Welcome to Reconstruisons Versailles!
My first time ever seeing Versailles was through the lens of Sofia Coppola, through the film ‘Marie Antoinette.’ Watching her dashing heroines lounge and recline about in the gilded halls of a palace I’d never seen before ignited a passion in me that opened the door to my ongoing obsession with all that the Ancien Regime entails.
Along with this niche interest, I have always enjoyed Minecraft. Since at least 2017, I have logged into the game at least once a week. I knew when I saw Versailles through the romantic lens of Coppola’s feminine idealist world, that I needed to recreate it in Minecraft. That’s what this is.
Things to know
If you don’t have any semblance of knowledge regarding the Ancien Regime, or French history as a whole, it’s ok. We all start somewhere. There are some things you should know, starting with some key terms:
Ancien Regime : This is the term retroactively assigned to the period beginning with the ascension of the Bourbon dynasty, but more commonly associated with the establishment of a home for all Nobles at Versailles by Louis XIV to the Estates General, a meeting of all three estates of French society, essentially ending the king’s absolute rule.
Versailles: This is not only the name of the Baroque palace, it is also the name of the city that surrounds the complex, and existed there, though in a much more agrarian form, before the Bourbons ever decided to build a court there. Versailles itself was not only the main hub of French politics, but also architectural propaganda. The rooms are built based around the philosophy that the King was chosen by god to rule (the Divine Right of Kings), and as such, the rooms follow in a similar vein, as you will come to see.
Louis XIV: The most important figure when it comes to Versailles. He inherited a modest hunting lodge a short distance from Paris, and against the counsel of his advisors, decided to renovate and expand it into the Palace we know today. He was born at a time of great instability among the nobility, known as the Fronde, an attempt at an oligarchic takeover by some rebellious nobles. The French nobility were famously unafraid to fight their Kings, and taking this into consideration, he made a move that would have lasting consequences on the world: He decided that all the nobility would come to pay him court at Versailles. Powerful nobles who were used to secluding themselves in their provincial estates to plot were now summoned to kiss the ring of one of the most calculated monarchs of the time.
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All in all, I hope you enjoy learning and exploring the Palace as much as I enjoy building it!