One duchess called him the ‘prettiest child in the world’. The king’s brother had been noted as intelligent and attractive from childhood. Philippe, the ‘prettiest child in the world’ Louis’ brother, Philippe, was at the center of life in this gilded cage. The palace became so crowded that some had to make do with just a few small rooms. It took them away from their own lands and personal power base.Īlthough ambitious nobles gained from having better access to the king, it wasn’t all luxury. Louis XIV ordered his troublesome nobles to spend a large amount of time there. | Photo: Chateau de VersaillesĪnd he put the palace to a new use. Louis XIV rebuilt Versailles and became known as the Sun King. Even today, symbols of him depicted as the sun, with light shining from him, can be seen throughout Versailles. What is more, he positioned himself as the Sun King. He poured a fortune into large scale expansion of Versailles, swamping his father’s hunting lodge.
The next king, Louis XIV created a new vision of monarchy, with Versailles at its heart. And that was something his son and heir Louis XIV was to capitalise on.īut it was his other son, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, who was to be the next great LGBTI figure in the French court. He left France much more firmly under the rule of the king rather than the nobles. Louis suffered from ulcerated intestines, tuberculosis and generally weak health and died aged 41. The ulcerated king’s early and painful death Louis said ‘to bed, to bed’ and his lover wasn’t between the sheets before he was kissing his hands. Obviously, Cinq-Mars had been preparing for him.Īnother incident happened when they were travelling together. A moment later there was a knock on the door, and the king came into the room. One says a friend walked in on Cinq-Mars while he was rubbing his body with jasmine oil one day. Various reports reveal details of Louis and Henri’s love life. The king event complained to Cardinal Richelieu that the fights were making him have sleepless nights. Louis was obsessed with him but the two regularly argued, causing him much unhappiness. Then there was the good-looking and stylish Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, the Marquis of Cinq-Mars. But he became too close to the enemies of Cardinal Richelieu, the virtual co-ruler of France, who had him banished.
He stayed in the king’s favor for a decade and ended up a duke. Next in line was a more sensible young man, Saint-Simon. Baradas couldn’t be faithful and apparently slept with other nobles while he was on a visit to Nantes. The relationship sparked an explicit poem too, including the lines: ‘Become a bugger, Baradas / if you are not already one.’īut it was short lived.