The Palace of Versailles was the center for court in France in the late 1600s through the late 1700s. Politically, the Palace of Versailles was an attempt to move the court away from Paris. The Palace of Versailles is where court was held, although the official capital of France was still Paris. Socially, the court’s change in venue translated to a desire to separate itself from the rest of the capital and the capital’s common people. I think part of the reason why it moved was because rulers wanted to set a clear line between them and the rest of the country’s social statuses. Economically, the palace must have cost huge amounts of money. The palace is huge and ridiculously grand, so it must have made an impact on France’s economy to build it. Mountainous amounts of money were wasted in order for France to make itself a palace that flaunts the wealth and power of the court. This and the Taj Mahal are proof that there should be limits to a single person’s economic or political power, because corruption and insane desires corrupt people too easily. Scientifically it must have been some sort of achievement simply to make a building that was so vast with gardens that extend beyond even that. This could also be seen as a cultural monument because it showcases a lot of incredible French art and architecture.
You include many different details and give a good overview of the entire palace. I agree with the point you made about restricting the power of any one person; things like this should not be allowed to be built when there is a serious poverty problem everywhere else.
ReplyDeleteRina I agree with your views on corruption because France spent more money towards the happiness of the ruler than on social issues that were occurring at the time. I believe that things like this, in which case cost enormous amounts of money should be thought out thoroughly and equally distributed on other issues facing the economy.However during this time, absolutism was very important for a ruler to stay in power. By building the palace of Versailles, it was showing his prowess over the people of France.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you connected the Taj Mahal and the Palace at Versailles by saying that they both were colossal wastes of money. It definitely is a prime example of French culture in that it combines all the best French art and architecture.
ReplyDeleteRina I like how you added in all of the SPECS categories and said how they each relate to Versailles. You're short but good analysis of each one was really informative and helpful. I also liked how you connected Versailles to the Taj Mahal because it really just shows that there are trends that repeat themselves everywhere in history.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you inferred the reason the palace was moved away from the rest of the society, and I agree with you about this. I think you could have written more about WHY you though Louis XIV did this. However, you mentioned your impression of Louis XIV later on, that he was greedy and power hungry, and I agree with this as well. Lastly, I like how you compare the Palace of Versaille to the Taj Mahal, because, like Taylor said, it really shows how trends reappear in history over time.
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