21st Century Necromancer-Chapter 574 - 570 (Please subscribe, request for monthly tickets)

"The Palace of Versailles in Paris is one of the world's renowned palaces, built by French King Louis XIII. It was originally constructed as a hunting lodge and a place to entertain nobility from all over the region. For over a hundred years after its completion, it remained the seat of French royal power, until the outbreak of the French Revolution during the reign of Louis XVI when the King was forced back to Paris by the people, marking the end of its history as a royal residence." Inside the Palace of Versailles, Gilles de Rais had adopted a gentlemanly appearance and was introducing the palace's history to Chen Yu and his wife with impeccable manners.

While listening to the account of Gilles de Rais, Chen Yu suddenly burst into laughter and turned to ask Jounouchi Hiromi beside him, "Wife, do you know why the French kings always stayed here after the completion of the Palace of Versailles?"

"Why did they always stay here? Because they liked the scenery?" Jounouchi Hiromi didn't realize there was anything amiss in this.

However, when Gilles de Rais heard Chen Yu pose this question, his face turned somewhat embarrassed, yet he couldn't stop Chen Yu and could only let him reveal this dark period of Paris's history.

"Despite Paris now being known as the capital of fashion and romance, in truth, during the time of Louis XIII, Paris was the dirtiest city in the world, referred to as a cesspit and pigsty," Chen Yu said with a smirk, as he recounted this odorous history to Jounouchi Hiromi, "Europeans had subpar sanitation habits since the days of Ancient Rome. Romans, because they had public baths and other sanitary facilities, were relatively better off, but with the fall of the Roman Empire, the rise of the Frankish Empire, and religious reasons, the hygiene of Europeans at the time was unbearably foul.

At that time, the streets of Paris were literally flowing with excrement; one could barely avoid stepping in human waste, and residents alongside the roads would regularly dump their bodily refuse right out onto the streets, often drenching any unsuspecting passersby.

To clean up the city, the French hauled their waste outside of town, piling it up until it formed a dung wall higher than the city walls of Paris itself, making it a 'pearl' amidst a sea of feces.

Also, since public baths in Ancient Rome were often associated with carnal dealings and the Catholic Church promoted abstinence, bathing naturally came to be regarded as unclean, and washing with cold water was thought to weaken the body. So, Europeans of the time hardly ever bathed. Even French King Louis XIV only bathed about once a year.

Moreover, enemas were fashionable in Europe at the time, and even Louis XIV himself underwent an enema almost once a month, considering it a privilege to receive courtiers during his nightly defecation. In the French Royal Court of the time, seeking favor with the King first required enduring the stench of his backside, not merely an amusing anecdote but the stark reality."

In stark contrast, this also speaks to the extremely poor urban environment and personal hygiene of the time. The entire Europe reeked, and perfumes were invented to mask the foul odors of noblewomen, while high heels were designed mainly to avoid stepping in excrement. That's one reason why plagues like the Black Death, smallpox, and other epidemics could ravage Europe during the Middle Ages despite the absence of mass people movement – their sanitary habits and medical systems were just appalling."

"Yuck! That's so disgusting!" Jounouchi Hiromi hadn't expected Chen Yu to talk about such nauseating matters, but she still ventured a guess, "But what does this have to do with the construction of the Palace of Versailles? Did the kings of France build it to escape the stench of Paris?"

"Yes, that's a significant part of the reason." Chen Yu nodded, affirming Jounouchi Hiromi's conjecture, "From Louis XIII to Louis XVI, four generations of French kings were unwilling to return to Paris, and that's exactly why. Despite their disdain for Versailles itself, the air here was far better than in the stinking City of Paris."

Hearing Chen Yu say this, Jounouchi Hiromi looked around at the magnificent buildings, slightly puzzled, and asked, "Dislike the Palace of Versailles? Why? It feels so luxurious here! And isn't living in this beautiful, huge palace supposed to be nice?"

"It's precisely because of its luxury and size that living here is uncomfortable," laughed Chen Yu, looking rather mockingly at Gilles de Rais who was standing nearby, and continued, "The overly tall architectural structures make this palace poorly insulated. Louis XV really disliked this aspect, and furthermore, there were no toilets, to the extent that even the crown prince had to relieve himself in the fireplace."

"This huge palace actually had no toilets?" Jounouchi Hiromi's eyes widened in shock and she turned to Gilles de Rais, asking him, "Mr. Gilles, was Paris really as dirty as my husband describes?"

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"Even more exaggerated," Gilles de Rais admitted with some embarrassment that the Paris of his time was indeed very filthy, and added, "In my days as a mortal, Europe still had some public bathhouses and was not that dirty, but as the Church declared bathing to be one of the causes of the plague, the whole of Europe became even filthier.

At that time, inside the Louvre, one could see thousands of heaps of 'excrement' behind doorposts and along the corridors, and nearly everywhere else, and smell an unbearable stench. This was caused by the natural needs of those who lived in the Louvre, as well as those who came to court every day.

Actually, the wide-hemmed long dresses worn by the court ladies at that time were designed for this very purpose. They allowed them to relieve themselves while conversing with you, so that only after they walked away would you find a pile of waste on the ground and realize what they had just been doing…"

"Stop! I don't want to hear any more of this smelly topic! You've completely ruined my wandering mood!" Jounouchi Hiromi interrupted Gilles de Rais' narrative urgently. The content described by him and Chen Yu shattered her original longing and beautiful fantasy of the European classical royal courts, making her feel particularly disillusioned.

Chastened by Jounouchi Hiromi's words, Chen Yu also held his tongue and continued touring the Palace of Versailles in the company of Gilles de Rais.

It must be said, although the origin of the Palace of Versailles was a bit unsavory, as a world-renowned palace and museum, it was still very much worth visiting.

The golden splendor of the palace and its extravagant decorations, the collection of various precious artworks and historical artifacts, these alone were enough to let one feel the rich cultural heritage of France and the luxury of the nobility and royal court of the Renaissance era.

It is precisely because of such magnificent palaces and exquisite works of art that people have all kinds of fantasies and longings for that era's royal court, even though the reality might be far less pleasant than we imagine.

Despite a small disharmonious interlude, both Chen Yu and Jounouchi Hiromi were very satisfied with their visit to Versailles that day.