The king forbade her children to wear mourning for her.[5]. Madame de Montespan, is said to be the blonde woman at the center of the coach which would have also held the king's sister-in-law Madame, his first cousin La Grande Mademoiselle, the Queen and Madame de Montespan's older sister, the marquise de Thianges. After hearing of the death of Françoise-Athénaïs, Madame de Maintenon is said to have run to her privy and wept bitterly. It shows Louis XIV and his wife, Queen Marie-Thérèse, in Arras in 1667 during the War of Devolution. Below is a picture of one of the court processions. After La Voisin was publicly burned at the stake for witchcraft, her daughter Marguerite Monvoisin, provided even more damning testimony against the marquise: “Every time something new happened to this lady and she feared the good graces of the king were diminishing, she advised my mother of it so she could bring a remedy.”. It is set during the, She is a central character in Clare Colvin's novel, She is a central figure in the collection of poetry, "Some Other Garden", by Jane Urquhart, first published as: "I am Walking in the Garden of His Imaginary Place". Occupation. Then, explore the scandalous life of Queen Anne and her love affair that inspired ‘The Favourite.’, Meet Madame De Montespan, The Unofficial ‘Queen Of Versailles’ Dethroned By Rumors Of Infanticide, A foodie, wanderlust victim, professional Francophile, and history nerd, Andrew Milne is a freelance writer who has worked at outlets like Bon Appétit and Food Network, and currently runs content at, Australian Thief Steals Versace Necklace From Jewelry Boutique Using A Fishing Rod, The Tragic Death Of Selena, The 'Mexican Madonna' Who Was Gunned Down By Her Own Fan, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Despite all this, it was said that Madame de Montespan wanted more: a seat on the throne. Montespan became friends with Louise and Queen Maria Teresa, and when both she and Louise were pregnant, they requested that Madame de Montespan help them entertain the King during private dinners. If their maternal parentage had been revealed, the marquis could have legally claimed Madame de Montespan's illegitimate children with the king as his own. She was also a generous patron of the arts and letters, and befriended Corneille, Racine and La Fontaine. In addition to seeking Louis' love, some charged Madame de Montespan with also conspiring to kill him, but inconsistencies in this testimony suggest that the royal mistress was innocent of these charges. She had “the gift of saying things both amusing and singular, always original, and which no one expected, not even … On trial, La Voisin reportedly denied that the Marquise de Montespan played any role in her sundry poisonings or alleged sacrifices. He said she had come to him and La Voisin and conspired with them to kill a rival of her’s for the king’s love. She was given the nickname Quanto ("How much", in Italian). The château reverted to the French crown in 1766 and was demolished in 1769. [7], By 1666, Madame de Montespan was trying to take the place of Louis XIV's current mistress, Louise de La Vallière. de Nantes. In 1691, no longer in royal favour, Madame de Montespan retired to the Filles de Saint-Joseph convent,[5] in the rue Saint-Dominique[17] in Paris, with a pension of half a million francs. When the king’s authorities searched her home, they allegedly found infant bones in her garden, which an associate of Madame Monvoisin’s said were actually from abortions. The Marquise de Montespan retired from Versailles and, ironically enough, joined a convent. The former Marquise de Montespan lost her position as the king’s favorite mistress to her former governess who later married the king in a politically unofficial marriage. Françoise-Athénaïs had after all helped her get into court and put her in charge of her children, the position that originally allowed Madame de Maintenon to gain the king's attention. They had two children together and the marquis became loudly jealous of his wife’s growing relationship with the king. Wikimedia CommonsVersailles was the Marquise de Montespan’s domain and she was consequently referred to as “the Queen of Versailles.”. Wikimedia CommonsKing Louis XIV would legitimize three of their seven children together. At least, that’s what the rumors have had to say about her. Françoise (as a précieuse, she later adopted the name "Athénaïs"), or more formally, Mlle de Tonnay-Charente, possessed the blood of two of the oldest noble families of France through her parents, Gabriel de Rochechouart, Duke of Mortemart, Prince of Tonnay-Charente, and Diane de Grandseigne, a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Austria, Queen consort of France.[4]. it was also damning in an overwhelmingly Catholic 17th-century France. The seven children the king and the marquise had together were spirited away and raised by Françoise Scarron, Marquise de Maintenon, and the widow of a famous poet, who would become the future rival to the Marquise de Montespan. Their mother's name, however, was not mentioned in the legitimization documents, as Madame de Montespan was still married to her husband. She had “the gift of saying things both amusing and singular, always original, and which no one expected, not even she herself expected them,” said the Duc de Saint Simon according to The Life of Louis XIV’s Mistress Athénaïs: The True Queen of France by Lisa Hilton. [16] Whatever the truth in these allegations, in July 1667, Madame de Montespan became the king's new mistress even though Louise was carrying his child, Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois. WHEBN0000287211 Fraser, Antonia (2006). Françoise later recounted that as she had neglected to bring along the proper kneeling cushions for the ceremony, the couple had to kneel on dog cushions. She is drawn here on the altar. This first Louise-Francoise died in 1672; her name was later recycled for her younger sister, the future Mlle. Article Id: She was one of the many courtiers of Louis XIV in, She has a significant role in 'The Refugees' (1893) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle where her fall from favour with Louis XIV is dramatically depicted, She has a major role in 'The Orange Trees of Versailles' by Annie Pietri. At her death, Clagny was inherited by her oldest son, the duc du Maine, who, in turn, passed it on to his son, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, prince de Dombes. [4] She was droll, amusing and used her considerable wit to mock others. 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Maîtresse en titre of Louis XIV. [11] Father Lécuyer raged. Gaspard de Rochechouart, Marquess of Mortemart, 12. It is now believed that Mlle de Fontanges died from natural causes. The Marquise de Montespan was destined for greatness. [12][13] Suspicion that Madame de Montespan might be capable of murder or worse began when the King's eye strayed to another beauty, the Duchess of Fontanges. A plan of the Château de Clagny and its gardens, A plan of the Trianon de Porcelaine; built for Madame de Montespan by Louis XIV. Presumably, the maid resented the loss of Louis' attention. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Madame de Montespan astounded the court by openly resenting the position of Queen Maria Theresa of Spain. Wikimedia CommonsThe Affair of the Poisons blackened the “real Queen of France’s” name, but she fared better on trial than other women who were burned at the stake for witchcraft. Her so-called "reign" lasted from around 1667, when she first danced with Louis XIV at a ball hosted by the king's younger brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, at the Louvre Palace, until her alleged involvement in the notorious Affaire des Poisons in the late 1670s to 1680s. [2], Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart was born on 5 October 1640 and baptised the same day at the Château of Lussac-les-Châteaux[3] in today's Vienne department, in the Poitou-Charentes region in France. “Is this the Madame that scandalizes all France? The King wanted her to stay longer times at court but Gabrielle always declined and stayed only for very short times. A scandal arose when the Duchess of Montausier, governess of the royal children and lady-in-waiting to the Queen, was accused of acting as a go-between in order to secure the governorship of the Dauphin for her husband, the Duke of Montausier. Madame de Montespan astounded the court by openly resenting the position of Queen Maria Theresa of Spain. Louis XV of France, House of Bourbon, Henry IV of France, Louis XIII of France, Louis XVI of France, Palace of Versailles, House of Bourbon, Louis XIV of France, Louis Auguste, Prince of Dombes, House of Bourbon-Maine, House of Orléans, Princes of Condé, House of Valois, Princes of Conti, Louis III, Prince of Condé, Paris, Musical theatre, Pope, Louis XIV, Emmanuel Moire, Portugal, Niort, France, Louis XIV of France, Saint-Cyr-l'École, Contemporary portrait of Françoise by an unknown artist, Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Montespan from the George S. Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures. Her immediate contemporary was Barbara Villiers, mistress of King Charles II of England. In 1674, an official separation with her husband was declared by the Procureur général Achille de Harlay, assisted by six judges at the Châtelet. Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King. As for the king himself, he either believed the marquise innocent or wanted to spare their children the humiliation of her case, and so she was not prosecuted for these allegations. The Marquise de Montespan continued to reign over the card tables and dance halls of Versailles.          Political / Social. The Marquise de Montespan was destined for greatness. In 1685, Louis XIV gave the magnificent palace to Madame de Montespan. The daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and Elisabeth de France, the Queen's Spanish title, before her marriage, was Infanta María Teresa de Austria. [4] Beauty, however, was only one of Madame de Montespan's many charms. To conceal his new relationship, he placed the ladies in connected rooms they had to share, so he could have access to both. Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan had seven children, only four of whom survived childhood: Madame de Montespan and four of her children: Mademoiselle de Nantes; Count of Vexin; Mademoiselle de Tours; Duke of Maine, Madame de Montespan's two surviving daughters: the blonde Mademoiselle de Blois, with her older brunette sister, the Mademoiselle de Nantes, Louise Françoise some time after her marriage to Louis III, Prince of Condé, The Count of Toulouse, Madame de Montespan's youngest child. Wikimedia CommonsThe Marquise de Montespan with her legitimate children by her husband, the Marquis de Montespan. Her eldest (and most disloyal) child with the king, the duc du Maine, though, was hardly able to conceal his joy on the death of his mother. Using her wit and charm, she sought to ingratiate herself with the king. But far more damning to the Madame de Montespan’s reputation than the casual remarks of priests was her implication in the Affaire des Poisons scandal. Pierre de Grandsaigne, Lord of La Flotte, 6. Later, humiliated Louise joined a convent and the spotlight belonged now to the twenty-five-year-old Athenais de Montespan. The Affair of the Poisons blackened the “real Queen of France’s” name, but she fared better on trial than other women who were burned at the stake for witchcraft. Soon they regretted their decision. When the third child, Louis-César, was born in 1672, a house was purchased for Scarron and the children on the Rue Vaugirard.[10]. Indeed, it was said that she’d inherited her family’s famously charming Mortemart wit. From the end of 1680 onwards, Louvois, Jean-Baptiste Colbert and Madame de Maintenon all helped to hush up the affair in order to prevent further scandal about the mother of the king's legitimised children. Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan (5 October 1640 – 27 May 1707), better known as Madame de Montespan, was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children. Go abandon your shocking life and then come throw yourself at the feet of the ministers of Jesus Christ,” the Father Lécuyer allegedly decried. Through three of her children (Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Françoise Marie de Bourbon and the comte de Toulouse), Madame de Montespan became an ancestor of the modern House of Orléans and its present head, Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris and Duke of France. As a member of the Queen’s household, Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart (1640-1707), Marquise de Montespan, first met the King in the early 1660s, but it seems that it was not until around 1666-1667 that Louis XIV fell under her spell. In France, she was known as Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche. Are you certain this article is inappropriate? Many at the time suspected that she had been poisoned by her rival, although none could prove it. It was believed that the Marquise de Montespan so desperately craved queendom that she would stop at nothing, even ritual child sacrifice, and cannibalism, to get it. Françoise Marie's great-great-grandson was Louis-Philippe I, King of the French. Wikimedia CommonsA portrait of Madame de Montespan in the Louvre. That throne, however, was occupied by the king’s wife Marie-Thérèse of Austria. She quickly established herself as the "reigning beauty of the court". DeAgostini/Getty ImagesAn illustration of the alleged black mass that Madame de Montespan held. Louis XIV also had a pleasure pavilion, called the Trianon de porcelaine[20] built for Madame de Montespan, and surrounded by gardens, on the site of the former hamlet of Trianon which he had purchased near the Palace of Versailles. Her apartments were filled with pet animals and thousands of flowers; she had a private gallery, and costly jewels were showered upon her. Versailles was the Marquise de Montespan’s domain and she was consequently referred to as “the Queen of Versailles.”. Through Louis-Philippe's fourth daughter, Princess Clémentine d'Orléans, the wife of Leopold's nephew, Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, she is also the ancestor of the current pretender to the throne of Bulgaria, King Simeon II. Louis XIV stands behind the coach with his red hat while his younger brother, Monsieur, stands further to the right in blue. Had any liberty been granted to it, my heart would have made a choice worthy alike of my family and of myself.”. The Marquise de Montespan with her legitimate children by her husband, the Marquis de Montespan. The marquis went a little wild when he found out about his wife’s infidelities with the king, and had his children hold a symbolic mass of the dead for her. The daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and Elisabeth de France, the Queen's Spanish title, before her marriage, was Infanta María Teresa de Austria. Meanwhile, members of King Louis XIV’s court were inexplicably dying and when disinterred, were found with blackened intestines as if they’d been poisoned. Because of the fragility of the earthenware tiles used in its construction, the Trianon de porcelaine was demolished in 1687 and replaced by the Grand Trianon of pink marble (marbre rose des Pyrénées). As the king's official mistress, Madame de Montespan frequently joined the rest of the court as it escorted the king as he waged his many wars against the Dutch and Austrians. Two weeks after her daughter's birth she danced in a Court Ballet, and less than a year later her second child was born. Some would call her a witch or more specifically, “the Witch of Paris.”, For a fee, she’d covertly concoct love potions and poisons as a means of garnering clout in court. [4][5] Her siblings were: At the age of twenty, Françoise-Athénaïs became a maid-of-honour to the king's sister-in-law, Princess Henrietta Anne of England, who was known at court by the traditional honorific of Madame. Meanwhile, King Louis XIV established apartments for Madame de Montespan that were joined with his own. This had the effect of making her even more appealing to men of intellect and power. Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan, Charles de Sainte-Maure, marquis de Montausier, was made. There were private entrances installed for easy rendez-vous. She was a cultured and amusing conversationalist, who won the admiration of such literary figures as letter-writer Madame de Sévigné and diarist Saint-Simon. Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002. She played a major role as the rival to the main character in "Angelique and the King" by Sergeanne Golon (1960). The King appealed to the priest's superiors, but the Church refused to yield to the king's demands. [14] Even though no evidence that the garden search ever actually happened are found. [4], She also had an extravagant and demanding nature and possessed enough charm to get what she wanted. A son, Louis-Auguste, was born in 1670. Montespan's youngest son, the Count of Toulouse, would later marry one of Boyer's granddaughters. [9] The upbringing of this first child (and subsequent children) was entrusted to one of Madame de Montespan's friends, Madame Scarron (the future marquise de Maintenon). The king would come to formally recognize at least three of the seven children he had with Madame de Montespan, allowing them to establish themselves in high ranks in courtly France as well, but not quite as high as their mother. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non-profit organization. Like Marie-Antoinette after her, the Marquise de Montespan’s proximity to power was just kindling for her critics. [5] According to this testimony, they repeatedly carried out rituals that would create a special potion for the King. Versailles was in an uproar and the king was forced to launch an investigation. This article was sourced from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. Louis XIV may have been the “Sun King,” but the Marquise de Montespan had an orbit all her own. She died on 27 May 1707 at the age of sixty-five while taking the waters at Bourbon-l'Archambault in order to try to heal an illness. When the king fell for Madame de Montespan, the marquis responded with ire. The newborn child, a girl, is thought to have been named Louise-Francoise. Excessive Violence It was there that she sought to escape from court life. She was born as the result of a convergence between two of the oldest noble families in France, the Mortemarts and the Marsillacs. [4] She soon became pregnant with her first child, Christine. He openly challenged the king and held a symbolic funeral for his wife in front of his children. Madame de Montespan was also fictionally referenced as a Satanist in Chelsea Quinn Yarbo's vampire novel Hotel Transylvania (1978). Theirs was a rococo love of pleasure gardens, drawing rooms, and decadent banquets. In addition, she kept abreast of political events. Concerning the king's need to avoid shocking scandal, Police Chief La Reynie said: Even after the scandal had forced Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan apart, the king continued to visit her daily in her rooms at the palace Apparently her brilliance, charm, and spirited conversation mitigated to some extent her reduced status as a discarded mistress. Queen Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche unsuccessfully copied her coiffure in order to get the king to notice her more. Madame de Montespan's relegation to the position of superintendent of the Queen's household as a result brought matters to a head. Eventually, she was pushed to assist Madame de Montespan in her preparations for the King. In 1666, Madame de Montespan supposedly went so far as to allow a priest, Étienne Guibourg, to perform a black mass over her nude body[15] in a blood-soaked ceremony, which was also said to have included infant sacrifice. She also was a driving force in Judith Merkle-Riley's novel.