Free Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King by Antonia Fraser

about 1679; although the King moved there officially in 1682, when he was in his forties, building works continued for most of the reign, causing much discomfort to court ladies with the noise, the dirt and the smell of wet plaster.

    The Basin at Versailles containing the mute, agonised figure of the giant Enceladus with water spouting from his mouth. Louis XIV showed the same fortitude during the ordeal of his operation for a fistula.

    At a court function at Fontainebleau in September 1714, the Duchesse de Berry (born Marie-Élisabeth d'Orléans) can be seen in her black and white widow's weeds following the death of her husband earlier in the year (fourth from right).

    The Orangerie at Versailles which can still be seen; Louis XIV took much pleasure in his orange trees which he acquired from many sources and also gave as presents to his favourites.

    Louis XIV adored his sporting dogs: Bonne, Nonne and Ponne are here shown; he fed them himself in the luxurious closet known as the Cabinet des Chiens with biscuits specially made by the royal chef.

    Interlaced double L is taken from the wood-carving round the windows of the King's chamber at Versailles.

    Appartement was a designated evening when theatricals, card games, billiards and music were enjoyed at Versailles; the orchestra can be seen in the box behind the ladies; the Duc de Chartres (later Duc d'Orléans Regent of France) performs with his sister Marie-Élisabeth (later Duchesse de Berry).

    Tobacco was a taste enjoyed by women as well as men, including the illegitimate daughters of Louis XIV, although it scandalised their elders that ladies should smoke pipes ‘like sailors'.

    The cascade at Marly, the pleasure-house of Louis XIV, where formalities were minimal and invitations were coveted.

    The most famous image of Louis XIV in later years, by Hyacinthe Rigaud in 1701. The heroic beauty of his youth has vanished while leaving an air of impregnable majesty tinged with melancholy.

FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION, NOVEMBER 2007
    Copyright© 2006 by Antonia Fraser
    All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of
Random House, Inc., New York.
    Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
    Fraser, Antonia, 1932–
    Love and Louis XIV : the “women in the life of the Sun King / Antonia Fraser.
    p. cm.
    1. Louis XIV, King of France, 1638–1715—Relations with “women.
    2. France—Kings and rulers—Biography. 3. Favorites, Royal—France.
    4. France—Kings and rulers—Paramours.
    5. France—History—Louis XIV, 1643–1715.
    6. France—Moral conditions—History—17th century. I. Title.
    DC129.F73 2006
    944'033092—dc22
    [B] 2006044674
    eISBN: 978-0-307-48775-9
    Author photograph © Susan
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