Moving the palace would have given the general noble population less control over the political system, but because of the separation, also would have given the king more power, which is probably exactly what Louis XIV intended to do. By moving the palace from the overpopulated capital, the king was probably also safer physically in addition to the political safety gained, because during an uprising, the king was not in the center of everyone, and therefore would be far harder to be assassinated by the public.
The building and extensive gardens are also a cultural display. The amount of money that must have been put into the construction of the building and grounds would have assured the public that the king was in control, and the beautiful result would convince them that he was the right leader to follow. The inside of the palace is characterized by gold, which supports Louis XIV's reputation as "The Sun King." This helps show that he probably had a fairly large ego, a fact only reinforced by how he had himself pictured in the murals on the walls on one of his rooms, versus the traditional paintings of gods and goddesses and such.
Reparations on the palace began in 2005, and the French government is putting millions into the project this shows that even though the palace is very old, and does not have as much significance in modern events as it used to, it is still a treasured national monument of France.
I used the Gale Databases, forgot that I can't use Wikipedia and used it for some information, and used this site for the picture.
Your second and third paragraphs about Louis's decision to move to Versailles and the building and grounds itself were very well laid out and well argued. I also like the picture; it also makes the post more interesting. The only thing I would suggest is that your last paragraph needs some work and the sentences aren't very clear.
ReplyDeleteI liked that you made the connection to his large ego and threw in the fact that he had himself painted in one of his own murals. I didn't know that, and it definitely showed his large ego.
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