#louis xiv

[mangletoymare]

My favorite hobby is learning so much information about an obscure topic nobody cares about. I have way too much time on my hands sometimes.

[lyn1tx]

The lovers of Louis XIV

I have been quite fascinated by the court of Louis XIV, so here’s some drawings of his most influential lovers.

Louise de La Vallière, Madame de Montespan and Madame de Maintenon, respectively.

I could have drawn Marie Mancini first, since she is usually described as Louis XIV’s first love, but I barely ever see people talking about La Vallière, and she was his first official mistress.

Before we start, I’m not a historian. I'm studying art history, but that can only take you so far when it comes to historiography and reconstructing historical appearances. So if I got something wrong, or if you have sources or details to add, please do tell!

Louise came to court in 1661 as a lady-in-waiting to Henrietta of England, Louis XIV’s sister-in-law. The story goes that Louise was initially used as a sort of decoy.

Louis could pretend to court her in order to distract attention from the rumours surrounding his relationship with Henrietta.

Then, turns out he actually ended up liking Louise a bit more than expected, and she became his official favourite.

Louise is described as having very light features, blonde hair and blue eyes.

However, in the portrait by Pierre Mignard, the one I used as inspo for this drawing, her hair looks much darker.

I’m not entirely sure why that is. My first thought was pigment alteration over time, since colours in old paintings can change quite dramatically, but it could also simply be an artistic choice.

Portraiture overall isn't necessarily about reproducing someone's appearance exactly. Colour, clothing and even physical characteristics could contribute to the image the sitter wanted to project.

(Especially common in the Middle Ages, but ofc the tradition kept on for the more symbolic roles, like kings and cardinals, or just very wealthy and powerful people.)

And honestly, have you ever tried drawing someone from Molière’s circle? It is HELL. Everyone is wearing costumes and wigs since they were actors (they are usually represented as the character they’re playing), so you really have to rely on written descriptions that survive rather than assuming the portraits are straightforward representations of what they actually looked like.

For Montespan and Maintenon, I’ll be a little faster.

Montespan became Louis XIV’s official mistress after La Vallière. She was famous at court for her beauty and influence.

For my drawing, I imagined her with a somewhat fuller figure, especially in the later years, while keeping the light colouring often associated with her portraits and descriptions.

And then there is Madame de Maintenon.

She was initially the governess of Louis XIV and Montespan’s illegitimate children, eventually became increasingly close to the king, and after Queen Maria Theresa's death, she secretly married Louis XIV in 1683.

Her image is also associated with a much more restrained and religious atmosphere, so I gave her a more modest neckline, darker and more muted brownish-grey tones.

Lil Louis if you got to the end

[scottishsunshineking]

I feel like a benevolent sun king who loves and cherishes humanity. I love @carlosdorleans so much he's so nice and talented I love that human. I feel like I'm getting kinder and more benevolent I called two people cool the other day. I believe everyone has good and bad parts and it's extremely beautiful to my sunshine filled mind.

[glorioustidalwavedefendor]

Seen in the wild

Gets stuck in the past and makes a random village get way smarter and less violent in a generational sense because I keep smacking people over the head with a stick and telling them that it’s the devil’s metal whenever they try to use lead for something in my presence and there develops a very niche regionalized superstition that an angry warlock will jump out of a tree and beat the shit out of you if you touch lead with your bare hands

Depending how far you go back, they might already know

Lead poisoning was among the first known and most widely studied work-related environmental hazards.[187] One of the first metals to be smelted and used,[123] lead is thought to have been discovered and first mined in Anatolia around 6500 BC.[125] Its density, workability, and corrosion resistance were among the metal's attractions.[187]

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Gets excommunicated by the Catholic Church for telling people that they can banish the devil from their water if they boil it therefore saving hundreds of people from a cholera outbreak but I don’t care and keep trying to convince the locals to use soap more often

People in the past knew that boiled water was healthier, that's why tea is a thing in even warm places

In europe we drank beer and wine, because it sterelizes the water a bit

Even victorians knew that the water in London was to dirty to drink, but not everyone had a choice and sometimes boiling is just not enough

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People in the past knew that soap was a good way to stay clean

The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon.[22] A formula for making a soap-like substance was written on a Sumerian clay tablet around 2500 BC. This was produced by heating a mixture of oil and wood ash, the earliest recorded chemical reaction, and used for washing woolen clothing.[23]

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But because of capitalist bullshit, there where times and places where soap was very expensive and not everyone could afford a lot of it

During the Restoration era (February 1665 – August 1714) a soap tax was introduced in England, which meant that until the mid-1800s, soap was a luxury, used regularly only by the well-to-do. The soap manufacturing process was closely supervised by revenue officials who made sure that soapmakers' equipment was kept under lock and key when not being supervised. Moreover, soap could not be produced by small makers because of a law that stipulated that soap boilers must manufacture a minimum quantity of one imperial ton at each boiling, which placed the process beyond the reach of the average person. The soap trade was boosted and deregulated when the tax was repealed in 1853.[56][57][58]

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Witch burnings were very specifically a mid 1500s to mid 1600s phenomenon and I went back further than that so I’m fine as long as I don’t try to convince people that the earth revolves around the sun.

Depending on wenn or where

People might already know

Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed Earth at the center. The notion that Earth revolves around the Sun had been proposed as early as the 3rd century BC by Aristarchus of Samos,[1] who had been influenced by a concept presented by Philolaus of Croton (c. 470 – 385 BC). In the 5th century BC the Greek philosopher Philolaus had the thought on different occasions that Earth was spherical and revolving around a "mystical" central fire, and that this fire regulated the universe.[2] In medieval Europe, however, Aristarchus' heliocentrism attracted little attention—possibly because of the loss of scientific works of the Hellenistic period.[b] It was not until the 16th century that a mathematical model of a heliocentric system was presented by the Renaissance mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic cleric, Nicolaus Copernicus, leading to the Copernican Revolution.[citation needed] In the following century, Johannes Kepler introduced elliptical orbits for all planets discovered up to his time (genuinely heliocentric), and Galileo Galilei presented observations of the Solar System made using his telescope. With the observations of William Herschel, Friedrich Bessel, and other astronomers, it was realized that the Sun, while near the barycenter of the Solar System, was not central in the universe. Modern astronomy does not distinguish any universal center. After these discoveries, informal language still holds to the remaining truth value of the term, narrowed to the scope of our planetary system.[4]

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[jhesite]

Lyon - Place Bellecour

[fullwastelandcrusade]

so if i fail my a levels tmrw, i think it may have something to do with the fact that my priority was a louis xiv powerpoint and an (in my opinion) accurate uquiz on which figure in lulus court you would be xxx

edit: i got three a stars?

[ninacolada-is-i]

[mtkay13]

On sait que Philippe était super heureux à la naissance de ses enfants mais quel genre d'oncle était-il? Etait-il heureux à la naissance du Dauphin? Je paris que des gens l'ont fixé pour voir comment il réagissait à la perte de sa place d'héritier. (ils ont du être déçu)

Et Louis, comment a-t-il réagit à la naissance de ses nièces et neveux?

EEYYYY LE GRAND DAUPHIN MENTIONED!!!

Je me devais de les dessiner avant de répondre parce que j'ADORE le grand dauphin LOL

ENGLISH BELOW!!

On ne sait pas exactement quelle fut sa réaction à la naissance du dauphin, mais à priori il a du être fort content ! Il est fort probable que des gens l'aient effectivement fixé, mais en soi, vu que ce n'était pas bien longtemps après toute l'affaire de la fièvre typhoïde de Louis, où le rejet total de la couronne par Philippe s'est fait remarquer, je pense que tout le monde se doutait bien que ça ne le dérangeait pas le moins du monde de ne plus être héritier présomptif.

(suite en dessous as well as english translation)

Philippe avait en fait une très bonne relation avec le dauphin ! Ce dernier aimait le spectacle, même si ses goûts personnels l'orientaient plus vers l'opéra que le théâtre, que préférait Philippe ; il aimait aussi l'art et l'argenterie, que Philippe chérissait tout autant, et ils aimaient autant la fête l'un que l'autre ! Il s'avère même qu'ils organisaient régulièrement des fêtes ensemble tant ils s'accordaient bien sur la question.

En soi, avant que ça n'éclate entre lui et Philippe II (🥀) le dauphin avait d'excellentes relations avec toute la famille d'Orléans. Le plan initial avait été de le marier à Marie-Louise d'Orléans, et les deux le souhaitaient avec enthousiasme : ils s'entendaient très bien, et Marie-Louise aurait pu ce faisant rester près de son père en France et être future reine de France. Le dauphin s'entendait aussi très bien avec Liselotte et le Chevalier, avec qui il partageait un grand amour pour la chasse (le dauphin était un très grand chasseur). Le dauphin séjournait très régulièrement au renommé château de Frémont, propriété du Chevalier très prisée par les chasseurs. Et enfin, il s'entendait aussi très bien avec Philippe II... jusqu'à ce que plus 🥀🥀🥀

On ne sait pas exactement quelle était leur relation durant l'enfance du dauphin, mais en tout cas lui et son oncle se sont très bien entendus dès son adolescence sans aucun doute.

En ce qui concerne la réaction de Louis aux enfants de Philippe; on ne sait pas trop (je crois? il en parle peut-être dans ses mémoires mais je ne les ai pas encore lu...), mais je pense qu'il était sincèrement content. En soi, le renforcement de la dynastie des Bourbons arrangeait tout le monde, quoiqu'il arrive. La descendance de Philippe, même si elle s'est "indépendentisée" en tant que branche cadette, reste porteuse de l'étendard des Bourbons, et le roi savait que, particulièrement grâce aux filles de Philippe, il pourrait faire progresser sa politique. Et puis bon, je ne pense pas que Louis était complètement sans coeur, je crois qu'il a pu se réjouir pour Philippe d'un point de vue humain aussi, de même qu'il a été touché par les morts en bas-âge des fils de Philippe. Je crois qu'il était content à la naissance de Philippe II aussi, ce n'est que plus tard que ses travers l'ont sérieusement rattrapé...

ENGLISH

We know that Philippe was very happy at the birth of his children, but what kind of uncle was he? Was he rejoiced by the dauphin's birth? I bet some people looked at him to see how he reacted to the loss of his status of heir to the throne (they must have been dissappointed.) And Louis, how did he react to the births of his nieces and nephews?

Ok so I had to draw them because I LOVE the grand dauphin haha!!

We don't really know what Philippe's genuine reaction was at the birth of the dauphin, but he was likely quite happy! It's indeed possible that people looked his way, but given that this took place not too long after Louis' typhoid fever incident, where Philippe's complete rejection of the crown didn't go unnoticed, I think that everyone suspected he wouldn't be bothered in the least to lose his status of heir.

He actually had a great relationship with the dauphin! The latter loved scenic arts, though his personal taste went towards opera moreso than theatre, which Philippe prefered; they also both loved art and silverware, and they equally loved partying! It so happens that they regularly organized parties together, given how well aligned they were in that regards.

In fact, before things went south between him and Philippe II (🥀), the dauphin had excellent relationships with the entire Orleans family. The initial plan had been to marry him to Marie-Louise of Orleans, and both were enthusiastic about it : they got along very well, and Marie-Louise could have thus stayed in France by her dad's side as well as become the future queen of France (in theory). The dauphin also got along very well with Liselotte and the Chevalier, both of whom he shared a passion for hunting with (the dauphin was a great hunter). He was frequently hosted at the famed château de Frémont, property of the Chevalier prized by hunters. And he also got along very well with Philippe II... until not 🥀🥀🥀

We don't really know what their relationship was like when the dauphin was a kid, but it's quite sure that they already got along well by the time he was a teenager.

As for Louis' reaction to Philippe's children; we don't really know (I believe? he may have mentioned it in his memoirs but I haven't read them yet...), but I think he was genuinely happy? Reinforcing the Bourbon dynasty was good for everyone, no matter what. Philippe's descendence, though it became independent as a cadet branch, was still representing the Bourbons, and the king knew that, particularly thanks to Philippe's daughters, he could wield his politics further and wider. And, well, I don't think Louis was completely heartless, I believe he could have been happy for Philippe on a human level as well, just like he was touched by the permature death of his sons. I think he was also happy at Philippe II's birth, and that his issues only caught up with him later on...