Description
Louis XIV, the extremely-feted “Solar King”, used to be popular for his political and cultural affect and for elevating France to a brand new stage of prominence in 17th-century Europe. And but, as Antonia Fraser keenly describes, he used to be similarly mythical within the household sphere. Certainly, a panoply of girls—his mom, Anne; mistresses corresponding to Louise de l. a. Vallière, Athénaïs de Montespan, and the puritanical Madame de Maintenon; and an array of courtesans—moved out and in of the court docket. The extremely visual presence of those ladies increases many questions on their place in each Louis XIV’s lifestyles and in France at massive. With cautious analysis and brilliant, enticing prose, Fraser makes the multifaceted lifetime of one of the crucial well-known Eu monarchs available and vibrantly present.
