By creating the most dazzling court in Europe, Louis XIV sought to tame the nobility, even to enslave them, for those who lived outside the Court simply had no power or purpose. Versailles was home to nearly 6,000 courtiers who relied on the extravagance and generosity of their king. They had to accept the constraints of a life where they were continuously on display and face fierce competition to be the favourite to hold the king’s candlestick at bedtime, or to be entitled to sit in an armchair or on a stool.