As fans of the series patiently wait for the next instalment, the debate surrounding Outlander’s historical accuracy rages on.
The show sparked controversy in its second season with a racy scene where Claire Fraser, played by Caitriona Balfe, offers herself to King Louis XV of France (Lionel Lingelser) in exchange for a pardon for her husband Jamie (Sam Heughan), after his illicit duel with Captain ‘Black Jack’ Randall.
However, Jeffrey Merrick, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, exclusively revealed to Express.co.uk that it would have been impossible for an “untitled Englishwoman” like Claire to end up in the king’s bed, particularly while the two nations were at war.
Prof Merrick said: “It seems unlikely that an untitled Englishwoman like Claire could simply waltz her way into Louis XV’s bed, especially, while the two countries were at war. The king had an official mistress, Mme de Chateauroux.”
“When he fell ill at Metz, on the military frontier, in August 1744, he had to renounce her in order to receive absolution in anticipation of his death.”
“He survived and recalled her and then took Madame de Pompadour as his official mistress in 1745.”
The historian, who has penned numerous works on the period, went on to say: “Louis XV had a wife and a series of mistresses. He also had sexual relationships or simply relations with other women, as documented in contemporary sources, but of course critics exaggerated their numbers.”
“In my opinion, it would have been more responsible as well as realistic for Claire to have submitted sexually to the minister of the Royal Household, who dispensed lettres de cachet – Royal orders for imprisonment.”
“We’re talking about the comte de Saint-Florentin, who also had a reputation for debauchery and despotism.”
Professor Merrick concluded: “Claire did not need to see the king, who would not have bothered himself about some Englishman in the Bastille. Saint-Florentin could have liberated Jamie.”
However, the professor did acknowledge that sex and politics were intrinsically linked in early modern France, and it wasn’t just a “French story” but more universal.
Furthermore, Professor Merrick said although the scene is implausible, King Louis XV’s reign exhibited its share of sexual politics, with critics accusing the monarch of “debauchery and despotism” against the backdrop of financial, religious, political, and constitutional conflicts.
According to Professor Merrick, the King’s detractors “intertwined the themes of corruption and tyranny and applied the same critique to his ministers as well as the clergy and nobility as a whole,”.
This scathing critique of the monarchy persisted until the era of Marie Antoinette and the ensuing French Revolution.
While Outlander may not have accurately depicted this scene, it does raise significant questions about sex and politics that were relevant at the time and continue to be examined by historians.
Outlander is available for streaming on MGM+ through Prime Video in the UK