0:00:06 > 0:00:08Hello, and welcome to Inside Versailles.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11So, Greg, fascinating episode, lots going on
0:00:11 > 0:00:14and Louise de La Valliere is on the way down.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Yeah, it's sort of a gradual decline for her.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19She's had a few years as chief mistress.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21- She's had a run. - She's had a good run.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24And she's had a few pregnancies, a couple of kids,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27but Louis's obviously starting to look elsewhere,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30and I think she's also starting to feel a bit left out,
0:00:30 > 0:00:32and we see that scene where she's now starting to think
0:00:32 > 0:00:34about maybe going to a convent.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37So the problem is that Louis liked witty, fun women,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41and Louise was virtuous, but not actually very witty.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44But Athenais, the lady-in-waiting to Marie-Therese,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46is really very clever.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49And that really did happen in real life, didn't it,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52that actually while both Louise and the Queen were pregnant,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54they said, "Athenais, will you look after the King?"
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Because they thought she wasn't a threat.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58- Bit of a mistake there. - Classic mistake.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00- Yeah, classic mistake. - Inviting your enemy in.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Exactly the same happened with Edward VIII's mistress - she said,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06"Oh, Wallis, would you look after him while I'm away in America?"
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Oh, dear. Got back and he was well and truly looked after.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10- Yes.- Oh, crikey!
0:01:10 > 0:01:14So, Athenais is witty, she's fun
0:01:14 > 0:01:16and she's also got a pretty mean tongue -
0:01:16 > 0:01:20she likes to insult people and Louis thinks that's hilarious, doesn't he?
0:01:20 > 0:01:21Yeah, Louis likes a strong woman,
0:01:21 > 0:01:23as long as they're not meddling in politics.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27- No.- But if they're sharp and witty and they can give him
0:01:27 > 0:01:30a bit of a back-and-forth banter, he enjoys that,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33and Athenais is a beauty, but she's also whip-smart.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Louis likes his girls around - he has them around him the whole time
0:01:36 > 0:01:39and also he does actually take them to battle with him.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Yeah, he's gone on tour with his ladies
0:01:41 > 0:01:43and he's presumably wanting to show off,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46he's taken them off to watch him fight.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48But on that note, we should probably get on to war actually,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50because that's what Louis loves doing most
0:01:50 > 0:01:53and that's what we've seen Louis and Philippe doing in this episode.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55So I think it's time we go and meet Dr Phil McCluskey.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Talk about battle.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59- Hello, Phil.- Hello.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03So, Phil, what's going on in this picture here?
0:02:03 > 0:02:06So this is a picture of a battle that took place during
0:02:06 > 0:02:08the War of Devolution.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10This is Louis that you can see here in the foreground.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12- Here? There he is.- There.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14- Right in the middle of the painting. - Exactly.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Looking at us, saying, "Look, chaps, this is my war."
0:02:17 > 0:02:18Indeed.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22This is a piece of royal propaganda, because in actual fact Louis
0:02:22 > 0:02:27turned up too late to this battle in order to play a real part in it.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29This is just after the Siege of Lille, which is...
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Louis personally commands.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34So they're showing the triumph of the French army here.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37- And maybe this is Philippe, possibly, here?- I think so, yes.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39We're not quite sure - could be him, looks quite similar.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42So he's in the background, he's hidden away. Louis's here -
0:02:42 > 0:02:45look at the triumph, look at the amazing success we've had.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Is that representative of what happened in the wars?
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Yes, and I think the fact, as you pointed out,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53that Philippe probably played a more prominent role as a commander
0:02:53 > 0:02:55than is being allowed for here.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Louis was very concerned and actually quite deeply anxious
0:02:58 > 0:03:01that he not be outshone by members of his family
0:03:01 > 0:03:04and Philippe was very much placed in kind of reserve.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07- Even though he was doing all the work?- Yeah.
0:03:07 > 0:03:08What is the War of Devolution?
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Cos, you know, you've introduced that idea.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13It sounds quite a complicated phrase.
0:03:13 > 0:03:14It's not a place, so...
0:03:14 > 0:03:17- There's no town called Devolution. - No.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19What is the reason for going to war?
0:03:19 > 0:03:22You know, we hear about the Duke of Cassel in the drama
0:03:22 > 0:03:25talking about a pretext for war - so a suggestion that there's
0:03:25 > 0:03:27something a bit dubious about the cause for war.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29How has Louis swung this?
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Well, a lot of the wars in this period actually were
0:03:31 > 0:03:34based on quite trumped-up legal arguments.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Phil, you're saying they just went to war for the sake of it?
0:03:37 > 0:03:39- Fancy! - Fancy(!)
0:03:39 > 0:03:42But, in this case, it's about inheritance.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47Louis uses his lawyers to claim that his wife, Marie-Therese,
0:03:47 > 0:03:52is basically the right heir to the Spanish Netherlands,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55based on the fact that, at their marriage, she gave up her rights
0:03:55 > 0:03:58to these territories conditional on a dowry.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00The dowry, however, was never paid.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03The Spanish Netherlands is sort of what we'd say as modern-day Belgium
0:04:03 > 0:04:06- and Luxembourg and bits of France and Germany.- Flanders.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09- Yeah.- But also bits of what we now think of as France as well.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11So Louis is adding territory
0:04:11 > 0:04:13that we now think of as being part of France.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16So he's... Has he created modern France, geographically?
0:04:16 > 0:04:20He's certainly pushing it in that direction to what we would recognise
0:04:20 > 0:04:21as France's borders today
0:04:21 > 0:04:24- which are kind of like, the hexagon, as it's called.- Yeah.
0:04:24 > 0:04:25So, glory...
0:04:25 > 0:04:29It's vital for a prince, it's vital for a king to go to war.
0:04:29 > 0:04:30You've got to be glorious.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32But, actually, Louis himself -
0:04:32 > 0:04:34does he really like leading from the front?
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Yes, I think he does, but I think he also accepts his limitations.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41He realises... He's aware that he's not the greatest commander.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44He actually has plenty of very competent generals
0:04:44 > 0:04:47so he's happy for those to lead on the battlefield,
0:04:47 > 0:04:52but he's directing strategy from his cabinet at Versailles.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54So he's sort of a weekend warrior. He likes to sort of turn up,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57do a couple of days of roughing it,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00feel like he's a soldier, and then he'll go home to his lovely palace.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Yeah. By this stage he's nearly 30, and I think he realises
0:05:03 > 0:05:05he's lead quite a frivolous life until this point.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08He needs some serious kind of military glory to prove his manhood.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12So, in terms of this treaty then, Louis arrives and says,
0:05:12 > 0:05:14"I've signed a treaty, the war is over.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16"Philippe, you don't get to fight any more,"
0:05:16 > 0:05:19which obviously annoys Philippe cos he's enjoying the glory.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22What is that treaty and has that been forced upon him?
0:05:22 > 0:05:23Has he opted into that?
0:05:23 > 0:05:25What's going on there?
0:05:25 > 0:05:27So this is the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Really it's not what Louis had in mind.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33His hand has been forced by the Dutch, particularly,
0:05:33 > 0:05:38because they get very alarmed at Louis XIV advancing towards...
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Closer to their borders.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42- As you would. - Indeed, as you would.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45And so they conclude very quickly an alliance with the English and
0:05:45 > 0:05:48the Swedish and this is basically saying, "You have to stop there.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50"If you don't stop then we'll all join forces
0:05:50 > 0:05:52"and force you to relinquish it."
0:05:52 > 0:05:55And they're Protestant, these three nations, this triple alliance?
0:05:55 > 0:05:58They're Protestant states, France is a Catholic state,
0:05:58 > 0:05:59so there's sort of tension there.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01But France and the Netherlands, the Dutch,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04have been allies for a century or so.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07So is this a sort of new shift in direction for his foreign policy?
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Is Louis now thinking of the Dutch as the enemy
0:06:10 > 0:06:12and Spain is in the rear window?
0:06:12 > 0:06:14He doesn't take the Dutch as a rival,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17he just thinks of them as sort of meddlesome.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20He thinks it's very ungrateful considering all the help that France
0:06:20 > 0:06:24has given to the Dutch over the last century fighting the Spanish.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26So he decides that they need
0:06:26 > 0:06:28putting back in their place, basically, after that.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31And the other tricky thing for him of course is
0:06:31 > 0:06:32he's married to a Spanish queen.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35He's got Henriette-Anne at court who's English,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37he has friends and allies who are Dutch.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Is it ever complicated for him declaring war on a rival nation
0:06:41 > 0:06:45when he has people from those nations living in his court?
0:06:45 > 0:06:49No, I think that's fairly standard for this time is that they accept
0:06:49 > 0:06:51the part of the French dynasty,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54the ruling dynasty now for all intents and purposes.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Unfortunately, on that note, we've run out of time.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58- But thank you, Phil, it's been a pleasure.- Thank you, Phil.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And thank you for watching at home. Hopefully you'll join us next week.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03- Bonsoir.- Bonsoir.