Riassunto:
The superb historian and biographer Antonia Fraser, author of Marie Antoinette, casts new light on the splendor and the scandals of the reign of Louis XIV in this dramatic, illuminating look at the women in his life.
The self-proclaimed Sun King, Louis XIV ruled over the most glorious and extravagant court in seventeenth-century Europe. Now, Antonia Fraser goes behind the well-known tales of Louis’s accomplishments and follies, exploring in riveting detail his intimate relationships with women.
The king’s mother, Anne of Austria, had been in a childless marriage for twenty-two years before she gave birth to Louis XIV. A devout Catholic, she instilled in her son a strong sense of piety and fought successfully for his right to absolute power. In 1660, Louis married his first cousin, Marie-Thérèse, in a political arrangement. While unfailingly kind to the official Queen of Versailles, Louis sought others to satisfy his romantic and sexual desires. After a flirtation with his sister-in-law, his first important mistress was Louise de La Vallière, who bore him several children before being replaced by the tempestuous and brilliant Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Later, when Athénaïs’s reputation was tarnished, the King continued to support her publicly as Athénaïs left court for a life of repentance. Meanwhile her children’s governess, the intelligent and seemingly puritanical Françoise de Maintenon, had already won the King’s affections; in a relationship in complete contrast to his physical obsession with Athénaïs, Louis XIV lived happily with Madame de Maintenon for the rest of his life, very probably marrying her in secret. When his grandson’s child bride, the enchanting Adelaide of Savoy, came to Versaille she lightened the King’s last years – until tragedy struck.
With consummate skill, Antonia Fraser weaves insights into the nature of women’s religious lives – as well as such practical matters as contraception – into her magnificent, sweeping portrait of the king, his court, and his ladies.
From the Hardcover edition.
Recensione:
A GLOBE & MAIL BEST BOOK OF 2006
"Assiduously researched...measured yet engrossing study, shedding welcome light on the galaxy of influential women who orbited the dazzling Sun King."
—Publishers Weekly
“Love and Louis XIV is the perfect book to read in bed on a long summer day — or a short winter one. . . . As a writer of history, Fraser has done it all — biographies, group studies, even a chronicle of England’s infamous Gunpowder Plot — and done it superbly. . . . Entertaining and instructive. . . . The chief virtues of Love and Louis XIV are its sparkling vignettes and sharp character sketches. . . . We must still be grateful to Antonia Fraser for devising so excellent a companion with which to lie back and think of France.” — The New York Times
“Drawing on letters, diaries and memoirs to support her own eminently readable prose, Fraser makes the romances and scandals of the 17th century seem as lively as the latest gossip about Nicole Richie, Tom Cruise or Paris Hilton.” — Los Angeles Times
“Antonia Fraser has given a lively account of the women in the Sun King’s orbit. . . . It’s all good racy stuff, spiced with Fraser’s trademark clarity and eye for telling detail.” — The Sydney Morning Herald
“What makes Fraser’s book so compelling is her psychologically astute insights into what motivated these historical figures.” — USA Today
“A painstaking, exhaustive study of the influence the fairer sex had on [Louis XIV] and the era in general. . . . Fascinating. . . . It’s a must for both history buffs and those who live and die by the breathless, often scurrilous gossip in the tabloids.” — The Gazette (Montreal)
“Most intriguing. . . . The book vividly portrays the extravagance of life at the French court in the 17th century, especially in a description of the ‘vagabond court’ which rolled to war.” — The Washington Times
“A sparkling new look at the Sun King.”–National Post
From the Hardcover edition.
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