0:00:06 > 0:00:08Bonjour, and welcome to Inside Versailles.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Well, we've seen a pretty grisly amputation and we've seen
0:00:11 > 0:00:14the Duke de Cassel lamenting the fact he doesn't have fire insurance.
0:00:14 > 0:00:15So that's not gone well for him.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18We've also seen, of course, the rise of a new mistress,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Athenais, who is Louis's new paramour.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25There's a new girl on the block and she's glamorous, she's beautiful.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28One problem - she's got a husband.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31- Ah.- And that's difficult because some husbands will put up
0:00:31 > 0:00:33with their wives being mistresses to the King.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35They'll think, "Oh, well, I'll get money out of it."
0:00:35 > 0:00:36Not this one.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40He gets pretty upset, so we don't see any of this in the drama.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43We do see Athenais saying, "I hate him, I never want to see him again."
0:00:43 > 0:00:44But he tries to get VD.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47He says, "I'm going to try and get a venereal disease,
0:00:47 > 0:00:49"give it to you and then you can give it to the king."
0:00:49 > 0:00:51And doesn't he even hold a funeral for her?
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Yeah, I think he does throw this fake funeral to say,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56"You're dead to me. You know, my wife is dead
0:00:56 > 0:00:57"and this woman now is a harlot."
0:00:57 > 0:01:00So clearly, he's not enjoying the fact that he's been
0:01:00 > 0:01:02cuckolded by the king of France.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Well, Greg, another thing we saw in this episode
0:01:04 > 0:01:06was the fabulous entertainment in the gardens.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09And to tell us more about this, we're joined here
0:01:09 > 0:01:11- by Dr Linda Briggs. Hello, Linda.- Hello.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13What is this a picture of here?
0:01:13 > 0:01:14Another big Louis party?
0:01:14 > 0:01:17It is. So this is one of Louis's festivities -
0:01:17 > 0:01:21not the one we see in the drama, but from 1664,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24which is entitled The Pleasures Of The Enchanted Isle.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26And this was a festivity that was supposed
0:01:26 > 0:01:29to be in honour of his mother and his wife,
0:01:29 > 0:01:31but was tacitly acknowledged as being also
0:01:31 > 0:01:35an homage to his mistress, Louise de La Valliere.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38And we can't quite see all of the things in the picture
0:01:38 > 0:01:40but the festivity was quite exciting
0:01:40 > 0:01:42because it involved a tournament,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46it involved a comedy ballet by Moliere and Lully and also
0:01:46 > 0:01:51three separate plays by Moliere including the premiere of Tartuffe.
0:01:51 > 0:01:52And this is an engraving, isn't it,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56that Louis created of the wonderful party and then sent out everywhere
0:01:56 > 0:01:59to make sure that everyone knew that he threw the best parties?
0:01:59 > 0:02:01- Exactly, this is... - And you weren't invited.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04This is something he chose to do himself and he had it
0:02:04 > 0:02:06magnificently illustrated, sent to all the European courts
0:02:06 > 0:02:09- so they could see what they were missing...- "Ha-ha-ha".
0:02:09 > 0:02:11..and also what they ought to be doing
0:02:11 > 0:02:13to show that they are as thriving in their state as he is.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15So this is propaganda, this is PR.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17This is a way of making everyone else jealous?
0:02:17 > 0:02:18Yes, exactly.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20And there was all kinds of exotic stuff, wasn't there?
0:02:20 > 0:02:22There were fireworks, the menagerie was out
0:02:22 > 0:02:25and I believe there were even ornamental whales...
0:02:25 > 0:02:28- There were.- ..coming down the Grand Canal as the grand finale.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31And part of the reason why Louis had to have these parties outside
0:02:31 > 0:02:34was because there was no room inside.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Exactly. As we're seeing in the show, he's still in the process of
0:02:37 > 0:02:41building Versailles, and some of the rooms just aren't big enough to hold
0:02:41 > 0:02:44the number of people at court, of which there are thousands.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47So he has most of it in the gardens, which at this point are landscaped.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49So it's quite a nice place to be.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53So you've said that this party is, in theory, to celebrate
0:02:53 > 0:02:57- his queen and his mother, but he's throwing it for his mistress.- Yes.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Is this his way of showing off?
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Is he doing this for other people?
0:03:01 > 0:03:04A way of demonstrating his greatness and his power?
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Yes. Well, he's doing it for his mistresses as almost
0:03:07 > 0:03:09like a peacock with a feather.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13But he's doing it for the nobility at large for a number of reasons -
0:03:13 > 0:03:17it's his means of trying to create control over his nobility,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21so he's trying to divert them, he's trying to give them
0:03:21 > 0:03:24something to do so they're not creating coups against him.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26He's also trying to communicate
0:03:26 > 0:03:30that it's going to be a very prosperous age, a new golden age.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33So he's throwing, what, ballets, masques?
0:03:33 > 0:03:35What's going on in terms of the entertainment,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38musically and theatrically? You mentioned Moliere and Lully -
0:03:38 > 0:03:40what are they composing for him?
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Well, there's a genre of play at this time
0:03:42 > 0:03:46which is the comedy ballet, which doesn't actually have a plot,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48it's just a series of set pieces,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52which was originally designed so there could be vast costume changes.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Great costumes and bling and glitter...
0:03:54 > 0:03:55Why not? Exactly.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57He's the Mariah Carey of the 17th century.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59LAUGHTER
0:03:59 > 0:04:03So, yes, there are some pastoral scenes which involve dancing.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Then there are musical interludes
0:04:05 > 0:04:07while the costume changes take place.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09So it's just a sort of grand affair
0:04:09 > 0:04:12that Louis himself will have been involved with
0:04:12 > 0:04:15and a lot of the other nobles as well who are all dancing together,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18supplemented with professional dancers as well.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21But I should say that Louis XIV was actually
0:04:21 > 0:04:23a really fantastic ballet dancer,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27so he doesn't need the professional dancers all that much.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30So in the drama, we see Louis watching his entertainments
0:04:30 > 0:04:33but in reality, he would have been centre stage.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Exactly, he would have been the star.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40He takes part in a number of ballets from 1653 up until 1669,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44and he is almost always the centre of it, usually playing Apollo.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46- Mr Prima.- Exactly.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49And he has all the nobles dance around him,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51which he uses to reinforce the hierarchy of court
0:04:51 > 0:04:54where everyone has to congregate around him.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56He is the sun and they are the planets.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59So Moliere is one of my favourites - I've read a few of his plays
0:04:59 > 0:05:02and they're pretty satirical, they're full of jokes.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04But he pokes a lot of fun at the rich and powerful.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08How does that go down, given that the audience is rich and powerful?
0:05:08 > 0:05:12This sees the premiere of Tartuffe, which is a very satirical play
0:05:12 > 0:05:14about an impostor who comes into a family
0:05:14 > 0:05:18and turns everything upside-down and pretends to be very pious
0:05:18 > 0:05:20but in fact is very not pious.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23And it's banned almost immediately by bishops.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27And Louis, for his part, actually doesn't mind it -
0:05:27 > 0:05:29he thinks they're quite funny and he really respects Moliere
0:05:29 > 0:05:31and is quite a good friend of his.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34But even he agrees that it can be banned.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36But the satire tends to go down quite well at court
0:05:36 > 0:05:39because it's all quite tongue-in-cheek.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42So he's a patron of the arts but he's also politically savvy,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44- he knows when to put his foot down? - Yes, exactly.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46So this was 1664.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50In the drama, we're seeing a big entertainment in 1668.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51Does that really happen?
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Yes, it does, and in fact it dwarfs the 1664 ceremony.
0:05:54 > 0:05:55It was bigger and better?
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Much bigger, the best that he throws, actually.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Crucial question - are there whales?
0:06:00 > 0:06:02No, there are dolphins and there is a giant bronze dragon.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- Oh, what else do you need? - That's OK, that's fine.
0:06:05 > 0:06:06Exactly. Who needs a whale?
0:06:06 > 0:06:08So the drama suggests that this festivity
0:06:08 > 0:06:12was actually created in celebration of the end of the war.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15- But the ceremonies took up to two years to put together...- Heavens.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17..so it was started much earlier.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20And in fact, in the account that's sent out to all the different courts
0:06:20 > 0:06:23in Europe, it specifically says that the ceremony has been put back
0:06:23 > 0:06:25because Louis has been at the front.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27So they've been sitting there with all their fireworks going,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29- "Where is he?"- Just waiting. - Awkward.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31So Louis really was a party king,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33but it was also party politics at the same time?
0:06:33 > 0:06:34Exactly.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37Thank you so much, Linda, it's been great to have you with us.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38So, what an episode.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Join us next week for some more Inside Versailles.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43- Bonsoir.- Bonsoir.