The palace of Versailles was built and used by the French king Louis the XIV. It was a grand palace located away from the capital Paris that not only a beautiful and amazing building, but was also a symbol of a great power shift in France. By moving the home of the king away from the capital, Louis ensured that absolute power remained with the royals. He required that all nobles spend some times at the palace in the Versailles so that none of them would get too much regional power. All governmental functions of the country took place in Paris, so when he moved the royal headquarters out of Paris, he also moved the central power. Note: he also did this because the thought that if he kept all of the nobles close to him they would be less likely to cause danger and revolt elsewhere.
Not only did the creation of the create palace change the political structure of France, but it also change many social routines. When King Louis moved to Versailles, he put many tedious ceremonies having to do with daily rituals into his life. He changed the way people were to act in his court, and even made a ceremony for himself getting up in the morning. Though most of these ceremonies proved to be boring and most unneeded, they were so well executed that the idea of them spread to royal courts all around Europe.
I liked and agreed with this post completely. Although you didn't go into each of the SPECS categories, those that you did address were well explained. You didn't just say what it was that Louis did, but also showed us how this was distinct from the more traditional system. The fact that Louis himself invented some new customs of his own was also fascinating - very very strange, but fascinating. That these were taken on by courts across Europe was in itself shocking. I guess such a system would be necessary to putting such a king on a pedestal - it was an honour do do such servile duties for him.
ReplyDeleteOrganization and Technique. I felt like one or two sentences were awkward and difficult to interpret, but these were not problematic. You didn't really have any concluding thought, but that was fine, because you ended with the idea that Louis left a legacy almost in the ceremonies that he created. I liked it. : )
I thought the organization of your post was really good, and all your thoughts seemed complete. I agree with what you said about Versaille being a symbol of a power shift, because I thought this was an interesting way of looking at it. The Palace of Versaille is a symbol of the royalties power, and it has stayed a symbol today. You could have gone into more of the economical aspect of the palace, but I liked how you went into detail with the social area of the SPECS categories. good post!
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