Scarcely was his new chateau finished (1630) when the King took up his residence there for the hunt.  In this place were terminated in November, 1630, the autocratic services of Cardinal Richelieu to the King—­the first of many significant historical events to take place there.

The King’s sojourns at Versailles during the hunting season, however, had their effect.  Many of the royal intimates were influenced to build on land given to them by the sovereign.  So before Louis XIII died his chateau was surrounded by many charming country houses.  On April 8, 1632, Louis came into possession of the feudal dwelling of Jean-Francois de Gondi and its lands.  Versailles then began to acquire distinction.  It was the King’s resort.  Could any one afford to question its character, or location, or the standing of those that, at the King’s behest, took up their residence there?  Not we surely, who can now view Versailles in the light of history.  All aside from its splendid court life and its magnificent festivities, we know it as the scene of three epoch-making events in the world’s history.  During and shortly after the American Revolution, Versailles was the scene of treaty negotiations in which France, England and America were the active parties.  About a century later, in 1871, the treaty was consummated there that ended the Franco-Prussian War, by which France lost Alsace and Lorraine and was forced to pay to Germany $1,000,000,000.  And now, in our day, the most superb irony of history has brought about a treaty in the same Hall of Mirrors by which Germany repays, and the map of Europe undergoes radical changes.

CHAPTER II

THE MAKING OF VERSAILLES

The Luxurious Chateau and Parkland of Louis XIV

At the death of Louis XIII, in 1643, the little chateau of Versailles was abandoned as a dwelling.  Then followed a fall in values at Versailles and a great flutter of uncertainty among those that had followed the King there.  This feeling of doubt lasted for seven years.  The faces of the court favorites were turned back toward Paris, and individual fortunes were speculatively weighed in the balance with the possibilities of the new King’s whims and fancies.  But when the twelve-year-old Louis XIV came to hunt in the vicinity of Versailles for the first time, he found the suburban dwelling of his father attractive from the start.  The Gazette noted this visit, in 1651, and described the supper that the royal boy shared with the officials of the chateau.  Two months later the King supped again at Versailles, and was so delighted with the estate and the hunting to be had thereabouts that, thereafter, he made it a yearly custom to visit Versailles once or twice in the hunting season, sometimes with his brother, sometimes with his prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin.

Returning in 1652 from an interview at Corbeil with Charles II of England, then seeking refuge in France, Louis XIV dined at Versailles with his mother, Anne of Austria.  In October, 1660, four months after his marriage to Maria Theresa of Spain, he brought his young queen there.  The future of Versailles was assured.  The King had decided to set his star and make his palace home where his father had established a hunting lodge.