0:00:06 > 0:00:07Bonjour!
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Welcome to Inside Versailles, where we have seen...well,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12new people arriving at court, which is a good thing,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15but we're seeing poisonings - bad thing.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18What are the kind of pressures at court for these new families
0:00:18 > 0:00:20arriving and why is that contributing to
0:00:20 > 0:00:23a sort of atmosphere of murder and intrigue?
0:00:23 > 0:00:26To us, Versailles is so beautiful, so glamorous but, to them,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29it was cramped and dark and damp.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32And also, they were crammed in with the people they hated most.
0:00:32 > 0:00:37Unsurprisingly, you not only got jealousy, cruelty and rivalries,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41but also we're starting to see just a little bit of poison and murder.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43And maybe we'll see some more.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46The other thing we've seen is Athenais dancing in
0:00:46 > 0:00:50a pretty tight-fitting corset and now going into labour.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53It's interesting because Athenais is the maitresse-en-titre -
0:00:53 > 0:00:55she's the official mistress, she's got all the power.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58She is legit, in some ways, and yet there's still pressure on her
0:00:58 > 0:01:01because, actually, the Church isn't too keen.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04And here we're seeing a portrait of Jacques-Benigne Bossuet,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07and we've seen tonight he's been remonstrating with the King
0:01:07 > 0:01:11and with Athenais, saying she's got to give up the affair -
0:01:11 > 0:01:13it's scandalous and immoral.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17So he is the main religious figure at court, isn't he?
0:01:17 > 0:01:20So Bossuet's quite supportive of the absolute divine right of
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Louis to rule, but he is not supportive of his rather
0:01:23 > 0:01:28dubious morality and, of course, the great problem with Athenais -
0:01:28 > 0:01:30unlike Louise de La Valliere, who we saw in Series 1,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34flagellating herself, devastated - Athenais simply doesn't care.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39She does it for show and she's openly and obviously Louis' mistress,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42and that really sets her in opposition to Bossuet,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44who thinks this is disgraceful behaviour.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49So she is scandalised at court and, as you say, the Church is conflicted
0:01:49 > 0:01:51on this because you can't criticise the King,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55but you can perhaps try and set a moral guidance.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58And we know from history that Louis regularly went to confession
0:01:58 > 0:02:02and he sometimes would skip the sort of basic Eucharist because
0:02:02 > 0:02:04he felt guilty about things.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08And sometimes the priests would give him an unconsecrated host
0:02:08 > 0:02:11so it looked like he was taking communion, but he wasn't really.
0:02:11 > 0:02:12But you might say,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15why does the Church put up with Louis behaving in this immoral way?
0:02:15 > 0:02:16And it's really because their interests are
0:02:16 > 0:02:19so tied because what they think is that Louis'
0:02:19 > 0:02:24going to impose Catholic orthodoxy on France and get rid of the Protestants,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27and also get rid of some of those very annoying
0:02:27 > 0:02:30- Catholic sects.- Yes, they're called the Jansenists.- Oh, horrors!
0:02:30 > 0:02:35And they are quite a weird bunch because they believe in predestination -
0:02:35 > 0:02:39they believe that only a certain set of people are going to be going
0:02:39 > 0:02:42to heaven, that God has already decided who they are in advance.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44And, to Catholics, they go, ooh!
0:02:44 > 0:02:45That's not how we do things around here.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48And Bossuet will be saying, no, no, no, as long as you do the Seven Sacraments
0:02:48 > 0:02:51and all the things a good Catholic does, you go to heaven.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54- And Jansenists say, well, you know, maybe not.- Maybe not.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57And that's scary because it means that some people might not
0:02:57 > 0:02:59get to go to heaven, even if they're good Catholics.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02And also, it takes away quite a lot of control from the priests
0:03:02 > 0:03:05- because the priests are the gateway to heaven.- Exactly.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08You have to do what they say, and if it doesn't matter what they say,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10- then that's pretty scary for them. - Absolutely.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14But this is also interesting cos it's about the Pope versus Louis,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17and Bossuet's sort of stuck in the middle because he's ultimately a fan
0:03:17 > 0:03:20of Louis, he's one of Louis' chief supporters,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23and yet it's the Pope who appoints him.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26It is, and we always see kings in opposition to monasteries
0:03:26 > 0:03:30because they're so powerful, they've got so much land, they've got so much money,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33but they're not answerable to the King - they're answerable to Rome.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36But it's interesting, isn't it, because you have the Chevalier de la Reine,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38who couldn't be more wild in his behaviour?
0:03:38 > 0:03:42But he is the titular head of four abbeys,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45- so so many powerful aristocrats are linked to these monasteries. - Absolutely.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49So they are bases of not only religion and not only money, but also of power.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52It also sums up a singular battle going on at the courts
0:03:52 > 0:03:56between the faction...the devout faction called le Devout and then
0:03:56 > 0:04:00also the party aspects of the Palace - the glory, the glamour,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02the sex, the rock and roll.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06So there's a man here at odds with himself, isn't there?
0:04:06 > 0:04:09He's torn between being the playboy king and being the good Catholic.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Let's see how the series progresses.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15- Join us next week for more Inside Versailles. Bonsoir!- Bonsoir!