VERSAILLES: Crazy Floor Plan Explained | SECOND FLOOR Middle Ranking Nobility | Mortal Faces

[00:00:00]Welcome back to the next part of the second floor and its continuation. In our last video, I showed who lived where in the second floor apartments facing the courtyard. And in this video, we're going to talk about the ones facing the garden. The palace's second floor was primarily a maze of crammed rooms for mid-ranking noblemen, servants, and minor courtiers. Whether facing the garden or the courtyard, the second floor apartments at Versail were generally much smaller and hotter in the summer than the grand sprawling suites of the first floor. the upside to the garden views where they gave you a beautiful landscape of peace and natural light while the courtyards gave you bustling foot traffic. I want to show you this. When we look at Versailles, this court section levels off here.

[00:00:40]However, the exterior is a little bit higher and it looks like it was attached. The maximum floor height of this section looks taller. It's almost like we have another level, but it only pertains to the Garden View Apartments, but on the same time, it's still part of the second floor. is like its own separate segment and that is what we are going to identify today. Compare this image to the floor plan. This unknown room has three windows and then it raises and we have another set of three windows. This suite belonged to the Duke of Flurry. He was the third of the four gentlemen of the king's bed chamber and a nephew to Cardinal Deuri. His wife was the supernumeary lady in waiting which was an official title given to ladies that allowed them to bypass the physical positions such as dame dat and substitute when the real ones were absent or sometimes they just provided companionship. It allowed them to be part of the everyday court without any responsibility. It was unpaid though but gave you coveted status. She eventually held a real position deemed to pale to the queen. The Duke died in 1788, age 72, and his wife died in 1802, about 80 years old, surviving the revolution.

[00:01:52]They lived in a 14 room apartment. This separate staircase might have led to servants rooms, while their main anti-chamber could have been here. It led into a large room with a main entertaining space that would have led into another public room, library, or music room. Here is another cabinet and a hallway that leads to two more cabinets. Perhaps one is used as a bathroom. And then you have room room room. Maybe this was an anti-chamber that led into a bedroom with a wardrobe that led into a private study. And this would have been a very comfortable apartment. Their neighbor was the bishop of Leyon. Lu Ector Onor Maxim Debre was appointed the first almaner to the queen on May 15th, 1774.

[00:02:35]The queen wrote on this subject, "The king leaves me the freedom to choose for the new positions in my household in my capacity as queen. I was pleased to show the people of Lorraine a mark of consideration by choosing as the first almaner the Abbe de Seb, a man of good conduct, of noble birth, and appointed to the bishop that is to be created in Nancy. As we know, Marinette gave quietly to the poor using her own personal funds. Her charity work was not a spectacle, which is why it isn't talked about. And an almaner was a religious official charged with distributing alms, which was money, food, or clothing to the poor on behalf of a figure, in this case, a monarch. He survived the revolution going into force exile in 1791.

[00:03:19]He had quite a large apartment, 15 rooms over two floors, this and a mezzanine.

[00:03:24]He would occupy this space from the exterior, both on this floor and the attic above. Entering here, we have an anti-chamber, a large main room, and then a library as what seems to look like built-in bookshelves. Then this staircase goes upstairs. And here is his mezzanine. His mezzanine would hit the ceiling of the structure. The height would be low and angled as you approach the small windows, but he does have quite a substantial amount of rooms up here. A cabinet, a hallway, a bottom anti chamber leads into a main room, and another room. Then this central room and at the top one, two, three, four and some closets. His neighbor is Mareline de Ros de Flory Duchess de Boier and her husband the Duke. She was the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Flory, the couple we first admired below. And the Duchess of Flory resigned her position as a demale so that her daughter Marlin could have it. She survived the revolution, retiring from her position in 1789 and likely moved out to Versailles. Although many courtiers kept apartments at Versailles while serving, these apartments were tied to their office. So once admales retired as an example, she generally surrendered her official lodging because it was needed for her new successor. However, it is important to remember that not all ladies in waiting lived at Versailles full-time. The Dem served on a rotating schedule, so even while in office, they often spent long periods at their own residences between tours of duty. After she left, she kept a low profile and kept her head on her shoulders. Entering her apartment from the main hallway, you have an anti chamber with a nice fireplace. Here you can greet your guests and use it as a parlor. A windowless room here and a staircase that will go up to your mezzanine.

[00:05:06]Behind the staircase is another windowless room. Through this little vestibule is another room with a fireplace. And beside that is another larger room for their main entertaining space. Both have fireplaces. Upstairs in their mezzanine are four rooms and a couple closets. Again, it would be cramped up here. Her neighbor is Mari Anjuli Leon De Bretoy Duchess declar.

[00:05:29]Her husband was guillotine during the revolution, but she died of natural causes a year prior in 1793. She was lady in waiting to Marchenska and then lady in waiting to Maruanet during the first 5 months of her reign. Her apartment consisted of an anti chamber and then two more rooms. And then it goes upstairs to a mezzanine which has another four small rooms with closets.

[00:05:50]And these would have been tiny rooms with very low ceilings. But on her main floor, she also had an extra set of rooms off to the side. It had direct view of the garden from the same vantage point as the hall of mirrors, which was a rare because the hall of mirrors basically took up two floors, preventing anyone else from having the same viewpoint. And then finally at this corner it was shared with Charles Eugene Gabrielle Delea Marque de Castri. He married Gabrielle de Flory the sister of the Duke of Flory. As we have seen at the beginning of this video he was the king's lieutenant and fought in the Seven Years War during the reign of Louis X 15th. He was made a knight and then a marshall of France in 1783 but he was an unfaithful husband. He immigrated in 1789 surviving the revolution. His wife survived too. She never held any prominent court positions, though. Even though his accommodations were quite small, he was still in the central palace. Going through this curved staircase, you enter into an anti-chamber and then a long room that leads into a vestibule and a main room which leads into another room. And one of those two rooms would have been their bedroom. So, it's four rooms with a couple closets. Quite modest. Now, let's go to the other side of the central palace. And here we have the king's rooms that I explained in my previous video. But what I want to show you is the attic library has three windows.

[00:07:10]Then the attic supplement room hall and room where one pays the rent has a total of eight windows. And if we look at the palace here, the attic library's three windows are here and the other eight windows are here. And what I want to show you are the different levels of the palace. You might not have noticed before. The front three windows ends here, but the back part has another level, the mezzanine on this section, but perpendicular to it, this section ends. There are no windows facing the court on another top mezzanine. While over here, there are three windows, which indicated an additional level on this part. This all shows that Versailles was a jumble of not only rooms, but awkwardly placed floors in all directions. I showed the king's private kitchens in my previous video and the private kitchen of the Count of Morba. So facing the garden on this side, we begin with the Marsha de Noel, Louie, Duke of Noel. His younger brother was the Conte Noel who An Claude Louise later became the contest den Noel aka Madame Adiket aka this woman we see in the movies. So her husband's brother and wife lived here. They were guillotine during the revolution as well as the Conte Contest Noel. In fact, the Noel family was one of the most heavily executed families of the revolution with many other members perishing. They had one of the highest positions in the French court which made it so difficult for them to abandon their places. Their apartment consists of five rooms facing the garden with a few more along the back on this side occupying five windows. Their neighbor was the Duke of Mai Charles Rene de Mai deurre and his wife Meline. Meline who got the position of lady of the palace survived the revolution. Upon learning the danger of Maria Dwanette faced at the Twery Palace in 1792. She attempted to reach the queen but was unsuccessful. She was imprisoned in the Sere prison in Paris and escaped death by pointing out an error in her surname in the indictment, thus suspending her execution. Rob Spear's death 2 days later definitely saved her life. Her husband died before the reign of terror of natural causes.

[00:09:10]Their suite consisted of an anti chamber, two salons, perhaps a bedroom, a wardrobe, and a windowless room. They have three large windows facing the garden.

[00:09:19]Shiao's Alexandra Prince of Enin lived below them. He married a super numeary lady in waiting to the queen. He was the captain of the bodyguard of the count of Artois. He was executed in 1794 during the revolution and she died in 1794 as well, but of natural causes she wasn't executed. They were mid-ranking nobility and this is a good example of a typical apartment for such. Leading off the staircase, it had an entry room, one main room, a small room with a window, perhaps an office or bathroom, and then one bedroom with a couple closets. Their living space had two big windows and a small window. They were lucky enough to have their own mezzanine, three separate ones, each with their own staircase, very whimsical, most likely part of other units in the past, but then were appointed for their use later on. and they were single small low- ceiling rooms maybe used for their servants extra storage or office. Then this residence is for Marshall Rishlu Louis Francois Manduin Rod Dupli Duke of Rishlu. He was the great nephew of the cardinal Rishlu and he was also the godson of Louis the 14th and quite the statesman with an extensive career. He was quite the womanizer too during his marriages. He was forced to marry at 14 years old and then two more times with his third at 84 years old. He died at 92 years old in 1788 just before the breakout of the revolution. He has three rooms facing the garden and four rooms facing the courtyard with a mezzanine of two rooms above him. And that concludes the second floor of the central palace during the reign of Louis the 16th and Murray and Twinette. Next, we will discuss the attic spaces. So, subscribe for that. Thank you for watching. You can check out the rest of the floors already on my channel of who lived where and follow me for the continuation of this series.