On this day in 1682 Louis XIV, nicknamed the Sun King, moved his court to his new palace in Versailles.

In multiple ways the new palace increased Louis XIV's absolute power even more. Its grand scale, decorations and state of the art fountains impressed any guest or diplomat visiting the castle. It showed how powerful and rich the king was, although it was largely paid for by extorting peasant farmers.

It also was a way to keep control over the most important nobles who might challenge his power. They were forced to spend a lot of time at the palace, attend all the parties and show their loyalty to the king. You could therefore say it was one fancy prison.

The palace remained a symbol of French power and France itself. The German empire was proclaimed here in 1871 humiliating the French. In 1919 it was the other way around as the treaty of Versailles was signed there humiliating Germany and showing French power again. 

Originally posted on Instagram on May 6, 2021