Princesse of Versaille

by Charles Elliott

An account of Versailles during the time of Louis XIV, as seen through the eyes of its reigning princess

Genres: France, History, Biography, Nonfiction, Royalty, 18th Century, 17th Century

497 pages, Hardcover

First published July 14, 1992

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name

Reviews

[Yooperprof · Rating 4 out of 5]

450 pages on a minor French princess - originally from Savoy - and who died at the age of 26 - might see like a bit much, but this is also a biography of Marie Adelaide's husband, the Duc de Bourgogne, and really also a history of the court of Louis XIV during the period 1695-1712 - the era of the War of the Spanish Succession. The book is mostly well-written and quite interesting. The author follows the Flemish military campaigns of the Duc de Bourgogne with as much diligence and detail that he uses in describing the intrigues and machinations of the byzantine world of Versailles.

I've tried, not I haven't been able to find out _anything_ about the author, Charles W. Elliott. This seems to have been to his only publication, and it's not at all clear how he came to be interested in the subject - I'd be interested to find out.

The book was written completely based on previously published sources, but - dammit - Elliott does not provide any sourcing for his account. None at all. No annotative footnotes, no bibliographic summaries for the chapters, nada. So that is a limitation.

[Allie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best non-fiction books I’ve read in a long time. Easy to read and such an interesting subject about a princess from a small principality. We usually only hear about the glory years of the Sun King, and this gives us a different perspective. Highly recommend if you’re interested in French history!

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are not many titles on Marie Adelaide of Savoy, so this was a treasure to find. Elliott's research was top notch and well-documented. The writing style is not for the faint of heart as this is a scholarly presentation.

[Sara Giacalone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provided a really nice history on Louis XIV and the court of the Sun King.... and his granddaughter in law, Adelaide of Savoy.

[Sherwood Smith]

One of the most interesting figures of the Sun King's court was actually not this poor young version of Paris Hilton, but Madame de Maintenon, who became her foster-mother. Elliott's careful scholarship gives what seems to me (without access to the primary sources) the clearest picture of this fascinating woman who rose from obscurity, married the weird and almost unreal seeming poet Scarron, and then ended up as morganatic wife of the king.

She was thoroughly loathed by most of the court, who bitterly resented her attempt to raise its moral tone, and to grant a better future to girls by educating them. When you compare the Madame de Maintenon hovering over the Duchess of Burgundy in this work, to that in Nancy Mitford's otherwise graceful history of the same court, there is the strangest Jekyl and Hyde sense.

[Rosamund Hodge]

I feel embarrassed that it took me this long to finish this book, but that's mostly because I got distracted 30 pages from the end, and since the last 30 pages are where everybody gets sick, gets overdosed with emetics and ruthlessly bled, and then not surprisingly dies, it took a while for me to drum up the motivation to read that bit.

Anyway. I loved this book, which is a detailed biography of Marie Adelaide of Savoy, Louis XIV's granddaughter-in-law. Adelaide did not actually do that much besides charm everyone around her, but she lived at an absolutely fascinating time, and in telling the story of her life, the book gives a rich and involving portrait of the period--everything from Jansenists to court ceremony to the War of the Spanish Succession to how Louis XIV was a really terrible person. Great stuff.

[Alec · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tremendously detailed look at the life of Marie Adelaide. While quite interesting in some respects, the detail overwhelmed me in others. I would have appreciated a bit more of a critical look at the characters, as from reading this book one gets the impression they are true paragons.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating inside look of what the seat of French government was like during the reign of Louis XIV.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely, enjoyable biography of Louis XV's mother, Marie Adelaide, and the effect she had on Versailles, especially on the aging Louis XIV, who adored her.