Why did Louis XIV want Versailles? Through the series presented by CANAL +, we can finally take a look behind the scenes of the construction of the Palace that is the envy of the entire world.
Did you know that Versailles was born of a child’s fear? The fear that the young King Louis XIV felt during the Fronde insurrections, when he decided he would govern alone and rein in the nobles. To achieve his aims, he “invented” Versailles. How did this 28-year-old monarch manage to transform his father’s hunting lodge into a magnificent palace to his glory? At the cost of gigantic construction work, Louis XIV moved the Court here and imposed a lifestyle governed by etiquette, inspiring respect from his subjects and from foreign nations. Members of the royal family, favourites and mistresses, courtesans and domestic servants, ministers, clerks, waiters, workers, merchants, nearly one thousand people ensured that the mechanics of Versailles, the State and the Court ran smoothly every day. It was a closed world full of treason and secrets, where the most subtle political manoeuvers were organised and where the King was on show at all times.
Thanks to his thorough knowledge of Versailles, Mathieu da Vinha, historical advisor to the new Original Creation at CANAL +, provides us with his surprising, original explanations of this incredible love story between a King and his residence.

Publication date: 5 November 2015
Public sale price, including VAT: €18.90
Number of pages: 256
ISBN: 9791021010024