One of the functions of Louis XIV's Versailles was to provide a setting for the receptions of ambassadors, heads of state, and other visiting dignitaries who conducted diplomatic and
political business with France. These activities became particularly important after Versailles was proclaimed the new seat of the monarchy and government in 1682.
Diplomatic Tours in the Gardens of Versailles Under Louis XIV is the first book to examine how the vast gardens of Versailles were used for these diplomatic receptions during the reign
of the Sun King (1661-1715). The gardens were the final mise en sc�ne of an elaborate ritual, which included the housing of the foreigners in Paris, their journey to Versailles, and their
official audience with the king in the palace. A showcase for the achievements of royal artists, landscape architects, and hydraulic engineers, the gardens were soon regarded as one of the
wonders of the modern world, proclaiming the wealth, power, and artistic taste of France and the French monarchy.
The diplomatic tours were programmed every step of the way, with trained guides leading their guests on prescribed itineraries. Beginning in 1689, the king himself drafted a series of
comprehensive itineraries, collectively called the Mani�re de montrer les jardins de Versailles, for the use of his guides (a newly discovered version of the Mani�re appears for
the first time in this book). These itineraries changed over the years in concert with modifications and additions to the gardens, attesting to a constant search for an ideal itinerary--a
subtheme of Diplomatic Tours.
