nt historical events to take place
there.

The King's sojourns at Versailles during the hunting season, however,
had their effect. Many of the royal intimates were influenced to build
on land given to them by the sovereign. So before Louis XIII died his
chateau was surrounded by many charming country houses. On April 8,
1632, Louis came into possession of the feudal dwelling of
Jean-Francois de Gondi and its lands. Versailles then began to acquire
distinction. It was the King's resort. Could any one afford to
question its character, or location, or the standing of those that, at
the King's behest, took up their residence there? Not we surely, who
can now view Versailles in the light of history. All aside from its
splendid court life and its magnificent festivities, we know it as the
scene of three epoch-making events in the world's history. During and
shortly after the American Revolution, Versailles was the scene of
treaty negotiations in which France, England and America were the
active parties. About a century later, in 1871, the treaty was
consummated there that ended the Franco-Prussian War, by which France
lost Alsace and Lorraine and was forced to pay to Germany
$1,000,000,000. And now, in our day, the most superb irony of history
has brought about a treaty in the same Hall of Mirrors by which Germany
repays, and the map of Europe undergoes radical changes.

CHAPTER II

THE MAKING OF VERSAILLES

The Luxurious Chateau and Parkland of Louis XIV

At the death of Louis XIII, in 1643, the little chateau of Versailles was
abandoned as a dwelling. Then followed a fall in values at Versailles
and a great flutter of uncertainty among those that had followed the King
there. This feeling of doubt lasted for seven years. The faces of the
court favorites were turned back toward Paris, and individual fortunes
were speculatively weighed in the balance with the possibilities of the
new King's whims and fancies. But when the twelve-year-old Louis XIV
came to hunt in the vicinity of Versailles for the first time, he found
the suburban dwelling of his father attractive from the start. The
Gazette noted this visit, in 1651, and described the supper that the
royal boy shared with the officials of the chateau. Two months later the
King supped again at Versailles, and was so delighted with the estate and
the hunting to be had thereabouts that, thereafter, he made it a yearly
custom to visit Versailles once