Before the courts moved to Versailles, court life was much different than the regality that King Louis XIV made it into. For one thing, they did not have a set meeting place; they often shifted from place to place (such as the Fortress of Vincennes, Chinon, Fontainbleau, the Louvre, St. Germain-en-Laye). At the time King Henry IV was ruling, the king would give audience to anyone that asked. Meals, when the court got together, were simple and everyone came and went as they pleased. After meals, King Henry IV was known for going on his afternoon walks through Paris where he chatted among the townspeople. Henry IV claimed gambling and hunting to be his greatest past times–sometimes letting them occupy him for hours a day. However, though he loved these things, he claimed he “would (them) give up…rather than lose the slightest opportunity to achieve honor and glory.” He never let the affairs of the state be neglected.
As for his hunting–that became legendary and passed on through his descendants. He especially favored hunting in this particular forested area with ponds, some houses, and church dappled along the side of a hill. This village is Versailles. King Henry IV had a son, whose name was Louis XIII. Not only did he inherit the throne one day, but he also inherited his father’s love for the outdoors, and hunting. At six years of age (circa 1607), Louis XIII began hunting in the village of Versailles. Although time passed without returning to Versailles, around 1621 Louis XIII was reportedly spending his time again at his father’s favorite hunting place. He liked the seclusion, but disliked the fact that he could only take day trips there–thus where the idea of building a hunting lodge was formed. From 16 different owners and for less than 10,000 livres, he bought an estate of approximately 117 acres. He then had a simple building constructed that many noted as a “card castle” or a “manor house”. He then used this lodge for his hunting trips with his friends. Up until 1626 women were not invited nor permitted to visit this lodge. However, he eventually invited Marie de Medici and Anne of Austria but on the condition that they could not spend the night for there were no women’s quarters at the time, and he also believed women would ruin the trip. In 1627 he started a bit of landscaping with trees around his retreat and then his visits became more and more frequent. And this is how the Chateau de Versailles slowly evolved into what it is today.
