Louis XIV, who officially became the king of France in 1643 (at the age of only four, which meant that the country was ruled by regents in his place), hated Paris from childhood, writes History.com. In the middle of the 17th century, the narrow streets of the French capital had a stench characteristic of a garbage dump, and even the monarch, whose carriage was cleared of idleness by a troop of soldiers, was well aware of the smell of ij mud, ij grambas, ij sewage.
Unlike many subjects who had to live in these conditions all their lives, the heir to the throne had a choice. And it was the desire to be closer to nature and the benefits it offers – from fresh air to great game, says All About History. When he came of age and became a full-fledged king, he ordered that no funds be spared to turn a rather modest hunting lodge less than 20 kilometers from Paris into a luxurious palace – this property Louis XIV had once visited with his father. The works started in 1661 progressed quickly, and already on May 7, 1664, the king invited several hundred courtiers to a grand feast that lasted almost a week.
In the following decades, such balls became commonplace at Versailles, and were usually pretexted by Louis XIV’s desire to show off some new addition to the palace, new gardens, fountains or water bodies. In 1682, Versailles actually became the capital of France, because not only the courtiers, but also the entire state administrative apparatus moved to the palace by order of the king. Balls became less and less frequent, but Louis XIV imposed strict rules of behavior and etiquette, making many courtiers feel almost like a prison.
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