In 1661 Louis XIV, the Sun King, methodized the steps of ballet through his Académie Royale de Danse (today known as the Paris Opera Ballet). Born in the extravagant court at Versailles, ballet was drenched in the perfume of all that was imperial, so it was no surprise that as the Revolution took hold in 1789, ballet lost favor with the French citizens. In 1793, with the heavy drop of a Guillotine blade, the French monarchy came to an end. For the decades that followe