It's Versailles, 1682. You're King Louis
XIV, and you fall in love with a
little piece of land where a beautiful
chateau is tucked away in the lush suburban
forests of France. What starts out
as a cozy hunting chateau becomes an
all-inclusive city unto itself. From the outside looking in,
Versailles seemed like Xanadu. But in reality, the
living conditions were far from perfect. Today, we're going
to find out what it was really like to live
in the Palace of Versailles. But before we get started,
be sure to subscribe to Weird History, and let
us know what historic era you would like to
hear more about. Now let's voyage to this
malice at the palace. [MUSIC - WOLFGANG AMADEUS
MOZART, "EINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIK"] Life at Versailles was a
highly ritualized existence. Even the simple act of the
king and queen getting dressed in the morning was a spectacle. During the lever, also known
as an official awakening, high-ranking courtiers
and royal family members had specific morning tasks, such
as handing the king his clothes or holding a mirror. The king and queen also
had an evening crew that did the process in
reverse at the coucher, also known as the
going to bed ceremony. About 100 people crowded
into the royal bedchambers to witness these ceremonies
every day and every night. According to one
courtier, "Nobles should be absent as little as
possible at the king's lever, as well as at his
bedtime ritual, to better assert their
presence at court." Louis XIV had strong aesthetics. Not only did he want his
palace and its grounds to look perfect, he
wanted the people he populated it with to dress
with the same level of detail. Louis XIV required
palace courtiers to wear certain clothes for
specific days or occasions. For example, at dinner,
men had to wear their hats at the table. And because the clothes
of courtiers were so tight and elaborate, the
meal was usually an uncomfortable affair. Louis XIV also tied
fashion to French identity by supporting French
textile industries. He was so committed to
supporting French craftsmen that he once burned his
son's clothes because they weren't made of French cloth. Millions of photos,
videos, and paintings have been taken of the
Palace of Versailles. But one thing no image has
ever been able to capture? Its stench. Plainly put, the palace
smelled like feces-- human feces. The thing is,
plumbing wasn't really a thing at Versailles,
for the king had his own fancy facilities, but
the vast majority of nobles didn't have anything. All they had were chamber pots. The lack of hygienic areas to
relieve full bladders or bowels meant courtiers
did their business anywhere and everywhere,
including the palace hallways. Yes, the palace literally
smelled like [BLEEP].. But people who lived there
adapted by dousing themselves with perfume to mask the smell. At Versailles,
Louis XIV basically transformed the nobility
into a class of servants. He bestowed his
mark of royal favor by inviting specific
high-ranking courtiers and members of the royal family
to perform certain tasks, like brushing his hair
or holding a candle. Tasks were highly regimented,
and no two individuals could perform the same job. King Louis XIV loved
pets, especially dogs. He even owned several
Great Pyrenees, which were bred in Spain. The palace dogs had an allowance
of 1,446 livres a year, roughly $20,000 by
modern standards, and royal bakers made
treats for them every day. The king loved animals
so much, he even established a royal
menagerie at Versailles. The menagerie housed a
wide variety of animals, ranging from elephants
to flamingos. But royal pets weren't the
only animals at Versailles. It was common for
courtiers to see animals, both feral and
domesticated, just walking around the palace
and its gardens like it was no big deal. You could see lions, tigers,
hyenas, and bears, oh my! That said, house cats were
not welcomed at the palace. Sorry, cat people. As we mentioned,
people didn't just visit the palace of Versailles. A lot of people lived there. After all, the entire operation
needed an entire service industry. And those people,
roughly 10,000 nobles, government officials,
and servants, all lived on the grounds. So it's no surprise that
living quarters for all 10,000 of those people
were at a premium. Of course, there was a pecking
order in regards to which courtiers got the best rooms. Higher-ranking courtiers
tended to have better rooms than lower-ranking ones. You also knew where you fell
in rank by how close quarters were to the king. The closer you were
to the king's room, the tighter you were
with his entourage. There was also a chance
to get a bump to a room closer to the king. But it required a
lot of politicking. Because the opportunity
to serve the king was a coveted
privilege, courtiers were always trying to
climb socially in order to get better jobs. Before we move
forward, it should be known that these
better jobs were some of the most
demeaning jobs ever. For example, doing something
as mundane and relatively base as getting the
king's chamber pot was considered a high honor. These were entry-level
servant jobs. But if you got to be
the king's piss boy, you were doing
well for yourself. So with all that said, jockeying
for these different jobs was a game of shady politics. Some jobs could be
bought, while others were bestowed to courtiers who
had entered the king or queen's good graces. Louis XIV had a good idea
when he filled his courtiers' days at Versailles with
daily tornadoes filled with pointless ceremonies,
unnecessary rituals, and frivolous entertainment. His thinking was that if his
higher-ranking courtiers' days were filled
with busy work, they couldn't, A, leave Versailles
without the king's permission, or B, plot his demise. So courtiers spent
their time doing things like attending parties
or watching the king do things as mundane
as eat or bathe. As fancy and proper
as the palace seemed, there wasn't a whole
lot of exclusion in regards to outsiders. Versailles grounds were actually
open to nearby communities. It was common for tourists
to stop by Versailles, and guards allowed their
admittance to the palace on the condition they
follow correct etiquette. Unfortunately, local
peasants and area drifters took advantage of their
proximity to Versailles by frequently disposing
of their trash on the perimeter of
the palace's grounds. Still, with thousands
of courtiers schlepping around their
filled chamber pots all over the palace, a little
extra filth from the locals was easy to overlook. As a result of the
king's open door policy, the palace's population swelled
with a number of visitors on any given day. Imagining the stench? No wonder the French's perfume
industry advanced so rapidly. [STATELY CLASSICAL MUSIC] Because courtiers were
present during every waking moment during the royal
family's existence, they were eyewitnesses to
some fairly intimate moments. We've already
talked far too much about the king's fecal rituals. But let's not forget other
moments of royal vulnerability, like giving birth. Furthering the
line of succession was a matter of
political consequence. So when a new prince or
princess was about to arrive, the queen's labor became
a grand spectacle. Courtiers got first row
seats to royal births, often jostling and
elbowing each other for glimpses of the scene. Their gawking served a purpose. Courtiers were supposed
to vouch for the new baby and affirm it hadn't
been switched at birth. King Louis XIV also made
his courtiers watch him and the queen eat. Mind you, these weren't
special dinners or meals of significance. Louis just wanted an audience. In Versailles, virtually
every aspect of Louis XIV was on view. The Grand Couvert was
the dinner ceremony where the king and his family
publicly took their meal in front of an audience. The opulent meal was
usually meat-heavy and included such sides as
pigeons, partridges, even truffle chickens. Courtiers and visitors
who witnessed the ritual had to stand for
the entire meal. Again, if the
courtiers were too busy watching the king stuff
roasted pigeon in his maw, they'd be too busy to
overthrow his rule. [LIVELY STRING MUSIC] Like most resorts, the
Palace of Versailles was lovely when the
weather was agreeable. During the sunnier season,
its green, lush gardens, although offset by the smell of
human waste and locals' trash, were majestic. But winters were rough. Winters mean courtiers were
left freezing in their poorly insulated living quarters. The thing is, the
palace was so large, fireplaces didn't
heat rooms well. One visitor recalled in
1695, "It is so cold here that at the king's table,
wine as well as water froze in the glasses." You think the Gatsbys
threw great parties? Those shindigs were nothing
compared to King Louis' bashes. Louis threw parties all
the time, sometimes daily. As a matter of fact, one
of the first large-scale entertainments at Versailles was
the Delights of the Enchanted Island, a six-day rager
staged to celebrate the beginning of the
building campaign for the Chateau de Versailles. The intention of
this week-long party was to acquaint those
involved, such as Louis' wife, his mother, his side pieces,
his mistresses, and anyone else in his family with the
construction of the chateau. It was kind of like a "let's
meet the neighbors" soiree to get things off
on the right foot, with competitive races, lavish
banquets, and theatricals by the popular playwright
Moliere, where he premiered La Princesse d'Elide and Tartuffe. In short, the Delights of the
Enchanted Island party of 1664 was basically the Kentucky
Derby, Thanksgiving dinner, and a Broadway performance all
rolled into one giant party. The King was a baller. How would you feel about being
a courtier at Versailles? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History.
