[ladybelline]

I visited Versailles last week, and I was told some interesting things:

Louis XIV was very defiant towards the French nobility. He had suffered one nobility revolt during his childhood (called "La Fronde") and her mother's regency. So that could explain why he created such an étiquette in Versailles, to keep an eye on noble people, and also keep them near him.

His ministers (Colbert, Louvois...) were not noble for most of them. And yes, he secretly married Madame de Maintenon, who was definitely not from nobility (in fact, her grandfather, the poet Agrippa d'Aubigné, had claimed himself as nobility before his wedding).