Just curious if anyone can point me to any free journals or if there are any books that discuss the life of a noble in court. Specifically accounts within the Palace of Versailles. The information I have found myself has been quite scarce. Looking for customs, rules and regulations that took place within the court that were practiced. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you
Hello,
The most detailed account of life at the court of Louis XIV are the memoirs of Louis de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon. He depicts the everyday life, protocol and intrigues taking place at the end of Louis XIV reign and during the Régence.
If you read french, the Memoirs are available online : http://rouvroy.medusis.com/tomes.html
Another good account is the Memoirs of Mme Campan. Henriette Campan was one of Marie Antoinette's ladies in waiting (and before that, in the service of Louis XV's daughters), and her memoirs are the source of a number of anecdotes about the queen's interaction with Versailles etiquette.
If you want a study of the royal court as a whole, The Court Society by Norbert Elias remains a cornerstone of court studies. More recently, Jeroen Duindam has produced several books that update or correct some of Elias' assertions.
I would recommend the letters of Liselotte of Palatine. Some of them are available on gutenberg: http://m.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43283.mobile