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The Court Of Versailles Under Lou’S Xiv: Home To The Desperate, The Destitute, And The Debauched, Evelyn L. Cooper
The Court Of Versailles Under Lou’S Xiv: Home To The Desperate, The Destitute, And The Debauched, Evelyn L. Cooper
Young Historians Conference
“A nobleman, if he lives in his providence, lives free but without substance; if he lives at Court, he is taken care of, but enslaved.” A quote by a contemporary of Louis XIV, King of France and resident of Le Château de Versailles, Jean de La Bruyère reveals the more intricate reality of the Court in seventeenth century France. Versailles was not merely a royal spectacle, nor another French palace, it was a highly politicized project undertaken by Louis XIV with the express intent to devastate the noble class. This paper explores the means by which Louis weaponized Versailles and …