– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

[Music]

A few kilometers to the north of Paris,

the royal necropolis can be found in the

Basilica of Sanden.

This is where French kings are buried

since San Louui. Louis the 14th rested

here in the family tomb with his

relatives for over three quarters of a

century when French revolutionaries

voted the desecration of royal tombs to

celebrate the fall of the monarchy.

>> This is where the exumations of the

Bourbons took place from the 12th of

October to the 28th of October 1793.

The crypt was a walled area in which

coffins were lined up laid on iron

trestles. The revolutionaries pierced a

hole in the wall at the back to reach

the sarcophagus.

>> They opened Louis the 14th's large

wooden coffin and oh shock, he was

perfectly well preserved, black like

ink.

>> The sovereign's blackened corpse chilled

the desecrators to the bone. Could this

be the devil's warning? Terrified, they

quickly threw the body in the mass grave

on top of his peers.

This revolutionary deed signed the

symbolic end of France's most powerful

royal dynasty. This was the last time

Louis the 14th's body was seen.

[Music]

Oh.

[Music]

On the morning of the 1st of September

1715,

Louis the 14th passed away in his

bedroom in the shadow deers. Carried off

in 23 days by a terrible disease,

gangrine.

The Sun King faced his death with the

same panache he had shown throughout his

entire reign.

[Music]

>> Louis the 14th as the silver had to

perform a show of a good death, a great

death that would serve as an example for

all his subjects.

[Music]

All his life he was wary of ensuring his

reputation having it acknowledged by his

high deeds by magnificent achievements.

A good death was part of this

prestigious policy would be shown to all

of Europe and would enable him to leave

a longlasting mark in history.

Here

was this monarch who was a type of

ruling machine who never let anything

show and even his death was part of his

job. Meaning that a king was born, lived

and died in public.

So he had to work for his death to make

it the final act in his king's role.

The sumptuous Versailles palace which

Louis the 14th had created entirely

turned out to be the ideal location to

perform this final tragedy.

But it was in the chateau at Mari where

he had taken up his summer residency for

2 months where he enjoyed a relaxed

lifestyle far from Versailles protocol

that his decline began.

The court had settled in Marley like

every summer since the 12th of June.

>> The king's health was declining a

little. He had some dizzy spells, but he

wasn't more concerned than that. On the

10th of August, he felt a pain in his

left leg.

>> He went back to Versail, carried on

living casually, even went for a stroll

the next day in the Trian Gardens,

pursued his sovereigns life, went to

chapel for mass, held council, had his

meals in public. He didn't eat much but

maintained the ritual of meals. Still

went to his wife Madame de Mos to listen

to music. Everything went on as usual.

This was Versailles.

[Music]

The 10th of August is the symbolic date

of the king's last illness and also the

beginning of the end. In a way,

from the 10th of August onwards, there

was a type of countdown. People followed

hour by hour and sometimes minute by

minute the king's agony until his last

breath.

Louis the 14th's intimate circle beared

witness in the writing of all the stages

of his demise. Their tales traveled

through centuries. Noteworthy are the

Marque de Donjour's memoirs, a loyal and

close friend of the royal couple or the

letters of the Princess Palatin, Louis

the 14th's sister-in-law whose humor and

frankness the king appreciated. an

unavoidable feminine character of the

court. She held an abundant

correspondence with over 60,000 letters

in which she related life at Versailles.

As for Madame Duanton, whom the king

secretly married in his second wedding,

she shared the last 30 years of his life

until the king's last breath. In her

letters, she shared more intimate

confidences on Louis feelings, the man

hidden behind the king's clothes.

At the beginning of his illness, Louis

the 14th was about to celebrate his 77th

birthday, a record for the time.

However, he was not in high spirits.

>> In 1715, Versailles court was aging.

Many old courtiers there who knew the

king when he was young had remained

loyal.

Versailles was synonymous of boredom. It

was no longer synonymous of creativity

and intellectual daring. Things were

happening in Paris. Now,

[Music]

this more austere atmosphere of the end

of the reign was mostly due to the

king's aging. He was less inclined to

taste the entertainments that pleased

the youth. He was with Madame Deon, who

was also rather aged, being 3 years

older than him.

So the aging couple tended to become

withdrawn, especially since all the

brilliant personalities of the era had

disappeared.

>> He had lost all his greatest enemies,

William of Orange, Leopold of Austria.

He had no enemies left. He had outlived

them. He had lost his greatest men, his

generals, his artists, Colbear, Luvoir,

Minar, Lubon. They had all disappeared.

[Music]

This was 1715. The 18th century had

already begun. Everything was changing

around the king. The enlightenment was

here. Louis the 14th could not be a part

of the new century. He stood like one

last rampart.

>> Louis the 14th ruled over France for 72

years. An endless reign, the longest in

history over all periods and countries.

Even his people grew tired of this king

who seemed immortal, who outlived his

own descendants, literally decimated

between 1711 and 1712.

>> First, it was Louis the 14th's son, the

heir, a parent who died in 1711.

then his grandson, the Duke of Burgundy.

>> Then the latter's wife, the Duchess of

Burgundy, and their child, Louis the

14th's greatgrandson, the eldest of the

great grandchildren, also died in 1712.

So who was left? The little Duke of

Anju, who was 2 years old, future Louis

the 15th, the last grandson. And so it

was on this young child of delicate

health that the future of all the French

monarchy depended.

Louis the 14th was very distressed by

this series of deaths. But he carried on

ruling the kingdom bravely. Yet Madame

de Matanol wrote he sometimes came to

her apartments alone. She said, "We shut

the door. There was just the two of us

and he was overcome by uncontrollable

tears."

>> This king was resigned. A king wounded

by life and the tragedies that struck

his family. Here was a king who was

waiting to die.

Increasingly isolated, Louis the 14th

was a king hated by his people. Tired of

the endless military campaigns led since

the beginning of his rule,

particularly the last one, the war of

the Spanish secession, whose 15 years of

fighting had ruined the country.

>> France was going through a very

difficult period. The royal treasure was

depleted. This era was called the little

ice age. It was -20° C in Paris.

Winters were particularly harsh. And

when we say harsh, memorialists say the

wine froze in the cars inside. They

could not write because the inkwells

froze.

Conditions were disastrous for the

people. There was a famine with its lot

of epidemics and riots. This was one

more ordeal on top of the Spanish war. 1

million deaths. Over 5% of the

population died.

[Music]

>> France was exhausted. It was within this

financial crisis and impopity context

that Louis the 14th entered his

twilight.

During the weekend after he returned

from Mari, he felt more pain in his left

leg. On the morning of Monday the 12th

of August, his doctor examined him.

His chief doctor, Fraun, diagnosed him

on Monday. It was a sciatica.

Obviously, he was wrong, but he was

adamant for over 12 days, which made him

lose precious time.

>> Fagon was undoubtedly Louis the 14th's

great doctor. They were born the same

year in 1638. So the fact that the

doctor and patient had the same age must

have created a type of bond complicity

maybe complimentarity even the king

confided in him. He had the king's trust

and Fagon was extremely well respected

at the court.

Around the chief doctor there were

several dozen doctors, surgeons and

people who were connected to the

maintenance, surveillance and curing of

the royal body.

There's a curious document entitled King

Louis the 14th's health journal. It's a

daily diary of the king's health written

by his three chief doctors throughout

his life. First, there was Valu during

his childhood and the first part of his

life. Then Dan and Fagon in the last

part of his reign.

[Music]

In reading, one realizes that Louis the

14th was truly Louis the sickly. He had

many illnesses throughout his life.

Fevers, migraines, renal collics,

discomforts, vertigo.

But these doctors were lucky to have an

ideal patient with a robust

constitution. He got over illnesses.

Louis the 14th was a force of nature.

Although his usual state was one of

illness, his robust constitution helped

him get over the worst ailments.

Bleedings as a baby, smallpox when he

was nine, gonorrhea at 17, typhoid fever

which nearly killed him and made him

lose all his hair at the age of 22,

measles at 24, a tapeworm at 32, giving

him a terrific appetite. And at 47 years

old, he underwent an operation so

delicate and impressive that it was

named the great operation.

>> Louis the 14th's most famous disease

whose curing was the most celebrated is

the fistula he suffered from in 1686.

>> The king had an anal fisttola.

This is a type of small duct which was

infected between his anus and his colon

and which was very painful.

>> Felix Dessi, his chief surgeon, tried to

reduce the absess by all means, but an

operation was inevitable.

[Music]

>> It took place in Versailles in the

king's bedroom, but in utmost secrecy,

certain patients of fistlas at the

Versailles hospital were used as guinea

pigs. The surgeon practiced on them.

>> Felix Dassi created a scalpel with a

type of flexible probe to avoid pain, a

curved scalpel called Royo.

He introduced the probe and operated.

The king underwent the operation without

any anesthetics and with a high risk of

infection. There was no antiseptic at

the time.

He dealt with the pain stoically and

asked his surgeon to treat him like any

other patient so that his hand would not

tremble.

[Music]

>> The operation was a great success. Louis

the 14th preided the council soon

afterwards and he rode his horse on

March the 4th which was a sign of

complete recovery.

Despite the pain, Louis the 14th

continued to work with his ministers. He

always gave priority to the kingdom at

the cost of his personal life. His last

official appearance was the audience for

the Persian ambassador, which he gave in

public on the 13th of August.

Although he could barely stand up, he

received him for hours, bound in an

extremely heavy gold and black velvet

costume encrusted with diamonds.

He had to take it off immediately after

dinner. It tired him greatly, so they

say, and then he ruled the council as if

nothing had happened.

The reception took place in the Apollo

salon, Louis the 14th's throne room at

the heart of the representation of royal

power. On one of the walls is Louis the

14th's most famous portrait in his

coronation costume painted by Regal in

1701.

Ironically, the sovereign faced this

painting once again portraying him in

all his majesty with his slim, elegant

left leg forward.

>> On this portrait, the king shows his

leg. It was that very leg which was

infected with gangrine, but the king was

unaware of that at the time.

[Music]

The illness evolved and what everyone

was most concerned about, especially his

doctor, was that he didn't sleep

anymore. And this meant that the pain

never left him.

On the 14th of August, the king was in

so much pain that he was taken to

Versailles Royal Chapel in a chair for

one last mass.

Louis the 14th used to go there every

day at 10. This royal chapel that he saw

for the last time on this day is his

architectural testament. For him, it was

the most important piece at the end of

his reign.

2 million pounds to build it. Can you

imagine? It's quite considerable. It's

three times the budget of the Hall of

Mirrors, for instance.

The Royal Chapel has two stories like

any Palatine Chapel, but this one took

on a dimension which was unheard of. On

the ground floor was the court and

upstairs on the same level as his

apartments was the king surrounded by

his family.

In the next few days, the doctors found

the king's leg had swollen and his fever

increased. Despared by this illness they

could not control, they tried out

various useless treatments, rubbing the

leg with hot towels or plunging it in

baths filled with aromatic herbs with

burgundy wine. A clear-sighted letter by

Madame Palatin, the king's

sister-in-law, expressed the concern

which was suddenly spreading throughout

the court.

The king's illness frightens me so that

my heart trembles.

[Music]

>> People started to have doubts about the

king's health degradation in so far as

he could no longer walk or even stand

up. People were used to moving Louis the

14th about on a wheelchair when he had

gout. But this time Louis the 14th was

much worse than when he had bouts of

gout and the symptoms were not similar

to gouts.

>> On the 19th of August he was bedridden

and would not leave his room again. The

illness was worse than he thought.

Everything concentrated in this royal

bedroom which became the center of the

world where the final act would unfold

like an act five scene five of the great

tragedies by rine where his death would

unfold. It was both dramatic and

spectacular but also contained serene

and full of devotion.

>> Everything was going to happen in this

room at the heart of the Versai Palace.

He chose its position in 1701 on the

great east west perspective.

[Music]

>> The bedroom faces the east and faces the

rising sun. He had chosen all the rooms

arrangements

and this was where he would die.

[Music]

Louis the 14th brought the court system

to its perfection. The idea of radiating

around the royal persona, meaning that

everything revolved around the king,

like the sun and its satellites. The

image of the sun for King Louis the 14th

is perfectly well suited.

The silver had the full powers. Everyone

gravitated around him. He was the

master.

>> Etiquette under Louis the 14th's rule

was the most complex in Europe. It may

make us smile today all the little

privileges which Sans Simon call the

little politics of small nothings.

holding the candle when the king went to

bed, holding his shirt by the right arm.

>> The favor the most sought after was to

approach the king with as few witnesses

as possible. It was called the when the

king was on his close to

being part of the king's entourage when

he went hunting was also very much

sought after.

[Music]

Each small privilege set ranks which

marked the importance of quarters

amongst themselves.

Louis the 14th designed a fearsome

system allowing him to hold court.

And these courtes this nobility instead

of getting along together to protest

against the king's power they all had

their eyes on the king and argued over

privileges. A fine example of the maxim

divide and rule.

Every space in Versailles was connected

to this life on display. Everything was

made for the king to be seen.

Courtiers who had a function at the

king's house lived at Versailles. There

were around 3,000 of them. But during

the parties thrown by the king, all the

nobility came from Paris and other

regions. The crowd reached up to 10,000

people.

All the king's everyday life occurred in

public, beginning with the L ceremony,

which took place in the king's bedroom.

>> Later in the morning, there was mass in

the chapel.

[Music]

He could then be seen walking in his

gardens, which were open to the public.

Then there were the king's meals. Dinner

at lunchtime and supper in the evening

were also public.

The day ended with the king's retiring

ceremony. His whole life was in public.

A tikette was maintained until the end.

Entrance into the bedroom was filtered.

One only entered if one had been invited

or if one had the privilege.

Louis the 14th was on a theater stage

during his last days. He was in his bed

behind the Balustrad like in a play and

he died in front of the court. He

created this court system of the king's

absolute representation system for the

best and worst moments. And Louis the

14th never hid his weaknesses but showed

he resisted them and that was even

stronger.

On the 22nd of August, Fagong, fearing

to be held sole responsible for his

royal patients decline, ordered 10

doctors from Paris to come and examine

the king. They all came by order of

years of experience. They were very

eloquent to hide their helplessness and

came up with ridiculous remedies like

donkey's milk, more digestible than

cow's milk for the sick.

In the 17th century, they still had very

vague ideas of the cause of diseases.

Medicine had not evolved since ancient

times. They still believed in Hypocrates

and the humor theory. And since they

knew very little about what caused

illnesses, there were two universal

remedies, purging and bleeding.

>> They counted in pulet, which were plates

that would fill in blood according to

the need of the bleeding. Three, four,

five pulettes could amount to 10, 20, 30

centiliters of blood and sometimes more,

which for someone who was already ill

and feverish could result in losing

consciousness.

[Music]

>> Louis the 14th probably underwent

several hundred bleedings. As for

purging, the second medical treatment of

the time, he endured it stoically until

the beginning of his last illness. As

Donjjo wrote in his journal, in

fashionable terms, the king takes

medicine.

In the 17th century, when one used the

expression to take medicine, it meant

either taking a purge, meaning

swallowing a liquid, a preparation that

would make one vomit, or make you

defecate, or it was an enema. In Louis

the 14th's case, for example, his chief

doctor required the king to take

medicine once a month, twice a month

exceptionally, or once every two months.

It was a real established ritual at the

court, and parts of it were public.

I am convinced that if the king, who is

only 77 years old, had not been purged

so often in such an inhuman way by

Fagon, he would have gone past his 80th

birthday. But he purged him until he

bled. And the king suffered tremendously

in those days. He said he had never felt

such heightened pain. And the doctors

never relieved him of that pain.

[Music]

On the 24th of August, the king's leg

was bandaged and his leg was found to be

marbled in black.

>> The diagnosis was obvious. It was gang

green.

>> The doctor's incompetence became

evident. They were not able to identify

the illness and would not be able to

cure it.

When Louis the 14th understood it was

gang green, he knew he was doomed.

To stop gangrine, an irreversible tissue

necrosis, doctors performed amputations,

a radical operation without any

anesthetics or sterilization. Louis the

14th was narrowly spared this ultimate

torture.

Doctors and surgeons knew gang green

very well.

>> But no one dared say the word because

they knew that at the time gang green

practically meant death. Rare were old

people who survived an amputation.

The king's surgeons did consider

amputation

especially Marishal the chief surgeon.

When Marishal gave 10 lancet blows to

the king's leg, he noticed that the gang

green had spread hugely to all the left

side. Sources said that the king's leg

was in the same state as if he had been

dead 6 months.

So himself asked to be amputated, but

his doctors were against it. It was too

late.

[Music]

Realizing there was nothing left to do,

doctors stopped all treatment. In this

very religious society, Louis the 14th

had to accomplish his Christian duty.

Before dying, he devoted himself

entirely to preparing his soul for God.

The last rights were given to the king

on the 25th of August. On the previous

day, he had learned his illness was

fatal and asked Father Lutilier for

immediate confession.

Then he received the last rights which

were the viaticum, communion, and

extreme uncction.

[Music]

The king's faith was solidly anchored.

It was personal, a faith that supported

him and would support him naturally upon

his death. He was even heard saying if

this is dying I am not afraid and I

would like to suffer more to expedate my

sins. So it was an edifying death both

the death of a king and the death of a

Christian.

>> Louis the 14th was recognized as a very

Christian king. During the coronation

ceremony he drew his powers straight

from God. This was the divine right of

kings. During the coronation the body

was divided in two. He had a sacred body

throughout his life. It was his duty to

be a very Christian and religious king.

He answered only to God.

[Music]

>> On the morning of the 26th of August,

Louis the 14th asked his surgeon how

much time he had left to live. The

surgeon answered, "Two days." From this

day on, he began bidding farewell to the

various members of his entourage and

family.

Louis the 14th received the prince's

first and advised them to remain united.

After this speech, he said these moving

words. I hope you will remember me

sometimes.

The princess's visit was one of the most

painful moments for the king. who was

extremely attached to his feminine

galaxy. He could not resist his daughter

and granddaughter's tears, nor those of

the princess Palatine.

[Music]

>> Madame

>> Madame Palatin was the king's

sister-in-law and thus was allowed into

the king's bedroom for his farewell. She

relayed at the moment in the letter she

wrote that very evening.

She was astounded she did not lose

consciousness for she was so moved and

upset by what she saw.

>> He wished me happiness and blessings and

to be happy all my life. I fell to my

knees, took his hand and kissed it. He

embraced me.

[Music]

>> Then he bid farewell to Madame Metanino.

He said something odd which she did not

answer to and was a little offended by.

He told her the only consolation he had

was that given her age, he would see her

again in heaven soon. He also begged

forgiveness for not having loved her

enough or made her happy enough. He

worried about her future and entrusted

her to the care of the Duke of Olon.

[Music]

Then he addressed his successor, his

greatgrandson who was 5 years old and he

was brought to the bedroom by his

governness, Madame Deontadur.

He was lying in bed. The child

approached him and he gave him an

extremely moving speech whose words were

recorded by a witness, the Maku.

This is the famous speech that begins

with you are going to be a great king.

[Music]

You will be king of a great kingdom. I

urge you never to forget your

obligations to God. Try to remain at

peace with your neighbors. I have loved

war too much. Do not copy me in that or

in my overspending. Lighten your

people's burden as soon as possible and

do what I have had the misfortune not to

do myself.

He finished his speech giving him his

blessing and burst into tears, moved by

what he was doing.

Here was Louis the 14th at the head of

such a numerous family that succession

problems were inconceivable.

But in 1715, Louis the 14th's only

successor was Louis X 15th, a 5-year-old

boy, the king's greatgrandson.

This meant that the two generations

between Louis the 14th and Louis the

15th had been decimated, which was

unthinkable 15 years beforehand.

Alarmed by his dynasty's frailty, the

king had written his will one year

before his death. He had planned a

regency until Louis X 15th's coming of

age. He had to be 13 to rule according

to monarchy's usages.

He named his little appreciated nephew

the Duke of Oleon not the regent but the

head of the regency council.

Louis the 14th had prepared a

spectacular turn of events by removing

the Duke of Olon from the regency. He

did not completely ban him because the

Duke of Olon had to exert the regency.

It was in the crown's order of

succession. It was more subtle than

that. He deprived him of any power by

making him the president of the regency

council and this council was composed of

13 people including the Duke of Oon. The

other 12 were the Duke of Oon's 12

enemies like the legitimized sons the

Duke of Maine and the Duke of Tus.

Louis the 14th had done something

unthinkable by raising the Duke of Maine

and the Duke of Tulus, his illegitimate

sons born from his affair with Madame de

Montispon, to the rank of princes of the

blood. His bastards could claim to

succeed him in the same way as his

legitimate heirs could. This decision,

which violated the kingdom's fundamental

laws, caused a scandal among nobility.

In his will, Louis the 14th favored the

Duke of Maine. his favorite.

>> The Duke of Maine received the heir's

apparent superintendency in his

education and above all he got the

mastery of the military household of the

king.

>> So he disposed of the air appearance

force and education

was left on the sidelines.

>> Louis the 14th was no dup when he wrote

his will. He was lucid and knew that as

soon as he would die, the will would be

broken. And he said so in his memoirs.

We can do anything we want when we are

alive, but when we aren't, we can do

less than an individual.

>> The king was gradually losing

consciousness, but they still tried one

last thing, notably with the arrival of

a certain blah, who was a type of

charlatan.

He spoke to the Duke of Olon and said he

had a cure for all gang greens, outer,

inner, and blood infections.

>> This cure was drops that were mixed in

with burgundy wine, which was the wine

Louis the 14th drank.

[Music]

>> There was no hope left. So people agreed

that the king take this treatment.

[Music]

The king almost lived again.

People shouted, "It's a miracle.

There was movement in the court. Many

people had gathered in the anti-chambers

of the Duke of who was getting ready to

rule. Chambers emptied. People rushed

back to the king. This did not last

because the elixir had a limited time

effect.

One can believe that taking alcohol did

provide some respite, but the interval

only lasted 24 hours. And then Louis the

14th was even worse.

Fled thinking that he could be held

responsible for the king's imminent

death.

And rather quickly, the king fell in a

semi-conscious state. From then on,

people waited for his death, which

occurred on the morning of the 1st of

September.

[Music]

Sunday, September 1st, 1715.

[Music]

The king died this morning at 8:15 and a

half.

He yielded up his soul without any

effort,

like a candle going out.

[Music]

When the king expired, the Duke of Olon

immediately went to pay homage to the

young Duke of Anju.

He knelt before him without saying a

word. The child understood by this

gesture that he was the new king, that

his great-grandfather had died, and he

burst into tears.

He died surrounded by the faculty. He

was not alone. There were also clergymen

who prayed continuously. There was also

all his service, certain princes of his

family. And he died on show like he

lived most of his life.

As soon as his death was announced,

clergymen left the bedroom.

The king's eyes were closed, his hands

were placed on his stomach, and the

bedroom was prepared for the day's

visits.

The room was to present the deceased,

showing his face during one day in the

bed he died in displayed for whoever

wanted to see him.

It was a public display without any

order, hierarchy, pump or anything.

It was just to show that he was dead.

[Music]

Louis the 14th's death certificate was

recorded by the priest in Notraam de

Versai's register. The king slipped in

between Louise Bologna and Elizabeth

Pidons Berge two young girls who died in

infancy.

As soon as he disappeared the sun king

became a mere individual like any other.

His authority was swept away because

when he passed, his last wishes were

trampled.

[Music]

>> The very day of Louis the 14th's death

on the 1st of September, when the will

was still secret, the Duke of Oon was

informed that he would be removed from

Regency. And extremely quickly he

organized for the following day, the

second, a solemn seance at Parliament,

and there he played his part. He entered

the parliament, reminded them of the

last words Louis the 14th had told him

that he would keep all the rights his

rank entitled him to. The will was

opened and then they learned that he was

removed from regency. He pretended to be

offended to not understand and finally

with a few arguments in one afternoon he

turned all the members of parliament

around.

Nothing could have been easier. He

promised them the earth and the

parliament like one man entrusted all

the regency to Philippo and that was

that.

From then on on the evening of the 2nd

of September it was settled. Two weeks

later there was a parliament session

with a lead

is a session in the parliament of Paris

in the presence of the king.

On the 12th of September, it was in

5-year-old Louis X the 15th's presence

that the full powers were officially

given to the Duke of Bolon who was

recognized as regent.

[Music]

>> In parallel of this political upheaval

to enull the will, the royal funeral

ritual began in Versailles. Louis the

14th had not left any instructions. So

the Duke of Orlon ordered the same

celebrations as Louis the 13th had had.

>> On the 2nd of September, it was the

autopsy day. The king's body was moved

from his bedroom to the bullseye salon

where a large table had been placed with

a tablecloth on it. The king's body was

placed on the table where he would be

autopsied.

There were about 30 people around this

long table on which the king's corpse

was laid.

It must have been in a state of advanced

decomposition and unbearable stench.

During Louis the 14th's autopsy, they

noticed that the gang green had

continued to spread. So, they were sure

it was gang green, which would be

qualified as scenile nowadays. It spread

from the left foot and went up the

entire body to reach the head.

[Music]

>> It was during this autopsy that the

king's corpse was separated in a

symbolic way into three separate parts.

The body, the endrails,

and the heart.

This tinary fish was an old tradition of

French monarchy which meant that

sovereigns would honor three different

places through their remains.

>> The king has three tombs. One for his

body in Sandin, the royal necropolis,

the heart tomb in San Louis church and

the entrails tomb at Notradam in Paris.

Once the autopsy was finished, the

king's body was imbalmed and the

endrails were replaced with all sorts of

traditionally preserving plants and also

with toe which was a kind of fabric that

gave a shape to the king's body.

Louis the 14th's body was too damaged to

be displayed, even inbalmed.

So the body was embalmed because it was

tradition, but it was immediately placed

in his coffin

and he was put in a double coffin of oak

and lead and then the king's body

disappeared for good.

[Music]

It was the first time things happened

like this because in former times and

until Henry IVth, there was a wax effigy

reproducing the sovereigns traits in a

very realistic way. And this effigy was

entitled to all the honors the king had

when he was alive. He was even served

meals.

Louis the 13th stopped this custom

judging it was too pagan. He decided

there would no longer be effiges. pretty

fish.

[Music]

When the king was in his coffin, he was

no longer displayed in his funeral room,

but would be presented in Mercury's

drawing room, which was the king's

former parade room and would now serve

aserary parlor.

The king's body was moved in three

pieces on a podium on which a golden

sheet was laid and then the coffin was

placed on it.

On the coffin the heart was laid and at

the foot of the coffin the intrails.

Then for a week the bodies of the state,

ambassadors, clergymen who came to

sprinkle holy water would parade in a

strict protocol.

This was a real show that went on for

eight days.

[Music]

On 9th September, at the end of the day,

at 7:00 in the evening, the coffin was

brought down into the royal courtyard at

the chatau deai where a great funeral

carriage awaited.

One must imagine hundreds of people

escorting him with guards of course, a

crowd of poor people dressed in gray and

holding a candle and all his officers,

chaplain, a series of carriages with

princes who accompanied the king.

[Music]

Then the procession left Versailles via

the Avenue Deari, went down to the

Ponttov, crossed the sand, and went

along the Bad Bulan to reach Suan and

finally Sanden.

[Music]

Perisians came out to see this

extraordinary show go by with 2500

people with the Royal Guard, drums

rolling, torches held high.

Since the procession lasted a long time,

they had set up tents, had brought food

and drinks, and were not necessarily in

a great contemplative mood.

>> The Parisians feasted, and some even

made nasty comments. A tenacious legend

holds that Louis the 14th was

transported on the sly, but it was

traditional to deliver great

personalities at night. The important

royal procession reached Sandon in the

early hours of the morning where the

clergy took the king's body in hand.

This of course is symbolic leaving

Versai at night and arriving in the

morning in Sanden going from death at

night to resurrection in the light.

The king's body was displayed for a few

days in the basilica then moved to the

sanctuary for 42 days. the time required

to prepare the sumptuous settings for

the ceremony.

[Music]

To hold all the public that would come

for the ceremony in Sandin, they had to

transform it into a theater or even an

opera hall. They built launches. The

entire church was draped in black.

Windows were blacked out. It was all

black inside and thousands of candles

lit it up. And in the middle of all

this, a gigantic catapalki inside which

the coffin was placed.

>> We have a vision of this Gothic church

which was entirely transformed. They

were in a baroque space all the way up

to the top.

The service in charge of organizing the

king's funeral was this legendary

service called Leules.

And these menu whose exact title was

a de were in charge of all ephemeral

entertainments at the court. These could

be parties or the king's coronation,

parties thrown in the gardens, but also

funerals. And in Sandin, it was the menu

who were in charge of designing this

huge funeral decoration, which was

thought of as a theatrical decoration.

And people admired it like they would

admire a theatrical display.

>> One could see a procession of people who

wanted to be seen because this was the

place to be seen in and show one's real

situation at court, which clothes to

where, what place to have, who could one

pass, who could be overtaken. It was a

fundamental aspect of such a long

funeral for the court society.

On the 23rd of October, after a 5-hour

long mass celebrated in his memory,

Louis the 14th could finally rest

forever.

But his coffin did not join those of the

rest of his family. He would replace

Louis the 13th in the anti-chamber

stored in a crypt reserved for the body

of the last dead king.

[Music]

He was lowered to the entrance of the

vault at the foot of the steps with his

head turned towards the entrance of the

vault as if he was waiting for his

successor. When his successor would die,

his body would be transported to the

back of the vault with the others and

the coffin of his successor would take

his place.

And before closing it, there was a

famous ceremony where the various

monarchy insignia were laid on the

coffin such as the gauntlet, the shield,

the helmet, the spurs, the sword.

The banner of France, the pinnon, the

king's own banner.

And then the king of arms shouted out

the famous king Louis the 14th is dead.

Long live King Louis X the 15th which

became the king is dead long live the

king and everybody shouted long live the

king three times the music started to

play drums to roll trumpets rang out and

everyone shouted long live the king. So

it was a funeral ceremony the king is

dead but it was also a ceremony of

accession long live the king.

[Music]

In Paris, more such spectacular services

were given in the following weeks at

NRAAM or the San Chappelle.

For one year, royal funerals were

organized all over the Kingdom of

France, in the neighboring countries in

Europe, in Rome or in Spain, and even

the rest of the world. in Mexico or Peru

to pay one last homage to the Sun King.

His remains still rest in Sanden thanks

to Louis V 18th, the last French king

buried there who restored the royal

necropolis 25 years after its

desecration.

The bones of Louis the 14th were

retrieved haphazardly in the mass graves

with those of Louis the 13th, Henry

IVth, Marid Medicis and many others and

gathered in the same oary behind these

walls.

[Music]

[Music]

And in the prince's chapel which

comprises the coffins of Adelaide and

Vikto de France, Louis X the 15th's

daughters, the princes of Kai, the Duke

of Ber and his granddaughter Isabel

Darwis who died at one day old. Louis

the 14th's heart joined as he desired.

his father Louis the 13th in the middle

of the heart cabinet

upon this Verme box the following

epitath is engraved

>> here is the heart of Louis I the 14th

by the grace of God king of France and

Navar very Christian deceased in his

palace in Versailles on the first day of

September 1715

Ruiscott and Pache.

[Music]

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
king /kɪŋ/ A1	noun - a male monarch
death /dɛθ/ A1	noun - the end of life
reign /reɪn/ B1	noun - the period of time a monarch rules
monarchy /ˈmɒnəki/ B1	noun - a form of government with a monarch at the head
revolution /rɪˈvɒljuːʃən/ B1	noun - a forcible overthrow of a government
tomb /tuːm/ B1	noun - a grave or vault for a dead person
dynasty /ˈdɪnəsti/ B2	noun - a succession of rulers from the same family
succession /səkˈsɛʃən/ B2	noun - the order in which people follow one another
ceremony /ˈsɛrəməni/ B1	noun - a formal event with a set procedure
court /kɔːrt/ B1	noun - the household or entourage of a monarch
legacy /ˈlɛɡəsi/ B2	noun - something left or handed down by a predecessor
funeral /ˈfjuːnərəl/ A2	noun - a ceremony for a dead person
palace /ˈpæləs/ A2	noun - a large and impressive building where a monarch lives
heir /ɛər/ B1	noun - a person legally entitled to the property or rank of another
illness /ˈɪlnəs/ A2	noun - a disease or period of sickness
doctor /ˈdɒktər/ A1	noun - a qualified practitioner of medicine
surgery /ˈsɜːrdʒəri/ B1	noun - medical treatment of injuries or disorders by manual or operative procedures
legacy /ˈlɛɡəsi/ B2	noun - something left or handed down by a predecessor
symbol /ˈsɪmbəl/ B1	noun - a thing that represents something else
public /ˈpʌblɪk/ A1	adjective - of or concerning the people as a whole