0:00:06 > 0:00:08Bonjour. Bienvenue a Inside Versailles.
0:00:08 > 0:00:13Yes, we have seen some pretty steamy orgies in this episode,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16and you might think that's just scandalous sexing-up of the past!
0:00:16 > 0:00:19But, actually, the 17th century
0:00:19 > 0:00:22is a time where sex and pornography are widely available.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24It's amazing when you look at economic,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27political tracts of the time, and they use language
0:00:27 > 0:00:29of seduction as opposed to a more appropriate language.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32- And, of course, that is why it's so important at Versailles.- Absolutely.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35And there are handbooks being sold.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37L'Ecole Des Filles is the great tract of the 17th century
0:00:37 > 0:00:39that is full of smut,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43but it's also a handbook on how to seduce a man, how to enjoy sex.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46This is, in some ways, a feminist tract that allows women
0:00:46 > 0:00:48to enjoy the pleasure of sex with a man.
0:00:48 > 0:00:49I think, certainly,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52there was no way in which you could succeed at Versailles unless you
0:00:52 > 0:00:57were a woman who was experienced in the sexual wiles, such as Montespan.
0:00:57 > 0:00:58Well, I think, on that note,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01we should probably find out more about aphrodisiacs and
0:01:01 > 0:01:04some of the things that are helping this sex happen at court.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07And we are joined by a historian who knows all about that -
0:01:07 > 0:01:08Dr Jennifer Evans.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11- Hi, Jennifer.- Hello.- Hello. - Thank you for joining us.
0:01:11 > 0:01:12And the first thing, really,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14we should talk about here is love potions.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16The difficulty is, we don't necessarily know what was in
0:01:16 > 0:01:18a lot of love potions.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20I mean, the word potion can cover any liquid,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24whether it's medicinal, a poison or anything with occult properties,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27so it's something hidden or slightly magical.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29But you would probably go to your local cunning person,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33wisewoman, and they would have their own concoction that you could buy.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36And there's some suggestion that women might put menstrual blood
0:01:36 > 0:01:40in a love potion and create that kind of physical connection.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Did these really work, do you think?
0:01:42 > 0:01:44There's a whole range of different kinds of things,
0:01:44 > 0:01:46and they work under the medical model of the time,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48so the humeral model of the body,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52which favours heat for sexual activity and for conception as well,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54so anything that's kind of heating.
0:01:54 > 0:01:55Mustard seed, rocket,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58pepper - they would all be considered kind of aphrodisiacs.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01For men and women, or are we talking just dosing the bloke?
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Those that work for men and women and, of course,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06we need to remember this is an era in which the majority of
0:02:06 > 0:02:09people still believe that both a man and a woman need to reach
0:02:09 > 0:02:13orgasm in order for a conception to happen and for sex to be successful.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16There are some aphrodisiacs that are much more specific.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21Men's bodies are thought not just to need some help for stimulation,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23but also for maintenance.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25Beans and peas are described as windy meats,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29and before they've really picked apart the anatomy of the penis,
0:02:29 > 0:02:31they think that it's kind of a gut and you can just fill it up
0:02:31 > 0:02:35with wind and then that will help things along.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38- So it fills up like a windsock?- Yes, a little bit like a windsock.- OK.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40And then, towards the end of the 17th century,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42they start to really understand the anatomy of the male body
0:02:42 > 0:02:46a little bit more, and those things go by the wayside.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Um, but there are some very, very famous aphrodisiacs that are
0:02:50 > 0:02:52available at this time, and we have one on the table, just here.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54What have we got?
0:02:54 > 0:02:58So this is a Spanish fly, also known as Cantharides, and it's a very,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02very well-known infamous, one might say, aphrodisiac in the era.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05We've heard about him in the drama - people are using him.
0:03:05 > 0:03:06What do you do with it?
0:03:06 > 0:03:09You would powder it up and then either strew it on top of
0:03:09 > 0:03:12your food or maybe take it in a drink of some sort.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15And the French surgeon Ambroise Pare actually lists it in
0:03:15 > 0:03:18his tract on poisons rather than medicines.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19And what does it do to me?
0:03:19 > 0:03:23The way it works is by blistering and heating the skin,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25and people take it internally and, of course,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28the burning and blistering stimulates blood flow to
0:03:28 > 0:03:30the reproductive organs and genitals,
0:03:30 > 0:03:35but it also causes corrosion and ulceration and, eventually, death.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38A midwife writing in the 17th century says that one of
0:03:38 > 0:03:42the problems with this Spanish fly is that it will cause priapism,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45which is a continual erection that can't go down, and she says
0:03:45 > 0:03:48that's more problematic than if a man never has an erection at all.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52So, in this painting, we've got what looks like a wife and
0:03:52 > 0:03:56a husband consulting someone who's dealing in some interesting goods.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Does that suggest that it's almost family planning?
0:03:58 > 0:04:01It's always very interesting - there's lots of discussions
0:04:01 > 0:04:04amongst historians about who's doing kind of family planning.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07That tends to be seen as something more a woman would do.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11And this is the 17th century and it is very patriarchal so, often,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14if there's a problem conceiving or a problem with sexual ability,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16the first port of call is to blame the woman.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18So the woman has to put herself through all these cures,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21all these potions, all these efforts to try and create a child.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24I think we need to think a bit more about, as you say,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26women's roles in all of these things.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30Divorce is particularly difficult in early modern Europe,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33but separation can happen if your husband is impotent and,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37again, it's women we see making complaints about
0:04:37 > 0:04:39their husbands' sexual abilities.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43And then we have a whole kind of system in place for
0:04:43 > 0:04:45establishing whether or not these women are telling the truth.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48And so, women themselves might be put through what's called
0:04:48 > 0:04:49a trial by matron,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52where they'll be assessed to see if they're still a virgin.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54If their virginity's intact, then it suggests that their husband
0:04:54 > 0:04:57has not been able to consummate the marriage.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01And if that doesn't work, there's something called trial by congress,
0:05:01 > 0:05:03where the couple are literally placed in
0:05:03 > 0:05:06a room with spectators, and the couple are expected to
0:05:06 > 0:05:09- consummate their marriage in order to prove...- That they can do it.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13..the man's virility and that their marriage is a legitimate one.
0:05:13 > 0:05:14If he can't perform,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17does that marriage then legally get pulled apart?
0:05:17 > 0:05:18Yeah, so that can dissolve a marriage.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22If you enter into marriage knowingly as an impotent man,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25then it's almost akin to committing fraud because the main aim of
0:05:25 > 0:05:28- marriage is to produce children. - Thank you so much for joining us.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30- It's been really interesting. - Thank you.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33- And thank you for joining us on Inside Versailles. Bonsoir.- Bonsoir.