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 By
the time Henri IV entered Paris (1589), the French, once amused
by Henri The Third’s eccentricities, were already disgusted
by them. Industry and commerce had declined, and anarchy reigned
in many provinces due to their governors’ complete lack
of interest. But all of this changed when the King of Navarre
sat on Saint Louis’s throne, put an end to civil war,
and started to reorganize the country. France entered a prosperity
era that would later benefit the perfume industry’s development
with organization and moderation.
The King was indifferent to perfume;
he favored the natural odors of his adventurous youth, when
he was a warrior and led a simple way of life. But he was
surrounded by courtesans and especially by the young and beautiful
Gabrielle D’estrees who delighted in the use of perfume
which she kept in jewelry made for the purpose containing
her perfume. And the Queen, Marie de Medicis, pursued her
Florentine habits of generously using cosmetics and perfumes.
During his youth, Louis XIII shared
with his contemporaries their passion for perfume, but later
on, his use of perfume was limited to the maintenance of his
hair. Under the reign of this monarch, the trend of smoking
tobacco stimulated the use of perfume. Introduced in France
in 1556 by the French diplomat Jean Nicot (hence nicotine),
tobacco became rapidly more than a fad. In Richelieu’s
era, people smoked outrageously; all their clothes were impregnated
by tobacco smell and to cover it, everyone generously used
perfumes of all kinds. A privileged piece of attire of this
time were gloves that were sold under the name of the perfume
that permeated them.
Extract of Neroli (essential oil from
the orange blossom) came in vogue among the courtesans and
the nobles.
Gentlemen used perfume and the Musketeers,
immortalized by Alexandre Dumas, were typical of those who
fastened perfumed ribbons, belonging to their sweethearts,
on the handgrips of their swords. It was a beautiful time
of heroic gesture, romance, and chivalry in which Cyrano was
an admirable stereotype for lyrical and theatrical French
literature.
Then came Louis XIV, King of France
(1643-1715), known as the Sun King. His strong personality
imposed absolute rule on France and he fought a series of
wars, trying to dominate Europe. His reign, the longest in
European history, was marked by a great flowering of French
culture.
It was said that Louis XIV liked neither
perfume nor flowers, but hated them. To please their sovereign,
the courtesans did not wear perfume at his court. It was impossible
to pull up all the flowers in the kingdom. Some ladies of
the court feigned to faint when seeing a rose in his presence.
The truth is different, however, as Louis XIV did not dislike
perfumes; he used it sparingly on himself; he certainly tolerated
it on other persons, especially on Madame de Montespan.
Some perfume came from Italy, but it
was in Montpellier in the south of France where perfume factories
were located. Flower cultivation for perfume occupied more
than 100,000 acres. Colbert (French Finance Minister) openly
protected the perfume and glove industry, and it is under
his advice that Louis XIV confirmed their privileges to be
the master glove makers and parfumeurs and registered their
corporation with the Paris parliament. L’eau de cologne
that appeared under the reign of Louis XV marked an important
date in the history of perfume.
Madame Du Barry used every other possible
cosmetic to improve her delicate beauty. We know that she
paid a famous alchemist of her time to work on her fountain
of youth.
Marie Antoinette, who was born and
raised in the simplicity of the Austrian court, was lavishly
extravagant in Versailles with her precious clothes, jewelry,
and perfumes. She loved roses, so she ordered extract of this
flower as well as violet, her second favorite flower. The
use of expensive flower extract became more important to the
bourgeoisie as all the great ladies of the kingdom started
to imitate their queen.
The perfume industry and the production
methods involved were improving considerably during this period
and the formulas of plants and flower extracts are essentially
the same today.
While the parties at Versailles and
at the Trianon were occurring, the storm of revolution was
brewing, and when it exploded, it would blow away the sweet
fragrance of the kingdom to leave France with the horrible
smell of blood….
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