Original subtitles

The Regent, a free spirit on France's throne

The fairytale gardens of Versailles

remind us of a king, Louis XIV.

On September 1, 1715, he left the paradise created by Le Nötre

for the eternity he feared.

"The king is dead.

Long live the king!" But who?

The Sun King's children and grandchildren died

one after the other.

"You are my only successor"

Louis XIV said to his great-grandson on his deathbed,

a 5-year-old boy who would soon become Louis XV. should be called.

If the heir to the throne is TOO young to rule,

a regent is appointed.

The appointment was not a given,

because Louis XIV's will caused debate

and has been interpreted differently.

The first prince by blood is determined by birthright :

Philippe d'Orleans, Louis XIV's nephew,

Son of his only brother Philippe.

Is there Regent,

is for Louis XV. Responsible for training

and watches over the kingdom,

until the young man reaches the age of 14.

We have to overcome the common clichés about the “regent”.

Philippe d'Orleans is considered lazy, idle, superficial,

one only thinks of banquets that turn into orgies.

That's not wrong,

but he also had a rare political intelligence,

the courage for reforms and visionary initiatives

for the good of the state.

After Louis XIV's death, he intrigues

and finally receives unlimited power of attorney.

His reign is not a facade.

He acts as a statesman.

Philippe d'Orleans is a free spirit.

Yes, he is a notorious libertine,

but also a tireless worker

and avant-garde politician,

the Louis XV. hands over a pacified and reformed empire.

Between legend and truth,

who is the regent, Philippe d'Orleans, really?

For the public

the regent is a disreputable personality.

An ambitious villain who wants the crown

wants to take over.

A fickle coward who constantly changes his mind.

A shy man who doesn't always keep his word.

A drunkard, a glutton, a poisoner.

A libertine,

an outspoken doubter.

A dissolute libertine.

Not an emotional person.

I think a lot is being assumed about him.

He is like a vessel that has been filled with all the fantasies of his time.

You could say the man

“It was much more normal than you imagine.”

When the Sun King died in 1715,

the long absolute rule of Louis XIV is over.

This hall of mirrors,

with its 73 meters length and 357 mirrors,

is intended to highlight two of the monarch's heartfelt concerns.

First: France built with the architect

Jules Hardouin-Mansart one of the most beautiful palaces in the world.

Second: On the ceiling you can see

that France under Louis XIV.

fought across Europe and fought major battles.

Painters like Le Brun,

use allegories of mythology,

for the king on all fronts

portrayed as an indomitable conqueror .

The Regent's father is Louis XIV's brother.

He is called "Monsieur".

He lives in Saint-Cloud Castle,

WHERE he also undertook considerable construction work.

The Sun King is a little jealous

when he visited his brother's Apollo Hall

in Saint-Cloud.

"I hope the Versailles Hall will be just as beautiful,"

he demands of Mansart, who is aware of the challenge.

The Castle of Saint-Cloud

was at the end of the 19th century. unfortunately destroyed.

Saint-Simon, good friend of the Regent,

ensured that it was in no way inferior to Versailles.

In this magnificent world

full of tension and eccentric parents

Philippe d'Orleans was born.

And so you can say,

that the future regent has originality

and extravagance were born.

Philippe d'Orleans is son of "Monsieur",

who is also called Philippe d'Orleans,

and his second wife, Elisabeth Charlotte,

Princess of the Palatinate.

It is said to be the “marriage of a dragonfly with a youngling”.

The dragonfly

is the man

and the newcomer is the wife.

They are an amazing couple.

Because Monsieur is very feminine,

while Madame is a strict man's wife.

She is very virile,

she is not beautiful, she is intelligent,

she is very open, she pleases Louis XIV,

because she honestly speaks her mind.

When young Liselotte meets her groom,

scares her,

since he is a real caricature of the homosexuals of the time,

an eccentric faggot.

He wears beauty patches,

is covered with diamonds,

speaks in an affected voice...

Somehow they manage to make children.

Monsieur tries several times.

In order for it to succeed,

he walks around with pictures of the Virgin Mary

and calls her:

"My God! My God!

Bless me with a son."

Philippe d'Orleans was born on August 2, 1674 in Saint-Cloud.

It is very hot on this day.

His mother yells

For hours.

While she struggles,

the courtiers play cards in the room,

the husband looks in every now and then

and asks if it will be over soon.

Philippe is finally born amid indescribable noise.

Saint-Cloud is near Paris,

King Louis XIV personally

gives the magnificent castle to his only brother.

For "Monsieur"

who constantly beautifies the residence , nothing is too good:

Quality and luxury are everywhere.

He wants the most beautiful furniture, the best architects

and the most talented artists.

He puts all his energy into his castle,

where he receives guests and entertains.

Imagine:

Every year 1000 festivals are given,

high society dreams of an invitation.

The property is located on the Seine, on a slope,

that Andre Le Nötre uses,

to design gardens

and to create extraordinary waterfalls that have been preserved.

The entire property is unique,

Philippe d'Orleans will be there

raised as a great prince.

The child

has curls,

a little prince with golden hair.

He is sweet, affectionate,

gentle, tender.

He is shy, often sick, very vulnerable.

At first he was raised by women , as was proper,

until the age of 6 or 7.

Afterwards he was given a tutor.

In particular, an educator,

named Dubois, stimulated his mind.

Dubois was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde in 1656.

He comes from a non-noble family.

His father is a pharmacist.

He is 29, 30 years old,

So he is still very young , even then

for a tutor.

He writes a training plan,

which was preserved

and is remarkable for its time.

Of course there were religious lessons,

but also history, natural sciences, chemistry,

Latin, Greek.

And living languages, English, German...

And there were also physical exercises.

His education in physics and other exact sciences

Was pushed very far.

This was completely new and unusual

for a prince.

Dubois sets his goals:

He wants to raise Philippe d'Orleans to be a good Christian,

to the great courtier,

and to a prince capable of playing a role in the state

to play.

Dubois proves to be a good educator.

He analyzed Philippe d'Orleans' character

and discovered that the prince has learning blocks

and gets angry,

when he encounters difficulties,

and gives up quickly, in short: a difficult character.

So Dubois said:

"We mustn't force the prince to study.

We have to be patient

and try to find him 'on the side'

things to teach.

That is, for example during meals,

so that he learns easier,

without holding a classic lesson,

as you know it."

Philippe discovered the excessive life very early on .

At the age of 13

He is enlightened by a princess who is over 50 years old.

Of course Dubois conveyed that.

He throws himself into a life full of pleasure.

He doesn't have mistresses like other princes

and falls in love. No.

He's having sex

for the sake of sex.

And in an orgiastic atmosphere, very, very quickly.

And it goes further.

Philippe becomes a father at the age of 14.

He impregnates the daughter of the caretaker of the Palais Royal.

But that's enough for the vicious one

Not Dubois.

He understands that he is his student with desire and pleasure

was able to hold his own,

so he really gets going.

Every day he delivers a new young mistress.

Philippe's mother says that's about him

"Swows scurry around,

whose navel you can see."

Philippe's role model

is Henry IV.

He wants to eat, drink and have as many mistresses as Henry IV.

Philippe d'Orleans is not yet 20,

when Louis XIV wants to marry him.

He wants to marry him to Francoise Marie,

which he got with Madame de Montespan.

It is a legitimate one

illegitimate daughter.

He wants to unite his bastards with the official offspring.

He wants her

to make princes and princesses by blood.

She is 15 years old,

quite pretty, a little chubby.

Saint-Simon says: "All France's daughter",

so very proud, conscious of her royal blood.

It's a shame for the mother.

This bastard princess is not worthy of Philippe.

Madame von der Pfalz writes: "I don't want her.

Sorry, but she looks like an ass,

she walks completely crooked, she stumbles,

she swings her arms from left to right,

she bobs her head.

She has no attitude whatsoever.

I don't want a bride like that for my son."

Madame von der Pfalz makes her son promise

reject this marriage.

The son promises it under the influence of the mother.

Monsieur agrees: we refuse.

Ultimately, Louis XIV uses

Dubois' means,

to convince young Philippe to marry.

Dubois advises Philippe d'Orleans on this for two reasons.

He believes it is best for his student:

If Philippe d'Orleans wants a role in the state,

a military role,

he has to accept what Louis XIV offers him.

Dubois is aware of this.

He tells him it's actually a good match,

and after marriage he will be

but just as free as before.

And of course he thinks

if Philippe d'Orleans becomes a statesman,

he himself will play an important role at the prince's side.

If one obeys out of duty,

at the same time you retain your freedom.

There is the aspect: "I have to obey my uncle,

for he is King Louis XIV."

On the other hand, he thinks: "I also have a private life,

I don't need his approval,

when I 'm out of sight of the yard."

So Philippe agrees to the wedding,

contrary to the promise he made to his mother.

This is how the famous scene that Saint-Simon tells

because he witnessed it in the great hall,

so in the hall of mirrors.

Madame goes to see her son in front of everyone

and slaps him in the face.

For bastardism is for madame,

and also for Monsieur,

an indelible shame.

As a reward

for this marriage

the priest Dubois, who has intrigued a lot, receives

an abbey

and venerable entrance to the court.

As a thank you for that,

that Monsieur accepted this unequal marriage ,

Louis XIV gives him the Palais Royal in Paris.

The property is located in the middle of Paris,

next to the Louvre.

It belonged to Cardinal Richelieu,

who, when he died in 1642, bequeathed it to the king.

Louis XIV and his brother

spend part of their childhood here.

The palace is then given the name Palais Royal.

After the wedding, the couple moves

to the Palais Royal. Philippe is happy:

He will live in Paris, be freer,

far away from the old farm where the people met him

Throw the club between your legs.

This creates another one

unusual couple.

Philippe d'Orleans doesn't like his wife,

his wife doesn't like him either.

She's mean, lazy,

she likes stories and rumors,

she doesn't do anything, she drinks a lot,

is drunk three times a week.

It won't be a happy marriage, they have 8 children,

but very soon

Philippe seeks his pleasure elsewhere.

Philippe is tired of her accusations

and disillusioned,

he names her "Madame Lucifer".

Philippe d'Orleans has no job

and is bored.

Since he has the time and resources,

the curious mind makes its own experiments

and seeks answers to the mysteries of nature.

Philippe loves science.

Incidentally, his mother thinks

that his life,

his calling,

that of a scientist would have been.

Louis XIV calls him "the doctor of the family".

He is interested in chemistry. There is the chemist Homberg.

With Homberg

founded a laboratory in the Palais Royal in Paris.

He is also looking for a means

to turn lead into gold, the famous philosopher's stone.

Alchemy is back then

not controversial at all, it's a science.

And the idea

to turn lead into gold,

is no question for the alchemists

of the “how” but of the “when”. It's for her

a matter of course.

Later Philippe d'Orleans asks himself:

“Could you also transform the body?”

So he is interested in the relationship

the body to the environment,

for what you put in, what you use externally.

That's why he works on perfumes.

He was an alchemist

and wanted to understand how the universe works.

That's why he did a lot of experiments.

He was very intelligent and had a good memory.

He made connections, put things in perspective,

understood a lot. This is alchemy:

in different ways

understand the meaning of life and the universe.

This behavior

was disturbing for a prince. If smoke

stepped out of his laboratory in the Palais Royal,

one wondered what dubious mixture he was brewing.

He was also interested in esotericism.

He went into quarries

and called the devil with disreputable friends,

e.g. with Fauquier and the Marquis de Mirepoix.

For example, one called upon a demon to harm one's neighbor.

That didn't bother people.

The church was very strong.

If you believed strongly in God,

In return, people also believed strongly in the devil.

They wanted to meet the devil to wrap him up,

so that he would show himself kind at the given moment .

Philippe was convinced that the devil would appear to him.

He goes into a dark garden

with two mistresses holding a candlestick.

The devil appears.

In reality, only a large black dog showed up .

A mistress whispers to him:

"Your Highness saw the devil."

He realizes that it was just a deception

he no longer believes in it, and intelligent as he is,

he loses interest in witchcraft.

At 18, Philippe d'Orleans' life takes a new turn.

He begins a military career.

Louis XIV sends him to fight on all fronts in Europe.

Philippe, who was a bad rider,

wielded the sword poorly, didn't like violence,

hated hunting,

Still went to war bravely.

Dubois' training was geared towards the army,

on the military, that's normal for a prince.

A prince of blood must accompany the king,

and he was waging war at the time.

That a prince of blood led the troops,

had a motivating effect

on these troops.

At the Battle of Steenkerke

he fights bravely.

He rides with the cavalry and defeats the enemy

with the saber.

He is very brave, he is already injured.

He has a scratch.

When he comes back,

everyone congratulates him,

his mother is very happy.

Under the splendor of his victories, the king transferred it to him in 1706

the command as commander-in-chief in Spain.

In defense of Philip V, King of Spain

and grandson of Louis XIV.

Philippe d'Orleans besieges Lerida.

Then Tortosa falls. Valencia had already fallen.

Philip d'Orléans conquers Aragon.

He is a war hero.

He has courage, charisma, energy...

He is often shy at court

and embarrassed.

But on horseback he is an energetic prince,

who carries his troops along.

Philippe masters

the military with flying colors.

Besides, he behaves

at the political level

in an interesting way, but too much in its own interest.

Because he receives

the entire Spanish nobility.

One could have thought

he was after the Spanish throne.

In Madrid, Philippe doesn't give up his extravagant life,

he feasts,

he lives unrestrained and free.

On a boozy evening

he raises his glass

on two women he hates:

The Princess of Ursins and Madame de Maintenon.

This is said at court and viewed poorly.

Philip V asks Louis XIV to call his nephew back

because there is suspicion of a conspiracy,

between the Duke of Orleans

and the English.

In 1709 Philippe d'Orleans returns to France,

into an atmosphere full of intrigue, hatred and suspicion.

Louis XIV did not punish him for his lapses,

but from now on he distrusts his brilliant,

but a bit too ambitious nephew.

Ludwig XIV. bless him

his nephew basically,

since Philippe has all the qualities that his own son lacks,

the one who is called "Monseigneur",

i.e. the Dauphin of France.

Philippe d'Orleans would be the dream

an heir for Louis XIV,

that's why he's angry

that he is his nephew.

Louis XIV and his brother

were raised as rivals.

This rivalry found Louis XIV.

in his nephew again.

He had to be careful

that the nephew doesn't outdo his own children.

That's how the rivalry became

continued in the next generation .

Philippe's father quarreled more and more with his brother,

who never missed an opportunity,

to humiliate him

and above all, to disparage his son, the young Philippe.

The argument was over

a Philippe d'Orleans.

Philippe d'Orleans was born by his uncle,

the king, ill-regarded,

because he led a dissolute life.

Philippe neglected his wife,

who was the daughter of Louis XIV.

Louis XIV criticized

his nephew's private life,

and Monsieur, for once, defends his son,

by reminding Louis XIV that he had many mistresses himself.

“You favor

the Montespan who gave birth to you bastards in cover!

Your whole farm is a sinful nest of vices!

You tolerate all of this,

and you dare to teach my son lessons?"

The father is beside himself,

he chokes.

Monsieur turns red,

the king offers him a glass of water,

then they part in the worst quarrel.

In the course of the evening

Monsieur eats dinner as usual,

and, as usual,

with great appetite,

he drinks,

and suddenly he has a violent attack,

you say it was a stroke and collapse.

He starts babbling,

it is said that he no longer speaks French, but German,

they want to revive him.

The doctors take care of him immediately

he comes to again,

but it is clear that his life is in danger.

In the middle of the night the king is brought to Saint-Cloud,

where Monsieur is already dying.

Monsieur reconciles with his brother,

the king returns to Versailles,

and Monsieur dies almost peacefully.

After his father's death

becomes Philippe d'Orleans, who until then was only Duke of Chartres,

Duke of Orleans.

He immediately goes to Versailles.

Louis XIV is very warm to him.

He confirms the inheritance that comes to him from Monsieur:

He becomes the richest prince in the kingdom,

if not one of the richest in Europe.

He tries very hard for his nephew,

that previously worried him,

because of his experiments

and his open libertinism,

especially in relation to religion.

Despite all this, the king is reconciling

with him at this point,

Because he regrets the fight with Philippe's father.

The reconciliation between king and nephew is short-lived.

A new scandal soon taints Philippe d'Orleans.

Ab 1711

The French court experiences many bereavements.

The first to die is the Dauphin, son of Louis XIV.

The following year the Duke of Burgundy died,

i.e. Louis XIV's grandson.

His eldest son, just two years old,

also dies. He was Duke of Brittany.

His little brother is taken away from death,

thanks to the efforts of his governess,

Madame de Ventadour.

This child is the future Louis XV.

In this way, the Duke of Orleans moves to third place

the succession to the throne,

and soon even in second place,

since the Duke of Berry, Louis XIV's third grandson,

dies after a riding accident.

So Philippe d'Orleans is heir to the throne

after the toddler whose life is hanging by a thread.

Back then, doctors were powerless

and any sudden death was suspicious.

This series of deaths

attacked the old king very much.

There was an immediate rumor that it was the Duke of Orleans,

because the crime benefited him.

It was suspected that they were crimes,

and they brought him closer to the throne.

Poison was part of everyday life for the French.

One left

to the “wise women” who knew about herbs

and brewed potions,

with whom you

could find lost love or kill his neighbor.

In the world of that time it is legitimate to think

that Philippe d'Orleans

really killed Louis XIV's descendants.

He has a motive and he has the means to do it.

He doesn't need any help.

He can do it himself and he has the opportunity.

Mixing poison is one thing

but he goes in and out of all the big houses.

It's easy

to go there and do it.

It hits the prince very hard

he agrees to

to be locked up,

because he can't bear it

hearing these rumors.

Louis XIV rejects this. The future regent

is deeply hurt by these accusations.

So what was going on?

It certainly wasn't poison,

but most likely scarlet fever.

Because there was an epidemic at that time

in Versailles.

The king wrote his will very late,

he didn't feel like it.

Basically, he thought he was immortal

and didn't want to think about death.

Ludwig is worried by his nephew's behavior,

under Madame de Maintenon's influence

he writes his will,

which was kept secret until his death .

We enter this room,

the “ox-eye hall”,

the antechamber to the royal chambers.

The name of the room comes from this round window,

that illuminates the room.

The decorations testify to the development

of Ludwig's taste.

At the turn of the century he traded

magnificent marble and ceiling frescoes

against white ceilings and gilded wood paneling.

Two paintings hang here today.

On one side, Louis XIV,

to him Philippe d'Orleans,

in antique style.

That was the fashion back then.

We owe the two paintings to Pierre Mignard.

Now we are in the most important room, symbolically speaking

the rooms:

the king's bedchamber.

The morning and evening ceremonies took place here,

Lever and Coucher.

He also received courtiers and ambassadors.

In this room the king said a few days before his death

to Philippe d'Orleans:

"Nephew, I made a will,

that preserves all your birthrights.

I entrust the Dauphin to you. Serves him

as faithfully as you served me,

and preserves his kingdom.

Should he die,

You will rule and the crown will be yours."

Philippe promises to take care of Louis XV. take care of.

The king says, "You see a king in the grave, one in the cradle."

Louis XIV dies on September 1, 1715 .

after days of agony

at 77 years old, after 72 years of rule,

the longest in history.

At this time

Philippe d'Orleans doesn't know all the clauses

of the secret will.

He doesn't think his uncle could betray him.

National Archives

We want to know what is written in the secret will,

one of the most valuable documents in history.

So we go to the National Archives,

Where it is kept.

"These are the provisions of Our Last Will regarding

to the guardianship of the Dauphin, Our great-grandson,

and the Board of Regents after our death

should be established until the king comes of age ."

It is a moving document,

because there is little handwriting.

The king wrote it entirely himself.

The actual will from August 1714

still shows secure writing.

But the addendums

from 1715 were with a shaky hand

written.

The addendum from August 23rd is particularly interesting ,

the writing is blurry, words are repeated several times.

The man was dying. He signs twice.

This shows,

that he was no longer thinking clearly.

The will of Louis XVI is political,

a war machine against Philippe d'Orleans.

The king wanted

certainly encouraged by Madame de Maintenon and others,

limit the influence of Philippe d'Orleans .

The will does not appoint a regent,

but a council of regents.

It determines the members of the council.

And Philippe is only chairman of the council,

but not Regent.

In this paragraph it is clear,

how the council should make decisions:

"With the majority of the votes, without the Duke of Orleans,

Chairman of the Council,

alone and through his special authority

Issue orders in the name of the underage king

and may enforce

if he does not follow the opinion of the Board of Regents.”

All decisions must be decided by a majority,

that is, Philippe d'Orleans has nothing to say.

His friend Saint-Simon says: "He would only be

a shadow regent."

The king's decision is contrary to the unity of the state,

because there are two leaders: the council chairman,

who has hardly any power, so basically just represents,

and the Duke of Maine, the favorite bastard,

educated by Madame de Maintenon,

the royal bodyguard

commanded

and supervises education.

The regent does not come to Louis XV. approach.

When Philippe d'Orleans finds out about it,

he doesn't want to let it go.

A few days before the king's death, he proves himself to be a strategist

and goes to the parliament on the Ile de la Cite.

He had arranged himself

to speak to the parliamentarians

and to tell them that he intended

the decision of Louis XIV.

to challenge.

And he flatters Parliament by promising

reintroduce the right of appeal .

Louis XIV had this right

withdrawn from Parliament.

With this right, edicts and resolutions can be issued

from Parliament

be criticized, so it is basically the right

to oppose the king.

He has parliament

so in your pocket.

He argues that he is entitled to the regency.

He insists on his birthright as the grandson of Louis XIII.

and great-grandson of Henry IV.

He bribed the Black Musketeers

he has anonymous observers,

who monitor everything in the castle,

he has put money aside.

He is considering a coup if he is deposed.

Occurs on September 2, 1715

the political skills of Philippe d'Orleans come to light.

The art of politics

reaches the highest heights thanks to his cunning.

In front of the assembled parliament

Philippe d'Orleans demands that the regency

is transferred to him.

And he remembers that his uncle had said,

he gave him the regency.

Nonetheless

he asks to read the will.

So it is read,

and Philippe d'Orleans acts like this,

as if he didn't know what was in the will,

and exclaims loudly: "He has betrayed me!"

After this exclamation he speaks again.

He flatters Parliament again. With a convincing voice

he says that power can only have one head,

in order to be able to truly rule,

but he needs Parliament so that he doesn't make any mistakes.

He says: "I want to be free to do good,

but I bind myself willingly so as not to do anything bad."

This is how he convinces parliament that the coup has succeeded:

the future ruler is born.

And so, without any vote,

Philippe d'Orléans appointed regent.

The Duke of Maine agrees,

just to retain sovereignty over education .

And the compilation

of the Board of Regents

is left to the regent.

So Philippe d'Orleans has a free hand

and can lead the regency according to his will.

The whole court applauds Philippe,

the dukes and peers, the parliamentarians,

and, his personal triumph: also the Duke of Maine.

A contemporary will say:

"The Duke of Orleans stole the regency

and proved to be a good politician.”

The Regent leaves Versailles.

He is happy about life at Ludwig's court

he didn't like it.

The solemnity, the constant representation,

he hates it.

He prefers to live in a small circle.

He is happy in the Palais Royal

to pull.

It's his residence

and from there he rules, without court company.

Philippe had spent his youth with books and studies,

now he rules and that fulfills

all his striving.

Behind the man of teaching is hidden

a statesman,

who is familiar with international relations,

he knows Europe's large families, their connections,

their dislikes

against each other,

and he benefits from it.

He starts work early in the morning ,

he pores over files and receives ambassadors

and consultants.

At lunchtime he just drank

two or three cups of hot chocolate.

That was his "diner"

because in those days it was called midday meal

in France "diner".

The whole day

he didn't eat any solid food.

He worked and received ambassadors and petitioners.

And then came private life.

Then Philippe closed the doors, so to speak

and relaxed and enjoyed himself.

He was a modern statesman,

in the modern era of the 18th century.

We are in the stone gallery

or the upper gallery in the south wing of Versailles.

Als Louis-Philippe d'Orleans, Ururenkel of the Regent,

came to power in 1830,

he wanted a museum in his honor

Building France's victories.

Next to Louis XIV.

there is also a statue of the regent:

Philippe d'Orleans.

The sculpture from 1837

by Theophile-Francois-Marcel Bra is very precise and realistic,

because they are based on

a bust of the regent from 1715 was made.

By Louis-Philippe I. his ancestor

placed between the monarchs,

adorned with all royal attributes ,

he made the ruler a link in the chain,

that of monarchical change.

Dass Louis-Philippe

pay homage to his ancestor

and wants to rehabilitate him among the great rulers ,

is certainly because

that the regent does not have a particularly good reputation.

The Regent's lifestyle conflicted

in many respects the good manners of his time

and caused incomprehension and skepticism in society .

Unlike his uncle, who orchestrated his life,

Philippe d'Orleans seals off his private life,

which met with incomprehension among his contemporaries

and gives him a scandalous reputation ,

who still sticks with him today.

The Regent is a hard worker

and thinks he is entitled to a private life.

He wants to pursue his pleasures and do what he likes.

He likes to relax,

and there is aristocratic conviviality

in these moments.

He is no longer the regent, but the friend

some young men

and women,

who are invited to his famous “suppers” .

This is the private life that emerges in the 18th century.

Dubois is at the Soupers,

he is Philippe's accomplice,

one cannot imagine his environment without him.

When he no longer needs him as a teacher and educator,

he becomes his private secretary.

He never leaves him.

The regent invites his friends, whom he calls the "wrecked ones",

since they torture

would have earned through the bike,

because they lead such extravagant lives.

They are princes of high birth,

but once you have withdrawn,

Rank and status don’t matter.

There are no more big feasts,

where Louis XIV in front of an audience

dined.

The Regent would never do that.

Dining rooms are set up.

Because before

was no room in castles and palaces

dedicated solely to food.

Tables were set up, boards were jacked up,

although with beautiful tablecloths,

but completely independent of space.

But from the time of the Regence onwards there were rooms

which were reserved for meals.

Private life came first.

In my opinion, the Regent created this.

everyday objects

became more and more personal and individual.

Everyone has their plate and their glass.

Before, everything was shared.

In the Middle Ages and Renaissance

The two of us ate from the same bowl and no one had anything against it.

That didn't work anymore.

Philippi Suppers fanden statt

in the yellow and blue dining rooms

im Palais Royal.

You sat around a table,

there was a kitchen next door,

and everyone prepared their own food.

There are stories about omelettes,

which one prepared alone, without servants,

without kitchen staff.

You are among yourself,

this is completely new

in a noble, aristocratic milieu.

Can you imagine how Louis XIV.

sitting in the kitchen?

Who prepares omelet or cocoa? No.

People are on first name terms, they are insulting each other, they are relaxing.

And Philippe d'Orleans needs this relaxation.

He's thriving and "having fun," as we would say.

Life is really sociable,

light, happy sociability.

It suits us.

We are the heirs today

this intimacy.

About a taste idea

from these suppers,

we met star chef Guy Martin,

who runs a restaurant in the Palais Royal.

The Regent liked

I particularly like oysters at this time of year .

They were eaten by the plateful.

They are said to have an aphrodisiac effect,

be healthy

and of course.

Es gab Bouillon,

the basis of French cuisine.

They had oysters delivered and lobsters,

Kaisergranate,

Crayfish...

Crabs, that was...

They got foie gras

from the southwest and from Alsace.

People began to eat finer, more refined foods.

Many spices, herbs,

and vegetables.

This is an interpretation of a duck dish,

which was eaten in the time of the Regent, with sauce of course.

There were always sauces and gravy with it,

lots of vegetable stock.

They were seasoned with crayfish,

because that was something nice.

The Regency was the turning point

from traditional cuisine

to the new kitchen.

They wanted fresh, light dishes,

natural ingredients.

The french kitchen

based on years of tradition,

but during the Enlightenment and the Regence

She was knighted.

During these suppers

you drank a lot,

and especially a new drink,

the Dom Perignon

developed in 1715.

At the beginning of the Regency

So champagne was born.

The Regent only drinks champagne,

namely from Dom Perignon from Reims.

He heads one bottle after the other.

He drinks a lot but tolerates alcohol poorly.

Two or three glasses of champagne were enough

to get him drunk,

then he lost control,

he told stupid things and nonsense.

People laughed and were relaxed.

Champagne is becoming fashionable.

The Regent loves it!

It's beautiful, it tingles...

You celebrate.

He has the principle of celebration

invented.

What celebration do French people drink for?

no champagne today?

The Regent is addicted to sugar.

He loves sugar, it's like a drug for him.

Sugar is fashionable,

because by the East India Companies

a lot of sugar is imported.

The French kitchen was always open

for food from all over the world.

Pineapple came from the Azores, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

During the Regence it was one of the products

which were particularly popular

as well as meringue.

People loved meringue.

Meringue with ice cream, it was the beginning of Vacherin cakes.

Gold has been on plates since the Middle Ages.

People cooked with gold leaf.

The longer the meal dragged on,

the later the evening,

the spicier the conversation became.

It was told

sex stories,

they loudly heard disgusting things,

and besides, people gossiped

Good.

Dubois attended these suppers.

He's witty, he makes ungodly remarks,

he blasphemes God.

People already had a bad image of him back then.

Dubois loves women, that's no secret.

He had a few dalliances,

he had mistresses,

the most famous is Madame de Tencin.

On the other hand, Dubois was disrespected by the “wrecked”.

You let him feel

that he is just a pharmacist's son.

A children's song has great success in Paris.

The ferret is running out of the woods, ladies

The ferret is running

But that's actually spoonerism.

If you swap the letters, the ferret becomes a priest.

That's Cardinal Dubois, of course.

Dubois is clearly an atheist.

There is nothing in his career to indicate

that he was a believer.

The whole little company

are free spirits and free thinkers

in all aspects.

You allow yourself to take it to the extreme,

they live in for the time

zügelloser Libertinage.

But be careful, you shouldn't think

it would be a century

total Libertiny.

Quite the opposite.

If you leave out the courtly excesses

and takes a close look at society ,

was just then

religious piety had reached its peak.

There was only 1%

illegitimate children.

According to statistics, premarital conceptions amounted to

to 5 to 6%, which is very little.

There was great respect

before religious morality

and for the Christian faith.

And this was during the period of Regency libertinage.

From table to bed and from bed to table

The distances were very short, that is well known.

The friends all get nicknames,

the "wheeled" become "gray quail",

"happy quail", "sad quail",

"the big sword", "the shy one",

everyone eats and drinks together.

One of the wretched ones,

his name was Noce,

slept with one of the Regent's mistresses,

and he called him "brother-in-law."

The regent had a whole harem,

that's what you could call it.

His titular mistress, Madame de Parabere, organized it.

Madame de Parabere loved him,

and the regent was very fond of her.

He should say, "I'm keeping it because it doesn't cost anything,

don't blame me,

is not contemptible and animates my celebrations."

She was ideal

to the Titularmätresse.

The Regent called Madame de Parabere “my leg of mutton.”

He called another mistress “my loin.”

Can you see it? Even the pet names

had to do with food.

The Regent's mistresses are not

like those of other princes

same time, they weren't love stories.

Louis XIV had mistresses that he truly loved.

But with the Duke of Orleans

there are no feelings.

Philippe was a collector,

he collected women,

but it wasn't important to him to keep her necessarily,

he wasn't stingy.

He was always looking for something new,

this runs through his entire life.

They are exuberant celebrations, with food and drink,

the women don't line up,

there are orgies,

the titular mistresses introduce other little mistresses.

Madame de Sabran, for example, is a right-wing rogue

and takes young girls out of the monastery.

There are erotic productions.

The Regent's daughter, Duchess of Berry,

is included.

She takes off her clothes, she organizes erotic productions,

at them

einige bekannte Mätressen des Regent

become the hunting goddess Diana

and with shepherds running along

to copulate

It's a pretty spectacle.

The Duchess of Berry collected lovers

and there was suspicion

that her father, the regent, also

was her lover.

That was the subject

shameful pamphlets against them.

Terrible things were said.

Those were

the evilness of the court.

Although Philippe indulged in debauchery,

but he wasn't a pervert who practiced incest.

Of course not.

Philippe adored his daughter,

because she almost died as a child.

He had taken a lot of care of her.

And he was a tender father

towards her.

The princess was undoubtedly very unbalanced and unstable.

She stuffed herself until she vomited,

very young

she had become obese.

His daughter, “bundle of joy,”

was obviously a bulimic and nymphomaniac.

The Regent left them at the suppers

participate,

this is how she lived out her addiction,

her bulimia and nymphomania, that's how it works

Without ever holding back.

It seems to me,

that was a real weakness of the Regent,

but it is understandable.

He wasn't a father,

because he hadn't learned it.

His own father can be described as a puppet,

since his main interest

etiquette applied.

Nobody taught him what makes a father.

You also learn to be a parent

through what you get from your parents.

And the regent didn't know that.

The regent lived in excess,

he exaggerated everything.

He worked too much, he enjoyed himself too much.

His life completely consumes him.

He celebrated until he dropped.

He rolled on the floor, he couldn't stand alcohol,

his stomach couldn't handle all the food.

Gluttony made him sick.

The suppers last until late into the night,

until about 3 or 4 a.m.,

so that the regent has little time to sleep,

as he starts work at 7am .

It says,

that the servants often ate,

which the gentlemen themselves do not

created.

There is something pathetic about libertinage ,

something pre-romantic, tragic.

Basically it's the lifestyle

more pessimistic than happy,

because behind all the drinking and all the sex

there is existential fear.

The regent is afraid to go into himself,

to think about yourself.

He's not happy.

He tries to fill himself with vice,

and believes it would be his salvation.

It is a means of balance,

he is scared

and worried,

because he has to lead the state,

so he separates

the statesman from the private citizen.

Would you like?

get a glimpse of Regence sophistication,

you can go to the Louvre

go to Paris.

Many miracles of the 18th century are shown here. kept,

often of royal origin,

and one

I definitely have to point it out.

A unique tea service,

in the original box, the Philippe d'Orleans, the Regent,

gave to his wife,

Francoise Marie de Bourbon, daughter of Louis XIV.

It is a service for two people from China,

made of hard porcelain and gold.

This service illustrates perfectly

this era:

with affectation, intimacy and a pinch of exoticism.

The inlaid box is made of violet wood,

a very rare wood.

As you can see, there is a teapot,

a tea caddy, a sugar bowl and a bottle

made of rock crystal,

and everything covered with gold.

Two cups and saucers with silver-gilt spoons

Also belong to it.

It's a miracle,

that this precious, fragile contemporary witness still exists today

is intact.

In the Regence the furniture fits

of architecture, a new fashion emerges.

The old, barren, religious, almost grave-dark world

from the end of the reign of Louis XIV is over.

Architecture changed under Philippe d'Orleans ,

Furniture and all arts.

High society wants imagination and sophistication.

The Regence will

with Philippe d'Orleans to the antechamber of the Enlightenment.

The Regence is a kind of laboratory,

both political, intellectual and artistic.

You want to be free now, be happier,

Have money, spend it and celebrate.

And the Regent

is the initiator.

He is the figurehead of this new freedom.

He loves painting. He paints himself.

He decorated some rooms in the Palais Royal,

and he paints

for Bagnolet Castle.

He is a great collector, more than just a patron.

He loves art, he loves paintings.

He inherits a huge collection from his father:

dozens of pictures by Titian, Sint Jans,

Veronese,

Domenichino and Van Dyck.

He can afford to commission people

to buy him the most beautiful paintings in Europe.

Dubois buys him

seven famous poussins,

when he travels to Hanover.

Among all the collections he bought,

we have to highlight one:

the collection of Christina of Sweden,

which included almost 300 paintings.

He has many works depicting Bacchus,

because he is accused of being a Bacchus,

he eats, drinks and has sex.

He also sees himself as Bacchus.

As a good libertine, that doesn't bother him.

He likes to buy paintings,

on which the depictions of Bacchus depict his private life.

This way he soon has

one that is unique in Europe

collection of paintings compiled,

about 500 paintings.

This picture by Nicolö dell'Abbate

is one of the few paintings

from the Regent's collection, now in the Louvre

you can see.

The collection was sold by Philippe's grandson during the revolution,

and now the paintings are in the collections

major museums distributed worldwide.

This picture represents well,

what the regent expected from painting.

He liked very sensual painting,

those with colors and shapes,

which are a little stylized, worked,

and at the same time very cultivated painting,

which requires the viewer to look closely.

You have to know the mythology to understand

that it is a kidnapping.

In one corner are the gods of the underworld.

Pluto kidnaps the woman who is supposed to be his wife

at the beginning against her will,

Proserpina.

You have to look at all the details to understand

which scene the artist painted.

The 18th century is a turning point

for painting.

From the spectacular,

monumental, solemn painting,

in their style

Versailles is held,

which came from the painter Charles Le Brun,

you come to a painting,

Where it's not so much about solemnity and grandeur,

but about life.

With this painting

Antoine Watteau heralds the painting

of the 18th century. a.

The “Fötes galantes” show

very true to the new relationship to joy, intelligence,

lightness, softness,

a new view of love,

namely love

as a factor of social regulation,

that arises.

Watteau portrayed this very well in this painting,

through the magic of curves, lines,

through the lightness of the postures,

through the beauty and subtlety of the colors.

He has the sensuality

captured between the figures.

Watteau reflects the spirit of the era.

Watteau interests the Regent,

because in his collection

there was at least one Watteau,

which is unfortunately lost today.

He discovered the artist.

As one of the first important painters in France

he took the path of very free, erotic paintings,

I say.

Showing these paintings for the first time

in a clear way, without detouring through mythology,

how sexuality and paid love were dealt with.

This shows consciousness

this relative liberation of customs.

The extraordinary thing is

that for the first time a prince

opens his painting collection,

for art lovers

and for anyone who wants to learn more about painting.

A prince's legacy becomes public

made accessible.

The beginning of a museum.

Philippe was very into property

invented,

but it wasn't a complete possession,

but he shared

his possessions with others.

If you have beautiful pictures and show them to others,

you also show that you yourself are brilliant and beautiful.

He never wanted to hide that he was brilliant,

that he obviously

had a gift and a certain intelligence.

He's a big one

Art lover, he especially loved music.

He plays the lute and flute,

and he writes an opera

with Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Philomele,

then another with the title

Penthee.

Part of his work

is lost, but from a musicological point of view

it is very interesting.

He is more interested in Italian music

than the French.

There is also an opera in the Palais Royal .

The opera is of course a place for lyrical plays,

but it also becomes a hall,

in which balls are given.

You can go to the opera,

against payment of a small fee.

Anyone can go to the opera.

Three times per week

there is a masquerade ball,

which you visit with or without a mask.

This ball is where all the layers come together

of society.

There is a feeling

of liberation.

The wigs are getting lighter,

fashion changes.

In this time there was a new dress,

it came about around 1715.

Namely the contour, the robe volante.

Through the wide flowing skirt

with lots of fabric and silk

one had the impression that the lady was floating or gliding,

when she wore a dress like that.

This is a typical Regence contouche.

You can see the characteristic features:

the big back folds,

which merge into the folds of the skirt.

The sleeves are tight,

this model has special arm decorations,

they are cuffs folded several times.

The characteristic

is the width of the dress.

The expansive skirt is created by an underskirt,

which is attached to the hip.

The underskirt is made of linen and a frame,

which enables the round shape.

This dress is the result of a change.

At first it was a piece of clothing,

that the noble ladies

wore in your chambers.

Es war ein Neglige

or dressing gown.

That you use a dressing gown as a provocation

wore in broad daylight,

was considered a violation.

In general and especially at the court of France,

where there was a strict dress code ,

Don't wear a nightgown in the middle of the day.

It is a fashion phenomenon that has existed over the centuries

appeared several times.

As proof

let's look at what happened in the 1980s.

These are two creations by Jean-Paul Gaultier,

from 1983 and 1989.

He made evening dresses

and was inspired by corsets and bodices,

so on underwear,

of intimate clothing.

He changes it a bit and breaks the norm,

by bringing intimate clothing into the light of day.

That's exactly what happened with the Contouche in 1715,

but the scandal in the 18th century was much greater.

Philippe leaves Versailles

for Paris and much of the nobility follows him.

There is a lot of construction going on in the city.

Private palaces are being built all over the capital ,

like that of the Count of Evreux,

Built in 1718,

and today known as the Elysee Palace.

The aristocracy dreams of change

and invents a new lighter and more functional style.

You change

the scenery.

A change of scenery.

The celebratory decor

of Louis XIV.

is exchanged for a less stiff, more cheerful decor.

You can see that, for example

at the furniture carpentry shop.

The furniture is much more comfortable

and more delicate than the previous one

Stilepoche.

But this process is very slow.

The changes to the furniture

are so clear that they are named:

It's the Regence style.

Let's look at the style

and go to the Kunstgewerbemuseum,

which has a nice collection.

The chest of drawers best represents the era.

You can recognize all movements and changes from it .

The furniture gets a new lease of life,

there are high feet, other inlays.

These are special wood inlays.

In addition, a lot of bronze is used,

more and more are being created

floral Ornaments,

or the bear claw,

which you see here.

We are in a typical Regence room

with carved and gilded wooden paneling

and elegant multicolored paintings.

The typical thing about this room is its size.

It's a small, intimate room, because that's what they were aiming for

in the Regency.

And the furniture is adapted to the size of the room.

This is a period fire ram

of Louis XIV.

Of the architectural rigor

is at the firebock of the Regency

not much left, the lines are much softer.

In addition, the child figure brings additional

a happy note.

See the difference:

this one comes from

from the time of Louis XV.

The severity has completely disappeared.

Now plant motifs predominate,

and therefore the object is confused and asymmetrical,

which is typical for "Louis XV".

Among the arts and crafts of the time

The table skills are particularly evident

of blossoming creativity.

Like his father before him

is the Regent Protector of the Manufactory of Saint-Cloud,

which produces ceramics from soft porcelain.

Soft porcelain is called this because of its fragility.

It is the only thing that the Europeans were able to develop

as an imitation of Chinese hard porcelain,

whose formula remains secret.

The regent was enthusiastic about research.

He had a kiln in the Palais Royal

and experimented with porcelain paste.

He was very active

as protector of the manufacture of Saint-Cloud.

The manufacture

made some items,

that fit into the new fashion.

Especially toilet accessories.

This is a pretty one

Powder compact with Chinese motifs.

It's the China from the books,

an ideal China that the workers invented.

The manufactory wants to imitate Chinese porcelain,

with the whiteness of the material

and with the small figures shown.

This piece is wonderful, it was made

decorated with sharpfire colors.

So you use blue, green, yellow, red and violet.

In the 18th century

Men and women had cans.

The women carried them in their pockets.

And they called it

“Can art” or “bagatelle art”.

These are three examples of these jars.

Some were shaped like animals.

Others were gold plated.

Gold was processed in Saint-Cloud .

And finally we have this yellow can.

The yellow was obtained from antimony,

an extremely toxic oxide.

It should be reminiscent of imperial yellow.

What did they put in these cans?

It was used to store “mouches”, cosmetic plasters.

So little pieces of taffeta that were used to hide wrinkles

or sent a message of love.

It was a sophisticated art

of seduction.

They also put aniseed candy in it,

for fresh breath.

Or snuff.

It was important

and Saint-Cloud was known for its cans.

It was always important to the regent

to have the freedom to think,

To research and know.

This was largely breathed into him,

on the one hand from his mother, who allowed

and from his teacher,

Cardinal Dubois.

Philippe asks himself questions.

From the depths of metaphysics and philosophy

he now turns to the examining consideration.

He is interested in thoughts,

he no longer asks so much about why,

but according to how.

In this he is a pioneer of the philosophy of the Enlightenment.

An artist and intellectual cafe:

Procopius, gegründet 1686.

It is the oldest cafe in Paris.

During the Regence it is a meeting place

for aristocrats, scientists,

writers and philosophers,

who promoted knowledge and advanced new ideas.

It's a kind

the cultural revolution.

Many areas open up, where the difficulties arise

towards the end of Louis XIV's reign

had ensured very narrow horizons .

The regent sets the tone because he is in all areas

experimented.

You are free.

Nothing is allowed, but at the same time it is

nothing forbidden.

You have to find a middle ground so as not to provoke.

Philippe appeals to the intelligence of his subjects.

Writers read the texts of their works to be published,

to test the reactions.

Montesquieu reads some of his texts,

and shortly before that, the foreign policy of the time was discussed.

Everything was connected: diplomacy, literature,

New hits.

It's an opinion factory,

first on a small scale,

so you don't risk too much.

You know how far you can go,

because literature and politics are closely linked,

After that you can go further.

The critical spirit

was gradually given free rein.

It's the beginnings

of the young Arouet, i.e. Voltaire.

At the beginning of the Regence he is a young man

on the search, and he is, let's say, a poet.

He is content to provoke a little,

regarding the regent.

To mock yourself, and within a certain framework

about the others who accept the ridicule of the group,

is a new kind of freedom

of expression and opinion.

The Regent thinks he is the origin

this new cosmopolitanism is,

which reigned during the Regence, i.e. from 1715 to 1723.

We are in the spectacular Apollo Hall

im Louvre in Paris.

After a terrible fire in 1661

The restoration goes to the architect Louis Le Vau

and entrusted to the painter Charles Le Brun .

The hall is dedicated to Louis XIV, it will be everywhere

celebrated with pomp.

The paintings show that the sun is beneficial to the world

and that the eternal reign of the Sun King

never ends.

In addition, this hall holds a special miracle,

a unique object,

that our cameras will now show you.

Let's approach this secured showcase,

which is part of the preserved French crown jewels

includes.

Here, a diamond,

the most beautiful and purest of all diamonds,

who bears the name of his godfather.

His name is simply “Regent”.

His purity

makes it the most extraordinary diamond in the world.

His story is also exciting.

First of all, his name is “Jamchand”. On its discovery in India

in Golkonda it weighs 426 carats,

so just over 85 grams.

It has since been reduced to 140.5 carats,

the grinding work took time

two years.

The English Governor of Madras, Thomas Pitt,

acquires the unique diamond

for just over £20,000.

And that's where Philippe d'Orleans comes into play.

He achieves a stroke of genius,

on a diplomatic and cultural level.

Thomas Pitt,

now a parliamentarian in London,

stands in the way of peace with France.

To convince Thomas Pitt that he wants France

should be friendly,

Philippe d'Orleans buys the diamond for him

for £2.5 million

and mitigates British hostility.

From now on the diamond is called "Regent"

and becomes one of France's most beautiful crown jewels.

When Philippe d'Orleans came to power in 1715,

the situation is disastrous.

France is economically ruined.

There needs to be reforms

and a solution must be found for peace in Europe.

A condition for peace

is active foreign policy

and according to Dubois, especially

an alliance with the main enemy of the French Empire,

and that is England.

The Regent,

who fought so gloriously

now approached the matter pacifistically.

He definitely didn't want to

new fights.

He had seen the suffering of the country.

At the beginning of the Regency

Dubois is Philippe d'Orleans' secret ambassador

in foreign policy matters.

He is tasked with negotiating an alliance with England.

To this end

he is sent to The Hague, where he is to meet Stanhope,

an English minister with whom he confers.

Dubois' negotiations with Stanhope are a success,

because at the end of 1716

are England and France

linked by an agreement.

At the beginning of 1717 the agreement was concluded

the Treaty of the Triple Alliance, the France, England

and the States General, i.e. the Netherlands, united.

With this secret negotiation , Philippe d'Orleans proves

that he is a skilled, pragmatic politician.

But he knows that he has little authority at court,

but has many opponents.

To consolidate his power,

he shows himself to be open on many levels.

Philippe d'Orleans leads at the beginning of the Regence

conducted an experiment with his political friends .

The experiment of "Polysynody",

i.e. "multiple councils".

Louis XIV's system is abolished,

and thus all ministers and state secretaries.

All this will be replaced by councils,

by aristocratic councils.

Instead of 4 or 5 ministers and state secretaries

is there for now

around 70.

This is how positions can be assigned,

and if one gives advantages to the great gentlemen ,

ensures that they do not revolt.

He says, "Let's do an experiment."

He likes novelty, but at the same time

he is skeptical.

And it's a huge mess from the start .

The dukes and peers and the marshals

take the chairmanship of the councils.

There is a lot of talk, but they have no skills.

Philippe d'Orleans knows this, he lets it go.

After three years the councils will be abolished.

But he has from the beginning

reserve foreign policy for themselves,

and, above all, the supervision of finances.

He is his own finance minister,

like Louis XIV after Fouquet's arrest.

The regent holds the reins of finances.

When he comes to power,

the national debt is 20 years of tax revenue.

Today it is

2 years of tax revenue, and that's huge.

So it was extreme back then.

The Regence can't fix this.

But they make an extraordinary attempt,

a modern attempt

namely the Law experiment.

John Law

was a Scot, son of a goldsmith in Edinburgh,

who had misfortunes in his youth .

He killed a nobleman in a duel,

went to prison, broke out,

left Scotland, then England.

Gambling made him rich.

He was an arithmetic artist,

a master of probability,

an attractive man who had everyone wrapped around his finger.

The Regent is a very pragmatic man.

He is looking for talent, people who have ideas,

and there is a spark between him and this person.

Law shows up, he's not French,

not a Catholic, but a Protestant.

But he clearly has talent.

He has the idea of ​​sending banknotes to France

bring to.

This already exists in England and the Netherlands .

A bank should be founded

the Banque Generale, the Regent agrees,

to found them.

Law heads it and it is later renamed Banque Royale.

She has grade privilege.

There are notes of 10,000, 1,000, 100 and 10 livre,

paper money is printed.

For economic development, the transactions must

be simplified.

A silver&cu

was worth 6 livres at the time and weighed 27 grams.

About a property worth

to buy from 10,000 livres,

you have to transport a good 45 kg of silver.

It is much easier to handle bills

as heavy coins,

which are transported in wagons

and must keep it at your own risk , like The Miser

by Moliere in his cellar.

The first important factor

is the facilitation of trade.

The second factor is that loan

be given cheaply,

so that investments become easier.

The purpose of the bank is to

to get the economy going again.

After the bank was founded

was John Law's second act

the establishment of a new trading company,

the famous Compagnie des Indes.

In Port-Louis bei Lorient

there is a museum.

That was

Law's innovation.

He wants to offer the French their money

To invest

and to benefit from the profits of maritime trading companies.

This is Law's idea.

With the Regent's permission, the financier buys little by little

all French companies.

This creates the Compagnie des Indes,

which holds the monopoly of French maritime trade.

Bring the ships of the Compagnie des Indes

depending on the country where they are sent,

different goods.

Gold comes from Africa,

Gum arabic, which is very important,

and ivory, also begins

the slave trade.

Mainly Indian fabrics come from India,

white cotton,

colorful calico fabrics,

Pepper, saltpeter and borax.

These are the main goods from India.

From America,

from Saint-Domingue, they bring indigo, coffee and sugar.

This is typical porcelain

der Compagnie des Indes.

It is a Chinese technique.

Only Europe can do it

from the middle of the 18th century. imitate.

But the Europeans

ordered a European engraving from the Chinese .

They are cymbal and lute players.

What's funny is that the people...

wear the European Fontange hairstyle,

she is French,

but they have slitted eyes.

This mixture was created

thanks to the Compagnie des Indes

by the orders of the Europeans in China.

I think the French, the shareholders,

but also the sailors who go on the ships,

dream of wealth.

This was a big wish in the 18th century .

You want to make a lot of money quickly.

And thanks to John Law's system

a stock buyer can

benefit from the promise of wealth.

The dream is no longer just

reserved for the rich.

Thanks to the system, anyone can

get a loan.

Whoever signs under my belt will reap rewards!

Of course there is no stock exchange.

It happens on the street.

The hunchback of Rue Quincampoix really existed.

He lent

the trading-zealous citizens his hump,

so that she on the spot

were able to sign their share contracts .

There was an untamed financial market on the street,

in small offices, everyone got involved.

People who had no idea about finance

made transactions, bought and sold.

Tempted by the prospects of winning

brought nobility and bourgeoisie

their gold and their silver

to John Law's Banque Royale

and received paper money in exchange.

With paper money

They then bought shares in the fantastic company.

It's a great economic system,

that brought gold to light in one fell swoop ,

people took it out from under the mattress, you might say.

The gold is flushed into the state treasury.

France takes off, trade picks up,

and John Law is a rock star, an alchemist

of money and finances.

Of course the Regent likes that.

As an alchemist he tried

to find the philosopher's stone

and turning worthless metal into gold.

He sees this as a means of getting France afloat,

and enrich yourself.

It is a complete transformation of the economy

and the finances of the empire.

The system kicks in,

Rue Quincampoix is ​​experiencing a real shopping frenzy.

Everyone wants something.

The value of the shares increases 20 to 30 times.

Wealth is created and destroyed.

Included

the Compagnie des Indes has not yet paid a thaler

to the shareholders

and the bank still continues to print notes.

The word "millionaire" came up:

people from the middle classes,

traders, some rentiers,

became Livre millionaires.

Back then it was the Livre tournois.

A million is significant.

It was a paper fortune, but still a million livres.

All is well, be patient, it will rise again.

Does that mean it sank?

As long as the bank is open, you can get it refunded.

Have faith.

Until suddenly everything turns back.

The whole system is based on trust.

Some worried ones

bring their paper money

zur Royal Bank.

They demand the refund of their gold.

And then the system blocks,

since the gold cannot cover the notes issued.

They're closing!

Important people, such as the Princes of Conti

and of bourbon, emptied the bench

and filled carriages with gold.

It turned into a riot.

Everyone wanted their money back.

There were deaths and fights.

Law's miracle system ended in bankruptcy.

People want to kill John Law.

In the Parliament of Paris,

the higher courts in France want to judge him.

He escaped lynching several times,

he is being harassed...

He is forced to seek refuge in the Palais Royal .

He had no choice but exile,

This happened in December 1720.

The system was ultimately unfair.

But despite everything, it stimulated the economy,

the construction industry took off...

The Regent is the big winner.

France's debt,

which after Louis XIV's reign amounted to 2.4 billion,

fell to 1.5 billion at the end of the Regency.

That is quite remarkable.

In 1723 the Regence ended and Louis XV. takes power.

We are in the "Cabinet interior",

a room in the young king's apartment.

Here is Louis XV's cylindrical work table,

better known as the “Bureau du Roi”.

It is one of the most famous pieces of furniture in France

by the court furniture artists (Eben and Riesener.

14 professions were involved in its creation .

This piece of furniture should

Provide confidentiality.

A quarter turn of the key opens the lid

and reveals the drawers.

The king's servants fill the secretary's ink and paper

through two flaps,

which are embedded in the back of the furniture.

But now I would like to show you the one named after its inventor

Show Passemant clock.

This mechanical watch

displays the hour, day of the week, month and year,

taking leap years and moon phases into account .

A work of 12 years.

There's a crystal ball on top,

the movement in real time

the planet shows.

The watch is programmed to

that it can run until the year 9999 .

About the young Louis XV.

to his great-grandfather's castle

It took skill to lure him back

of an ambitious man.

At the right moment he switches on.

I am of course talking about Cardinal Dubois,

the Regent's tutor, who became his closest advisor.

When Dubois is only Philippe's tutor,

although he is an ambitious priest,

but doesn't push his luck.

But then, driven by ambition,

he is thinking about a church career.

The title of cardinal haunts his mind.

He must learn to say mass.

He is said to have cursed: "God cursed!

Those damn verses

I'll never learn!"

People laughed at that.

He is ready for anything.

He becomes a Machiavellian politician.

It was not until 1721 that he finally became a cardinal.

And really

at the price of manipulation and corruption.

So he gets from the new Pope,

Innocent XIll., the cardinal's robe.

Naturally

he becomes Prime Minister until the end of the Regence .

And after the Regence

Little Louis XV confirms him.

in his offices.

The Regent and Dubois took their task very seriously.

They let Louis XV.

Participate in council meetings from the age of 10 or 11 .

And they explained to him

how the state works.

Of course they simplified the situation for the child,

the young people, but they explained everything to him,

and answered all questions

of the boy.

It developed

a relationship between the regent and his great-nephew.

They addressed each other as "uncle" and "nephew",

and the regent told Louis XV,

that he had once called Louis XIV that.

He felt true affection for this child,

that he prepared for rule ,

without having any ulterior motives.

The Regency ends on February 16, 1723,

as Louis XV. reached the age of 13.

It is the age at which kings traditionally come of age.

Naturally

you ca n't make decisions at 13 ,

the system continues with ministers.

Louis XV Of course , Philippe d'Orleans confirmed first

and then Cardinal Dubois in his politics.

As Prime Minister

Dubois handles day-to-day business,

as an absolute minister would do.

He monitors everything.

He basically works from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

He speaks with the secretaries of state,

Anyone who wants to be king or regent has to get past him.

He has an important role, he passes on everything, or not,

it is the cornerstone of politics.

It is even considered a despot.

Although he respects

the power of the regent and later of Louis XV,

but actually he has a hand in everything.

However, the Regent's disreputable reputation

very bad for the king.

Dubois suggests that it is necessary

to bring the king to Versailles,

and that the Regent has a more discreet private life

should lead.

The king would like to

return to his great-grandfather's palace ,

and when he arrives at Versailles he is enchanted.

He runs through all the rooms.

All the old men can't follow him.

He wants to see all of Versailles.

In the hall of mirrors he lies down on the floor,

to be able to admire the ceiling.

The gentlemen in his entourage sit down, exhausted

in rows along the mirrors.

The young man completely destroyed her.

Dubois dies of bladder cancer

from which he suffered greatly.

He had only been prime minister for a year.

When Cardinal Dubois dies,

am 10. August 1723,

Philippe d'Orleans goes to the young Louis XV.

and offers himself as prime minister.

For the first time in history

a prince of blood becomes prime minister.

Philippe d'Orleans is in crisis at this point.

He is tired.

He is 49 years old.

The regent, who was a handsome, slim boy,

has become a fat, heavy man,

his face has lit up.

By that time the Regent is spent,

he is tired,

he still rules,

but given his condition

one thinks about his successor.

Philippe d'Orleans dies suddenly

from a heart attack,

which knocks him down almost immediately.

His friend Madame de Phalaris is with him.

She always denied being his mistress.

It is true that towards the end of his life

was no longer potent.

She witnesses his last breaths.

People are looking for a doctor, Versailles is deserted,

When the doctors arrive, he is already dead.

After 7 years of reign

Philippe d'Orleans passes away at the age of 49

on December 2, 1723.

I hope this portrait of Philippe d'Orleans

contributes to the historical truth

to straighten out:

He was more than the libertine described by Voltaire.

As you saw

The Regence was an important link

between Louis XIV and Louis XV.

It was a period of peace,

of reforms, curiosity and research,

under a regent who deserved the royal dignity.

See you soon,

to a new edition of Secrets d'histoire.

Subtitle: ECLAIR