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What happens after the death of an immortal? Following the longest reign in world history, King Louis XIV - the Sun King - passed at 76 in the Chateau of Versailles. Long rumored to be blessed with eternal life, Louis’ death caused controversy that would change Europe forever. This is the story of the Sun King’s death, and its aftermath.
Directed by Sylvie Faiveley
Directed by Sylvie Faiveley
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00:15A few kilometers to the north of Paris, the royal necropolis can be found in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
00:23This is where French kings are buried since Saint-Louis.
00:26Louis XIV rested here in the family tomb with his relatives for over three quarters of a century,
00:33when French revolutionaries voted the desecration of royal tombs to celebrate the fall of the monarchy.
00:45This is where the exhumations of the Bourbons took place, from the 12th of October to the 28th of October,
00:541793.
00:56The crypt was a walled area in which coffins were lined up, laid on iron trestles.
01:03The revolutionaries pierced a hole in the wall at the back to reach the sarcophagus.
01:20The sovereign's blackened corpse chilled the desecrators to the bone.
01:25Could this be the devil's warning?
01:28Terrified, they quickly threw the body in the mass grave on top of his piers.
01:33This revolutionary deed signed the symbolic end of France's most powerful royal dynasty.
01:40This was the last time Louis XIV's body was seen.
02:14I was the only one and one man who was
02:14This was a win-worn big city from the east,
02:33On the morning of the 1st of September 1715, Louis XIV passed away in his bedroom in the
02:41Chateau de Versailles, carried off in 23 days by a terrible disease, gangrene.
02:48The Sun King faced his death with the same panache he had shown throughout his entire reign.
03:02Louis XIV, as the sovereign, had to perform a show of a good death, a great death that
03:08would serve as an example for all his subjects.
03:19All his life, he was wary of ensuring his reputation, having it acknowledged by his high deeds,
03:26by magnificent achievements.
03:27A good death was part of this prestigious policy, would be shown to all of Europe and would enable
03:33him to leave a long-lasting mark in history.
03:42Here was this monarch who was a type of ruling machine, who never let anything show, and even
03:49his death was part of his job, meaning that a king was born, lived, and died in public.
03:56So he had to work, for his death, to make it the final act in his king's rule.
04:03The sumptuous Versailles Palace, which Louis XIV had created entirely, turned out to be
04:10the ideal location to perform this final tragedy.
04:17But it was in the chateau at Marly where he had taken up his summer residency for two months,
04:22where he enjoyed a relaxed lifestyle, far from Versailles' protocol, that his decline began.
04:31The court had settled in Marly like every summer since the 12th of June.
04:34The king's health was declining a little.
04:37He had some dizzy spells, but he wasn't more concerned than that.
04:40On the 10th of August, he felt a pain in his left leg.
04:45He went back to Versailles, carried on living casually, even went for a stroll the next day
04:50in the Trianon Gardens, pursued his sovereign's life, went to chapel for mass, held council,
04:56had his meals in public.
04:58He didn't eat much, but maintained the ritual of meals.
05:02Still went to his wife, Madame de Maintenance, to listen to music.
05:05Everything went on as usual.
05:07This was Versailles.
05:23The 10th of August is the symbolic date of the king's last illness, and also the beginning
05:28of the end, in a way.
05:31From the 10th of August onwards, there was a type of countdown.
05:34People followed hour by hour, and sometimes minute by minute, the king's agony, until
05:39his last breath.
05:49Louis XIV's intimate circle bared witness in the writing of all the stages of his demise.
05:55Their tales traveled through centuries.
05:59Noteworthy are the Marquis de Danjou's memoirs, a loyal and close friend of the royal couple,
06:04or the letters of the Princess Palatine, Louis XIV's sister-in-law, whose humor and frankness
06:10the king appreciated.
06:12An unavoidable feminine character of the court, she held an abundant correspondence with over
06:1860,000 letters in which she related life at Versailles.
06:21As for Madame de Maintenon, whom the king secretly married in his second wedding, she shared the
06:28last 30 years of his life until the king's last breath.
06:33In her letters, she shared more intimate confidences on Louis's feelings, the man hidden behind
06:40the king's clothes.
06:44At the beginning of his illness, Louis XIV was about to celebrate his 77th birthday.
06:50A record for the time.
06:53However, he was not in high spirits.
06:56In 1715, Versailles court was aging.
06:59Many old courtiers there, who knew the king when he was young, had remained loyal.
07:03Versailles was synonymous of boredom.
07:08It was no longer synonymous of creativity and intellectual daring.
07:12Things were happening in Paris now.
07:20This more austere atmosphere of the end of the reign was mostly due to the king's aging.
07:26He was less inclined to taste the entertainments that pleased the youth.
07:30He was with Madame de Maintenon, who was also rather aged, being three years older than him.
07:36So the aging couple tended to become withdrawn, especially since all the brilliant personalities
07:42of the era had disappeared.
07:45He had lost all his greatest enemies, William of Orange, Leopold of Austria.
07:49He had no enemies left.
07:50He had outlived them.
07:51He had lost his greatest men, his generals, his artists, Colbert, Louvois, Mignard, Lebrun, Vauban.
07:57They had all disappeared.
08:07This was 1715.
08:08The 18th century had already begun.
08:10Everything was changing around the king.
08:12The Enlightenment was here.
08:14Louis XIV could not be a part of the new century.
08:16He stood like one last rampart.
08:20Louis XIV ruled over France for 72 years.
08:24An endless reign, the longest in history, over all periods and countries.
08:30Even his people grew tired of this king who seemed immortal, who outlived his own descendants,
08:36literally decimated between 1711 and 1712.
08:42First it was Louis XIV's son, the heir, a parent who died in 1711.
08:48Then his grandson, the Duke of Burgundy.
08:52Then the latter's wife, the Duchess of Burgundy, and their child, Louis XIV's great-grandson,
08:59the eldest of the great-grandchildren, also died in 1712.
09:04So who was left?
09:06The little Duke of Anjou, who was two years old, future Louis XV, the last grandson.
09:11And so it was on this young child of delicate health that the future of all the French monarchy depended.
09:18Louis XIV was very distressed by this series of deaths.
09:22But he carried on ruling the kingdom bravely.
09:24Yet, Madame de Maintenon wrote, he sometimes came to her apartments alone.
09:28She said, we shut the door, there was just the two of us, and he was overcome by uncontrollable tears.
09:35This king was resigned, a king wounded by life and the tragedies that struck his family.
09:41Here was a king who was waiting to die.
09:45Increasingly isolated, Louis XIV was a king hated by his people, tired of the endless military campaigns led since the
09:53beginning of his rule.
09:57Particularly the last one, the war of the Spanish secession, whose 15 years of fighting had ruined the country.
10:07France was going through a very difficult period. The royal treasure was depleted.
10:12This era was called the Little Ice Age. It was minus 20 degrees Celsius in Paris.
10:18Winters were particularly harsh. And when we say harsh, memorialists say the wine froze in the carafe inside.
10:25They could not write because the inkwells froze.
10:29Conditions were disastrous for the people. There was a famine, with a lot of epidemics and riots.
10:35This was one more ordeal on top of the Spanish war. One million deaths. Over 5% of the population
10:42died.
10:47France was exhausted. It was within this financial crisis and impopularity context that Louis XIV entered his twilight.
10:57During the weekend after he returned from Marley, he felt more pain in his left leg.
11:02On the morning of Monday, the 12th of August, his doctor examined him.
11:09His chief doctor, Fagon, diagnosed him on Monday. It was a sciatica.
11:15Obviously he was wrong, but he was adamant for over 12 days, which made him lose precious time.
11:25Fagon was undoubtedly Louis XIV's great doctor. They were born the same year, in 1638.
11:31So the fact that the doctor and patient had the same age must have created a type of bond, complicity
11:38maybe, complementarity even.
11:40The king confided in him. He had the king's trust. And Fagon was extremely well respected at the court.
11:50Around the chief doctor, there were several dozen doctors, surgeons, and people who were connected to the maintenance, surveillance, and
11:57curing of the royal body.
12:05There's a curious document entitled, King Louis XIV's Health Journal. It's a daily diary of the king's health, written by
12:11his three chief doctors throughout his life.
12:14First, there was Vallaud, during his childhood, and the first part of his life. Then, D'Aquin, and Fagon, in
12:22the last part of his reign.
12:27In reading, one realizes that Louis XIV was truly Louis the Sickly.
12:32He had many illnesses throughout his life. Fevers, migraines, renal colics, discomforts, vertigo.
12:41But these doctors were lucky to have an ideal patient with a robust constitution. He got over illnesses.
12:47Louis XIV was a force of nature.
12:52Although his usual state was one of illness, his robust constitution helped him get over the worst ailments.
12:59Bleedings as a baby, smallpox when he was nine, gonorrhea at 17, typhoid fever which nearly killed him and made
13:08him lose all his hair at the age of 22, measles at 24, a tapeworm at 32, giving him a
13:15terrific appetite.
13:16And at 47 years old, he underwent an operation so delicate and impressive that it was named the Great Operation.
13:27Louis XIV's most famous disease, whose curing was the most celebrated, is the fistula he suffered from in 1686.
13:36The king had an anal fistula. This is a type of small duct which was infected between his anus and
13:45his colon and which was very painful.
13:49Felix de Tassi, his chief surgeon, tried to reduce the abscess by all means, but an operation was inevitable.
13:57It took place in Versailles in the king's bedroom, but in utmost secrecy. Certain patients or fistulas at the Versailles
14:05hospital were used as guinea pigs. The surgeon practiced on them.
14:14Felix de Tassi created a scalpel with a type of flexible probe to avoid pain, a curved scalpel called à
14:22la royale.
14:23He introduced the probe and operated. The king underwent the operation without any anesthetics and with a high risk of
14:31infection. There was no antiseptic at the time.
14:35He dealt with the pain stoically, and asked his surgeon to treat him like any other patient, so that his
14:42hand would not tremble.
14:47The operation was a great success. Louis XIV presided the council soon afterwards, and he rode his horse on March
14:544th, which was a sign of complete recovery.
15:00Despite the pain, Louis XIV continued to work with his ministers. He always gave priority to the kingdom, at the
15:08cost of his personal life.
15:10His last official appearance was the audience for the Persian ambassador, which he gave in public on the 13th of
15:17August.
15:19Although he could barely stand up, he received him for hours, bound in an extremely heavy gold and black velvet
15:25costume, encrusted with diamonds.
15:28He had to take it off immediately after dinner. It tired him greatly, so they say. And then he ruled
15:35the council as if nothing had happened.
15:38The reception took place in the Apollo Salon, Louis XIV's throne room, at the heart of the representation of royal
15:47power.
15:48On one of the walls is Louis XIV's most famous portrait in his coronation costume painted by Rigaud in 1701.
15:57Ironically, the sovereign faced this painting once again, portraying him in all his majesty with his slim, elegant left leg
16:05forward.
16:08On this portrait, the king shows his leg. It was that very leg which was infected with gangrene, but the
16:16king was unaware of that at the time.
16:24The illness evolved, and what everyone was most concerned about, especially his doctor, was that he didn't sleep anymore.
16:31And this meant that the pain never left him.
16:39On the 14th of August, the king was in so much pain that he was taken to Versailles royal chapel
16:44in a chair for one last mass.
16:47Louis XIV used to go there every day at 10. This royal chapel that he saw for the last time
16:53on this day is his architectural testament.
16:56For him, it was the most important piece at the end of his reign.
17:00Two million pounds to build it. Can you imagine? It's quite considerable.
17:05It's three times the budget of the Hall of Mirrors, for instance.
17:17The royal chapel has two stories, like any Palatine chapel.
17:20But this one took on a dimension which was unheard of.
17:23On the ground floor was the court, and upstairs, on the same level as his apartments, was the king surrounded
17:30by his family.
17:39In the next few days, the doctors found the king's leg had swollen, and his fever increased.
17:45Despaired by this illness they could not control, they tried out various useless treatments, rubbing the leg with hot towels,
17:53or plunging it in baths filled with aromatic herbs with burgundy wine.
17:57A clear sighted letter by Madame Palatine, the king's sister-in-law expressed the concern which was suddenly spreading throughout
18:05the court.
18:07The king's illness frightened me so that my heart trembles.
18:16People started to have doubts about the king's health degradation, insofar as he could no longer walk or even stand
18:23up.
18:24People were used to moving Louis XIV about on a wheelchair when he had gout, but this time, Louis XIV
18:30was much worse than when he had bouts of gout, and the symptoms were not similar to gout's.
18:42On the 19th of August, he was bedridden and would not leave his room again. The illness was worse than
18:48he thought.
18:50Everything concentrated in this royal bedroom, which became the center of the world, where the final act would unfold.
18:56Like in Act V, Scene V, of the great tragedies by Racine, where his death would unfold. It was both
19:03dramatic and spectacular, but also contained, serene, and full of devotion.
19:13Everything was going to happen in this room at the heart of the Versailles Palace. He chose its position in
19:181701, on the great east-west perspective.
19:27The bedroom faces the east and faces the rising sun. He had chosen all the room's arrangements, and this was
19:35where he would die.
19:41Louis XIV brought the court system to its perfection. The idea of radiating around the royal persona, meaning that everything
19:49revolved around the king, like the sun and its satellites.
19:53The image of the sun for King Louis XIV is perfectly well suited.
19:58Silverman had the full powers. Everyone gravitated around him. He was the master.
20:04Etiquette under Louis XIV's rule was the most complex in Europe. It may make us smile today all the little
20:10privileges, which Saint-Simon called the little politics of small nothings.
20:14Holding the candle when the king went to bed, holding his shirt by the right arm.
20:21The favor the most sought after was to approach the king with as few witnesses as possible. It was called
20:29the brevet d'affaires when the king was on his close stool.
20:33Being part of the king's entourage when he went hunting was also very much sought after.
20:43Each small privilege set ranks, which marked the importance of courtiers amongst themselves.
20:50Louis XIV designed a fearsome system allowing him to hold court.
20:57And these courtiers, this nobility, instead of getting along together to protest against the king's power, they all had their
21:03eyes on the king and argued over privileges.
21:06A fine example of the maxim, divide and rule.
21:14Every space in Versailles was connected to this life on display. Everything was made for the king to be seen.
21:24Courtiers who had a function at the king's house lived at Versailles. There were around 3,000 of them.
21:30But during the parties thrown by the king, all the nobility came from Paris and other regions. The crowd reached
21:38up to 10,000 people.
21:41All the king's everyday life occurred in public, beginning with the levée ceremony, which took place in the king's bedroom.
21:52Later in the morning, there was mass in the chapel.
22:00He could then be seen walking in his gardens, which were open to the public.
22:06Then there were the king's meals. Dinner at lunchtime and supper in the evenings were also public.
22:13The day ended with the king's retiring ceremony. His whole life was in public.
22:22Etiquette was maintained until the end. Entrance into the bedroom was filtered. One only entered if one had been invited
22:29or if one had the privilege.
22:35Louis XIV was on a theatre stage during his last days. He was in his bed behind the balustrade, like
22:41in a play.
22:41And he died in front of the court. He created this court system of the king's absolute representation system for
22:48the best and worst moments.
22:51And Louis XIV never hid his weaknesses, but showed he resisted them. And that was even stronger.
22:58On the 22nd of August, Fragon, fearing to be held sole responsible for his royal patient's decline, ordered ten doctors
23:07from Paris to come and examine the king.
23:09They all came by order of years of experience.
23:13They were very eloquent to hide their helplessness and came up with ridiculous remedies like donkey's milk, more digestible than
23:21cow's milk for the sick.
23:23In the 17th century, they still had very vague ideas of the cause of diseases. Medicine had not evolved since
23:29ancient times.
23:30They still believed in Hippocrates and the humor theory. And since they knew very little about what caused illnesses, there
23:37were two universal remedies, purging and bleeding.
23:43They counted in Poilettes, which were plates that would fill in blood, according to the need of the bleeding.
23:50Three, four, five Poilettes could amount to 10, 20, 30 centiliters of blood, and sometimes more, which for someone who
23:58was already ill and feverish, could result in losing consciousness.
24:04Louis XIV probably underwent several hundred bleedings. As for purging, the second medical treatment of the time, he endured it
24:13stoically until the beginning of his last illness.
24:16As Danger wrote in his journal in fashionable terms, the king takes medicine.
24:27In the 17th century, when one used the expression to take medicine, it meant either taking a purge, meaning swallowing
24:34a liquid, a preparation that would make one vomit, or make you defecate, or it was an enema.
24:39In Louis XIV's case, for example, his chief doctor required the king to take medicine once a month, twice a
24:48month exceptionally, or once every two months.
24:52It was a real established ritual at the court, and parts of it were public.
24:58I am convinced that if the king, who is only 77 years old, had not been purged so often in
25:05such an inhuman way by Fagon, he would have gone past his 80th birthday, but he purged him until he
25:13bled.
25:14And the king suffered tremendously in those days. He said he had never felt such heightened pain, and the doctors
25:21never relieved him of that pain.
25:30On the 24th of August, the king's leg was bandaged, and his leg was found to be marbled in black.
25:37The diagnosis was obvious. It was gangrene.
25:42The doctors' incompetence became evident. They were not able to identify the illness, and would not be able to cure
25:49it.
25:50When Louis XIV understood it was gangrene, he knew he was doomed.
25:57To stop gangrene, an irreversible tissue necrosis, doctors performed amputations, a radical operation without any anesthetics or sterilization.
26:09Louis XIV was narrowly spared this ultimate torture.
26:17Doctors and surgeons knew gangrene very well, but no one dared say the word, because they knew that at the
26:25time, gangrene practically meant death.
26:28Rare were old people who survived an amputation.
26:35The king's surgeons did consider amputation, especially Maréchal, the chief surgeon.
26:43When Maréchal gave ten lancet blows to the king's leg, he noticed that the gangrene had spread hugely to all
26:50the left side.
26:52Sources said that the king's leg was in the same state as if he had been dead six months.
26:58The sovereign himself asked to be amputated, but his doctors were against it. It was too late.
27:04It was too late.
27:08Realising there was nothing left to do, doctors stopped all treatment.
27:14In this very religious society, Louis XIV had to accomplish his Christian duty.
27:20Before dying, he devoted himself entirely to preparing his soul for God.
27:34The last rites were given to the king on the 25th of August.
27:38On the previous day, he had learned his illness was fatal and asked Father Le Tellier for immediate confession.
27:45Then he received the last rites, which were the viaticum, communion, and extreme unction.
27:54The king's faith was solidly anchored. It was personal, a faith that supported him, and would support him naturally upon
28:00his death.
28:01He was even heard saying, if this is dying, I am not afraid, and I would like to suffer more
28:06to expiate my sins.
28:08So it was an edifying death, both the death of a king and the death of a Christian.
28:15Louis XIV was recognized as a very Christian king.
28:19During the coronation ceremony, he drew his powers straight from God.
28:23This was the divine right of kings.
28:26During the coronation, the body was divided in two.
28:29He had a sacred body.
28:32Throughout his life, it was his duty to be a very Christian and religious king.
28:38He answered only to God.
28:50On the morning of the 26th of August, Louis XIV asked his surgeon how much time he had left to
28:56live.
28:57The surgeon answered, two days.
28:59From this day on, he began bidding farewell to the various members of his entourage and family.
29:07Louis XIV received the princes first and advised them to remain united.
29:13After this speech, he said these moving words.
29:17I hope you will remember me sometimes.
29:21The princess's visit was one of the most painful moments for the king, who was extremely attached to his feminine
29:29galaxy.
29:30He could not resist his daughter and granddaughter's tears, nor those of the princess Palatine.
29:44Madame Palatine was the king's sister-in-law and thus was allowed into the king's bedroom for his farewell.
29:49She related the moment in the letter she wrote that very evening.
29:54She was astounded she did not lose consciousness, for she was so moved and upset by what she saw.
30:01He wished me happiness and blessings, and to be happy all my life.
30:06I fell to my knees, took his hand and kissed it.
30:10He embraced me.
30:16Then he bid farewell to Madame de Maintenon.
30:19He said something odd, which she did not answer to and was a little offended by.
30:24He told her the only consolation he had was that given her age, he would see her again in heaven
30:28soon.
30:29He also begged forgiveness for not having loved her enough or made her happy enough.
30:33He worried about her future and entrusted her to the care of the Duke of Orléans.
30:45Then he addressed his successor, his great-grandson, who was five years old and who was brought to the bedroom
30:51by his governess, Madame de Vantadour.
30:55He was lying in bed, the child approached him, and he gave him an extremely moving speech, whose words were
31:01recorded by a witness, the Marquis de Danjou.
31:05This is the famous speech that begins with, Mignon, you are going to be a great king.
31:11Mignon, you will be king of a great kingdom. I urge you never to forget your obligations to God. Try
31:17to remain at peace with your neighbors. I have loved war too much. Do not copy me in that or
31:23in my overspending. Lighten your people's burden as soon as possible and do what I have had the misfortune not
31:30to do myself.
31:32He finished his speech giving him his blessing and burst into tears, moved by what he was doing.
31:39Here was Louis XIV at the head of such a numerous family that succession problems were inconceivable.
31:46But in 1715, Louis XIV's only successor was Louis XV, a five-year-old boy, the king's great-grandson.
31:55This meant that the two generations between Louis XIV and Louis XV had been decimated, which was unthinkable 15 years
32:05beforehand.
32:08Alarmed by his dynasty's frailty, the king had written his will one year before his death.
32:14He had planned a regency until Louis XV's coming of age. He had to be 13 to rule according to
32:21monarchy's usages.
32:23He named his little appreciated nephew, the Duke of Orléans, not the regent, but the head of the regency council.
32:32Louis XIV had prepared a spectacular turn of events by removing the Duke of Orléans from the regency.
32:38He did not completely ban him because the Duke of Orléans had to exert the regency.
32:42It was in the crown's order of succession. It was more subtle than that.
32:46He deprived him of any power by making him the president of the regency council.
32:50And this council was composed of 13 people, including the Duke of Orléans.
32:54The other 12 were the Duke of Orléans' 12 enemies, like the legitimized sons, the Duke of Maine and the
33:00Duke of Toulouse.
33:01Louis XIV had done something unthinkable by raising the Duke of Maine and the Duke of Toulouse, his illegitimate sons
33:09born from his affair with Madame de Montespont, to the rank of princes of the blood.
33:14His bastards could claim to succeed him in the same way as his legitimate heirs could.
33:19This decision, which violated the kingdom's fundamental laws, caused a scandal among nobility.
33:26In his will, Louis XIV favored the Duke of Maine, his favorite.
33:32The Duke of Maine received the heirs of parents' superintendency in his education.
33:38And above all, he got the mastery of the military household of the king.
33:44So he disposed of the heir of parents' force and education.
33:49Orléans was left on the sidelines.
33:55Louis XIV was no Duke when he wrote his will.
33:58He was lucid and knew that as soon as he would die, the will would be broken.
34:02And he said so in his memoirs.
34:04We can do anything we want when we are alive, but when we aren't, we can do less than an
34:09individual.
34:15The king was gradually losing consciousness, but they still tried one last thing, notably with the arrival of a certain
34:22Brun, who was a type of charlatan.
34:25He spoke to the Duke of Orléans and said he had a cure for all gangrenes, outer, inner and blood
34:31infections.
34:32This cure was drops that were mixed in with Burgundy wine, which was the wine Louis XIV drank.
34:41There was no hope left, so people agreed that the king take this treatment.
34:49The king almost lived again.
34:52People shouted, it's a miracle.
34:55There was movement in the court.
34:57Many people had gathered in the antechambers of the Duke of Orléans, who was getting ready to rule.
35:03Chambers emptied, people rushed back to the king.
35:06This did not last because the elixir had a limited time effect.
35:13One can believe that taking alcohol did provide some respite, but the interval only lasted 24 hours.
35:22And then Louis XIV was even worse.
35:26Brown fled, thinking that he could be held responsible for the king's imminent death.
35:33And rather quickly, the king fell in a semi-conscious state.
35:37From then on, people waited for his death, which occurred on the morning of the 1st of September.
35:53Sunday, September 1st, 1715.
36:00The king died this morning at 8.15 and a half.
36:04He yielded up his soul without any effort, like a candle going out.
36:25When the king expired, the Duke of Orléans immediately went to pay homage to the young Duke of Anjou.
36:32He knelt before him without saying a word.
36:35The child understood by this gesture that he was the new king, that his great-grandfather had died.
36:41And he burst into tears.
36:44He died surrounded by the faculty.
36:46He was not alone.
36:48There were also clergymen who prayed continuously.
36:51There was also all his service, certain princes of his family.
36:54And he died on show, like he lived most of his life.
37:02As soon as his death was announced, clergymen left the bedroom.
37:07The king's eyes were closed, his hands were placed on his stomach,
37:11and the bedroom was prepared for the day's visits.
37:17The rule was to present the deceased, showing his face, during one day in the bed he died in,
37:24displayed for whoever wanted to see him.
37:27It was a public display, without any order, hierarchy, pomp or anything.
37:32It was just to show that he was dead.
37:39Louis XIV's death certificate was recorded by the priest Huchon in Notre Dame de Versailles' register.
37:46The king slipped in between Louise Boulogne and Elizabeth Prudence Berger,
37:51two young girls who died in infancy.
37:56As soon as he disappeared, the sun king became a mere individual, like any other.
38:02His authority was swept away because when he passed, his last wishes were trampled.
38:13The very day of Louis XIV's death, on the 1st of September, when the will was still secret,
38:19the Duke of Orléans was informed that he would be removed from Regency.
38:23And extremely quickly, he organized for the following day, the 2nd, a solemn séance at Parliament.
38:29And there he played his part.
38:31He entered the Parliament, reminded them of the last words Louis XIV had told him,
38:36that he would keep all the rights his rank entitled him to.
38:39The will was opened, and then they learned that he was removed from Regency.
38:44He pretended to be offended, to not understand.
38:47And finally, with a few arguments, in one afternoon, he turned all the members of Parliament around.
38:54Nothing could have been easier.
38:55He promised them the earth and the Parliament, like one man, entrusted all the Regency to Philippe of Orléans, and
39:02that was that.
39:04From then on, on the evening of the 2nd of September, it was settled.
39:09Two weeks later, there was a Parliament session with a Lille de Justice.
39:15A Lille de Justice is a session in the Parliament of Paris in the presence of the King.
39:21On the 12th of September, it was in five-year-old Louis XV's presence that the full powers were officially
39:27given to the Duke of Orléans, who was recognized as Regent.
39:36In parallel of this political upheaval, to annul the will, the royal funeral ritual began in Versailles.
39:44Louis XIV had not left any instructions, so the Duke of Orléans ordered the same celebrations as Louis XIII had
39:51had.
39:54On the 2nd of September, it was the autopsy day. The King's body was moved from his bedroom to the
40:00bullseye salon, where a large table had been placed with a tablecloth on it.
40:05The King's body was placed on the table, where he would be autopsied.
40:09There were about 30 people around this long table, on which the King's corpse was laid. It must have been
40:20in a state of advanced decomposition and unbearable stench.
40:25During Louis XIV's autopsy, they noticed that the gangrene had continued to spread, so they were sure it was gangrene,
40:33which would be qualified as senile nowadays.
40:35It spread from the left foot and went up the entire body to reach the head.
40:43It was during this autopsy that the King's corpse was separated in a symbolic way into three separate parts.
40:51The body, the entrails and the heart.
40:58This tannery fission was an old tradition of French monarchy, which meant that sovereigns would honour three different places through
41:08their remains.
41:11The King has three tombs, one for his body in Saint Denis, the Royal Necropolis, the heart tomb in Saint
41:17Louis de Jesuit Church, Rue Saint Antoine, and the entrails tomb at Notre Dame in Paris.
41:25Once the autopsy was finished, the King's body was embalmed and the entrails were replaced with all sorts of traditionally
41:32preserving plants, and also with toe, which was a kind of fabric that gave a shape to the King's body.
41:43Louis XIV's body was too damaged to be displayed, even embalmed.
41:49So the body was embalmed because it was tradition, but it was immediately placed in his coffin.
41:57And he was put in a double coffin of oak and lead, and then the King's body disappeared for good.
42:06It was the first time things happened like this, because in former times, and until Henry IV, there was a
42:14wax effigy reproducing the sovereign's traits in a very realistic way.
42:19And this effigy was entitled to all the honours the King had when he was alive.
42:25He was even served meals.
42:27Louis XIII stopped this custom, judging it was too pagan.
42:32He decided there would no longer be effigies.
42:50When the King was in his coffin, he was no longer displayed in his funeral room, but would be presented
42:56in Mercury's drawing room, which was the King's former parade room, and would now serve as funerary parlor.
43:06The King's body was moved in three pieces on a podium, on which a golden sheet was laid, and then
43:13the coffin was placed on it.
43:16On the coffin, the heart was laid, and at the foot of the coffin, the entrails.
43:22Then, for a week, the bodies of the state, ambassadors, clergymen, who came to sprinkle holy water, would parade in
43:32a strict protocol.
43:35This was a real show that went on for eight days.
43:44On 9th September, at the end of the day, at seven in the evening, the coffin was brought down into
43:49the royal courtyard at the Château de Versailles, where a great funeral carriage awaited.
43:53One must imagine hundreds of people escorting him, with guards, of course, a crowd of poor people dressed in grey
44:01and holding a candle, and all his officers, chaplains, a series of carriages with princes who accompanied the King.
44:19Then, the procession left Versailles via the Avenue de Paris, went down to the Pont de Sèvres, crossed the Seine,
44:27and went along the Bois de Boulogne to reach Saint-Tuan, and finally Saint-Denis.
44:34Parisians came out to see this extraordinary show go by, with 2,500 people, with the royal guard, drums rolling,
44:43torches held high.
44:45Since the procession lasted a long time, they had set up tents, had brought food and drinks, and were not
44:53necessarily in a great contemplative mood.
44:56The Parisians feasted, and some even made nasty comments. A tenacious legend holds that Louis XIV was transported on the
45:05sly, but it was traditional to deliver great personalities at night.
45:11The important royal procession reached Saint-Denis in the early hours of the morning, where the clergy took the King's
45:18body in hand.
45:20This, of course, is symbolic, leaving Versailles at night and arriving in the morning in Saint-Denis, going from death
45:27at night to resurrection in the light.
45:31The King's body was displayed for a few days in the basilica, then moved to the sanctuary for 42 days,
45:38the time required to prepare the sumptuous settings for the ceremony.
45:47To hold all the public that would come for the ceremony in Saint-Denis, they had to transform it into
45:54a theatre, or even an opera hall.
45:56They built loggias, the entire church was draped in black, windows were blacked out, it was all black inside, and
46:05thousands of candles lit it up.
46:07And in the middle of all this, a gigantic katafaki inside which the coffin was placed.
46:15We have a vision of this Gothic church which was entirely transformed. They were in a baroque space, all the
46:23way up to the top.
46:25The service in charge of organizing the King's funeral was this legendary service called Les Menus Plaisirs.
46:32And these Menus Plaisirs, whose exact title was Argenterie, Menus Plaisirs et Affaires de la Chambre, were in charge of
46:40all ephemeral entertainments at the court.
46:42These could be parties, or the King's coronation, parties thrown in the gardens, but also funerals.
46:50And in Saint-Denis, it was the Menus Plaisirs who were in charge of designing this huge funeral decoration, which
46:58was thought of as a theatrical decoration.
47:01And people admired it like they would admire a theatrical display.
47:08One could see a procession of people who wanted to be seen, because this was the place to be seen
47:14in, and show one's real situation at court.
47:17Which clothes to wear? What place to have? Who could one pass? Who could be overtaken?
47:23It was a fundamental aspect of such a long funeral for the court society.
47:29On the 23rd of October, after a five-hour-long Mass celebrated in his memory, Louis XIV could finally rest
47:38forever.
47:38But his coffin did not join those of the rest of his family. He would replace Louis XIII in the
47:45antechamber stored in a crypt reserved for the body of the last dead king.
47:54He was lowered to the entrance of the vault at the foot of the steps, with his head turned towards
48:00the entrance of the vault, as if he was waiting for his successor.
48:04When his successor would die, his body would be transported to the back of the vault with the others, and
48:10the coffin of his successor would take his place.
48:15And, before closing it, there was a famous ceremony where the various monarchy insignia were laid on the coffin, such
48:25as the gauntlet, the shield, the helmet, the spurs, the sword, the banner of France, the pinion, the king's own
48:35banner.
48:37And then the king of arms shouted out the famous, King Louis XIV is dead, long live King Louis XV,
48:43which became, the king is dead, long live the king!
48:47And everybody shouted, long live the king! three times.
48:51The music started to play, drums to roll, trumpets rang out, and everyone shouted, long live the king!
48:58So it was a funeral ceremony, the king is dead, but it was also a ceremony of accession, long live
49:05the king!
49:14In Paris, more such spectacular services were given in the following weeks, at Notre Dame, or the Sainte Chapelle.
49:24For one year, royal funerals were organized all over the Kingdom of France, in the neighboring countries in Europe, in
49:32Rome, or in Spain, and even the rest of the world, in Mexico or Peru, to pay one last homage
49:41to the Sun King.
49:43His remains still rest in Saint Denis, thanks to Louis XVIII, the last French king buried there who restored the
49:52royal necropolis 25 years after its desecration.
49:56The bones of Louis XIV were retrieved, haphazardly, in the mass graves, with those of Louis XIII, Henry IV, Marie
50:07de Médicis, and many others, and gathered in the same ossuary behind these walls.
50:33And in the Prince's Chapel, which comprises the coffins of Adelaide and Victoire de France, Louis XV's daughters, the princes
50:42of Condé, and the Prince of France,
50:43the Duke of Béry, and his granddaughter, Isabelle d'Artois, who died at one day old,
50:49Louis XIV's heart joined as he desired, his father, Louis XIII's, in the middle of the heart cabinet.
51:02Upon this verme box, the following epitaph is engraved.
51:07Here is the heart of Louis XIV, by the grace of God, king of France and Navarre, very Christian, deceased
51:16in his palace in Versailles, on the first day of September, 1715.
51:22Requis got in patchy.
51:27Very good.
51:54That's the heart of Louis XIV, by the washington in the 미래.
51:55Then there's some sort of womens in the first day of your palace with you, from the siren, somewhere between
51:55the tombstone is a tradition of an army behind this,
51:55The more normalena, the temple, the walking inside of the palace, the temple, the temple, the temple, the temple, the
51:55temple, the temple, the temple, the temple, the temple, the temple, the temple.
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