So the BBC has just started showing "Versailles", a period drama about how the Louis XIV built the palace of Versailles out of his father Louis XIII's old hunting lodge. I'm only halfway through episode 2 and already I'm getting the idea that Louis and his court were liberal, progressive and decadent (especially sexually) how fair a representation is this? Some examples include:
His brother Philippe (Duke of Orléans) has a wife and a male lover whom (it seems) he openly is involved with. Is this type of relationship typical of the time?
Philippe openly as the opposite sex, whilst it's more acceptable now how accepted was it back then?
When Louis's wife, Marie-Theresa of Spain gives birth to her mixed-race child (the baby's dad is her servant Nabo) the birth is watched by a fair few onlookers, Was this a usual occurrence?
When Louis finds out instead of killing the baby in anger he sends her away, was this attitude realistic of the time?
And what effect did this attitude have on the French people Louis reigned over?
Thank you for any answers :)
I can answer some of your questions. Note that I haven't seen the show yet, I am not sure I really want to. Before I go on, the historian Mathieu Da Vinha is the adviser of the show and has stated that it is nothing more than a fiction, made to be fun to watch and not close to the reality. Da Vinha is the author of one of my favourite books, Au service du roi ( At the King's service ).
Louis XIV and his two predecessors Henri IV and Louis XIII were of very different sexual lifestyles which participated to shape both the manners of the court and what we know or imagine about their lives. We could say that Henri IV was attracted by every women ( except his wives maybe ), noble or low. Louis XIII on the contrary was more attracted to men than to women and Louis XIV is known to have had a lot of mistresses and illegitimate children.
During the early reign of the Sun King, the manners at court were very diverse, quite open. The King himself, was not very pious in this regard. however, it was not the debauchery of the future regency (1715-1723) or Louis XV's mid-reign. Only when Louis XIV was aging and having an affair with the pious Madame de Maintenon, did the court became more austere, less " liberal " in aspect.
Homosexuality and homosexuals did not exist yet, if that makes sense. Sodomy and sodomites, as it was and they were called did exist of course and it was generally forbidden by Christianity and the other monotheist religions. However, rarely any punishment was made solely because of homosexuality. According to Françoise Biotti-Mache, only to men were executed during Louis XIV's reign and homosexuality ( or sodomy ) was only one charge among the many rapes and other crimes. Didier Godard, who has written a lot about homosexuality, agrees with Biotti-Mache when he says that for most trials where a person was executed for sodomy, there were other charges like blasphemy, rape or prostitution, and this also works for the Middle Ages.
The court and the nobility in general did not lack in homosexual or bisexual personalities. it is to be noted that most homosexuals were bisexual because of the need to get married and have children. Phillipe d'Orléans, Monsieur, is in this case. It is harder to say if it was the same for the rest of the population simply because we did not write much about them but still according to Didier Godard, even the non-nobles could live as homosexuals without worries from the justice ( from their peers ? that's another story ).
Let's talk about Monsieur, the brother of the King. Everybody knew he was homosexual, or bisexual since he had children and two wives. Like many other aristocrats ( Louis II de Condé, Denis Sanguin de Saint-Pavin or François Boisrobert who was also a priest ) their sexual orientation was not hidden because there was nothing to fear really, except maybe a political use by an enemy or the laughter of others. The duke of Orléans was very effeminate in we are to believe authors like Saint-Simon. In his manners of speaking and clothing. He and his second wife, the Princess Palatine were very different as she was more masculine than her husband with her big voice and German accent. They apparently amused a lot of people and the following sentence has been said about them : * Monsieur is very Madame, and Madame is very Monsieur*. The duke had many lovers in his lifetime, nobles and of the court mostly. Many also used homosexuality as a political tool, to get closer to the brother of the king, a rich and important man of course, and participate in various intrigues. After the duke's death, the Princess Palatine burned most of his letters to his lovers to hide any potential proof of a plot.
What is absolutely fascinating about Monsieur, perhaps more than the fantastic couple he made with the Palatine, is his education and the role it played ( or not ) in his later sexuality. Here is a painting of Louis and Monsieur when they were children. On the right is the duke and not an unknown sister the king could have had. Their mother, Anne of Austria, wanted to make sure that little Philippe was not about to overshadow his brother the King. Even if boys often wore dresses at this time, he still dressed as a girl in his teenage and early adult years. Anne was afraid that he would become like Gaston, Louis XIII's brother and plot all day long against Louis XIV. Someone interested in psychology can find this very interesting.
To conclude, what we today call homosexuality was not necessarily seen in a bad eye at the time, on the contrary to the 19th century. Philippe d'Orléans is probably the most famous homosexual of Louis XIV's court but he was not alone.
As for the Mauresse de Moret, the Black Nun, it seems that the show decided to make her marie-Thérèse's child. In fact it is not sure at all whose child she was. The Queen's ? The King's ? We don't know. However what is sure is that the royal couple and many other nobles at court were very interested by her. Most of the important writers of time mentioned her, like Saint-Simon, the Palatine or Madame de Maintenon but none explicitly provided any proof of her origins. Even more intriguing, there is no baptism record for her, none found. And the aristocrats of the court did not use her as a tool to intrigue against the King or the Queen, which is even more strange considering the habits of the court. Along the theories of the nun being the child of either the King or the Queen, there is the idea that her parents had met an horrible end which made the royal couple pity her and take care of her. For many historians and in popular culture, Marie-Anne de France, born in November 1664 and who officially died a month later is in fact the Black Nun.
The birth of a mix-raced child was difficult to hide since births were made in public very often, like this one, to prove to everyone that the child was from the Queen and not from someone else. Giving birth in public is proving, with witnesses to attest but also to spread the news, that the child is legitimate and well. This is also the case in the lower categories of society, women gave birth in public but with other women. Men were generally not welcomed to the room where a woman was giving birth. But with time, birth became more and more a real medical issue and doctors assisted the woman who was giving birth, at least for those who could pay a doctor.
There, the theories of the true origins of the nun are conflicted. If the child was Louis' then we can understand why he would send her away and help her financially. But if the child is Marie-Thérèse's ? Why would he help her, in a not very secret way to be honest since everyone knew about it ?. Nabo though, disappeared not long after and the Nun has, according to some authors like Saint-Simon, several times referred to the royal children has her brothers and sisters. Whose child was the Black Nun ? No one yet has the answer.
I did not answer all your questions but I wish this helps you. I am quite tired so I hope my English is not too terrible, in which case please tell me.
Sources :
Le Siècle de Louis XIV, under the direction of Jean-Christian Petitfils
Le duc d'Orléans, frère de Louis XIV by Christian Bouer
La condamnation à mort de l’homosexualité. De quelques rappels historiques by Françoise Biotti-Mache
L'Homosexualité à la cour de France by Didier Godard
