My least favorite thing about Fontainebleau is that this is where Louis XIV promulgated his infamous Edict of Fontainebleau on October 22, 1685, ordering relentless and brutal persecution of the Protestant minority in France. He prefaced this edict with a few kind words for his grandfather, Henri IV, “King Henry Read More …
My favorite thing about Fontainebleau is the music it inspired at the beginning of the five-act versions of the opera Don Carlos (in French) or Don Carlo (in Italian), by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). The Spanish prince Don Carlos, alone in the twilight in the wintry forest, sings: Fontainebleau! Immense, lonely Read More …
Since the French King Louis XIV was so obsessed with expanding and embellishing his palace at Versailles, you might have thought he spent all his time there. But no, he had several other Royal Palaces as well, and at least until 1682 he divided his time among them. In her Read More …