

place at the top table

battening reigned supreme as official

mistress for the next decade and it was

during this time that lois fulfilled his

dream of creating a palace not just fit

for any old king but fit for the sun

king now the gardens on this side will

extend from here to here very good sire

what is this large rectangle here a lake

you wish to put a lake in this area the

area is the lake that is a big lake yes

sire a lake that size would dwarf any

structure that looks out upon it that

depends on the structure does it not

nothing could stand in the way of Louise

grand plans he drained swamps move

forests and diversity rivers to make way

for the world's most opulent royal

playground its size and splendor

trumpeted Louise wealth and power but a

project worthy of such a prince required

a workforce to match

palace was under scaffolding for years

at a time

and the gardens here looked pretty much

like a quarry up to 36,000 people were

slaving away here and they were laboring

under conditions you could only describe

as horrendous Builders toiled from dawn

till dusk a common bricklayer earned

five sous a day about the cost of a tiny

piece of butter accidents were so

frequent that three hospitals were built

to deal with the casualties and even in

his exalted position Louis could not

quite escape the hardships that his

workers endured

you say you are France if attorney were

hick no are suffering it feed it in your

bones and you take that pain away

builders went on strike in a bid to

improve their lot the grievance is not

many sire many suffer from injuries

sustained at their work but are as yet

untreated they claim that working

conditions are too harsh not enough

attention is paid to their safety is

this true

we lose half a dozen men per week sire

many more injured from the archives I've

dug out a document that gives a

real-life example of Louis being brought

face to face with the human cost of

Versailles in the summer of 16 68 there

was an accident involving some of the

heavy machinery in use at Versailles

that's reported here in the gazette of

amsterdam we're told that there was an

accident and some debris fell and

underneath it were caught five or six

workmen who VA who were crazy de su it

caused a what this crush crushed crushed

underneath crushed to death I will think

of them five or six and that's all we're

told one sentence at this point but we

get a little bit more detail a few days

later when the King was confronted by

the mother of one of these poor dead

workmen she managed to get close enough

to ask the King if she could have the

body of her son back the newspaper says

with many insults directed at the king

now whether that's exaggeration for

journalistic effect or what the King

felt had happened you think it was quite

shocking that she just got close enough

and dared to speak to him absolutely

that someone of her status should be

able to speak directly to the king

himself in terms that were not

complimentary and it didn't go well for

her we're told that she was put in

prison where she still is locked up the

newspaper says stay hang on

Louise machine has crushed to death this

woman's son she is asked for his dead

body and

that she's been put in prison she has

the human cost of his great enterprises

is irrelevant to Louie in comparison

with his ground purposes the question is

to what extent this is representative of

something bigger more characteristic of

Louie's rule as a whole well I guess you

could say this is an absolute monitoring

his job the needs of the state must come

first he has the power to override the

trivial needs of the individual but he

does seem to me that there's something

really cold and uniquely determined

about Louie himself I will not be pushed

into the sea by a builder on a scaffold

Louise determination and his

ruthlessness made him many enemies but

he had ways of keeping one step ahead of

anyone who might plot against him you

might think that surveillance is a

modern concept but Louie who was

insecure to the point of paranoia kept a

watchful eye on everyone no one

understood better than Louie that

information was power that is one of 948

journals gathered by our services

detailing every single member of your

court the height weight hair and eye

color their daily movements from your

valet to your cooks assistant Madeleine

Dubois and Louie even knew everyone's

inner most thoughts how because all male

to and from Versailles was intercepted

historian James de Bell is guiding me

through the lost world of 17th century

espionage this is so much more

significant anomalous atmospheric than

licking the fluff as it is it is we

really feel like this is a special thing

to do now we're going to get our seal

which is a fleur-de-lis peel it away

slowly and there we are

that's not married so if we got this

letter in the post you would know that I

had sent it and that's it hadn't been

tampered it couldn't be tampered with

yes theoretically it's secure but at the

course of Versailles we know that

Louie's espionage masters were reading

the letters how did they do that when

they were sealed up with wax this is a

dark art we have an example of a letter

from a court here close to the king in

which she warns a German cousin about

this opening of letters and she writes

just because letters are poorly sealed

does not mean anything

they have a material made of mercury and

other stuff that can be pressed onto the

seal where it takes on the shape of the

seal after they've read and copied

letters they neatly resend them and no

one can see that they have been opened

so that method involves making a replica

of the original seal absolutely and once

you have that you're then able to open

and reseal people's correspondence all

the time that's pretty sneaky stuff and

James what happened to the people whose

mail was red then countries are their

knowledge once he found that you were

talking in a critical tone about his

court his policies his friendships you

would be out of favor and so many

courtiers were destroyed in this way

this surveillance state that he develops

in the 17th century is incredibly

powerful and it's used to keep tabs on

the courtiers at the very heart of his

power base at Versailles

disloyal courtiers

wise up so Louise tactics and found

other ways to convey their messages with

all this surveillance going on there was

only one way to keep a secret you had to

write it in cipher secret I have

identified this as a Cistercian codex in

the Low Countries very rare almost

forgotten used it appears as an

alternative to Roman numerals so these

are merely numbers which correspond to

letters but lui

Beach the quarters of their own game by

employing cryptographers to crack the

codes the first message is very simple

kill the men will bring this map the

second one is more intriguing the riddle

in fact

the end is near make your peace with God

to make sure his own messages remained

secret you engaged the services of

Antoine Lawson yong hwa senior was the

greatest cryptographer of the 17th

century he came up with a code that was

so complex that after it fell out of

regular use it baffles cryptographers

for centuries it was called the great

cipher all this secrecy sounds extreme

but it worked after all Louis wasn't

assassinated

but the Kings paranoia grew in this

world of fear and intrigue who could he

rely on as so often Louie didn't put his

trust in the most powerful men in the

land potential rivals all but those with

whom he spent his most intimate hours

his chosen servants and there was one

servant who was forever by Louis side

his valet for over 40 years

Alexander Banton bomb top was the first

to see the King in the morning and the

last to tuck him up in bed at night he

was one of the few people allowed to go

through the gate in the golden

balustrade into the king's private area

that the bedchamber bond told himself

slept just here on a camp bed

the first Valley was the only person

allowed to sleep in the Kings bedchamber

not even the Queen could do that

constantly vigilant attentive to every

need he was like a faithful old hound my

god Charlotte yes it's a ray of sunshine

Bolton's devotion to Louis

dominated his life almost to the

exclusion of his own family when asked

one day how his wife was doing he

automatically replied I'll ask the king

you have a woman my wife lives in Paris

with you I live with the king now I am

confused

wherever the Kingsley precisely as this

is as far as I go

his bed must be very crowded Banton knew

everything about the Kings most private

affairs all personal correspondence went

through his hands and he acted as a

go-between for Louie and his lovers it

was said that bond tom was most secret

most faithful and entirely devoted to

the King this was one of Louie's closest

relationships pull up a chair

I said a chair not still a chair with

arms

their King may sit next to his majesty

in the chow hall you are more than a

king

you're my friend

so could louis xiv and his trusty valet

really have been friends what do you

think Kings were surrounded by servants

all the time there was huge intimacy

there but real friendship the difference

in status made that much more

complicated

it does seem though that Louis was more

at ease with his retainers than almost

anyone else ah and there is the evidence

of the Duke of San Simeon who says that

the King loved his servants more than

his own children in return for his

devoted service Louis showered bontar

with gifts of land titles and lucrative

posts Banton could even afford a

townhouse in Paris with his own staff of

twelve Louie didn't just elevate his

personal servants he made a point of

promoting ministers for more humble

backgrounds and his decision to promote

them at the expense of his Nobles

brought about a change in the way that

fonts was governed it began what the

resentful sassy monk called

the reign of the vile bourgeoisie Louie

transformed life at court down to the

smallest detail he even changed what

people wore from the hats on their heads

to the shoes on their feet

Luise own love of drama and splendor was

reflected in his wardrobe

this was power dressing Louie the 14th

style

I must tell you all I believe that very

soon we shall have a revolution in our

country the world knows France to be a

master of the battlefield the one

glimpse around this glorious place will

tell you soon it will be our textile

Mercer's and our master tailors who

shall transform the world our fashions

will be revered just as much for their

beauty elegance refinement and grace the

finest in the world to achieve his ends

Louis introduced a strict new dress code

we are trying it on for size with the

help of costume historian Mark Wallace

how did he make his Porteous look the

way that he wanted them to by the Royal

edict you cannot wear anything not made

of French manufacture so if you're

caught wearing something made from a

different country if we take off and

burnt and find of course - it is

something that never had happened before

we should to invent a court uniform

covers just a court a breve now these

coats are entirely new made of blue

cloth covered in gold and silver lined

with red only fifty men the king they're

all Dukes the princes etc were allowed

to wear this coat that really showed you

were in with the in crowd and if you

died your coat we handed on to the next

person considered suitable enough to

wear it so he sees hidden the carrot and

the stick they want to look like that

part of the club they want to look good

and if they break the rules they get

fined

yes and of course it suited Louis ego

the more splendid his court looked the

better he looked and was the envy of all

Christian princes thanks to Louie France

became the capital of oak Kuchar

something it's remained to this day and

Louis found that forcing his courtiers

to follow fashion had other advantages

so how much of an investment would an

outfit like this of be so you have

around your your color of is Bertha as

it's known this would be the equivalent

around your shoulders of perhaps very

expensive sports car perhaps even a

yacht

you also have lace upon your gown down

the front and all around the hem of the

skirt again just to show your wealth or

your husband's wealth and your

extravagance how turning to Lucy again

with your coat made of silk and of

course the gold galloon running down the

front vertically on your coat the

wonderful detail lots of buttons made in

France of gold so really everything is

the best yet you've got to afford not

just one outfit you had to have lots of

different outfits for lots of different

occasions all of which cost a fortune

this one is nice will be more than just

a dress a filigree bracelet and a

necklace of diamonds believe me but how

will we pay me worry about that

what happened if they couldn't afford it

we're so expensive it would bankrupt

people so you borrow from the king at a

certain interest level and that gets you

deeper in your a roll circle of debt on

you it's incredible how he managed it

like the spider and the great golden web

it was typically clever of Louie to use

fashion to show off his courtiers wealth

while at the same time stripping it away

from them as one Marquess said no one at

Versailles was really rich because

they'd spent their fortunes on all this

the ruthless side of Louie's nature was

also evident in his treatment of his

closest relative his brother Philippe

now give it to me I knew it the minute

you get the chance you belittle me again

brother the magic word what is it do not

forget who addresses you

you never were good at sharing

throughout history the relationship

between a king and his younger brother

has been tricky it's no fun being the

spare when he want to be the heir and

the relationship between Louis and his

younger brother was understandably tense

it's hard to be a king try being a

king's brother for a day the differences

between Louie and Philippe were clear

from very early on here's Louie as a

little boy and he's already dressed as a

little king in his beautiful leather

boots his red breeches with gold

fringing his hat with the white plume

and at first glance you might assume

that this is his sister he looks like a

girl with pink cheeks and wearing a

dress but actually it's Louie's younger

brother Philippe now don't read too much

into this little boys in the 17th

century were put in dresses until they

were old enough to be breached at the

age of 7 put into a man's clothing or

breeches but in this case the boy's

mother was determined that Philippe

should never present a threat to Louie

to this end she nurtured his feminine

side she called him my little girl and

she always encouraged him to wear

dresses this had a lasting impact on

Philippe Philippe you don't

as an adult Felipe's sometimes chose to

dress up as a woman and he loved ladies

clothing

one quart chronicler said that he would

always decked out like a woman covered

everywhere with rings bracelets and

jewels with a long black wig he also

wore such high heels that he looked like

he was wearing stilts so good of you to

come

pleasure he spent 15,000 on shoes well

you haven't seen the shoes

madame de lafayette said that the

miracle of inflaming the heart of this

prince was not reserved for any woman

Philippe was married to Henriette of

England but his true love was the

Chevalier de Lorraine a handsome

blond-haired nobleman of princely rank

he'd lived with Philippe who was a sort

of male official mistress

it was a crowded marriage

phillipe flaunted his femininity

everybody knew that he had male lovers

on the one hand this was an

embarrassment to Louie but on the other

it meant that Philippe served as a foil

to the king they were two halves of a

whole a perfect double act Philippe's

lack of manliness only served to

emphasise Louie's masculinity but as it

turned out and perhaps surprisingly for

a man who loved shoes so much

Philippe would upstage his brother in

one crucial area Philippe dreamed of

being a soldier in the 1670s when France

was at war with Holland he demanded to

join the action I have a sort armor and

a horse why the delay when will I go to

war the king is not yet sir to date what

am I supposed to do until then

in the spring of 1677 the French

launched a rapid attack on enemy-held

towns in northern France

Philippe was finally posted to the front

line

at the Battle of Cassell he commanded

the troops and personally led the charge

eyewitnesses said that he charged like a

grenadiers Phillippe fought so bravely

that his troops were inspired to perform

miracles

the result a complete victory against

the Dutch

afterwards on the road back to Paris

people shouted long live the king and

Monsieur who won the battle Louie didn't

like the sound of that

Louie made sure that when the Battle of

castle was painted it represented his

version of events in this glorious

painting the battle rages a gun is fired

and a soldier falls and here in the

thick of the fighting is the king on his

walls in his white plumed hat but in

life not art Louie wasn't even there the

hero of the hour was Philippe and

where's he here stuck in the corner in

his brother's shadow

Sene nursing a bump on the head at

Versailles Louis receives word of his

brother's victory we report with joy the

success of the Kings in future he

against the troops of the Spanish siege

is now laid to the tone of Cambre at

last some good news most remarkable of

all heroes present in the King's name is

His Majesty's own brother Prince Philip

the Duke of all Lille who has shown

bravery on the battlefield

that's enough news whenever a true and

everlasting hero I said enough and so it

was in real life Louis was so jealous of

his little brothers achievement that he

never again put him in charge of an army

no one could outshine the Sun King

if Louie was the Sun Philippe was the

moon only allowed to shine in his

brothers reflected glory

at first sigh everyone revolved around

the Sun King Louie officially moved the

seat of government and installed his

court here in 1684 and for the remaining

30 years of his reign he only returned

to Paris

eight times it was a staggering

transformation in the way the French

monarchy ruled Louis had created the

ultimate power base five thousand souls

living firmly underneath the royal thumb

it's tempting to see all this crazy

ritual and extravagance as just another

example of absolute power corrupted

absolutely you'd think that this

combination of luxury and cruelty would

lead to violent collapse but in Louie's

case it didn't the country was no longer

torn apart by feuding Nobles and France

became renowned for its culture and

sophistication on his deathbed Louis

pronounced I depart but the states will

always remain well remain it did at

least for a while and what will surely

always remain is Louie's Palace of

Versailles

could you survive as a court yet at the

Sun King in Versailles go online and

test yourself at BBC couch UK / I wonder

and the first episode of BBC Two's

sumptuous an epic new drama Versailles

is available now on BBC iPlayer

you