Secrets d'histoire Season 14 Episodes

Episode 1

Les favoris de Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche

112 mins

Marie-Antoinette's favourites: Queen of France at 18 years old, it took Marie-Antoinette only a few years to become the country's most hated person, before being executed at the age of 38 after a sham trial. In her fall she also brought down the intimate circle she had created around her at Versailles.

Episode 2

Splendeur et déchéance de Lady Hamilton

110 mins

The splendour and fall of Lady Hamilton: Without title or fortune, the young Emma rose to spectacular social heights at the end of the century of enlightenment by marrying Sir William Hamilton, British ambassador to Naples, then becoming an intimate friend of Queen Maria Carolina and Admiral Nelson's mistress. A dazzling rise followed by a terrible fall.

Episode 3

Agrippine: tu seras un monstre, mon fils...

Episode 4

Le prince Philip, au service de Sa Majesté

99 mins

Prince Philip, at Her Majesty's service: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died on 9 April 2021 aged 99 years. For over seventy years this familiar yet little-known figure remained in the shadow of the world's most famous monarch: Elizabeth II, Queen of England. We set off in the footsteps of the man who was forever second.

Episode 5

Le Prince impérial ou la fureur de vivre

113 mins

The Prince Imperial, a passion for life: A little-known figure in French history: Louis, the Prince Imperial, only son of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. Heir to the throne, Louis should have become Napoleon IV, but fate decided otherwise.

Episode 6

Madame de Montespan: le grand amour du Roi Soleil

Episode 7

Thérèse, la petite sainte de Lisieux

113 mins

Born in 1873 in Alençon, Thérèse Martin had the unusual ambition of becoming a great saint. At fifteen, she entered one of the most austere convents, the Carmel of Lisieux after soliciting the pope in person at the Vatican. Once she became a nun, Sister Thérèse lived within a community of 26 women and traced her little path towards holiness. She will lay down her experience in an autobiographical book, "Story of a Soul", which will be sold 500 million copies worldwide after her death. Died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis, Thérèse of Lisieux was to experience immediate and unexpected glory.

Episode 8

Vauban, le roi et les forteresses

102 mins

Vauban, the king and his forts: He became an emblematic figure of the reign of Louis XIV. The Marquis of Vauban is justly renowned for designing innumerable civil works and fortifications throughout France. We discover the remarkable genius of this military engineer.

Episode 9

Guillaume le Conquérant: à nous deux l'Angleterre!

Episode 10

La Duchesse du Berry, une rebelle chez les Bourbons!

115 mins

Born in 1798 in Caserta from the royal family of Sicily then tossed about by the revolutionary wars, Marie-Caroline grew up in Italy. She goes to France to marry the Duke of Berry, son of King Charles X who is charged by his father to give an heir to the Bourbon crown. The assassination of her husband in 1820 and the Revolution of 1830 pushed her to take an active role in the perpetuation of the monarchy in France. It is this story told by Stéphane Bern, who also lingers to draw the portrait of the Duchess, art lover, great patron and herself a painter on occasion.

Episode 11

Beethoven, tout pour la musique...

112 mins

Beethoven, when music is all: Stéphane Bern takes us in the footsteps of that virtuoso of classical music, Ludwig van Beethoven. From his native Germany to the Czech Republic, we follow the life and career of a timeless artist. A visionary who revolutionised his art despite his deafness, diagnosed when he was only 30.