Francis here again. This website is often the place where each of us Snakes and Otters guys can either talk about something that we like that the other two may not, or where we may expand upon some of the stuff we discuss on the podcast. Today it’s both.
If you listen to our episode on the French Sun King Louis XIV (and it’s embedded at the bottom of the post if you haven’t done so yet) you’ll see very quickly that the guys were humoring Ol’ Francis here with a choice of hero that they were not all that enthused about. That’s okay of course, I’m totally grateful for the opportunity as always.
Louis XIV is someone who has fascinated me for many years because, in many respects, the Europe of the mid-1600’s through the early 1700’s is his, or so it has been called. A giant of such influence to me is always interesting, which is why I persuaded the guys to let me cast him as a hero. He was not called both the Sun King and Louis Le Grand for no reason.
His Palace of Versaille is what most of us know him for today, but to focus on only this is to do a horrid injustice to the legendary king who changed the world forever. We Americans are perhaps a bit more Anglofiles than Francofiles sometimes, but this is to our detriment. As Jean Luc Picard himself once said, “the French language for centuries on Earth represented civilization.” He was, as usual, exactly right.
I mention this in the episode, but i wanted to lay it out for you all here the two great books and one TV series that really allow you to get to know the Sun King, who was both visionary and tyrant, lover and warmonger, autocrat and dreamer all rolled into one. The first book (pictured here with a link to the Amazon Kindle version) is simply Louis XIV by French author Olivier Bernier, written in 2018. It’s an excellent read, easy to understand and yet also fully sourced. Believe it or not, I couldn’t put the damn thing down once I started it. (It’s written in English folks as Bernier is fully bilingual. It does not sound translated, so don’t be afraid.) Bernier also wrote excellent biographies on The Sun King’s successor Louis XV (which I also have but have not yet begun, although it is in my sights) Lafayette, Marie Antoinette and many other great books. He’s worth your time folks.
The second book is Antonia Fraser’s Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King which is absolutely as spicy as it sounds, although fully factual. It’s a personal look at this amazing lover, believe it or not, but is also properly sourced and eminently readable.
Finally there is the really awesome TV series Versailles which ran for three amazing seasons and was made in France for British television. If you’re a fan of the Vikings TV series (and let’s face it, if you aren’t, you should be) you’ll recognize the lead actor playing Louis as George Blagden who delivers an amazing performance yet again, along with Alexander Vlahos who plays Louis’ younger brother (and wild character himself) Monsieur, Phillipe, Duc’ de Orleans. (It is from him that the House of Orleans descends, who reigned in the person of Louis Phillipe in the mid-1800’s.)
There are also some fictional characters blended in, my favorite of whom was the Chief of Louis’ Police, Fabien Marchal, played spectacularly well by Canadian actor Tygh Runyan. Seriously, if you want to get to know Louis and his world, and be entertained as heck along the way, Versailles is the way to go. (Full disclosure! The series is VERY adult themed all over the place with a fair degree of sex, nudity and all that stuff. With a horndog like Louis, it would be ridiculous to do it any other way and be in any way accurate, so be warned.)
The trailer for the first season is below here, but you can watch the entire series on both Netflix and Amazon Prime. I highly recommend it:
And of course, here is our episode where we dive deeply into Louis’ House of Bourbon, accompanied by plenty of that marvelous drink of the same name . . .
