Costume for the Trial

There has been much urging in recent weeks, mostly by my Professor but also by others, for me to dress up for the trial. While i would certainly like to and as i usually did that sort of thing for presentations in High School, I'm not really sure if i could get all the necessary stuff in time. That is, Louis XIV was rather fond of wearing enough cloths to fully robe at the very least three people and their mothers, and having no fasion sense myself, I'm almost positive that i would do shame to even his humblest of attires in my grandest attempts. That eing said, however, he also wore tights a lot, and that's something that really isn't hard at all to find in most clothing outlets these days, but the idea still gives me pause. I've never been one to 'branch out' so to speak when it comes to dressing (or one to make a fashion statement), and tights would certainly seem to fit that general description. But then again, it could be fun, and i just learned that there's a Davis Costume shop which i'll definitely check out if i have the time. Here's a link if you want to check it out yourself -- http://daviswiki.org/Costume_Shop

Courtly Poses and Ballet

Recently, while I was reaserching Louis XIV biography in my free time, i stumbled upon a very interesting aspect of his personallity. Apparently, Louis XIV, the Sun King, the richest, most powerful ruler of his time, loved ballet. Not only loved, but performed as well. Not only that, but he also got all his Courtiers to do it too by making it part of proper court ettiquette! I suppose the reason i find this so interesting is that i find it funny in a very ironic sort of way that the most powerful and possibly feared people in Europe of the age spent their free time striking ballet poses at each other. That aside, this startling revelation prompted a much more in-depth sojourn into Louis XIV's love of ballet. In historical terms, Louis XIV and Ballet perhaps are mentioned most readily in the context of his founding of the French Académie Royale de Danse in 1661, but his love of Ballet streeches much farther back than that. In fact, it started in his childhood. Louis' father, Louis XIII (clearly, these Kings are highly imaginitive when it comes to naming), died when Louis (the younger) was only five years old, so naturally, the only parental figure in the young kings life was his mother, Anne of Austria. Anne herself was an avid fan and patron of the arts, ballet in particular, and as Louis and Anne were very close throughout their lives, she thus imparted her love of ballet upon Louis, who both practiced and preformed throughout his childhood and later life (until 1670). As was the case with most of the things Louis XIV loved, he naturally though that all people should love it, and thus, ballet inexorably became an integral part of the French Court (heroic poses and tights included). So it is that i find myself reaserching ballet poses, for if im to acurately portray Louis XIV, i figure i aught to at least strike the same poses that he would. Apparently they included Pierre Beauchamp's 'Five positions of the hands and feet,' which i haven't had much luck finding (the actual poses that is) so for the trial, my plan is to just imitate the pose in the picture above, as it seems both regal, pompos, and more than a little rediculous all at the same time

Louis XIV from a courtier's perspective

Having read "Duc de Saint Simone: The Court of Louis XIV," my picture of Louis XIV has become a little clearer. Clearer, at least, from the prespective of courtier. It would seem that my initial impression that Louis was a bit of a megelomatic/narcissitic ruler is one that has been shared by many throughout the ages, and even in Louis' own time as his one major character flaw was said to be his, "love of hearing his own praises." Although this allowed those who knew it the opportunity to advance their own station by exploiting this flaw, to a great extent this one trait had, arguably, the greatest influence on Louis' long reign and had many good (for Louis at least) effects. Indeed, while Narcissism is clearly evident in many aspects of his court (i.e. the fact that he stood for ceremony like none who had ever come before him had), this ended up helping both consolidate his power over the nobility and solidify his image as a detached, and even divine, ruler in minds of his courtiers. For instance, even though we can't possibly see any honor in holding a candle for a man, and would even view it as an insult, to hold a candle for Louis was, "a great honor" and not only garnered pride for the person selected for the task, but also increased his court standing as well, for it showed that he was in teh King's favor. On the other hand, his courtiers also tended to see him as possesing, "natural talents were below mediocrity." However, this was, by no means, a great weakness, rather, in the words of the same courtier he also possesed, "a mind capable of improvement." Thus, Louis naturally came to be a man who was, "was naturally prudent, moderate, and reserved; always master of his tongue and his emotions." Likewise, knowledgeable of his own shortcomings (although he would never admit to them aloud), Louis was a man who put great value on talent, explaining why he was so direct in his elevation of the Nobless de la Robe, but also implying that he would have probably been sympathetic to Galileo's dilema (the trial) than the clergy. Unfortunately what this also means for me in my character role, is that being prudent and a "master of his tongue and emotions" was not prone to passionate outcries or outbursts (which is really where all the fun is). It would seem that I ust find a way to be both adamant in my defense of Galileo whilst being clever and soft-spken at the same time.

Becoming Louis XIV

Hey guys, it's been a long time since I last posted, but seeing as how most of the views recorded in my blog's history were due to myself, i guess you probably don't mind.  Anyway, that aside, I now have a reason to blog again -- that is, a new assignment which looks to take advantage of the great public pulpit that is online blogging.

Unlike previous posts, this assignment is really more of a documentation log to keep track of my progress as I research and attempt to 'become,' so to speak, the French Monarch Louis XIV, for an in-class Galileo Trial.  I must say that I was rather pleased to be assigned the Illustrious Sun King as my role in the trial, as I've studied him extensively in the past, and i think it'll be just plain fun to act like a man who was perhaps the most megalomaniacal ruler of the age if not all time.  In any case, it should be interesting to see where this assignment leads.