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6 May 1682Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Louis XIV moves the court to Versailles at the height of absolute monarchy

The Sun King builds a palace to make the nobility depend on him

On the timeline · around 6 May 1682 · Renaissance and Absolute MonarchyRenaissance and Absolute MonarchyRevolution, Empire, and RestorationLouis XIV moves the court to Versailles at the height of absolute monarchy15501600165017001750

Quick facts

Location
Versailles, France
Key people
Louis XIV
Court residents
About 5,000 by 1682

What happened

Louis XIV, who had disliked Paris since being forced to flee the city as a boy during the noble revolts called the Fronde, spent from 1678 onward expanding a former hunting lodge at Versailles into an enormous palace and administrative complex. On 6 May 1682 Versailles officially became the seat of the French government, and around 5,000 people, royals, aristocrats, courtiers, administrators, and servants, became its first permanent residents. Louis structured court life there around strict etiquette and royal favor, drawing the nobility away from their independent regional power bases and making prestige depend on physical proximity to the king.

Why it matters

Versailles became the physical expression of French absolutism, embodying Louis XIV's famous, if possibly apocryphal, statement that he was the state, and the model of a centralized royal court it created influenced monarchies across Europe for the next century.

How we know

Versailles's own extensive building and household accounts, along with courtiers' correspondence and memoirs such as those of the Duke of Saint-Simon, document both the construction timeline and daily court life in detail.

Sources

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Louis XIV moves the court to Versailles at the height of absolute monarchy · History of France · SourcedStory