I Am Louis XIV

Now that Paris has returned to calm, it is of course impossible for the king, queen mother and brother to stay in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

The Louvre in Paris was first built in the twelfth century. It was just a small castle for defense. Later, Francois I, who started a "construction" battle with King Henry VIII of England, continued to expand Ambrosio Vaz Castle, after building Chambord, turned his attention to Paris, but at that time neither his energy nor his money could do it. After the main tower of the castle was demolished, the progress of the project slowed down greatly. Yes, his "Caryatid Hall" (an imitation of ancient Greek architecture, with four armless goddesses as columns supporting the stage) was taken over by his son Henry II, who also completed the square building (Later) The construction work of the left wing, but the frequent rotation of Francois II, Charles IX and Henry III (three brothers) later made this huge project stagnant - Henry III had no heirs, from Henry de Bourbon of Navarre became the new king Henry IV. He married Henry II and Catherine's youngest daughter Marguerite (also known as Queen Margot).

The queen of Henry II, Catherine de Medici, left the Louvre after the death of her husband, but she did not go too far, and only rebuilt the palace 1,500 feet away from the Louvre , the palace is named Tuileries Palace, in front of the palace, according to the Florentine practice, there are two square gardens, that is, the Tuileries Garden, and there is a wide tree-lined walkway on the outside of the garden, which became the Part of the central axis of Paris.

However, this new palace still had an unfinished part when Catherine died, and later it was Henry IV-speaking of which, I have to mention the identity of Henry IV, because as the king of Navarre, he believed in Protestantism, And he didn't convert for many years after that, which made most of the French Catholics very dissatisfied, and his coronation ceremony was not completed in Reims Cathedral, so although he converted later, he continued Some people questioned his orthodoxy. Perhaps just to prove this point, he not only completed the project of the Tuileries Palace, but also connected the Tuileries Palace with the original Louvre Museum with a long gallery—that is, Great gallery.

And when his son Louis XIII (later Henry IV divorced Marguerite on the grounds of childlessness and married Mary de Medici of the Medici family) came to power, the square building of the Louvre The right wing has just been completed, and this huge building finally has some vague prototypes.

Since Francois I, the kings of France have devoted themselves to collecting a large number of works of art, such as statues, paintings, books, etc. to demonstrate their financial resources and art appreciation ability, and the two queens from the Medici family It also brought the flamboyant and extravagant taste of the Italians into the fortified court. When Louis XIII was alive, even without the splendor of later generations, the Louvre was quite exquisite and comfortable. , the king was young, and the queen mother and the bishop were busy with government affairs, the attendants and servants in the palace gradually slacked off, and this huge palace gradually became decadent and desolate.

Dust piled up, plants grew everywhere, small animals scurried around, and someone even saw a fox in the grand gallery.

When the Queen Mother Mary and King Louis, as well as the king's brothers and bishops fled in a hurry under the persecution of the Fronders, the palace also became a place of carnival for the mob, and all valuable things were swept away, from the gold leaf on the frame of the portrait To the curtains hanging on the windows, the statues were pulled down, the corners of the walls were blackened, and the pillars were carved with unbearable crooked handwriting, full of blasphemy. Of course, such a place can no longer allow the noble king to live, so they It was transferred to another palace.

Speaking of this palace, it was originally an earl's residence, very close to the Louvre, and was later bought and expanded by Cardinal Richelieu. Richelieu presented this residence to Louis XIII when he died , now logically owned by Louis XIV.

Uncertain whether there were mobs everywhere, the king and his party returned to Paris when the night fell. The carriage swayed forward on the rough road. Louis looked at the queen mother, and her face was not full of joy. There is only fatigue and irritability. Obviously, although Anne of Austria and Mary of the Medici are equally ignorant of government affairs, they also know that returning to Paris is the beginning of the real battle.

There were already Cardinal Mazarin's servants in Richelieu's mansion. Although these servants were not as prestigious as the court servants, they were more loyal and obedient. As soon as Louis entered the mansion, he was in the room next to his bedroom. The fire was already burning in the fireplace, and in front of the fireplace was a pewter bathtub shaped like a boat, covered with precious silk to prevent possible spikes from piercing the king's skin, and the pots hanging on the fireplace were constantly Gently bring clean water to a boil, mix with cool water and pour into the tub.

The servants also meticulously filled the bath water with medicine bags containing ground rosemary, lavender and myrrh. This is not what Louis requested. Speaking of descaling and sterilization, he believes in castile oil soap more, but people now trust these herbs recommended by doctors and astrologers... But he will not say anything more, after all, After the outbreak of the Black Death, taking a bath has become a terrible thing that people have heard of. To take a bath, you must ask a doctor to prove that you are sick, and you must take a medicinal bath so that people will not make a fuss.

He just got into the bathtub under the service of his servants—the boat-shaped bathtub is very shallow, which is suitable for a child, and he won’t worry about accidentally choking on the water, but after a while, the rare tranquility was captured by his brother, the Duke of Anjou , Philip spoiled—he was one of the few people who could have an unannounced audience with the king, whether the latter was sleeping or taking a bath, and he could even presume to put his hand in the hot bath water .

"If you want to wash too." Louis said helplessly: "Then come in." The weather in April was still a bit cold, and Philip had planned to wear only a linen robe and soaked his hands, so he must go back like this It's no small thing to catch a cold.

Philip immediately became happy. People in this era don't like to take a bath very much. Apart from worrying about the invasion of epidemic diseases, there is also the fact that after public bathrooms have closed down one after another, it has become a luxury to take a bath in one's own home. A raised spike or splintered silk is a big expense, medicine bags are worth a fortune, and charcoal burning in the fireplace, serving servants - in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, only the king thinks when The queen mother, the bishop, and all the nobles who were influenced by him had to take a bath every few days depending on their rank and wealth. They usually wiped their faces and bodies with clean linen cloth.

When the Prince of Condé came to the Château of Hen-Laye, even with Fouquet’s fundraising, their expenses were still very tight. Later, in order to meet the request of the Prince of Condé, even the king had to succumb to the Seine River, Fortunately, at this time, bathing will attract attention, swimming is not a concern, and if you want to, you can face nature as honestly as the ancient Greeks.

The noble brothers played with great interest in the bath for a while, till both were tired, and the king sent Bonton, his chamberlain, to tell the Queen Mother that Philip would rest with him to-night, and that Bonton would go He brought back Philip's servant, and the king glanced at him: "Mother is still awake?"

Bontang obviously hesitated for a moment, because he saw not only Queen Anne, but also Cardinal Mazarin, but he didn't know whether he should let the king know.

Fortunately, His Majesty the King didn't care too much about this matter. He waved his hand, and Bangtang stepped forward knowingly, and drew the curtain in front of the bed for the king and his younger brother.

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In fact, the Queen Mother Anne and Cardinal Mazarin did not have any personal relationship. The reason why they were in the same room so late was because Charles, Duke of Cornwall, the son and heir of King Charles I of England, was coming Arrived in Paris.

"But he's a Protestant," said Anne, the Queen Mother.

"And a king," said the cardinal, which was comical, for a bishop didn't care much about faith, and a queen dowager was pious enough: "though he hasn't been officially crowned yet."

"Then we shouldn't call him that," said Anne. "We should probably deny him admission to Paris."

"He'll be full of hate."

"So what." Anne said angrily, "If Mary wasn't my husband's sister, I wouldn't even care about them."

The bishop thought for a while: "Well, Your Majesty, wait until tomorrow, and we will ask the king what he thinks."

Annie raised her eyebrows in surprise, but she didn't say anything, just nodded.