How to Behave at the Court of Versailles
If you’ve ever daydreamed about how wonderful it would be to live at Versailles, let me let you in on a little secret: It was a lot tougher than you might think.
Things in the modern world are very casual, but life in the shadow of the Sun King was a highly orchestrated choreography of etiquette and, well, butt kissing. Why? Because Louis wanted to control everybody, that’s why.
It All Stemmed From The King’s Childhood
Louis XIV had seen the monarchy go through some rough times in his youth.
Besides that little issue of his uncle, Charles I, getting executed across the pond in England; there was a revolt in France known as the Fronde when he was 10. It boiled down to Parliament wanting to limit the power of the monarchy.
It was such a to-do that in 1649 Louis was forced to flee Paris, something he found rather humiliating. And so, just like Scarlett O’ Hara vowing to never be hungry again, Louis vowed never again to let his inferiors get the upper hand.
And so it was that in 1661 Louis began turning his dad’s old hunting lodge at Versailles into a palace so grand it would be the perfect representation of his absolute authority. In 1682 Louis moved in, and he took the aristocracy with him.
This was certainly a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. Thanks to the Fronde, Louis knew every noble was a potential threat. He knew something else about the nobility. Self-promotion was their number one goal, and he would make it their Achilles heel.
Change your address
For their part, the aristocracy took to their role like peanut butter takes to chocolate.
They knew showing up at Versailles as often as possible was the key to climbing the social ladder. The King never granted requests of those that didn’t show their faces at his court. In fact, the best thing you could do was get a room of your own at the palace.
This wasn’t so easy since loads of people were trying to get in. Vacancies were few and far between. The only way in was if someone died or got thrown out.
Living in the Palace was a great first step, but being there didn’t guarantee anything. Between 3,000 and 10,000 people could be at the palace daily. You still had to work hard if you didn’t want to disappear into the crowd.
Be prepared to serve
Serving the King was the way to his heart. Louis’s life was scheduled down to the minute, and the way to power was to be privy to these daily rituals.
However, don’t think you could just waltz up to the king and offer to read him the morning paper. Etiquette and ceremony were the backbones of social ranking. One misstep could be all it took to lose the king’s graces.
Every action was choreographed to show the greatest respect to the person of the highest rank. For example, lower-ranking nobles could not speak to those above them unless first spoken to.
When they did, they better always have a complement ready. Failure to follow such rules would lead you to ruin. Even something as simple as sitting could leave you in disgrace if you didn’t do it properly.
Make sure you pick the right chair
A man, upon sitting, must slide his left foot in front of the right, place his hands on the side of the chair, then gently lower himself. No one — male or female — should ever cross their legs.
Both feet should be on the ground, and one’s back should be perfectly straight. Arms should be placed so the inside of the wrists could be seen. (They had a weird attraction to veins.)
Now, knowing how to sit was important, but sitting in the right place was essential — assuming you were privileged enough to sit at all. Being allowed to sit made you higher in social rank than many of the courtiers, but the type of chair and its proximity to the king were all assigned to specific social ranks.
Other than the king, only the queen had the luxury of sitting on a chair with arms. Armless chairs with a backrest were reserved for members of the royal family.
Duchesses were given the privilege of sitting on stools while in the presence of the king. Don’t fall into one of those categories? Well, then you just have to stand.
To stay in the King’s good graces prepare to go into debt
Not only had you better pay meticulous attention to the etiquette details, but you better make sure you did it in the most exquisite finery.
Most kings of the day required their nobles to have one particular outfit for all occasions of state, but not Louis. He required a different code of dress for every formal event.
Fashion was one way Louis demonstrated his power to his nobles and the world at large. In fact, Louis turned the fashion industry into a goldmine for France, and he expected every noble to support it.
Among the nobles themselves, fashion was a way to demonstrate wealth as well as show off their rank. For example, barons, dukes, viscounts, and knights were the only ones who could wear velvet thanks to Sumptuary laws. Wearing it, therefore, was a status symbol that no one would miss.
It’s highly possible the king had an ulterior motive here. Many nobles went into debt in order to stay properly dressed. Once in debt, there were forced to ask Louis for help. (Which again they would never get if they hadn’t spent enough time at court.) This is thought to have been just one more way for Louis to keep his court dependent on him.
A reward for the best of the best
If you were really good, and you played your cards right, you might actually gain admittance into the king’s bedroom.
The Gentlemen of the Bedchamber were the elite who had the honor of dressing the king in the morning and undressing him at night. There was a whole ritual for his waking up and going to bed that only those at the pinnacle of society got to experience.
Even among this group of elite there was still a hierarchy. The highest ranks sat closest to the king, and the most senior handed him his clothes. Therefore, if someone of a higher rank came in while the king was dressing, the man of lesser rank would have to step down in favor of the newcomer.
Around 100 lucky spectators got to watch these glorious proceedings, although mostly from a distance. However, those who wanted admission better take care how they requested entrance.
Knocking was a horrid offense. Instead, you had to very lightly scratch the door with the nail of your left pinky. Even that didn’t guarantee admittance. Once the door was opened, you would whisper your name to the first lord of the bed-chamber who would, in turn, whisper it to the king. With any luck, Louis would say nothing and you could quietly slip in.
Flattery will get you everywhere
Finally, no matter where you were on your climb of the social ladder, the most important thing to keep in mind was to continually heap praises on the king.
Glory was his passion, said the Duc de Saint-Simon, and what he gloried in most of all was hearing his own praises. Start the flattery with your first introduction and keep it going through every meeting afterward, and you’re bound to get somewhere. Give credit to the king for every good thought you have. No matter how cheesy the praise, he’ll love it. In the words of the Duc:
There was nothing he liked so much as flattery, or, to put it more plainly, adulation; the coarser and clumsier it was, the more he relished it. That was the only way to approach him; if he ever took a liking to a man, it was invariably due to some lucky stroke of flattery in the first instance, and to indefatigable perseverance in the same line afterward. His Ministers owed much of their influence to their frequent opportunities for burning incense before him
notes and sources:
Title picture via Wikipedia
It should be noted that day to day ceremonies surrounding the King of France were well established before the Sun King. For example, the king’s bed-chamber as a public room began in 1533 under King François I.
http://etiquipedia.blogspot.com/2015/07/french-etiquette-and-courtiers.html
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/17stsimon.asp
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history#the-reign-of-louis%C2%A0xiv1638%C2%A0–1715
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/09/the-king-of-couture/402952/
About The Author
nicolvalentin
Marilyn Newbury | 27th Apr 20
Thanks – very interesting. Seeing France, including Versailles, is still on my bucket list!