The 48 Laws Of Power

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I32 LAWI8

himself,

he

slowly

lostcontroloftherealm.Eunuchsandministersenacted

politicalpolicies

withouthis

approval

orevenhis

knowledge;they

also

plottedagainst

him.

By

the

end,

hewas

emperor

in

name

only,

andwasso

isolatedthat

barelyanyone

knewhehaddied.Hehad

probably

been

poi-

soned

by

thesame

scheming

ministerswho

encouraged

hisisolation.

Thatiswhatisolation

brings:

Retreatintoa.fortressand

you

losecon-

tactwiththe

sources

of

yourpower.

Youlose

your

earforwhatis

happen-

ing

around

you,

aswellasa

sense

of

proportion.

Insteadof

being

safer,

you

cut

yourself

offfromthekindof

knowledge

onwhich

your

life

depends.

Neverenclose

yourself

sofarfromthestreetsthat

you

cannothearwhatis

happening

around

you,including

the

plotsagainstyou.

OBSERVANCEOFTHE

LAW

LouisXIVhadthe

palace

ofVersaillesbuiltforhimandhiscourtinthe

16605,

anditwaslikenoother

royalpalace

intheworld.AsinEl,

beehive,

everything

revolvedaroundthe

royalperson.

Helivedsurrounded

by

the

nobility,

whowereallotted

apartments

nestledaround

his,

their

closeness

tohim

dependent

ontheirrank.The

kings

bedroom

occupied

theliteral

centerofthe

palace

andwasthefocusof

everyone’s

attention.

Every

mom~

ing

the

king

was

greeted

inthisroom

by

aritualknownasthelever.

At

eight

A.M.,

the

king's

first

valet,

who

slept

atthefootofthe

royal

bed,

would

awakenHis

Majesty.

Then

pages

would

open

thedoorand

admitthosewhohada.functioninthelever.Theorderoftheir

entry

was

precise:

Firstcamethe

king’sillegitimate

sonsandhis

grandchildren,

then

the

princes

and

princesses

ofthe

blood,

andthenhis

physician

andsur-

geon.

Therefollowedthe

grand

ollicersofthe

wardrobe,

the

king’s

oflicial

reader,

andthosein

charge

of

entertaining

the

king‘

Nextwouldarrive

var-

ious

government

officials.

in

ascending

orderofrank.Lastbutnotleast

camethose

attending

the[ever

byspecial

invitation.

By

theendofthecere»

many,

theroomwouldbe

packed

withwelloverahundred

royal

atten»

damsandvisitors.

The

day

was

organized

sothatallthe

palace’senergy

wasdirected

at

and

passedthrough

the

king.

Louiswas

constantly

attended

by

courtiers

and

officials,

all

asking

forhisadviceand

judgment.

Toalltheir

questions

he

usuallyreplied,

“Ishallsee.”

AsSaint-Simon

noted,

“Ifheturnedto

someone,

askedhima

ques-

tion,

madean

insignificant

remark,

the

eyes

ofall

present

wereturnedon

this

person.

Itwasa

distinction

thatwas

talked

ofandincreased

prestige.”

There

was

no

possibility

of

privacy

inthe

palace,

notevenforthe

king-

every

roomcommunicatedwith

another,

and

every

hallway

ledto

larger

roomswhere

groups

ofnobles

gathered

constantly. Everyone’s

actions

were

interdependent,

and

nothing

andnoone

passed

unnoticed:“The

king

not

only

sawtoitthatallthe

highnobility

was

present

athis

court,”

wrote

Saint—Simon,

“hedemandedthesame

of

theminor

nobility.

Athis

leverand

voucher,

athis

meals,

inhis

gardens

of

Versailles,

he

always

looked