HistoryCourt People

Up until his installation in the Château de Versailles on 6 May 1682, the King imposed frequent changes of residence on the Court. Louis XIV and his courtiers lived in the Palace of the Louvre, in the palaces of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Vincennes, Fontainebleau, and Versailles, then being transformed. The works were entrusted by royal patronage to illustrious artists such as André Le Nôtre and Louis Le Vau and the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart who drew up the plans of the Chapel, among many other buildings. In 1678, the construction of the Hall of Mirrors began, the greatest symbol of the powerful absolute monarchy. Providing sufficient room to accommodate the courtiers, the Château and its outlying buildings contributed to the domestication of the nobility. Under the watchful eye of the King, the Grandees no longer plotted; they lived either with the armed forces, or at the Court, careful to please and serve. Intimidating, majestic and informed about everything by his spies, the King dominated.

A King with a passionate interest in the arts
The king was interested in a great variety of subjects and excelled in many fields. His contemporaries gave him credit as a good musician (he played the guitar), an excellent dancer and organiser of ballets, and a brilliant rider. He loved hunting, outings, fencing, putting on shows, and playing parlour games, billiards in particular. He surrounded himself with good judgement with the best artists of the period, including Molière, Lully and Racine. In the Château de Versailles, he had the Court playwright stage comedies, while the musician Jean-Baptiste Lully put on his operas and organised brilliant festivities.