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9 thoughts on “Lunchtime Photo”

    1. Eastvillager

      They used to have better taste though. Versailles has just as much gold as it’s possible to have in a building and still look stately & balanced, in the same way a good French sauce has just as much butter as it can take without “breaking” due to the excess of butter.

      Louis’ successors? Not so much.

      1. ey81

        Exactly right. It's subtle, but Louis XIV's decoration is somehow tasteful and elegant despite its extravagance, whereas you-know-who is incurably vulgar and crass.

  6. kaleberg

    Louis XIV had to put down a coup (La Fronde) at the start of his reign. He made a big effort to demilitarize the aristocracy and have them compete on their consumption of luxury goods. Since then, France has been exporting style which is a great way to add value to one's exports.

    Whatever you say about Louis XIV, he walked the walk and whipped the aristocracy into line. He developed a new aristocracy based on the judiciary which was later dismantled by others using a guillotine, but that was another story.

    1. shapeofsociety

      Demilitarizing the aristocracy was good, but pulling them away from their own domains to attend him at court was, in the long run, a mistake, as was his key reform of centralizing all power in himself. By removing all checks on the King's power, he removed the pillars of the monarchy's legitimacy; by turning the aristocracy into pure rentiers who extracted income from the peasantry without giving protection in return or even appearing to give anything at all in return, he wrecked their legitimacy as well; and by enlisting the Church to support all this, he planted the seeds of them losing their legitimacy too. It took several decades for this legitimacy rot to take its toll, but the end result was catastrophe for Louis' dynasty, the entire aristocracy, and the Church.

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