#Louis de Silvestre

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Louis de Silvestre (1675-1760) "The Formation of Man by Prometheus with the Aid of Minerva" (1702) Oil on canvas

[history-of-fashion]

1728 Louis de Silvestre - Portrait of Katarzyna Barbara Branicka née Radziwiłł

(National Museum, Warsaw)

[royalty-nobility]

Portrait of Augustus III of Poland

Artist: Louis de Silvestre (French, 1675–1760)

Date: After 1733

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: The Wilanów Palace Museum, Warsaw, Poland

Augustus III of Poland

Augustus III (17 October 1696 – 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augustus II.

[gogmstuff]

1730s Close out, for a while (from top to bottom) -

ca. 1735 Elisabetta Algarotti Dandolo by Rosalba Carriera (location ?). From pinterest.com/source/karoline-von-manderscheid.tumblr.com/ 1034X1341.

ca. 1735 Probably Maria Clementina Sobieska by Pier Leone (Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie - Warszawa, Poland). From Google Art Project via Wikimedia; fixed spots w Pshop 2251X3000.

ca. 1735/1740 Lady Mary Bellings-Arundell, Baroness Arundell of Wardour (1716–1769) by Enoch Seeman the Younger (Oxburgh Hall - Oxburgh, near Swffham, Norfolk, UK). From Wikimedia 943X1200.

ca. 1737 Maria Josepha of Austria by Louis de Silvestre (Stadtgeschichtliches Museum - Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany) From Google Art Project via liveinternet.ru/users/marylai/post292168318/ 2345X300.

ca. 1738 Princess Amellia of Great Britain by Jean Baptiste van Loo (auctioned by Sotheby's). Probably from Wikimedia; fixed spots & cracks w Pshop 1308X1713.

ca. 1739 Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern by Antoine Pesne (Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten - specific location ?). From Wikimedia; fixed spots w Pshop 2431X3322.

ca. 1739 Lady by Herman van der Mijn (location ?). From tumblr.com/jeannepompadour 642X792.

ca. 1739-1740 Woman Standing in a Garden by Arthur Devis (location ?). From history-of-fashion.tumblr.com/post/123799742529/ab-1739-1740-arthur-devis-portrait-of-a-woman via pinterest.com/amisiak1193/stroje-damskie-1700-1800/;  fit to screen 1980X2870.

[hoppityhopster23]

Late to the game but I’m adding because why not.

62. Don’t ask Larrey why he came to the treatment he’s using on the wounded. It’s all the right things for all the wrong reasons.

63. It’s not worth being neutral. Believe me, cities have been bombed horrendously for being neutral. If you do plan on it doing it anyways, just beat the British to it and blow up your own ships.

64. If involved in an affair with the Danish king, don’t bother cheating on him or try to run off. You may get exiled. But why should you? He pays well, and any kids with the guy will live richly.

65. Don’t speak badly of religion or the monarchy in Denmark. You may find yourself permanently exiled.

66. Don’t ask the Danish monarch about the lack of mailboxes in his kingdom. Just don’t.

67. What happens Danish officer parties stays in the Officers parties.

68. Please don't put the French and Russian Peacocks in a room. we don't need to watch that.

69. If Larrey needs something, he will tell you, no matter the time it is or what you are doing.

Napoleonic War Survival Tips for the French Army

1. Don’t refer to Marshal Murat’s uniform as “peacock wear” within earshot of him.

2. When Napoleon pulls out a map, don’t ask, “Are we lost?”

3. If your cannonball doesn’t quite reach the enemy lines, just blame the wind. Or Berthier.

4. Don’t accidentally toast “To King Louis” at an officers’ dinner. Ever.

5. Avoid playing cards with Marshal Lannes – unless you enjoy losing your entire month’s pay.

6. Foraging in enemy territory: Always ask what’s in the stew before you eat it.

7. If you’re sent to negotiate peace, don’t open with, “Our emperor said this would be easy.”

8. During winter campaigns, remember: snowballs do not replace musket balls.

9. Don’t try to outdo Napoleon in recalling historical battles. You’ll lose.

10. If Napoleon is inspecting the troops, resist the urge to ask, “Is it true you’re shorter than Murat?”

11. Never, under any circumstances, suggest that Wellington’s redcoats “don’t look so tough.”

12. If Marshal Ney orders a charge, just assume it’s going to last until nightfall.

13. Do not ask Marshal Davout if his nickname Iron Marshal comes from his cooking.

14. If your bayonet charge fails, remember: retreat is just “advancing in the opposite direction.”

15. If someone says “This mission is simple,” expect nothing but complications.

16. In case of defeat, remember: it’s always the Austrians’ fault. Even if they aren’t there.

17. During peace negotiations, “bombing their latrines” is not considered a formal strategy.

18. If you happen to capture a British officer, refrain from gloating by saying, “See you in Paris!”

19. When bivouacked near rivers, don’t bet on crossing without some form of disaster.

20. Finally, do not point the cannons at the Emperor’s tent, even as a joke. Especially not as a joke.

[armagnac-army]

OOC: The Napoleonic Askblog/Roleplay Scene Directory

Here's an Out Of Character post listing the blogs I'm aware of in the Napoleonic RPF Roleplay Scene! It's OOC because Lannes would want to make sarcastic remarks with typos.

If you want (or don't want) your blog on this list, message me and whether you want a main/other blog associated with your name or whether you want to be anonymised! Also happy to include non-Frenchmen and Frev folks.

Doubles or multiple versions of people are welcome, this is a varied afterlife. We all have our different ideas for what this afterlife is like as well.

Feel free to reblog or link to this!

And now we have a OOC discord server to chat about all of this! Feel free to join if you'd like!

The Marshalate

armagnac-army - Jean Lannes, Duke of Montebello - played by cadmusfly

murillo-enthusiast - Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, and ADCs - played by cadmusfly

@le-brave-des-braves - Michel Ney, Prince of the Moskva, Duke of Elchingen, and ADCs - played by @neylo

@your-dandy-king - Joachim Murat, King of Naples - played by @phatburd

@chicksncash - André Masséna, Prince of Essling, Duke of Rivoli, and others - played by @chickenmadam also playing as his ADC, with appearances from Marshal Augereau, the Cuirassier Generals d'Hautpoul and Nansouty, and the Horse Grenadier General Lepic

@your-staff-wizard - Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Neuchâtel and Valangin, Prince of Wagram - played by @chickenmadam, as above

@perdicinae-observer - Louis-Nicolas Davout, Prince of Eckmühl, Duke of Auerstaedt - played by @mbenguin

@bow-and-talon - Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr

@france-hater - Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, or Karl XIV Johan of Sweden, played by @deathzgf also includes the Duke of Wellington and Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration

@simple-giant-ed - Édouard Mortier, Duke of Treviso, played by @isa-ko

@bayard-de-la-garde - Jean-Baptiste Bessières, Duke of Istria

@le-bayard-polonaise - Prince Józef Poniatowski of Poland

@oudinot-still-alive - Nicolas Charles Oudinot duc de Reggio, played by @spaceravioli2

@beausoleil-de-bellune - Claude-Victor Perrin, Duke of Belluno

@commandant-des-traitres - Auguste de Marmont, Duke of Ragusa

The Grande Armée

@general-junot - Jean-Andoche Junot, Duke of Abrantes - played by @promises-of-paradise

@askgeraudduroc - Géraud Duroc, Duke of Frioul, Grand-Marshal of the Palace - played by @sillybumblebeegirl, also with cameos from Marshal Bessières shared with your-dandy-king

@trauma-and-truffles - Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, Surgeon to Napoleon and the Imperial Guard - played by @hoppityhopster23 who also plays his modern assistant

@generaldesaix - Louis Charles Antoine Desaix de Veygoux, most likely would have been a marshal if he lived - played by @usergreenpixel

@messenger-of-the-battlefield - Marcellin Marbot, aide-de-camp of maréchal Lannes - played by @a-system-of-nerds (Inactive)

@le-dieu-mars - Jean-Baptiste Kleber, General - played by @chickenmadam

@puddinglesablonniere - Charles-Étienne César Gudin de La Sablonnière, Gemeral of Davout's Corps

@francoislejeunes - Baron Louis-François Lejeune, ADC to Berthier, Artist and Engineer

@troboi1806 - Jacques de Trobriand, ADC to Marshal Davout

@cynics-and-cynology, Captain Elzéar Blaze

@thehussargeneral - General Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle, played by upbeatmeeting

@pondicherry-pie - Charles-Rene Magon de Medine, Rear Admiral of the Combined Fleet at Trafalgar, played by chickenmadam

chanceux-et-perdu - Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve, Vice Admiral of the Combined Fleet at Trafalgar, played by cadmusfly

The Bonaparte Family

@carolinemurat - Caroline Murat née Buonaparte, Queen of Naples - played by @usergreenpixel

@alexanderfanboy - Napoleon Bonaparte, The Big Cheese

@frencheaglet - Napoleon II, also known as Franz, Duke of Reichstadt, played by @usergreenpixel

@rosie-of-beauharnais - Rose Beauharnais, also known as Josephine Bonaparte, once Empress of the French

@le-fils - Eugène Beauharnais, Prince of the Empire, Bonaparte's stepson, played by @josefavomjaaga

@jbonapartes - Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, Prince of Montfort

@napoleon-bonapartee - Napoleon Bonaparte, The Head Honcho

Other Notable Personages

@askjackiedavid - Jacques Louis David, neoclassical painter - played by @sillybumblebeegirl

@lazarecarnot - Lazare Carnot, mathematician, military officer, politician and a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety

@serpentofotranto - Joseph Fouché, Duc d'Otrante, Comte Fouché, statesman and Minister of Police

@monsieurdetalleyrand - Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince of Talleyrand, statesman and diplomat

Not French

Russians

@the-blessed-emperor - Tsar Alexander I (Inactive)

@loyal-without-flattery - General Aleksey Andreevich Arakcheev, who runs His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery (Inactive)

@misha-wants-to-go-home - Count Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich, played by @spaceravioli2

@catherinesucks - Tsar Paul I of Russia, father of Alexander I

@ask-tsaralexander - Tsar Alexander I, played by @goddammitjosef

British

@the1ronduke - Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, played by @spaceravioli2

@banasstre - Banastre Tarleton, Major-General

@pakenham-kitty - Catherine Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington

@britannias-god-of-war - Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte

@lord-byrons-ghost - some Napoleon fan Lord George Gordon Byron, played by @vesseloftherevolution

Spanish

@headlessgenius - Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Painter and proud Spaniard

Prussians

@der-schnapsvater - Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher

Original Characters and Friends

@the-adventures-of-lydia-brown - Lydia Brown, a jack of all trades and problem solver finding herself in this strange realm with all these dead Frenchmen

Hopster, trauma-and-truffles's modern time travelling assistant

Madam DuQuay, ADC who takes no nonsense, helping out chicksncash, your-staff-wizard and le-dieu-mars

[gunsandspaceships]

Creator

Tony Stark - Prometheus

Prometheus is the creator of the first humans, molded by him from clay and endowed with consciousness.

"The Formation of Man by Prometheus with the Aid of Minerva" Louis de Silvestre

"In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving (particularly the quest for scientific knowledge) and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy." (Source)

Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" compares Victor Frankenstein, who brought an artificial man to life, to Prometheus.

While Zeus saw people as his slaves, Prometheus wanted his creations to rise and become equal to the gods.

[my18thcenturysource]

Hi! I’ve been studying women’s portraits from the 1720s and have stumbled across a few with these underbust pieces. Nicolas de Largillière seems to have depicted them more than once, but when I saw an example from Louis de Silvestre I got curious! Unfortunately, I can’t find anything about them. Do you know anything about them? Thanks!

Hi!

This is pretty much "fancy dress", or we could think about them as "costumes". The choice of the outfits for these kind of portraits have more to do with symbolism and the figures that might the sitters represent, than with fashion.

So, these underbust/stays might very much not even have existed in the real world, and be drawn with references and the artist's imagination, or being something taken from the stage.

Instead of looking for the actual garment, you can look for what that particular design detail (the pointed center front) represents for the characters: is it a nod to armour? a nod to a shepherdess? a theatrical costume detail? I think there is more chance to find your answer this way.

Good luck and let us know when you find out!!

[moon-meridian]

hello, friends! here is a collection of some of my favorite faces. i'll update this list as i come into contact with faces that i've been introduced to and want to interact with. please keep in mind that this list is just what comes to mind, i love new faces so feel free to suggest new ones to me !#happyroleplaying

ACTORS

a-e

aaron paul, aaron taylor-johnson, aaron tveit, adam dimarco, adan canto, alan ritchson, alberto rosende, alexander calvert, alexander skarsgard, alex fitzalan, alfie allen, alfonso herrera, alfred enoch, alvaro rico, andre lamoglia, andrew garfield, andrew matarazzo, andy samberg, angus cloud, antoni porowski, antony starr, armie hammer, aron piper, austin butler, avan jogia, ben barnes, bill skarsgard, blair redford, blake jenner, bob morley, boyd holbrook, brandon flynn, brant daughtry, brenton thwaites, brian j. smith, bright vachirawit chivaaree, cameron monaghan, casey cott, carter jenkins, chace crawford, chadwick boseman, chance perdomo, charles melton, charlie coxx, charlie heaton, charlie hunnam, charlie weber, chase stokes, cheyenne jackson, chris evans, chris hemsworth, chris messina, chris pine, christian navarro, christopher abbott, chris wood, cody christian, cody fern, cole sprouse, colton haynes, curran walters, dacre montgomery, daniel sharman, darren barnet, darren criss, david castaneda, david castro, david corenswet, dean geyer, dominic cooper, dominic sherwood, drey ray tanner, drew van acker, dylan minnette, dylan o'brien, dylan sprayberry, dylan sprouse, ed westwick, eka darville, eric dane, evan peters.

f-l

felix mallard, finn jones, finn wittrock, froy gutierrez, gavin leatherwood, gong yoo, grant gustin, gregg sulkin, gus kenworthy, hart denton, hasan minhaj, henry cavill, henry zaga, herman tommeras, hero fiennes-tiffin, hugh dancy, ian bohen, ian harding, ian somerhalder, itzan escamilla, iwan rheon, jack falahee, jack quaid, jack mulhern, jack o'connell, jacob artist, jacob elordi, jai courtney, jan luis castellanos, jared padelecki, jason momoa, jedidiah goodacre, jensen ackles, jeremy allen white, jeremy jordan, joe dempsie, joe keery, joel kinnaman, joel mchale, joe manganiello, jonathan groff, jon bernthal, jon krazinski, jordan fisher, jorge lopez, joseph gilgun, josh hartnett, joshua bassett, justin hartley, justin theroux, karamo brown, karl urban, kit harrington, kj apa, kyle allen, liam hemsworth, logan shroyer, louis partridge, lucien laviscount, luke evans, luke pasqualino.

m-s

manny jacinto, manu rios, matt bomer, matthew daddario, mark pellegrino, mason gooding, maxence danet-fauvel, max irons, max riemelt, mena massoud, michael cimino, michael trevino, michael vlamis, michele morrone, michiel huisman, miguel bernardeau, miguel herran, mike colter, miguel angel silvestre, miles heizer, milo ventimiglia, nathan parsons, nicholas galitzine, nick robinson, nico mirallegro, nico tortorella, nikolaj coster-waldua, noah centineo, nolan gerard funk, oliver jackson-cohen, oliver stark, omar ayuso, omar rudberg, oscar isaac, paul wesley, penn badgley, pol granch, rafael silva, rahul kohli, rami malik, richard madden, ricky whittle, riz ahmed, robert sheehan, rome flynn, ronen rubenstein, ross lynch, rudy pankow, rupert grint, ryan guzman, ryan kelley, ryan potter, sam claflin, sam heughan, samuel larson, scott eastwood, sean teale, sebastian de souza, sebastian stan, shiloh fernandez, skeet ulrich, steven strait.

t-z

taron egerton, taylor zakhar perez, theo james, thomas doherty, timothy granaderos, timothy olyphant, toby kebbell, toby wallace, tom ellis, tom hiddleston, tom holland, tom hopper, tom pelphrey, tyler blackburn, tyler hoechlin, tyler lawrence gray, tyler posey, wentworth miller, zac efron.

MUSICIANS

austin porter, benito ocasio (bad bunny), brandon arreaga, charlie puth, dominic fike, edwin honoret, harry styles, jack gilinsky, jack harlow, jaden smith, joe jonas, lil nas z, machine gun kelly, nick jonas, nick mara, omar apollo, shawn mendes, troye sivan, zayn malik, zion kuwonu.

EASTERN

bang chan, choi chanhee, choi minho, christian yu, han seungwoo, jackson wang, jay park, jung ki-suck, kim jennie, kim jisoo, kim jongdae, kwon hyuk lai, kuan-lin, lalisa manoban, lee dae-hwi, lee tae-min, mark yien tuan, ong seong-wu, roseanne park, taehyung, wong kunhang, wu yi fan, xiao dejun, and yan an.

MODELS

adam senn, adil haddaoui, adrien sahores, agustin bruno, arthur gosse, billy vandendooren, bo develius, brad skelly, brooklyn beckham, cameron dallas, casey jackson, christian hogue, daniel abohzira, daniel bederov, david gandy, derek chadwick, desire mia, diego barrueco, francisco lachowski, gage gomez, gui fedrezzi, harvey newton-haydon, isha blaaker, ivan kozak, jacob bixenman, janis danner, jamie dornan, joe collier, jordan torres, juan betancourt, julian schratter, kit butler, lenny izaguire, manu rios, marlon teixeira, marvin cortes, matthew noszka, matty carrington, maverick mcconnell, michael yerger, neels visser, nick bateman, nicolas simoes, nyle dimarco, ollie loudon, owen lindberg, rafael lazzini, rafael miller, reese king, richard diess, robbie satchwell, sean opry, simon loof, simon nessman, tanner reese, tom webb, vinnie hacker, will higginson, xavier serrano, zander fitzpatrick

UNCLASSIFIED

gus kenworthy, noah beck, ryan garcia, vlad hoshin.

[gonzalo-obes]

IMAGENES Y DATOS INTERESANTES DEL DIA 3 DE MARZO DE 2024

Día Mundial de la Vida Silvestre, Día Mundial de la Audición, Día Mundial de los Defectos del Nacimiento, Día Internacional de los Escritores, Año Internacional de los Camélidos.

San Jacobino y Santa Marcia.

Tal día como hoy en el año 2005

El aventurero estadounidense Steve Fosset se convierte en la primera persona en circunvolar el mundo en solitario, sin escalas y sin reabastecerse, al aterrizar en Kansas después de más de 67 horas de vuelo. (Hace 19 años)

1996

En las elecciones generales españolas el PP consigue un triunfo muy apretado en las urnas, lo que obliga a Jose María Aznar a pactar con nacionalistas vascos, catalanes y canarios para alcanzar su mayoría relativa. En 2000 logrará la mayoría absoluta y su política se derechizará considerablemente. (Hace 28 años)

1953

El oceanógrafo francés Jacques-Yves Cousteau publica su libro "El mundo del silencio" escrito con Frédéric Dumas. A partir de esta obra comenzará a trabajar en una versión cinematográfica con el director de cine Louis Malle. Después de tres años de trabajo, la película "El mundo del silencio", que mostrará un universo hasta entonces desconocido de peces tropicales, ballenas y morsas, se estrenará con gran éxito de público y ganará el Oscar de Hollywood al mejor documental y la Palma de Oro del Festival de Cine de Cannes. (Hace 71 años)

1923

En Estados Unidos, sale a la calle el primer número de la revista semanal de información general "Time". Sus fundadores son Briton Hadden y Henry Luce, que han sido compañeros de universidad en Yale. En el futuro contará con varias ediciones: europea, asiática, canadiense y Pacífico Sur. (Hace 101 años)

1918

La Rusia bolchevique firma el Tratado de Brest-Litovsk con los poderes centrales, abandonado el enorme desgaste de la I Guerra Mundial y proporcionando la independencia a Polonia y los territorios bálticos de Ucrania y Finlandia. (Hace 106 años)

1870

En Estados Unidos se comienzan a enviar tribus indias a las reservas, empleando, incluso, la fuerza. A partir de entonces, los trece Estados de la Unión irán quedando limpios de tribus indígenas. En muchas ocasiones no se respetarán los tratados firmados. (Hace 154 años)

1861

En Rusia Alejandro II abole la servidumbre, algo que afecta a más de 40 millones de campesinos; pero perdurará el sistema del "mir" (comunidad rural propietaria de la tierra que trabaja, pero responsable colectiva de los impuestos). (Hace 163 años)

1613

En Rusia una asamblea de nobles elige como zar el joven Miguel I. Con él da comienzo la dinastía Romanov. Los boyardos, muy comprometidos con el Gobierno polaco anterior, se retiran por completo. (Hace 411 años)

1478

Con el fin de impulsar la industria naval en sus reinos, los Reyes Católicos promulgan una pragmática concendiendo premios a los que construyan embarcaciones de 600 a 1.000 toneladas. (Hace 546 años)

[history-of-fashion]

1733-1734 Louis de Silvestre - Augustus II (Augustus the Strong), Elector of Saxony

(National Museum in Lublin / Lublin Castle)

[royalty-nobility]

Maria Amalia of Saxony

Artist: Louis de Silvestre (French, 1675–1760)

Date: 1738

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

DESCRIPTION

Painted in relation to the sitter’s forthcoming marriage to Charles VII of Naples, future Charles III of Spain, this portrait has an elegance and refinement that reflects the prevailing Rococo court style. The splendour and grandeur of Rigaud’s court portraits is here tempered in favour of a more delicate, decorative manner. Daughter of Frederick Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, María Amalia is dressed “à la polonaise”. In her right hand she holds a portrait miniature of her future husband. The royal crown of Naples rests on the side table.

[gogmstuff]

1732 Eva Friederike Charlotte, Gräfin von Einsiedel (1704-1758) by Louis de Silvestre (auctioned by Sotheby's). From their Web site 786X971.

[leseigneurdufeu]

so anyway back at it with books:

Les Colombes du Roi-Soleil is the one you're looking for if you're looking for a boarding school saga + shared universe story. 15 books starting with this one. (putting goodreads links but you can find those on amazon and probably elsewhere). End of Louis XIV's reign.

Annie Jay's Complot à Versailles is more middle of the reign. It's got, in the same universe but different characters (same universe... i mean it's a historical period but also we hear about the characters from the main series at some point that's why I call it like that) à la poursuite d'Olympe.

Annie Pietri's got some pretty good books too. The Spy duology and the Orange Trees of Versailles.

For more Louis XV/Louis XVI times, Anne Sophie Silvestre's Marie-Antoinette is what you're looking for. It's got Fersen.

Then let's go to the revolution with Les Soeurs Espérance, four books, all better than each other (wasn't a big fan of the fourth but i don't remember it much). Sophie de Mullenheim also wrote Un Parfum de COmplot, set in the french colonial empire in the 1930's,

Gwenael Barussaud is a prominent author in everything 19th century, too. Here is her 1810's series, and here her 1850's.

Now if we go back in time, Evelyne Brisou-Pellen is, afaik and as far as my local library had, THE reference for everything middle ages. She had a few... non-historically-compliant series with magic powers and all, but her Garin Trousseboeuf series is quite accurate.

That's basically it, although I can't remember if Pietri or Jay is the one who also wrote those trilogies about a cursed glass-maker and everything concerning the murano glass making. BUt it wasn't as good as the rest.

Re: your longest historical obsession, the court in Versailles

OK so I say the longest because when I was a kid I got into historical novels and, at least in my social circles/neighbourhood library/older siblings shelves etc, 50% of french kids historical novels are about Louis XIV and Louis XVI. When I was like 7 i borrowed from my sister (then got the whole collection offered to me the next years one here one there etc) her only tome of Les Colombes du Roi-Soleil (lit: the Doves of the Sun-King) which was about the noble but poor girls who got educated basically for free (as long as the pauperty of their family was because of their service to the king/country) in this big, stern boarding school near Versailles. Each of the girls lived big adventures that started in the boarding school or went they left it. The first one, Louise, discovered she was Louis XIV's illegitime daughter and her mother was in jail (she thought she was an orphan as she didn't know her parents). Charlotte was a stowaway to Siam because a guy was trying to marry her against her will because she was protestant and the law that authorized protestantism in france had just been repelled and the guy she wouldn't have many friends who would stand up for her, Hortense was in love with CHarlotte's brother and they eloped to go live in Switzerland (protestant country + she's not supposed to elope, the girls at this Boarding School were generally married off by the director, Madam de Maintenon, or at least with her blessing), Isabeau became a governess but the father of the kids tried to make a move on her and she ran away and I don't remember what she did then. Victoire became a lady in waiting for an italian princess, Adelaide got fired, then was sent to the new world in a basically "mail bride" thing because the population of the new world was 90% men at the time so France sometimes sent girls from jail to start a new life there (evening the population ratio and allowing prostitutes and other thieves to start anew) then fell in love with an indian and married him after her husband died (in... most suspicious circumstances), Jeanne became a cosmetologist/parfumer, Eleonore's book was about alchemy and porcelain... so basically all that. You would learn everything about everything and most of the time there was also a cute love story.

There was also the Complot à Versailles series (lit: Plot in Versailles!) which was all about the darker secrets of the court, mainly the Affair of the Poisons (which you can look up or I can make a post about) in which an amnesiac little girl was saved from the Seine (the river) flooding and adopted by destitute nobles, the Saint-Beryl family. SHe got friends with their daughter was was her age, and when the daughter, ten years later, is sent to the court because someone owed them a favor and paid it by giving her a job, the amnesiac girl goes there as her maid. Amnesiac girl is also a skilled healer because she was raised by the Saint-Beryl's only left servants who are a butler and his wife the healer. Anyway they were somehow put into a whole plot which was the follow-up of the one that had made the Amnesiac Girl taken from her family and made amnesiac and she found out who her family was and they arrested the bad guys.

There's also Orange Trees of Versailles and (putting them together because I had them in the same edition and thought it was the same book for a while at 7-8) The Sun-King's Spy (l'espionne du roi-soleil). Basically also about the Affair of the Poisons, everytime a young girl arrives at the court and has to enfurl plots.

When I was 9, i won a reading contest and got offered the first book of a (at the time 3, but apparently there were more than came out) romance biography of Marie-Antoinette (which, as a matter of fact, was nicknamed Antoinette or Antonia, not Marie, so sorry Time Princesses but it really breaks my immersion - because almost every girl was named Marie-Something at the time). It was from the pov of a priest who had been sent to Austria to teach her french and then accompagnied her back to France, Idk if he really existed. Anyway it taught me a lot about the time but also now I can't see the name of the austrian embassador in France at the time without thinking "omg like in Marie-Antoinette: Le Jardin Secret d'une Princesse!!" so it kinda allows me to baffle history majors when they're like "oh yeah this guy no one knows about" and i'm like "well actually..." and then gives them info without precising it's from a book i read when i was 8.

After that I found the historical novels shelves on my local boookshop and also discovered the Soeurs Espérance books which I cannot recommand enough to anyone interested in "recent" (1789-1900) french history which is basically about this atheist girl, Emilie, who's father died and because of the lack of money her mother and her move into a smaller house around the 1890's, and she finds a secret part of the wall in which there's a bunch of letters from Charlotte, a noble girl from the french revolution era, writing to her sister Elisabeth who had left France for England during the revolution. Then because she wants to know more about the girls, Emilie looks up who the previous owner of the house was and it was a family with a daughter her age, catholic, named Constance. Basically the whole book is half the thriller that is Charlotte's life and half an ongoing theological debate between Atheist!Emilie and Catholic!Constance, but there's also this serial killer and their neighbour who won't leave them alone about that one fence that is supposedly over his part of the garden. Anyway. Four books of that, at some point Constance wonders if she should become a nun, Emilie converts to christianism and marries Constance's brother far later, there's a whole thing about how Elisabeth never answered the letters of Charlotte and CHarlotte received a letter from the english cousins who were supposed to take care of Elisabeth saying she never arrived at their house, so the two "modern" girls try to find out more about what happened to them both, there's a "cursed" reliquary plot which is not cursed it's just that everyone who owned it dies but it's because someone is killing them to try and get their hand on the reliquary, there's a whole "russian girl who got abandonned by her parents to protect her because they were suspected of being in on the assassination of this one tsar" etc it's great read it i beg you read it.

Anyway so yeah the french court of Versailles is basically all I could find to read about so this obsession started when I was 7 or so and is still ongoing so that's why i call it my longest one.

So basically what's Versailles?

It's a castle that was supposed to be a hunting lodge for Louis XIII, but his son Louis XIV, as soon as his tamed the revolt against him (la Fronde) which was led by his own uncles, when he was a child, moved into Versailles and made it into the biggest, most beautiful castle in Europe (if you like the golden colour only though. if you prefer white and blue, some german/austrian castles are way more beautiful, and for cream and beige you'll have plenty of magnificent english ones but that's not my point). Because of the Fronde, Louis XIV put in place a very, very strict social/courtly etiquette which only purpose was to make everything turn around him. Basically, the goal was that while the noble houses would fight each other for the privilege of serving him, they wouldn't have time to fight him.

So in Versailles, there was this whole food chain of basically, dukes and duchesses are serving the royal family, but their own servants are generally lower-ranking nobles, and the nobles' servants and lady-in-waiting/attendants are generally even-lower-ranking nobles, who then are served by commoners.

As far as recurring characters that did exist went from a historical novel to the other, you had like the basic ones, Jean de la Fontaine, Racine, Corneille, André Lenôtre, Jules Hardouin-Mansart and other big cultural characters (Fontaine, Racine and Corneille are authors, Lenôtre and Hardouin Mansart were architects working on Versailles, one in the gardens, one in the buildings), it became both a cultural epicenter and a... well, at the beginning it was a place of debauchery, the king had many mistresses and libertinage was running rampant, but then the king became wiser in his old age and it went the other way and became a very pious place, except obviously it was the inverse excess so it became very roman catholic and nothing else. Back to the reucrring character you have less famous like ministers and "famous" priests and such, La Reynie was the minister of police, Jacques Benigne Bossuet was the bishop of Meaux and a famous writer (would write moral and religious discourse) etc. So really it taught me a lot about that period.

Back to the king's mistresses, there are only three kings who lived in Versailles, all called Louis: Louis XIV, his great-grandson Louis XV and the latter's grandson, Louis XVI. There was no king between them, they just all outlived their other descendants.

Louis XIV was... intense. Everything I said before obviously, plus his, let's say, love for women and for parties. He spent millions in parties but he also put France in first position in Europe, culturally and militarily. Actually, iirc (don't quote be on this one) at the battle of Blenheim in 1704, France was defeated for the first time since Louis XIV had ascended to the throne. And he had ascended like fifty years earlier (depends on how you count).

He also cheated on his wife throughout most of their marriage. His most famous mistresses (who stayed famous because they were openly recognized as royal mistresses despite the church condemning it but hey how can the local priest or even the pope knock some sense into the most powerful guy of europe) are Louise de la Vallière, from whom he got two children who were the heroes of a ton of historical novels I didn't talk about because they're all blurring with each other honestly, Athenais de Montespan (Athenais was a "precious" name, her real name was Françoise, we'll talk about preciousism later), with whom he had like seven or more children who he legitimized, and who... er... was kinda... totally guilty of trying black magic and human sacrifices in order to try and keep the king under her tumb when she got older and her beauty started fading? But anyway she got exiled from court but not punished otherwise because it would mean actually admitting that the king's mistress was a human sacrificer satanist and it didn't look good ya know? The third "principal" mistress (by which I mean they were known for being the king's mistress and held as much power as the queen, but he also had tons of extra-marrital relationships with maids and noble ladies that were not made public) was Angelique de FOntanges who was much younger than him and also died in childbirth but was for a while suspected of having been murdered by Montespan because she was jealous of the king sleeping with someone else (so you know... Montespan was intense too for everyone to believe that) and then finally, Madame de Maintenon (née Françoise d'Aubigné) was the last one except she was not the king's mistress. She was his confident, and for all the time they were friends, she tried to persuade him to chase off his mistresses and get back with the queen (she was a very pious woman who apparently succeeded where everyone else had failed in scaring the king with promises of Hellfire if he kept cheating on his wife). Anyway after the queen died he married her in secret and afaik they didn't sleep together before they were married and maybe not even after because they were both old already so she's not exactly a mistress, but she's generally counted as such.

Madame de Maintenon is also the one who created the boarding school from the Colombes du Roi-Soleil series, so she was featured prominently in those books.

Speaking about Montespan's ritual sacrifices, dark masses, satanism and all, I can't say more because it would take a whole post on its own but just google affair of the poisons (or... you know, click the link i put) and it's a whole can of worms.

Preciousism (not sure it's called like that in english) is a cultural movement mainly started by women but which had men in it too, all nobles or at least high-middle-class. The principle was basically to make things more "precious" so basically you wouldn't call yourself Jane but Athenais or Clarimonde (weird names inspired from pastoral poems or greek mythology), you would discourse about the arts and politness, and mostly it was considered as ridiculous except by the "Precious" themselves. There's a play by Moliere mocking them. Mostly instead of saying "i'm going to the toilets" you would use loads of metaphors and periphrases and end up saying something like "Hermes is leading my feet against my will to the house of Cloaqua" and such.

On the "intense" and "party" side of Louis XIV, he was also a theater kid, kinda, and acted and danced in a lot of ballets and plays that he had sponsored.

Anyway from there we go to Louis XV. Becomes king at like three or so and obviously regency by his uncle, Philippe of Orleans. Then he becomes an adult and honestly i know that time period less well but he got two prominent mistresses too, Madame de Pompadour and Madame du Barry. He got loads of kids and four of his daughters never married: Marie-Adélaïde (who you know by time princess) among others. One of them became a nun but the other three became one of the most powerful social group at court by the time Louis XVI was born.

Anyway Louis XVI was not destined to become king, he was a second son, but his older brother died of illness when they were children, and his parents apparently would have rather that Louis died than his brother and were awful with him.

Anyway Marie-Therese of Austria (not the one who married Louis XIV, the one who reigned over Austria in Louis XV's time) had loads of children too and one of the youngest was Marie-Antoinette. WHO WAS NICKNAMED ANTOINETTE NOT MARIE! Why would Timeprincess butcher that one point? Everybody was named Marie-Something at the time, every single one of her sisters, her mother, all the french princesses... they were called by their second name not their first!

^me right now and everytime I play QUeen Marie on TP

Anyway. (am i using this word too much? probably. but i'm only proofreading when I'm going back up to add something and see words here and there while doing so)

One notable thing is that Louis XVI is the first king in a long time to have not had a msitress. Actually, although they were a bit shy around each other when they got married at 14, Louis and Marie-Antoinette loved each other dearly. Louis was an expert clockmaker, a great hunter, etc. Very good with his hands for everything.

Versailles (the castle) was invaded by the people of Paris and Versailles (the village) during the revolution and the king and queen were emprisonned and that's the endo f Versailles. Still a museum but that's not the same.

[hckat]

Louis de Silvestre, 1733: Portrait de Marie Josèphe d'Autriche (details)

[jeannepompadour]

bMaria Anna of Saxony, holding the miniature portrait of her husband, Elector Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria by Louis de Silvestre, 1746