Why did the" sun King " Louis XIV disgust women

King Louis XIV of France, whom the courtiers called the "sun King", is a very popular person in literature and cinema. We know this monarch from the love novels of Anne and Serge Golon about the adventures of Angelica, as well as from numerous historical works and films. Almost everywhere, King Louis is presented as a written handsome, dandy and gallant cavalier, whom all women are crazy about. But was it really so?

Louis XIV de Bourbon ascended the throne at the age of 4 and ruled the kingdom for a record 72 years, until his death. The king liked to say — "I am the state!" and did not consider any expenses to satisfy his passion for luxury, unusual spectacles and... the female sex. His reign exhausted the kingdom and, as many historians believe, turned it towards sunset.

Women were a special passion of the monarch, both at a young age and in old age. The most beautiful girls of the court and the French aristocracy found themselves in Louis ' bedroom, sometimes accidentally, and sometimes staying with the windy monarch for a while as a favorite. But were the ladies themselves happy with such a lover?

It is quite clear that the ladies of the court could hardly refuse the king, since this was fraught with disgrace, excommunication from all benefits, and sometimes exile to the most remote places of the kingdom and even colonies. The "Sun King" was not only vain, but also very vindictive. The girls who accepted the king's courtship became the mistresses of the most influential, but at the same time one of the most unpleasant men in the kingdom. One of the favorites of Louis XIV, Louise de la Valliere, described him in this way:

Contemporaries wrote about the incredible voracity of the king

One could object and say that the monarch's mistresses got into the beautiful chambers of Versailles, whose fantastic interiors and royal comfort could brighten up any unpleasant emotions, but this was not so. The royal residence was huge, decorated with gold and filled with works of art from different eras, but at the same time there was no sewerage, and drafts whistled through the corridors.

There was a terrible smell of urine and feces in Versailles, but not only because of the imperfection of the toilets. The French nobles of the late Middle Ages, who were not accustomed to sentiment, did not bother too much to find places reserved for coping with needs and "did their business" anywhere, most often behind curtains and columns. In winter, the palace did not smell, but it was almost as cold as outside because of the ill-conceived stove heating.

The facade of Versailles looked pompous, but behind it there was a stench, drafts and cold

A bad-smelling, toothless middle-aged man, with a perpetually wet nose and fussy manners-this is how contemporaries describe King Louis XIV. At the same time, the intimate life of the monarch was vividly discussed both at court and outside it, and the ladies who received the favor of the king were fiercely envied. And where there is black envy, there is meanness and crimes. Poisoning has become a real business card of the era of the "sun king" rule.

To refuse the monarch was as dangerous as to accept his courtship favorably. Those ladies who became favorites of Louis XIV were in danger of being poisoned by competitors. Being with the monarch, even smelly, snotty and toothless, was a great privilege, since the favorite could arrange not only her future, but also attach relatives. It was possible to find a good husband close to the king.

It is not surprising that for the favor of the "sun king" some not particularly scrupulous ladies were ready to poison their rival. They were poisoned at court not only with powders and drops, but also with letters, clothes, books and even bouquets treated with poisons. In the 17th century, the art of making poisons was at its height — the death of the victim did not come immediately and looked very natural.

In some documents of that era, there is information that the court ladies, who looked like ardent Catholics, secretly worshipped the devil and participated in magical rituals. The lion's share of such rites was performed in order to live with the light of more successful competitors on the way to Louis ' bed.

But the king did not completely belong to his morganatic wife, the Marquise de Maintenon, not to the favorites, not even to himself. The cult of the "sun king", born at the suggestion of the monarch himself, made absolutely all his actions, up to the most intimate ones, the property of the court. Louis XIV even sat on the gilded toilet seat of his toilet in the presence of nobles.

In the morning, in the king's chambers, even if he spent the night with a lady, a crowd of courtiers gathered to watch Louis get out of bed, shave and pull on his trousers. In some cases, according to contemporaries, more than 100 people gathered in the bedroom of the King of France! In order to get to the chambers by the time of awakening, the nobles paid the monarch's valet quite a lot of money.

The king's favorites were forced to be constantly in sight. They were admired in person, and cursed behind their backs and subjected to the dirtiest discussions. Add to this the hatred of the clergy, who did not approve of Louis ' way of life, but were powerless against his power. The clergy had to save up bile and wait for the fall of the next favorite to take revenge on her for their helplessness.

In general, life next to the "sun king" was still that "happiness", but women's passions still boiled around the royal person almost until his death.