Under the rule of Louis XIV (1643-1715), the idea of absolute monarchy in France was taken to a new extreme. With his 72-year reign guided by his motto of “L’état c’est moi” (I am the state), Louis XIV epitomized the belief of the divine right of the king: the conviction that God had given him the right to rule. This idea led to his refusal to share any aspect of his power with any other member of the government or aristocracy. Claiming the title of “le Roi Soleil” (the Sun King), Louis XIV’s powerful rule brought France into its Golden Age.
To keep a tight rein (and eye) on the aristocracy, in 1692 Louis XIV moved the court outside Paris to the Château de Versailles. He expected the aristocracy to spend the majority of the year there, and only through their constant attendance would he grant them the pensions and privileges deemed necessary to live appropriately according to their rank. As described by Duc de Saint-Simon, a Versailles resident, in his memoirs:
“Not only did he expect all persons of distinction to be in continual attendance at Court, but he was quick to notice the absence of those of inferior degree, at his lever, his coucher, his meals, in the gardens of Versailles (the only place where the courtiers in general were allowed to follow him), he used to cast his eyes to right and left; nothing escaped him, he saw everybody. If anyone habitually living at Court absented himself he insisted on knowing the reason; those who came there only for flying visits had also to give a satisfactory explanation; any one who seldom or never appeared there was certain to incur his displeasure. If asked to bestow a favor on such persons he would reply haughtily: ‘I do not know him,’ of such as rarely presented themselves he would say, ‘He is a man I never see,’and from these judgments there was no appeal.”
Even after Louis XIV’s death, until the French Revolution, the Court continued to live its privileged existence at Versailles. There, the aristocracy (such as Saint-Lambert and Émilie’s family) and special invited guests (such as Voltaire) were expected to indulge in the extravagant luxury and many distractions provided by the King, while keeping things lively (and dangerous) through a never-ending stream of gossip. The pervasive ideals > of the Enlightenment > (including the emerging belief that accident of birth did not give adequate reason for wealth or power) were not tolerated at Versailles, and the writings and letters of its leading thinkers (including Voltaire) were used by their enemies to gain favor with the king and guarantee punishment (either prison or banishment) of the writer.
