Louise de La Vallière

Mistress of Louis XIV (1644–1710)

Louise de La Vallière
O.C.D.
Portrait by Pierre Mignard I
Born
Françoise-Louise de La Blaume Le Blanc

(1644-08-06)6 August 1644
Tours, Kingdom of France
Died7 June 1710(1710-06-07) (aged 65)
Paris, Kingdom of France
Burial placeCemetery of the Carmelite convent in Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris
Other namesMademoiselle de La Vallière
Sœur Louise de la Miséricorde
Known forMistress of Louis XIV
TitleDuchess de La Vallière, Duchess of Vaujours
SuccessorMarie Anne de Bourbon
Children5, including
Marie Anne de Bourbon
Louis, Count of Vermandois
Parent(s)Laurent de la Blaume Le Blanc de La Vallière
Marie-Françoise Le Provost de la Coutelaye

Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours (6 August 1644 – 7 June 1710) was a French noblewoman and a mistress of King Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667.

La Vallière joined the royal court in 1661 as maid-of-honour to Henrietta of England. She soon became King Louis XIV's mistress. She was an important participant in the court's intellectual life, interested in the arts, literature, and philosophy. In 1666, she was replaced by Madame de Montespan but also created a suo jure duchess and invested with lands. Two of her five children by the King, Marie-Anne, Mademoiselle de Blois (Princess of Conti by marriage) and Louis, Count of Vermandois, survived infancy and were legitimised.

After an illness in 1670, La Vallière turned to religion, and wrote a popular devotional book. In 1674, she entered a Carmelite convent in Paris, where she died in 1710.

Ancestry and early life

Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc [fr], Mademoiselle de La Vallière was born on 6 August 1644 at the Hôtel de la Crouzille [fr] (also known as Hôtel de la Vallière) in Tours as the daughter of Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc,[1] Seigneur of La Vallière (1611–1651) and his wife, Marie-Françoise Le Provost de La Coutelaye (died 1686).[2] Her father, a knight, was captain lieutenant of the mestre de campe (‘camp-master’) of the light cavalry.[3] Her mother was a daughter of Jean Le Provost, Seigneur of La Coutelaye member of the Grande Écurie, a subdivision of the Royal Stables in the Maison du Roi. She was a widow when she married Le Baume Le Blanc in 1640, and had previously been married to Pierre Besnard[4] or Bernard,[2] Seigneur of Rezay, a councillor of the parlement of Paris.[5][4]

La Vallière had one or two older brothers. Jean-François, later Marquess of La Vallière, was born on 4 January 1642 in Paris, and survived to adulthood. Their supposed other sibling is only mentioned by some of La Vallière’s genealogies, named Jean-Michel-Ewrard or Jean-Michel-Aimar, born on 19 August 1643 in Tours. Based on baptismal records, Lair concludes that La Vallière never had a second brother; ‘Jean-Michel’ was her paternal first cousin, Jean-Michel d'Esvrard, christened in Tours on 20 August 1643, and later mistaken for her brother.[4]

For La Vallière’s paternal family, their Catholic faith and loyalty to the king were important values.[5][6][7] Many of them chose an ecclesiastical career[5] and many attained high ranks in the military.[2][8] In debates about ancient aristocratic privileges versus absolutist royal prerogatives, they supported the latter. Her maternal family, the Le Provosts, belonged to the noblesse de robe and had provided legal counsel to the crown for generations.[5] Her father served as governor of the Castle of Amboise,[1][2] where she occasionally visited him.[9] He was a devout Catholic who practiced various acts of penance, such as wearing a cilice or a wire belt with spikes under his armour.[7] During the Fronde, in March 1651, he held Amboise against the forces of the revolt, thereby protecting Tours, which would have been crucial for them to win. He remained loyal to King Louis XIV despite Anne-Marie-Louise of Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (known as ‘la Grande Mademoiselle’) trying to persuade him to join the revolt.[10]

Black-and-white bust portrait of a middle-aged-man in an oval frame. He is wearing a cassock (buttoned-up clerical coat) and a large cross in his neck on a band. On his head, he has a black zucchetto, the small, hemispherical, form-fitting skullcap of Catholic clerics. Under him, the coat of arms (depicting a leopard) of his family is displayed.
Gilles de La Baume Le Blanc de La Vallière later in life, as bishop.

La Vallière and her brother was raised at the family seat, the Castle of La Vallière,[7] 23 km (14 miles) from Tours.[11] Their uncle, Gilles de La Vallière (born 1616), who later became the bishop of Nantes, was responsible for the education of the children. Louise was raised by the Ursuline nuns in Tours [fr], where her aunt Élisabeth or Isabelle (born 1619) was the mistress of novices under the name of ‘Mère Angélique’ and her aunt Charlotte (born 1620) also lived.[2][11] She was instructed in reading, grammar, musical composition, and public speaking.[5] Her father had a library of forty-four folios, extensive for the time.[12] The family also owned horses, and she may have gained her love of equitation then. It is possible that her limping in later life was caused by an injury she suffered at this time.[13]

Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc died in the summer of 1651,[4] leaving little money. His wife had brought a substantial dowry to the marriage and decided to reclaim it out of the family estate together with her dower so that she could remarry. This would have also meant relinquishing guardianship of her children and depriving them of their maternal inheritance. Her husband’s family commissioned an inventory to protect the interests of the children,[14] and established that the family's possessions were worth to 18 335 livres and 7 sous, with debts of 25 000 livres. Françoise Le Provost agreed to settle her husband’s debts and accepted the furnishings of the family home at an increased value in place of her dower. She then rented the furniture back to her minor children with a 5% interest.[15][16] La Vallière's brother was sent to Paris to attend a boarding school. What happened to La Vallière herself is unknown, but she may have been sent to the Ursuline convent of her aunts.[17]

Life at the Orléans court

In March 1655, Françoise Le Provost married Jacques de Courtavel, Marquess of Saint-Rémy, maître d’hôtel (butler) of the exiled Gaston, Duke of Orléans (uncle of Louis XIV).[18] He had a daughter, Catherine, who was La Vallière’s age,[15] and the couple had a daughter from their union.[19]The family moved near the Duke’s household in Blois.[1][20][21] La Vallière and her stepsister served as demoiselles de compagnie (lady's companions) to the Duke’s three younger daughters, Marguerite-Louise, Mademoiselle d’Orléans, Élisabeth-Marguerite (or Isabelle), Mademoiselle d'Alençon, and Françoise-Madeleine, Mademoiselle de Valois.[1] She also met the Grande Mademoiselle, paternal half-sister of the princesses, who was exiled, like their father, for her participation in the Fronde. Whenever she visited her father's court, she spent time with her half-sisters and their friends.[22]

The three daughters of Gaston, Duke of Orléans from his second marriage
Bust portrait of a young woman in an ornate frame. She has dark, curly hair, pinned up, with some strands in her forehead. Her face is oval-shaped, with narrow eyes, a small mouth, thin eyebrows, a long nose, a low forehead, and a round chin. She is wearing pearls around her neck and in her hair. The dress is made of a heavy material, with large sleeve that leave the shoulders visible. The excessive material of the sleeves are pinned up with large broches, with a third one at the middle of the neckline, which is also embellished with three lines of perls. There are two more vertical lines of pearls visible on her upper body. Behind her is a heavy curtain, pulled away to reveal and a background scene of a hunt, with men on horses, leading dogs. The engraving is inscribed in French: ‘Marguerite de Vallois, Fille de Gaston Fils de France Duc D’orleans, et de Marguerite de Lorraine, grande Princesse de Toscane, nasquit a Paris le 13e d'octobre mil six cent quarante et huiet’ (Marguerite of Valois, daughter of Gaston, fils de France, Duke of Orléans and of Marguerite of Lorraine, Grand Princess of Tuscany, born in Paris the 13th of October 1648).
Engraved portrait of Marguerite of Orléans (as grand duchess of Tuscany) by Jean Frosne from the 1660s.
Bust portrait of a young woman, seated. She is wearing a yellow dress with puffy sleeves extending just below her elbow, where it is established with little, faint blue ribbons. Its upper body is embellished with pearls and small black gems. She has her hands crossed in her lap. She is wearing a pearl necklace; her shoulders are relieved by the cut of her dress, on which there is piece of see-through material, arranged in the shape of a shall in the middle, with a small faint blue ribbon on it Her dark, curly hair blends into the black background; she is wearing pearls in it as well as in her ear. She has a low forehead, small eyes, a larger nose, a small mouth, a round chin, and an ova-shaped face.
Élisabeth/Isabelle of Orléans (as duchess of Guise) around 1670 on a portrait by Henri and Charles Beaubrun.
Black-and-white bust portrait of a young woman or girl. She has a small, oval face, with a prominent nose, almond-shaped eyes, thin, dark eyebrows, a small mouth, a high forehead, and a round chin. Her curly hair is pinned up, with some strands over her forehead and a line of pearls on top. She also has pearls around her neck and in her ear. The neckline of her dress is embellished with pearls and gemstones.
Miniature portrait of Françoise of Orléans (as duchess of Savoy) by Giuseppe Lavy, from between 1758 and 1766.

There were a total of five or six companion girls in the household, including Anne-Constance de Montalais, who would remain La Vallière's close friend. Some sources say that their education was neglected,[23] while others claim that they were taught painting, music, etiquette, and equitation, and even instructed in literature and philosophy by the Duke's almoner, Armand-Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé, who would later found the Trappist order. La Vallière may have been introduced to neo-Aristotelian thought by Rancé.[5] Huertas argues that La Vallière had to receive a good education based on her exceptional spelling.[24] Petitfils sees her education as more rudimentary, being only in ‘reading, prayer, [...] sewing, and embroidery', but agrees that she was well-trained in the necessary skills for a career at court (such as dancing and horse riding).[21] Young King Louis XIV (first cousin of the Orléans princesses) was an important topic of conversation among the girls due to plans that Mademoiselle d’Orléans would marry him. She was called la petite reine, ‘the little queen’ by her companions.[17] In August 1659, the King visited his uncle at Blois on his way to Bordeaux (where he would wait for the conclusion of marriage negotiations with the Spanish, preparing to marry his double first cousin, Maria Theresa of Spain); this was the first time La Vallière met him.[25]

Young lady seated in front of a dark background. She has very light, blonde hair, a prominent nose, an oval-shaped face, a round chin, and small lips. Her heavy white dress reveals her shoulders. Its neckline is embellished with three lines of small diamonds and a large broche. Her dress is embroidered in gold and red. She is holding pink and white flowers in her lap, while her other hand grasps at her dress. She has pearls in her curly hair, her ear, and around her neck.
Portrait of the Grande Mademoiselle from 1655, by Charles Beaubrun.

Around the same time, Jacques de Bragenlonge, the son of the Duke's intendant, fell in love with La Vallière. They exchanged letters, which was discovered by her mother, who forbade her from writing to him.[26] According to her autobiographical account, she nevertheless had a ‘good reputation’; when Montalais was reprimanded for ‘light behaviour’, the Duke said that La Vallière certainly did not take part in the mischief, as ‘she [was] too sensible for that’. Later in life, she attributed the ‘beginning of [her] fall’ (her ‘immoral’ life at court, including her extramarital affair with the King) to the self-assurance she gained from this praise.[24]

In February 1660, the Duke of Orléans died. His widow, Marguerite of Lorraine, moved to the Luxembourg Palace in Paris.[26][27] After the mourning period, the Orléans daughters and their friends spent their time with balls and feasts organised by their half sister, the Grande Mademoiselle.[28] In June 1660, Mademoiselle d’Alençon and Mademoiselle de Valois attended the wedding of the King and Maria Theresa in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Mademoiselle d’Orléans remained in Paris, and La Vallière with her. They, however, were present at the joyeuse entrée of the new royal couple into Paris in August.[29]

In 1661, the King’s younger brother, Philippe, the new duke of Orléans, married Henrietta of England (they were known as ‘Monsieur’ and ‘Madame’). Madame’s household was organised by Madame de Choisy (born Jeanne de Bélesbat de Hurault)[30] a distant relative of La Vallière, wife of the chancellor of the late Duke, and mother of François-Timoléon de Choisy, Monsieur’s childhood friend. She knew La Vallière from the old Orléans household,[26][27][31] took her under her protection and placed her in the new Orléans household as a fille d'honneur (maid-of-honour).[32] This was a paid position, although the payment barely covered the costs of life at court; its main advantage was the possibility of finding a husband for a young woman who had little dowry.[33] Having no money of their own, La Vallière and her brother (who was embarking on a military career) needed loans, but nobody was willing to lend to minors. A judge, whom they had petitioned for help, instructed their mother and stepfather to borrow money for them.[19]

Life at the royal court

Black-and-white engraving, face of a young woman. She is wearing large pearls on her neck and a gown with a deep cleavage. Her hair is fashioned into curls.
Madame on an anonymous engraving from around 1662.

La Vallière joined the new Orléans household in the Tuileries Palace[34] following the wedding of the ducal couple on 1 April 1661[35] together with Mademoiselle de Montalais.[36][37] On 19 April, Monsieur and Madame took their household to Fontainebleau, where the royal court was in residence.[1][34][37] The King’s courtiers paid court to the maids-of-honour of Madame; La Vallière’s suitor was Armand de Gramont, Count of Guiche.[38]

A young woman seated outside, by a large gray marble column, under a heavy red curtain that is pulled to the side. She is sitting on a red velvet chair. She is wearing a heavy dress and mantle made of blue velvet, embroidered everywhere with large golden fleurs-de-lis. Her shoulder is left partly visible, but is partly covered by white lace. She is wering a large golden broche with a black stone, and a long white pearl hanging from it. Her dress is lined with ermine. On one hand, she is wearing an off-white glove embellished with small red feathers at the elbow, holding the other glove. She has an oval face with a small double chin, round eyes, and small lips. She has light blonde hair, curled.
Queen Maria Theresa in her regalia, on a painting by Jean Nocret from around 1660.

The King and Madame grew close; Louis’ wife Maria Theresa, his mother, Anne of Austria, and Monsieur disapproved.[39][40] Rumours started to spread that the King and his sister-in-law were in love.[5] The King may have been told by his courtiers to pretend to be in love with others as a front,[1][5] or they may have made the decision together with Madame.[41] Huertas even suggests, and Petitfils agrees, that the ploy was Henrietta’s idea to deceive the Queen Mother.[42][43] Olympia Mancini, Countess of Soissons, assisted them.[43] Henrietta may have chosen the young ladies who would serve as decoys herself, including La Vallière. Bonne de Pons d’Heudicourt, a maid-of-honour of Anne of Austria, was recalled from court under the pretense that her uncle was ill (made up by one of the Queen Mother’s ladies-in-waiting) before her honour could be ‘compromised’. The next one, Mademoiselle de Chimerault[41]/Chemerault[43]/Chémérault,[44] did not interest Louis for long.[43]

Soon, the King fell in love with La Vallière. She probably believed his feelings to have been sincere from the beginning, and reciprocated them.[1][5] They exchanged letters through Jacques-Louis de Beringhen [fr; de], the King's premier écuyer (‘first squire’). Besides him, only François de Beauvillier, Count of Saint-Aignan, premier gentilhomme (‘first gentleman’) was initially aware of the King's attraction.[43]

At the time, La Vallière had just turned seventeen (the King was twenty-three). She had been living at court for around two months, and seems to have been an ‘innocent’, ‘religious-minded’,[1] ‘submissive’, ‘natural[ly] modest’, ‘eager to please’, ‘eager to obey’,[45] ‘sincere’, even ‘naïve’ girl, different from the courtly ladies Louis had known,[46] but corresponding to the contemporary ideal for young women.[45] She did not behave flirtatiously or act out of self-interest,[1] but exhibited ‘absolute loyalty’ to the King.[47] She was described as tall, slim, and graceful, despite having a limp. She had blue eyes, reportedly with a ‘sweet’ and ‘tender’ gaze, fine,[47] golden-blond hair, and a beautiful speaking voice.[48] Fraser suggests that La Vallière refrained from pursuing material benefits from her relationship in part because she needed to conceptualise her sexual relationship with the King as ‘pure’ or even ‘holy’, in order to fit it into her religious worldview.[45]

Contemporary description of La Vallière by the King's historian

[La Vallière] has a beautiful and noble stature and something grand in the way she walks; she has a certain longing in her eyes that is an inevitable charm for anyone who has somewhat of a tender heart. She has the most beautiful hair in the world, and in abundance. She has a gentle spirit, good taste, loves books and is a good judge of them. She is courteous, obliging, generous, and one sees magnificence in everything she does. She is even-tempered and has always governed herself in a way that has won admiration and friendship for her.

Jean Donneau de Visé, [43]

Louis XIV’s mistress

Secret lover of the King

Middle-aged woman with gray hair in front of a dark brown background. She is wearing a simple black gown, her shoulder covered with white cloth. She is wearing a few large pearls in her ear, on a broche, and around her neck. Her hair is curled and under a simple, long blck veil that extends in a triangle onto her tall forehead. She has a prominent nose, grayish blue eyes, small lips, and a doble chin.
Portrait of Anne of Austria from around 1660 from the workshop of Henri and Charles Beaubrun, after an original by Pierre Mignard.

Most biographers agree that in the summer of 1661, around the end of July, after approximately six weeks of courtship, La Vallière became the King’s lover.[41][43][49] The Queen Mother noticed that her son neglected religious practice, and around mid-July learnt that he was in love with La Vallière. She asked him to think of his duty to his country and to God, and told her to hide his feelings for La Vallière from his wife. Louis did not end his relationship as his mother wanted, but promised to conduct it secretly.[50]

Engraved portrait of Louis XIV by Abraham van Diepenbeeck and Adriaen Millaert from 1660, commemorating his wedding with Maria Theresa of Spain.

In his memoirs, Louis-Henri de Loménie de Brienne [fr], claimed to have been in love with La Vallière, not knowing about her affair. He asked her to sit as model for a painting of Mary Magdalene; the King discovered them, and Brienne complimented La Vallière’s appearance to him, embarrassing her. Later, when he saw Louis and La Vallière talk, he understood that the King was in with her. The King then questioned him about his feelings and asked for his painting of La Vallière; he promised never to talk to her again.[51] However, by the time this story supposedly happened, Brienne had probably already heard about the King's affair from the Queen Mother.[52]

The King's affair became public when he failed to take communion on Easter. He attented mass every day in public, and his failure to participate in the Eucharist had already been noted, but when he did not receive the sacrament on Easter (all Catholics were commanded to confess and take communion then), it caused a ‘scandal’. Since people who were ‘living in sin’, such as committing adultery, could not receive the Eucharist, all courtiers became aware that Louis was conducting a sexual affair.[53] For Lent, the court usually invited a guest preacher. In 1662, this was the famous orator Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, favoured by the Queen Mother. Beginning on 2 February, he delivered a series of sermons at the Louvre to the royal family and court, and in some of them, he criticised the King's behaviour through biblical examples, such as the story of David and Bathsheba.[54]

The superintendent of finances, Nicolas Fouquet, also noticed that the King was neglecting his religious and administrative duties because of a romantic relationship. He learnt La Vallière's identity from the Queen Mother's confessor and decided to establish a relationship with the new favourite. After gathering information about her through his network of spies, he seems to have sent her a letter complimenting her appearance and offering her money as a bribe to become his informant,[49] which La Vallière refused. He then attempted to talk with her personally to remedy the mistake. La Vallière informed the King of his advances. He seems to have believed that Fouquet wanted to sleep with La Vallière. This may have (partly) motivated Louis to get rid of Fouquet, who was arrested in September 1661, accused of embezzlement and lèse-majesté, and remained imprisoned until his death in 1680.[55][56][57]

Engraved portrait of Louis XIV from 1664 by Robert Nanteuil, after a painting by Pierre Mignard.

After Fouquet's fall, amid difficult financial circumstances and an environment of distrust, the court became quieter.[58] When the Orléans household was established at Saint-Cloud, the King regularly dined there, making the long journey from Fontaineblau (around 70 km, or 43 miles) daily, probably to see La Vallière.[59] Both Queen Maria Theresa and Madame were pregnant and led retired lives.[60] On 4 November, the young Queen gave birth to a son, Louis, and on 25 November, Madame left court with her train (including La Vallière).[61] The King went on a pilgrimage to thank God for his heir, but on 10 December, he left his wife to see Madame. He repeated this visit regularly, perhaps in order to continue his affair with La Vallière.[62] In Madame's household, La Vallière grew close with Mademoiselle de Montalais. According to Madame de La Fayette, a contemporary who later wrote a fictionalised biography of La Vallière, the King disapproved of this, considering Montalais to be a ‘schemer’.[63]

In February 1662, the couple had a conflict: questioned by the King, La Vallière refused to tell him about an alleged affair between Madame and the Count of Guiche.[1][64] After their argument, already troubled by Bossouet's lenten sermons,[54] she fled the Tuileries for the Visitation convent of the Filles de Sainte-Marie (‘Daughters of the Virgin Mary’) in Chaillot, where a previous love of the King, Anne-Madeleine de Conty d’Argencourt, had been forced to retire by the Queen Mother.[58] The King went to search for her personally, gained entrance to the convent, and took her back to the court amid fears that his wife would learn of his affair because of La Vallière’s disappearance.[34] La Fayette claims that Madame and Monsieur were reluctant to admit La Vallière back into their household; eventually, she was permitted to stay.[65] The King sent Montalais to a convent for allegedly going between Madame and the Count.[66][67]

Bust portrait of a younger middle-aged woman. She has her greyish-blonde, possibly powdered, hair curled up on top of her hair, with pearls braided into it. She has a high forhead and long, narrow, brown eyes. She has a slight double chin, small, red lips, a long, prominent nose. She is wearing pearls around her neck. Her gown is made of a heavy, silvery-white material, mebroidered with golden floral motifs. It also has some lace at its low neckline and a small broche with pearls.
Undated contmporary portrait of Olympia Mancini, Countess of Soissons by Pierre Mignard.

In March 1662, Olympia Mancini, Countess of Soissons conspired with the Count of Guiche and François-René Crespin du Bec, Marquis of Vardes [fr; de], son of Jacqueline de Bueil,[68] for La Vallière’s downfall to replace her with someone she could control. She sent an anonymous letter in Spanish to the Queen, informing her of her husband’s adultery, and accusing La Vallière of trying to undermine Maria Theresa’s position.[1][69][70] The message was intercepted and given to the King, who exiled Guiche.[66] In the summer of 1662, the Countess of Soissons drew the King's attention to another maid-of-honour, fourteen-year-old Anne-Lucie de La Mothe-Houdancourt, while he was in Saint-Germain.[71] She was famous for both her beauty and for not granting favours to any of her numerous admirers. Challenged, the King became infatuated with her for a short time, but he seems to have remained faithful to La Vallière.[72]

La Vallière as Flora on a portrait by Pierre Mignard.

Around the same time, the King started taking trips to his hunting lodge in Versailles with La Vallière. By early 1663, love poems and songs performed at court alluded increasingly to the person of his mistress.[73] In January 1663, Louis gave a pension to La Vallière's brother, Jean-François, and in June arranged his marriage with a wealthy heiress.[74] After this public favour, in July 1663, the Countess of Soissons and Madame informed the Queen of the King's affair.[75] Fraser argues that Maria Theresa had to have at least suspected her husband's infidelity for some time;[76] in 1662, while giving birth to her second child, she saw La Vallière pass through the room, and said in Spanish, ‘this maiden […] is the one the King wants’. She used the word quieres, meaning both to love and to want or pursue.[77][76]

In the summer of 1663, La Vallière became pregnant, and the King left on a military campaign. He confided about his affair in Chief Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who transmitted letters between the couple during his absence. When Louis returned in October, he arranged for La Vallière to leave Madame's service and move into a small house called palais Brion[78] in the garden of the Palais-Royal. Colbert planned for the care of the child, who would be raised by his trusted servants, a man named Beauchamp and his wife. They were told that it was an illegitimate child of Colbert’s brother by a girl whose honour needed to be preserved. He also instructed a physician, Dr Boucher, to be present at the delivery and remove the newborn.[79] On 19 December 1663, at around three in the morning, La Vallière gave birth to a son. At six, Dr Boucher took him to a carriage waiting across the street with the Beauchamps, who transported him to Saint-Leu. There, on orders of the King, he was christened Charles, registered as the son of a ‘Monsieur de Lincourt’ and ‘Élisabeth de Beux’, with Beauchamp and his wife as godparents.[79] He died in infancy.[80]

Despite the precautions, stories spread at court. People speculated about La Vallière’s disappearance and a talk the King had with Dr Boucher. La Vallière attended midnight mass on 24 December to counter the rumours, but scorn was so great that she escaped from the church.[81] Courtiers observed that she was ‘very pale’ and ‘much changed’, taking this as proof that she had given birth.[82] After the birth, with the Queen aware of the affair, it was impossible to hide the relationship. La Vallière became isolated, as ladies who wanted to retain the favour of the young Queen and the Queen Mother did not associate with her. She continued living in the house near the Palais-Royal, where only a few male courtiers visited her. As companion, she was assigned Mademoiselle d’Artigny, a young woman with a bad reputation, who spied on her for the King.[83]

Maîtresse-en-titre

The theatre installed for the premiere of The Princess of Elid on a contemporary engraving by Israel Silvestre.[84]

In May 1664, Louis XIV personally planned and hosted a multi-day feast called Les Plaisirs de l’île enchantée (‘The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle’), themed after the epic poem Orlando Furioso, in Versailles (this was the first major event there).[85] During the festivities, Molière presented two new plays, La Princesse d'Élide (‘The Princess of Elid’) and Tartuffe,[86][87] and a ballet by Jean-Baptiste Lully.[85] The event was officially dedicated to Queen Maria Theresa and the Queen Mother, but was secretly addressed to La Vallière. She was present and seated at the royal table.[88] In June, Louis and his mother had an argument; the Queen reminded her son of the ‘peril’ to his ‘salvation’ and criticising him for thinking too highly of himself. She threatened to retire to her abbey, Val-de-Grâce, which kept the King up all night. Nevertheless, he did not concede.[89]

Louis moved La Vallière back to court. He visited her and went hunting with her regularly, ignoring the contempt of the public, the courtiers, and the two queens. His relationship with his mother deteriorated, and they briefly stopped talking.[90] In September, he took La Vallière to a reunion with his brother and sister-in-law in Villers-Cotterêts. The Queen, who was pregnant, could not attend and was distraught by his behaviour. According to the memoir of a contemporary, Françoise Bertaut de Motteville, the King promised her wife that after the age of thirty (he was then twenty-six), he would be an ‘examplary husband’, but left with La Vallière.[91][89]

Madame on an anonyous portrait from between 1665 and 1670.

Lair counts La Vallière as official favourite from the time of the festivities at Villers-Cotterêts, where she was presented by the King into the company of Madame. The ladies of the court now sought to be close to her. When they returned to Vincennes, the King took his mistress to the Queen Mother’s salon and led her to play cards with Monsieur and Madame; however, neither queen was present that day.[92] On 8 December 1664, Armand-Charles de La Porte, Duke of La Meilleraye, husband of Hortense Mancini and an extremely jealous person, publicly rebuked the King for ‘scandalising the nation’ and urged him to ‘correct himself’, claiming to be ‘speaking from God’. The King ridiculed him by touching his forehead and saying, ‘I have always suspected that you have some injury there’. The Duke retired from court and public life.[91]

On 7 January 1665, La Vallière gave birth to a second son,[93] again in the Palais-Royal with Dr Boucher. The physician gave the newborn to Colbert who delivered him to a Monsieur Bernard, his servant; he was baptised Philippe, registered as the son of ‘François Derssy, bourgeois’ and his wife, ‘Marguerite Bernard’.[80] The King loved his first illegitimate son, Charles, who was said to resemble him, and often visited him in the Tuileries (where he was raised), but he died in July 1665. The second, Philippe, died the next year.[94]

Lair recounts a story according to which Queen Maria Theresa asked her husband to arrange a marriage for La Vallière; he supposedly agreed that she could marry if the Queen found a match.[95] Arranging a marriage for their extramarital partners was a common way for monarchs to provide for them; but marrying would have defeated La Vallière’s idea of a ‘holy devotion’ to her sovereign.[96] According to diplomatic records from early 1665, around the there was a proposed marriage between her and the Marquis of Vardes. Both parties refused the marriage.[97] The same dispatch mentions that La Vallière’s palais Brion was attacked by unknown people, who fled upon being discovered and were never identified; the King assigned guards to the house.[98] The first book about La Vallière’s affair was written around 1665 and published in 1666, titled Les Amours du Palais-Royal (‘Loves of the Palais-Royal’). It depicted La Vallière as a ‘gentle, kind, [and] selfless’ person who loved the King ‘for himself’ and was never in love with anyone else, concluding that she would ‘always be the King's great love’. She was becoming known around the country as the Louis' mistress.[99]

Diary entry of a middle-class contemporary about the affair

[The Countess of Soissons], the viper of the late lord Cardinal de Mazarin, as she is known to the people of France, [wanted to] babble and even wrote the Queen some supposed letter about a little love affair between the King and a lady called Vallière. [...] This Lady Vallière is pleasant, obliging, and beautiful and cheerful. The Queen is of a rather heavy nature, not very talkative: it is said that she does not speak French very well. This is what causes these little jealousies and distractions that the King takes. [...] But it is not for the people to speak ill of their king, touching on such frivolous [things].

Oudart Coquault, [100]

In October 1665, the King had a short affair with the visiting Princess of Monaco, Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont (sister of the Count of Guiche).[99] He also developped a ‘flirtatious friendship’ with Anne de Rohan-Chabot, Princess of Soubise, a famous beauty of the court. She was, however, a devoted wife, and would only become the King’s mistress in 1669. However, Louis did have at least ‘occasional’ encounters with the Countess of Soissons, and probably with other young women put forward by diverse courtly factions in hopes of replacing La Vallière.[101]

La Vallière as Venus, painting probably by Pierre Mignard from 1666 or 1667.

By the end of 1665, the Queen Mother was dying. Louis did not abandon his usual entertainments, for which his wife, who remained with Anne of Austria, blamed the bad influence of La Vallière.[102] He, however, worried for his mother and often slept in her bedroom, on a mattress at the foot of her bed.[103] Queen Anne died on 20 January 1666; her family mourned her sincerely, but Louis was relieved of the only person who could exercise any control over him. From then on, he did not see a reason to be discreet about his affair or to act against his wishes in his personal life.[104] On the 27th, following a memorial reception for the Queen Mother, the Queen Consort invited La Vallière to stand next to her at mass to display her complacency to her husband.[105] However, there were already signs that the King's love for La Vallière was waning. Courtiers, who sensed the change, derided her more and more for not being beautiful or witty enough.[106] They suspected that with Anne of Austria gone, the position ofmaîtresse-en-titre (which had last been practiced by Henry IV, Louis’ grandfather) might return. Proximity with and even control over the maîtresse would then become crucial for political success.[107]

On 2 October 1666, La Vallière gave birth to her daughter Marie-Anne at Vincennes. Her pregnancy had been kept secret, but during the delivery, Madame passed through her room on her way to church. La Vallière told her that she was suffering from colic, and urged her physician to ensure that the birth was over by the end of the service. At midnight, she was present at the medianoche (midnight meal) of the court.[107][108] The Grande Mademoiselle claimed that even though she tried to keep her pregnancies and children hidden, courtiers were aware of them, as well as of every time she gave birth.[109]

During her time as royal mistress, La Vallière played an important role in the intellectual life of the court. She belonged to the circles of libertines such as Isaac de Benserade and Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Duke of Lauzun. She watched plays by Jean Racine and Molière, read the popular books of the age, and took painting classes at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. She was interested in philosophy, reading and discussing Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle and Discourse on Method by René Descartes.[5]

End of her relationship with Louis XIV

Madame de Montespan in 1670.

By the end of 1666, the King's affection for La Vallière had started waning, and he seems to have become bored with the relationship.[72] Athénaïs, Marchioness of Montespan (born Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente) started strategically working to replace La Vallière. She was the daughter of a good friend of Anne of Austria, Diane de Grandseigne [fr], a woman renowned for her piety; Montespan herself took communion every week. She was ‘high-spirited and amusing’, possessing the ‘Mortemart wit’ for which her family was famous. Courtiers considered her to be an extraordinary beauty, and with her full figure, she was more in line with contemporary beauty ideals than Louise (who was thinner).[110] She was a member of the salons from which the précieuses movement emerged.[111]

Portrait of La Vallière from around 1667.

Montespan had been unhappily married for four years with two children, and the family had financial difficulties. Her husband decided to embark on a military career, which gave Montespan the opportunity to get close to the King. Every day, she visited the salon of La Vallière (where she met the King), then the salon of the Queen. At the Queen’s coucher (ritural bedtime ceremony), she re-told the compliments her male admirers had paid to her throughout the day to demonstrate her ‘good will’ to Maria Theresa and show the King that she did not reciprocate the feelings of anyone else. Soon, La Vallière’s detractors agreed that she could not ‘amuse’ the King without Montespan’s witty conversations.[112] Although Louis initially commented to his brother Monsieur that Montespan ‘does what she can but I myself am not interested [in her advances]’, they started a sexual relationship some time between November 1666 and July 1667.[113] It is unclear when sexual relations between La Vallière and the King ended.[114]

Plans to arrange her marriage or give her a noble title in her own right were renewed, seen as a sign of her impending retirement.[94] After the mourning period for his mother, Louis XIV started to pursue his personal ‘glory’ through military conquests and magnificient feasts. (Anne of Austria had opposed wars as well as any ‘immorality’ at court.)[115] La Vallière participated in courtly ballet performances, as did Montespan.[116] The King decided to march on Flanders (which he had been planning to do for years), starting the War of Devolution. He claimed the region in his wife’s name, as Maria Theresa renounced her inheritance rights in exchange for a dowry that the Spanish court never paid. On Easter 1667, he took communion again in preparation for the war.[117]

Peter Lely’s Mademoiselle de La Vallière et ses enfants (‘Mademoiselle de La Vallière and Her Children’), contemporary painting.

On 13 May, the King sent a letter patent to the parlement expressing his will to legitimise his only living child with La Vallière, Marie-Anne. She conferred on La Vallière the land of Vaujours and created a duchy ‘to be enjoyed by the said damoiselle Louise-Françoise de La Vallière, and, after her death, by Marie-Anne, our said daughter, her heirs and descendants, both male and female, of lawful wedlock’.[118] By this time, legitimising the ‘natural’ children of French kings had become a regular practice,[119] yet devout courtiers and those anxious for their privileges as ‘lawful’ descendants of aristocratic houses scorned this decision.[120] Louis later explained in his Mémoirs (addressed to his son the Dauphin) that he wanted to provide for his mistress and child in case he died in war. He considered it ‘just’ to grant Marie-Anne ‘the honour of her birth’ and reward La Vallière in a way ‘suited to the affection’ he had had for her ‘for six years’.[121] Her brother was promoted in the army and her uncle was named a bishop.[122] It seems that La Vallière was not aware that her lover’s actions signalled the end of the relationship. She was pregnant again, but her unborn child (and any later offspring) was barred from succeeding to the duchy.[119] It was announced that the military campaign would leave on 24 May for Compiègne, but La Vallière was forbidden from going.[123] She remained in Versailles for a few weeks before deciding to travel to the court without permission, accompanied by her sister-in-law. She arrived at the Queen’s household at La Fère on 20 June.[124] Maria Theresa was upset by her coming, cried, did not sleep, felt ill, and had violent outbursts. In her jealousy and anger, she forbade her staff from giving food to La Vallière (they did so anyways). When she went to church, she had the door of the royal gallery closed so that La Vallière could not go near her. She nevertheless greeted Maria Theresa in front of the church; the Queen ignored her. The Grande Mademoiselle recounts that during the subsequent carriage ride, Montespan told the Maria Theresa and her other ladies, ‘I admire [La Vallière’s] boldness in daring to appear before the Queen’. Later, she added, ‘God forbid that I should be the King’s mistress! Yet if I were, I should be quite ashamed in front of the Queen’; Maria Theresa cried.[125]

Excerpt from the letter patent ennobling La Vallière and legitimising her daughter

We believe that we can no better express to the public the most particular esteem in which we hold the person of our dear and beloved and most loyal Louise de La Vallière than by conferring upon her the highest titles of honour which a most singular affection, aroused in our hearts by an abundance of rare perfections, has for some years inspired in us in her favour. [...] The affection we have for [La Vallière] and justice not allowing us [...] to deny to nature any longer the effects of our tenderness for Marie-Anne, our natural daughter, in the person of her mother we have provided her with the land of Vaujours, situated in Touraine, and the barony of Saint-Christophe in Anjou.

Louis XIV, [126]

Portrait of the Grande Mademoiselle attributed to Gilbert de Sève, from between 1662 and 1670.

At their next stop, Guise, La Vallière did not attend the Queen’s coucher, probably sensing the hostility that surrounded her. The following day, the Queen’s court reached the military camp at Avesnes. When the approach of the King (who came forward to greet his wife) was announced, La Vallière commanded her carriage to cut the path through the fields and go at full speed. The Queen, infuriated, wanted to send someone to stop her. Upon reaching the sovereign, La Vallière threw herself at his feet, but he received her coldly.[127] Later, he only paid her a formal visit to satisfy customs. She did not attend the cercle (royal reception) at night, probably to avoid being rebuked for her behaviour.[125] Still, the King insisted on following the etiquette: La Vallière, as it was her right as a duchess, attended mass with the Queen, travelled in her carriage, and dined at the royal table. By this time, Montespan was certainly the Louis’ lover; the Grande Mademoiselle noted that she lived in a room close to the King’s, the guard on the way between the rooms was removed, Louis spent much time alone in his bedroom, and Montespan did not follow the Queen around.[128] Maria Theresa remained angry with La Vallière; neither of them were aware that she had already been supplanted as the King’s mistress. Montespan showed herself La Vallière’s friend. Many of La Valliére’s early biographers, such as Charles Dreyss in 1859 or Pierre Clément judged La Vallière harshly for this episode, describing her behaviour as ‘foolish haughtiness and cruel vanity’.[129]

La Vallière returned to Paris, while the court (including Montespan) stayed at Compiègne.[130] The Queen received a letter telling her that the King had taken Montespan as her new mistress, but she did not believe it and continued treating her as a friend.[131] In September, the King returned to Saint-Germaine-en-Laye, where La Vallière re-joined the court. Lair argues that she did so because she wanted to secure a livelihood for her unborn child. On 2 October, she gave birth to Louis,[132] who was taken away in secrecy like her older siblings. The King (who had loved and often visited his firstborn son by La Vallière) showed no care for him and did nothing to provide for him. Later, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Monsieur’s second wife (who raised the boy after La Vallière joined a convent) claimed that this was because the King was ‘led to believe’ by Montespan and her supporters that La Vallière’s youngest child had been fathered by the Duke of Lauzun.[133]

Portrait painting of Madame de Montespan from the 1670s.

Montespan’s husband also returned and became extremely jealous. He complained loudly to anyone who would listen of the relationship between his wife and the King, even lecturing Louis on biblical morality.[134] He threatened to take revenge by purposely contracting a sexually transmitted infection from prositutes, then raping his wife so that she would infect the King.[135] When he insulted at length Julie d’Angennes, Duchess of Montausier, a lady-in-waiting whom he blamed for his wife’s adultery, the King had him imprisoned.[136] Afterwards, being freed on the condition that he exiled himself to his country estate, he announced the death of his wife, organised a funeral, wore mourning, and forbid his children to have contact with their mother.[137]

In order to contain the scandal, La Vallière remained the official mistress and had to share an apartment with Montespan so that the King could visit her.[138] ‘Double adultery’, an extramarital affair in which both parties are married to other people, was considered a grave sin by the church, and adulterous women were mor heavily censured than adulterous men. Many of them were imprisoned in a convent for life.[139] Providing a cover for Madame de Montespan was therefore necessary to protect her from the legal and personal attacks of her husband (who was known to be physically violent).[135] Lair argues that La Vallière endured these humiliations in order to advance the interests of his son and because her land, Vaujours, produced little income. Her son was acknowledged by the King in February 1669, created count of Vermandois, and made admiral of France, which ensured Louis’ personal control of the navy.[140] In March 1669, Montespan gave birth to her first child by the King, probably a girl, who died in infancy.[135]

Later life

Religious turn and Réflexions sur la miséricorde de Dieu

After the end of her affair with Louis XIV, La Vallière settled into a quiet and comfortable life at court as a duchess and the mother of the King’s legitimised children.[141] She continued studying, reading historical, theological, and philosophical works.[142] In 1670, (certainly before May 1670)[142] during a nearly fatal, long illness (perhaps smallpox), she had a vision of her soul at the gates of hell, from which the ‘thunder of God’ awakened and saved her. She turned to religion, confessed her sins, and abanoned her previous, libertine friends. She read the important spiritual works of the Counter-Reformation, being most influenced by Teresa of Ávila's The Way of Perfection. Bossuet, who had previously denounced her affair, became her spiritual guide. With his help, she wrote her Réflexions sur la miséricorde de Dieu (‘Reflections on the Mercy of God’) in 1671, which was published anonymously in 1680. It became a popular devotional book among French Catholics, reprinted at least ten times, often under La Vallière's name.[5]

Her authorship of Réflexions, accepted at the time, was contested later. In 1853, Jean-Joseph-Stanislas-Albert Damas-Hinard [fr; es] argued that the book had been conceived by Bossuet and merely written down by La Vallière. However, the style of Réflexions differs from that of Bossuet's own work, and it contains a woman's autobiographical notes. In 1928, Marcel Langlois, a literary critic claimed that La Vallière could not have written the book as its ‘rationalist tone’ cannot belong to a woman. He also argued that no women of La Vallière's time had the knowledge of philosophy and theology demonstrated in the book, or read the Bible in Latin as its author clearly had. However, La Vallière was known in salons for her understanding of Aristotle and Descartes, and many women of her circles read religious texts in both French and Latin, as Jean-Baptiste Ériau [fr] defended. Her authorship has been asserted through textual analyses by Jean-Christian Petitfils and Monique de Huertas.[5]

1675 portrait painting of Madame Palatine by Pierre Mignard.

After her conversion, a confessor wanted to allow her to take communion immediately, but she refused, finding herself ‘unworthy’.[142] The second wife of Monsieur, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate recounts questioning La Vallière about why she remained a ‘suivante’ (a servant or companion) of Montespan. She replied that she wished to ‘do penance and thus suffer what was most painful for her, to share the King’s heart [with another woman] and see herself despised by him [...], offer[ing] all her pains to God as atonement for her past sins; for, since her sins had been public, her penance had to be public too’.[143] Courtiers considered her new religiousness to be a hypocritical ploy to achieve material gains from the King.[144]

In spring 1670, the court again went to Flanders. On their way, a flooding river forced them to stay the night in a small house near Landrecies with only one bed and a few matresses on the floor. The Queen slept in the bed, and Monsieur, Madame, the King, the Grande Mademoiselle, La Vallière, and Montespan on the floor.[145] La Vallière’s potential marriage was again mentioned, with one possible husband being the Duke of Lauzun. This aroused the jealousy of the Grande Mademoiselle who wanted to marry the Duke herself.[146] In late June 1670, the royal family and court were devastated by the death of Madame. She agonised for a long time and believed that she had been poisoned.[147] La Vallière was present at her deathbed.[148] In her last hours, she was told by a canon, Nicolas Feuillet [fr], that ‘all [her] life had been but sin’, and she repented publicly. When she complained of excruciating pain, Feuillet told her to embrace the suffering and think of God.[149] Courtiers remained under the impression of Madame’s sudden death and her repentance for a long time.[150]

First attempt to retire

La Vallière was treated with pointed courtesy to demonstrate that she was the maîtresse-en-titre and not Montespan. The two women had to be regarded as equals to maintain the cover. La Vallière probably felt humiliated by being forced to take part in this plot.[151] On Shrove Tuesday 1671, courtiers noted the absence of both La Vallière and Montespan from a ball and speculated on its cause.[152] On the next day at dawn, she fled to the Visitation convent of the Filles de Sainte-Marie (‘Daughters of the Virgin Mary’) in Chaillot (where she had fled in 1662, after a conflict with the King). She took with her none of her belongings, and only left behind a letter to the King (which, according to the Grande Mademoiselle, she had composed with the help of Lauzun).[153] Whereas he had personally pursued La Vallière in 1662, this time, Louis continued with her planned activities; however, he was noted to have cried during his carriage ride.[154]

Contemporaneous painting of Madame de Montespan with four of her children by the King: (from left to right) Louis-César, Count of Vexin, Louise-Françoise, Mademoiselle de Nantes, Louise-Marie-Anne, Mademoiselle de Tours, and Louis-Auguste, Duke of Maine.

He then sent Lauzun to Chaillot to persuade La Vallière to return, but he failed, as did the next envoy, Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds, Marquis de Bellefonds,[155] head of the Maison du Roi and good friend of La Vallière.[156] To Bellefonds, La Vallière said that she ‘would have left the court sooner’ after the end of her relationship with the King, but that she had been unable to accept not seeing him again. She added that her ‘weakness’ for Louis remained and she had a difficult time leaving him but wanted to dedicate the ‘rest of her life’ to ensuring her own salvation. When hearing of this, the King cried again but sent Colbert to retrieve La Vallière, by force if necessary.[155] Montespan opposed her potential return, even quarreling with the King.[157]

Colbert asked La Vallière to return so that the King ‘could speak to her further’. She agreed on the condition that Louis would permit her to enter a convent ‘if she persevered’ in her desire. She spent only around twelve hours in Chaillot before going back to Versailles. Montespan ran to receive her with open arms and tearful eyes; the King talked with her for an hour, crying tears of joy. Courtiers praised the King’s behaviour, which they saw as proof that he continued to treat people he no longer loved with respect. Some faulted La Vallière for being ‘inconstant [in her] resolution’ to live a religious life, while others thought that she had acted ‘foolishly’ by returning without exploiting her stronger bargaining position. The Grande Mademoiselle believed that the King would have secretly been happy to ‘get rid of’ La Vallière.[155] Lair argues that Louis still needed La Vallière as a cover for her affair with Montespan,[158] especially because the suit for her separation from her husband lodged in July 1670 did not progress.[159]

The King decided to march on Flanders again and invited La Vallière, who declined. However, since her presence was necessary for Montespan, the King commanded her to go. Even her detractors considered her behaviour after her return from Chaillot to have been ‘dignified and reserved’.[158] Onlookers were scandalised by seeing the King ride in a carriage, sitting between her two mistresses.[160] During these years, she practiced charity, especially towards the poor in Vaujours.[161] She became closer to the Queen, who pitied her for her humilitions and appreciated her repentance. Religious practice gained importance in La Vallière’s life: she prayed and meditated often, avoided courtly events and company that could have ‘distracted’ her, and wore a cilice under her robes.[162]

Retirement

19th century copy of the last painting of La Vallière with her children.

La Vallière’s children were raised by Colbert and his wife, Marie Charron; she only saw them occasionally. Her son, Louis, Count of Vermandois, was six years old; her daughter, Marie-Anne, Mademoiselle de Blois, eight. A child of a ‘lively and precocious intelligence’, she was permitted to attend balls for the first time in January 1664.[163] She was a great success at court. Bellefonds worried that La Vallière’s attachment to her daughter would prevent her from entering the convent (where she would no longer be able to see her children); in her reply, she admitted that she had ‘sensitivity’, including for her daughter. However, her feelings for her children were conflicted because of their ‘sinful’ birth: ‘I confess that I was delighted to see her, pretty as she was. But, at the same time, I had scruples about it […] These are rather opposite emotions, yet I feel them as I tell you’.[164] She commissioned a painting of her and her children, probably as a memory to leave for them.[165]

She also needed to choose a convent. Many noblewomen, such as Anne-Madeleine de Conty d’Argencourt, a previous love of King, retired as pensionnaires (boarders) to the Chaillot convent where La Vallière had fled twice. Pensionnaires lead relatively unrestricted lives in convents, maintainting their social networks outside of it; they were not bound by a vow and could leave at any time, including to marry. However, La Vallière felt that this would not be enough for her as penitence.[166] She considered and visited multiple times both the Couvent des Capucines (‘Convent of Capuchin Women’) of the Capuchin Poor Clares and the Grand Couvent (‘Great Convent’) in the rue des Enfers of Discalced Carmelites in Paris, choosing the latter.[166]

The Discalced Carmelite nuns lead a life of fasting, mortification of the flesh, and silence, which, instead of dissuading her, perhaps made them more appealing to La Vallière. However, there were strich requirements for women who sought to enter: they had to have led a ‘regular’ life, demonstrate a ‘good character’, and never been the cause of any scandal. Her life was seen as ‘irregular’, and the nuns hesitated to accept her, so she sought the help of an intermediary, the aunt of her friend, the Marquess of Bellefonds and member of the convent, Judith de Bellefonds, known as Mére Agnès de Jésus.[167] In late October 1673, Bellefonds informed her that she would be accepted as a postulant; however, she was unwell and advised to heal before she entered the cloister.[168] When she returned to court from her retreat to the convent, her impending retirement became public. She was supported in her decision by Bellefonds, Bossuet, and Paul de Beauvilliers, Duke of Saint-Aignan.[169]

Madame de Maintenon with two of the children of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, the Duke of Maine and the Count of Vexin.

Bossuet promised to help convince Madame de Montespan to support La Vallière’s departure. While she did not oppose it, she ridiculed it publicly.[170] She also sent her confidante, Françoise d’Aubigné, Madame Scarron (the future Madame de Maintenon) to dissuade her. Scarron warned La Vallière that it might be too difficult to live the life of a Carmelite after the comforts of the royal court, advising her that she should enter as a secular benefactress first and see whether she can tolerate the rules. However, La Vallière believed that this would not be proper penitence.[171] By December 1673, as a result of Montespan’s campaign, courtiers thought that La Vallière had changed her mind, and mocked her for it.[172] In the same month, she stood as godmother to the six-month-old third child of the King and Montespan, who was named Louise-Françoise after her.[173] She and her two brothers (all raised in secrecy, as had been La Vallière’s children) were then legitimised, without their mother being named;[174] this was perhaps a way for the King to protect them from Madame de Montespan’s husband after La Vallière’s retirement would leave the affair of their mother exposed.[169] Soon thereafter, with the collaboration of the husband, the separation of the Montespans was also pronounced, making the use of La Vallière as a front less necessary.[175] In March 1674, she wrote to Bellefonds that she was ‘leaving the world’ with no ‘regrets’, ‘but not without pain’. [176]

Exceprt from a letter by La Vallière to Bellefonds from 19 March 1669

My weakness kept me [at court] long enough without any pleasure, or, to speak more truhtfully, with a thousand sorrows. You know the greater part of it, and you know how sensitive I am; it has not diminished, I realise that every day, and I can see that the future would give me no more satisfaction than the past and the present. You can see that, according to the world, I must be happy; yet according to God, you can see that I feel as I should the abundant graces he pours out on me who am so unworthy to receive them. I feel myself eager to respond to them, and to surrender myself absolutely to him.
Everyone departs at the end of April, and I shall depart too, but it is to take the surest path to heaven. May God grant that I go [to the convent], as I am obliged to do, to obtain forgiveness for my sins. I find myself in moods so gentle and resolute, and even so strong (it all seems opposite, but nevertheless I feel it all within me), that the people to whom I completely show myself admire more and more God's extreme mercy in my case.

Louise, Duchess of La Vallière, [177]

La Vallière’s finances had become troubled because of her spending habits (especially on charity): she had debts of over 150 000 livres. After entering the convent, she would be legally considered dead, and Vaujours would pass to her daughter. With Colbert’s intervention, the King permitted her son, Vermandois, to lend the necessary funds to her to settle her debts (she had to declare herself free of debts to enter the convent). By March 1674, La Vallière had paid her debts; on 18 April, she gave her jewels to her children and petitioned the King to establish pensions for her mother and step-sister[178] (her brother and sister-in-law remained in favour at court),[179] as well as for some of her servants. Louis had never liked her mother and she was not permitted to see La Vallière often, but he granted the pensions.[178] She renounced her paternal inheritance to her brother, the Marquis of La Vallière.[180]

Carmelite sister

Postulancy and novitiate

La Vallière asking the Queen for forgiveness on Louise Adélaïde Desnos’ painting from 1838.

La Vallière paid her visits of goodbye on 18 April, giving pieces of jewellery to her friends as remembrances. When she said farewell to the King, he cried.[181] She also decided to apologise to the Queen publicly. Louise de Prie, Madame de la Mothe-Houdancourt, governess of the royal children, asked her to not do so ‘in front of everyone’. To this, La Vallière replied, ‘As my crimes were public, my penitence must be [public], too’. She kneeled before Maria Theresa, who lifted and embraced her, assuring her that she had been forgiven long ago.[182] Then, Montespan, who was worried by the sympathy aroused by La Vallière (perhaps fearing that it would reignite the King’s love), invited her to supper in her apartment, where the Grande Mademoiselle (who had never liked La Vallière) also appeared to say goodbye. The next day, she attended mass; the King, who was also present, cried again and his eyes were red for hours. Then, she took a carriage to the convent, accompanied by her children, friends, and family.[183] The whole court gathered along her path to see her leave; she was dressed in ceremonial courtly robes.[184] In the convent, she was led to the altar, where she offered herself to God, asking to be allowed to wear the habit of the nuns immediately. That night, she cut her hair (as nuns who have pronounced their vows do) to show her commitment.[185]

La Vallière followed the regulations of the Carmelites from her first day in their convent. To Bellefonds, she reported that she felt ‘calm’ and ‘content’, and in ‘safety’.[186] However, despite his previous permission, the King seemed to have doubts about the decision, as La Vallière’s public conversion highlighted his adultery with Montespan. Courtiers still did not believe that La Vallière would stay in the convent. Hearing about the rumours, she asked the Carmelites to shorten her postulancy (which usually lasted for three to six months).[187] Less than three months after her entry, she was permitted to participate in the vêture, the ceremonial donning of a nun’s habit by an aspiring sister. For this, she appointed the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when the Parable of the Lost Sheep was read in churches. As neither Bossuet nor Louis Bourdaloue could be present, he asked the bishop-designate of Aire, Jean-Louis de Fromentières [fr] to preach the sermon. The royal court was then in Franche-Comté, but those that were in Versailles attended La Vallière’s vêture.[188] She dressed again in ceremonial robes and stood with her guests during mass, officiated by Abbot Edme Pirot [fr], superior general of the Carmelites. Then, with a taper candle in her hand, she knelt before the grille separating the enclosure of the nuns, saying that she desired ‘the mercy of God, the poverty of the Order, and the company of the Sisters’.[189] After the ensuing ceremony of admission, Fromentières preached the sermon, highlighting La Vallière as an ‘example to all her century’ and warning her of the difficulties of cloistered life. She then received a blessed habit from the Archbishop of Paris, François de Harlay de Champvallon.[190]

From the convent, she followed the life of Louis XIV. In the Holy Week of 1675, she received gratefully the news that he separated from Madame de Montespan and took communion; she prayed for the conversion of ‘one [she] had so loved’.[191] After a year of novitiate, she took her perpetual vows on 3 June 1675, in the presence of the Queen, Monsieur (Philippe, Duke of Orléans, the King’s brother), Madame Palatine (his second wife), Mademoiselle (Marie-Louise of Orléans, daughter of Monsieur and the late Henrietta of England), the Grande Mademoiselle, Marie of Lorraine, suo jure Duchess of Guise, Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon, Duchess of Longueville, and Madeleine de Scudéry, and many more courtiers.[191] The mass was celebrated by Abbot Pirot, with a sermon by Bossuet based on Revelation 21:5: ‘[…] He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new” […]’. He celebrated the ‘renewal’ of La Vallière as a work of the Holy Spirit, contrasting it with the attitude of those (such as the King) who sought glory and fame.[192] The sermon focused more on the King than on La Vallière.[193] The black veil of professed nuns was blessed by Bossuet and handed to the Queen, who gave it to the Prioress, Mère Claire de Saint-Sacrement (‘Mother Claire of the Holy Sacrament’) to cover La Vallière’s head.[194]

Life as a nun

Contemporary allegorical depiction of La Vallière renouncing the world for Jesus.

As a Carmelite sister, she used the name Louise de la Miséricorde (‘Louise of Mercy’).[195] She was reputed to seek out the most humbling or difficult tasks, despite her frequent, debilitating headaches,[196] such as hanging the laundry outside to dry during the coldest winter. She believed that ‘nothing was too base for her’ and even asked to become a lay sister (who performed menial labour to enable ‘choir nuns’ to observe the Liturgy of the Hours), but she was not allowed to do so.[197] Instead, she was permitted to help novices complete their tasks, as they were given the most humbling chores.[198] She was visited by Rancé who had been almoner in the household of Gaston, Duke of Orléans when she had lived there as a child.[199] Queen Maria Theresa also visited her, and twice, she brought along Madame de Montespan, perhaps hoping to inspire her to convert as La Vallière had done.[200] Her childhood friend, Marguerite of Orléans, now Grand Duchess of Tuscany, saw her a few times. She had been forced to enter Montmartre Abbey after leaving her husband, and she was supervised by her half-sister, the Grande Mademoiselle on every visit.[196]

Multiple stories preserved by the Carmelites recount the discipline of La Vallière. Her son, Vermandois, was entrusted to the care of Madame Palatine. One or two years after La Vallière’s entry into the convent, she brought Vermandois to visit his mother. When she instructed the eight- or nine-year-old to kiss his mother, La Vallière refused, perhaps following the requirements of Rancé, who exhorted monastics to become completely detached from their families. Even though she would have been allowed to embrace her child because of his age, and despite the entreaties of Madame Palatine and seeing how upset her son became, La Vallière did not relent. The guests both left in tears. Her brother, the Marquis of La Vallière, also wished to see his sister without the grille separating them. The Queen, who had the traditional privilege of entering any monastic enclosure, brought him with her so he could do so. Learning of this plan, La Vallière waited for their arrival at the door of the enclosure, and told Maria Theresa that no queen had previously brought a man with her out of respect. The Queen relented.[180] La Vallière then resolved to never see her children again, which the King opposed as he believed that their children needed the advice of their mother. The Carmelites believed that it was a duty to maintain family relationships if it was not for personal pleasure but in order to be useful to others.[201]

La Vallière’s brother died in October 1676 after a painful illness, at the age of thirty-four, followed soon by a Carmelite nun whom she had known from the Orléans household. She envied them but eventually decided to ‘submit’ to God’s will that she would stay alive, which she saw as a sacrifice.[202] The Marquis only left debts, and her creditors approached La Vallière, asking her to pay. She wrote to the King, asking her to allow her nephew to inherit the position of governor of Bourbonnais from his father, which he granted. Louis added in his reply that he would go in person to offer his condolences if he were a ‘good enough man to see a Carmelite nun as holy as’ she. Around 1679, La Vallière suffered an illness.[202]

La Vallière’s daughter Marie-Anne as princess of Conti on a portrait fro betwee 1680 and 1700.

Her daughter, Mademoiselle de Blois continued to be raised by Madame Colbert. Her father loved and indulged her and also wished to arrange a politically advantageous marriage for her. In 1680, aged thirteen, she married the eighteen-year-old Louis-Armand, Prince of Conti, head of the cadet branch of Bourbon-Conti. The Prince and his cousin Henri-Jules, Prince of Condé (head of the cadet branch of Bourbon-Condé, of which the Contis descended) visited La Vallière; the Prince treated his mother-in-law with reverence.[203] In the same year, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marchioness of Sévigné also saw her; she thought that La Vallière’s appearance had not changed at all because of her ‘austere’ life. She also observed that Conti, a religious man, ‘love[d] and honour[ed] her tenderly’, respecting her as a spiritual director.[204] Around the same time, her manuscript of Réflexions was published for the first time. Despite being anonymous, the book alluded heavily to La Vallière’s person. Its preface covertly attacked the King and Montespan (who was still his mistress) by saying, ‘[m]ay Heaven grant that those who followed her in her sins may imitate her in her penance and make good use of the time that the mercy of God gives them to think seriously about their salvation’.[205] The book became a success and was soon translated to German.[206]

Vermandois on a contemporary portrait.

Aged thirteen, her son, Vermandois, joined the circles of Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine, an infamous libertine. After being involved in numerous scandals, perhaps even a physical altercation with his half-brother the Dauphin, the King exiled him.[207] La Vallière was distressed by his son’s fate. Vermandois confessed his faults, asked forgiveness, and promised to behave better, but his father did not relent. Madame Palatine also intervened for him to no avail. He was first imprisoned in Normandy, then sent to Versailles while the court was in Fontainebleau. He was not allowed to see anyone except for his tutor, Claude Fleury.[208] He asked to be allowed to participate in a military operation and deployed to the Spanish Netherlands which was under French occupation. Being only sixteen, combat took a toll on him; he developed a fever and died on 18 November 1683. In the 18th century, people speculated that Vermandois was the Man in the Iron Mask, declared dead but in fact imprisoned for life. At the time, no one doubted that he had died, and he was mourned publicly for his great potential.[209]

La Vallière had been told that her son was ill, but not dangerously so. The Prioress, who was going to inform her of his death, met her before she could think of the right phrasing, and simply said that she had ‘received some news’. Seeing her sadness and hesitation, La Vallière figured out what had happened and simply replied, ‘I understand well’. Then, she went to the chapel for her prayers, emerging with a serene face. She was never seen to cry for her son, nor did talk about her grief. A friend advised her that tears could relieve her and that God did not forbid nuns to grieve. ‘One must sacrifice everything; it is for myself that I must weep’, she answered, referring to her sin of having children out of wedlock.[210] In November 1685, her daughter and son-in-law caught smallpox. The King was by his daughter’s bedside; the Princess recovered but her husband died.[211] Although she had loved her son-in-law, she again behaved in a ‘firm and resigned’ way. Lair argues that this was another form of penance: she refused the usual comforts afforded to mourning people to increase the pain caused by her losses.[212] The next year, her mother also died; it is unknown how this affected La Vallière.[213]

Despite her resignation, La Vallière considered it important to look after her family. Her elder niece by her late brother, Louise-Gabrielle, was married in 1681 to César-Auguste de Choiseul de Plessis-Praslin [fr], Duke of Choiseul, who eventually repudiated her for her ‘misconduct’.[214] To ensure that she could not influence her younger sister Marie-Yolande, La Vallière arranged a placement for her as pensionnaire in Faremoutiers Abbey, forbidding her any contact with her sister. Marie-Yolande rebelled against cloistered life, scandalised the nuns, and threatened to kill herself. La Vallière was consulted, and she advised the family that it was best to let Marie-Yolande leave. When she married in 1697, her cousin, La Vallière’s daughter Madame de Conti, wanted to invite Madame de Choiseul as well as Madame d’Entragues (La Vallière’s younger half-sister from her mother’s third marriage) to the wedding and asked her father the King for permission. Louis answered that La Vallière should be consulted, and whatever she wished could happen. La Vallière allowed Madame de Choiseul and Madame d’Entragues to attend.[215] Madame de Conti paid the pensions her mother had requested for relatives and old servants, and even ensured that Vaujours would be inherited by his cousin, the Marquis of La Vallière (whereas the original grant would have returned it to the crown after her death). If the Carmelites wanted to support poor people, La Vallière always turned to her daughter. She also often reprimanded her for her conduct, considered too ‘light’ for a widow.[216]

Early 19th century painting by Sophie Lemire of a fictional scene in which La Vallière ‘instruct[s] her daughter in piety’.

In the convent, La Vallière was appointed sacristine, carer of the oratory.[217] She also remained active in trying to advance the interests of the church and her country. Together with Bellefonds, she unsuccessfully attempted to convert to Catholicism the Bishop of Salisbury, Gilbert Burnett during his visit to France.[218] Her early biographer, Pierre Clément, claimed that she participated in the theological debates of the century concerning Jansenism, which Lair considers doubtful. She continued requesting the most difficult and humiliating chores and often fasted on bread and water. After experiencing a ‘sinful’ memory of the refreshments served at the royal court, she punished herself by only drinking half a glass of water for three years (and supposedly not drinking at all for three months). Her physical health was damaged by these deprivations, and her superiors often told her to moderate her penance.[219] On her legs, she suffered from erysipelas, but did not seek treatment.[220] She also asked to be transferred to ‘one of the poorest [and] most distant’ Carmelite convent, which was refused as the nuns appreciated her company and her ‘example’.[217] In 1691, she was grief-stricken after loosing Mère Angélique, the nun whose support was crucial for her entry to the convent.[221]

Foreign dignitiaries often visited La Vallière in her convent, which she accepted as a sacrifice but considered a distraction from her duties. She was also visited by Madame de Montespan, who had been disgraced in the Affair of the Poisons and had no contact with her husband, her former lover the King, or her children. Montespan asked for advice, but details of the conversation have not been recorded.[222] She was regularly visited by the Queen, the Dauphine, (Maria Anna of Bavaria, the Dauphin’s wife), and the Duchess of Burgundy, Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy (wife of the Dauphin’s son). Before every visit, the King reminded them that La Vallière had been a duchess, and they had to offer a seat to her. She never accepted the courtesy, saying that since her profession, she was the same as all other nuns.[221] However, with time, fewer and fewer people visited her as her friends and family members died, and the curiosity caused by her retirement dissipated.[217]

Multiple works published during her lifetime discussed La Vallière. A 1678 book by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras, Remarques sur le gouvernement du royaume durant les règnes de Henry IV, surnommé le Grand, de Louys XIII, surnommé le Just, et de Louys XIV, surnommé le Dieu-donné, le Grand, & l'Invincible (‘Remarks on the Government of the Kingdom During the Reigns of Henri IV, Called the Great, of Louis XIII, Called the Just, and of Louis XIV, Called the God-given, the Great & the Invincible’), declared that her conversion had reasons other than ‘spite’. In 1695, pamphlets written around 1665 were organised into a book titled La Vie de la duchesse de La Vallière (‘The Life of the Duchess of La Vallière’), promising to explain the ‘curious relationship’ between her love life and her conversion.[220] During her retirement, she became popular among the French; her name was used to sell books to interpret dreams, positioning her as a seer.[221]

Death

Louise de La Vallière on her catafalque.

At the end of her life, La Vallière suffered from frequent headaches, sciatica, rheumatism, stomach problems, and other internal ailments. She tried to hide her pain as much as possible;[223] she only complained of having to still live. She thanked God for ‘allowing her to do penance’. Despite her ill health, she obtained permission to rise two hours earlier than the others. She did so on 6 June 1710; at three in the morning, she was going to the chapel when her pain overcame her. She leaned against a wall for support, unable to speak. She was found two hours later and carried to a bed. The doctors performed bloodletting but said that she was dying. She refused to use linen instead of the usual coarse bedding of Carmelites. She seemed joyful of her imminent death, and only repeated the words, ‘expiring in the most severe pain, that is what befits a sinner’. During the night, feeling weaker and weaker, she asked for Extreme Unction.[224] She confessed and took communion, feeling a little better afterwards. Following another wave of weakness, Abbot Pirot administered the Extreme Unction around eleven in the morning. Then, Madame de Conti arrived, but her mother could no longer speak. She died at noon on 7 June 1710.[225] When the King was informed of La Vallière’s death, he did not seem moved, saying that she had died for him the day she entered the convent.[226]

According to the convent’s customs, La Vallière’s body was displayed in their church behind the grille separating the enclosure. Crowds came to see her; four sisters were necessary to handle the relics and religious medals, books, and images that people wanted to touch to her body for a blessing.[227] When clergymen arrived to inter the corpse, the laypeople present prayed for La Vallière’s intercession with God on their behalf. [226] She was buried in the cemetery of the Carmelite nuns, a small headstone inscribed with her religious name marking the place. The cemetery, including her grave, was desecrated during the French Revolution.[228]

Issue

Louise de la Vallière had five children by Louis XIV, two of whom survived infancy:

  • Charles de La Baume Le Blanc (19 December 1663 – 15 July 1665), died in infancy and was never legitimised;
  • Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc (7 January 1665 – 1666), died in infancy and was never legitimised;
  • Louis de La Baume Le Blanc (27 December 1665 – 1666), died in infancy and was never legitimised;
  • Marie-Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France (2 October 1666 – 3 May 1739); known as Mademoiselle de Blois after her legitimation. She married Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti and had no issue. She inherited the title of duchess of La Vallière from her mother;
  • Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vermandois (2 October 1667 – 18 November 1683); died at the age of sixteen in exile, during his first military campaign, and had no issue.[229][230]

Legacy and appearances in popular culture

  • The term lavalier, meaning a jeweled pendant necklace, comes from her name (or possibly from that of Ève Lavallière). In French, a lavallière is a neck tie tied to form a bow at the front of the neck (reminiscent of a pussy bow), which was popular in the 19th century;[55]
  • La Vallière's book Réflexions sur la miséricorde de Dieu ("Reflections on the Mercy of God) were printed in 1767, and in again in 1860 as Réflexions, lettres et sermons, by M. P. Clement;[citation needed]
  • Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration, Louise, Duchess of La Valliere, to an engraving of a painting by Edmund Thomas Parris, was published in 1838.[231]
  • Louise de la Vallière by Maria McIntosh (1854) is her earliest known fictionalised portrayal in English; [citation needed]
  • She is one of the main characters in Alexandre Dumas's novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne, the second sequel to The Three Musketeers. Dumas makes her the fiancée of the fictional titular character, son of the musketeer Athos. Some editions break the novel up in several books, one of which is titled Louise de la Vallière.[citation needed]
  • In 1922, a German silent film titled Louise de Lavallière was made about her life;[citation needed]
  • Marcelle Vioux wrote a 1938 novel about her titled Louise de La Valliere;[232]
  • Sandra Gulland wrote a historical novel featuring her, titled Mistress of the Sun, published in 2008;
  • Karleen Koen's 2011 novel Before Versailles is told from Louise de la Vallière's point of view;
  • Joan Sanders published a biography of Louise in 1959 titled La Petite : Louise de la Vallière ("The Little: Louise de la Vallière");
  • Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, the main female character of The Familiar of Zero, was named after her;
  • Christina Rossetti's poem Sœur Louise de la Miséricorde is presumed to be about the Duchess of La Vallière.

See also

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Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "La Vallière, Louise Françoise de" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 290–291.
  2. ^ a b c d e Le Brun, Eugène (1903). Les Ancêtres de Louise de La Vallière. Généalogie de la maison de La Baume Le Blanc [The Ancestors of Louise de La Vallière: Genealogy of the House of La Blaume Le Blanc] (in French). Paris: H. Champion. pp. 88–94. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  3. ^ Petitfils 2011, p. 2. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPetitfils2011 (help)
  4. ^ a b c d Lair 1907, p. 8.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Conley, John J. "Louise-Françoise de la Baume Le Blanc, marquise de La Vallière (1644—1710)". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  6. ^ Lair 1907, p. 2.
  7. ^ a b c Petitfils 2011, Chapter 1. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPetitfils2011 (help)
  8. ^ Lair 1907, p. 4.
  9. ^ Huertas 1998, p. 18.
  10. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 18–19.
  11. ^ a b Huertas 1998, p. 14.
  12. ^ Petitfils 2011, p. 10. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPetitfils2011 (help)
  13. ^ Huertas 1998, pp. 14–15.
  14. ^ Lair 1907, p. 9.
  15. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 20.
  16. ^ Lair 1907, p. 14.
  17. ^ a b Petitfils 2011, Chapter 2. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPetitfils2011 (help)
  18. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 17, 20.
  19. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 51.
  20. ^ Lair 1907, p. 17.
  21. ^ a b Petitfils 2011, Chapter 3. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPetitfils2011 (help)
  22. ^ Huertas 1998, p. 22.
  23. ^ Lair 1907, p. 19.
  24. ^ a b Huertas 1998, p. 27.
  25. ^ Huertas 1998, p. 25.
  26. ^ a b c Huertas 1998, pp. 26–27.
  27. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 41.
  28. ^ Huertas 1998, p. 33.
  29. ^ Petitfils 2011, Chapter 6. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPetitfils2011 (help)
  30. ^ Petitfils 2011, Chapter 7. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPetitfils2011 (help)
  31. ^ Huertas 1998, pp. 35–36.
  32. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 48–49.
  33. ^ Lair 1907, p. 50.
  34. ^ a b c Montpensier, Anne-Marie-Louise-Henriette d'Orléans (1627–1693 ; duchesse de) Auteur du texte (1858–1859). "Chapître V". Mémoires de Mlle de Montpensier, petite-fille de Henri IV / collationnés sur le manuscrit autographe avec notes biographiques et historiques, par A. Chéruel,... We had already seen that Mademoiselle de la Vallière was maid of honor to Henrietta of England, who at that time was still living at the Tuileries{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ Lair 1907, p. 52.
  36. ^ Huertas 1998, p. 36.
  37. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 54.
  38. ^ Lair 1907, p. 62.
  39. ^ Hillemand, P. (15 March 1975). À propos de la mort d'Henriette d'Angleterre Madame, Duchesse d'Orléans [On the Subject of the Death of Henrietta of England, Madame, Duchess of Orléans] (PDF) (in French). Société Française d'Histoire de la Médecine. p. 117.
  40. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 55–58.
  41. ^ a b c Lair 1907, p. 59.
  42. ^ Huertas 1998, p. 40.
  43. ^ a b c d e f g Petitfils 2011, Chapter 9. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPetitfils2011 (help)
  44. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 71. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  45. ^ a b c Fraser 2006, p. 73. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  46. ^ Lair 1907, p. 61.
  47. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 42.
  48. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 60–61.
  49. ^ a b Fraser 2006, p. 74. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  50. ^ Lair 1907, p. 67.
  51. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 43–45.
  52. ^ Lair 1907, p. 68.
  53. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 79. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  54. ^ a b Fraser 2006, p. 81. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  55. ^ a b Calon, Oliver (2017). "Ah! s'il n'était pas le roi – Louise de la Vallière". Les petites phrases qui ont fait la grande histoire. Vuibert. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-2311-10216-1
  56. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 72–75.
  57. ^ Fraser 2010, pp. 70–75.
  58. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 76.
  59. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 76–77.
  60. ^ Lair 1907, p. 77.
  61. ^ Lair 1907, p. 82.
  62. ^ Lair 1907, p. 81.
  63. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 83.
  64. ^ Lair 1907, p. 84.
  65. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 86.
  66. ^ a b Fraser 2010, p. 96.
  67. ^ Lair 1907, p. 97.
  68. ^ Fraser 2010, p. 89.
  69. ^ Montpensier, Anne-Marie-Louise-Henriette d'Orléans (1627–1693 ; duchesse de) Auteur du texte (1858–1859). Mémoires de Mlle de Montpensier, petite-fille de Henri IV / collationnés sur le manuscrit autographe avec notes biographiques et historiques, par A. Chéruel,...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  70. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 88–90.
  71. ^ Lair 1907, p. 102.
  72. ^ a b Petitfils, Jean (2006). "Louis XIV Intime 1661–1679". Louis XIV : La Gloire et les épreuves [Louis XIV: The Glory and the Hardships]. Tallandier. pp. 100–103. Retrieved 13 June 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  73. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 113–115.
  74. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 117–118.
  75. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 121–122.
  76. ^ a b Fraser 2006, p. 78. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  77. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 119–120.
  78. ^ Lair 1907, p. 27.
  79. ^ a b Lair 1907, pp. 125–126.
  80. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 142.
  81. ^ Breton, Guy; Histoires d'amour de l'histoire de France IV: Les favorites de Louis XIV, Presses de la Cité, Paris, 1991, p. 115.
  82. ^ Lair 1907, p. 127.
  83. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 129–130.
  84. ^ "Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais". www.photo.rmn.fr. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  85. ^ a b Fraser 2006, pp. 88–89. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  86. ^ Dance, spectacle, and the body politick, 1250–1750. Jennifer Nevile. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0-253-35153-1. OCLC 180577252.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  87. ^ Fischer-Lichte, Erika (2002). History of European drama and theatre. Library Genesis. London / New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-18059-7.
  88. ^ Lair 1907, p. 132.
  89. ^ a b Fraser 2006, p. 92. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  90. ^ Lair 1907, p. 135.
  91. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 141.
  92. ^ Lair 1907, p. 138.
  93. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 94. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  94. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 178.
  95. ^ Lair 1907, p. 139.
  96. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 88. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  97. ^ Lair 1907, p. 140.
  98. ^ Lair 1907, p. 147.
  99. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 150.
  100. ^ Lair 1907, p. 151.
  101. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 96. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  102. ^ Lair 1907, p. 156.
  103. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 93. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  104. ^ Lair 1907, p. 157.
  105. ^ Lair 1907, p. 158.
  106. ^ Lair 1907, p. 159.
  107. ^ a b Fraser 2006, pp. 94–95. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  108. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 178–179.
  109. ^ Lair 1907, p. 205.
  110. ^ Fraser 2006, pp. 104–105. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  111. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 108. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  112. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 167, 169.
  113. ^ Fraser 2006, pp. 108–109. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  114. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 146. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  115. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 181–182.
  116. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 183–184.
  117. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 185–186.
  118. ^ Lair 1907, p. 187.
  119. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 188.
  120. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 112. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  121. ^ Lair 1907, p. 189.
  122. ^ Lair 1907, p. 191.
  123. ^ Lair 1907, p. 196.
  124. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 197–198.
  125. ^ a b Lair 1907, pp. 198–199.
  126. ^ Lair 1907, p. 186.
  127. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 113. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  128. ^ Lair 1907, p. 200.
  129. ^ Lair 1907, p. 201.
  130. ^ Lair 1907, p. 202.
  131. ^ Lair 1907, p. 204.
  132. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 204–205.
  133. ^ Lair 1907, p. 206.
  134. ^ Lair 1907, p. 216.
  135. ^ a b c Fraser 2006, p. 117. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  136. ^ Lair 1907, p. 218.
  137. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 118. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  138. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 226–227.
  139. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 116. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  140. ^ Lair 1907, p. 225.
  141. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 233–234.
  142. ^ a b c Lair 1907, p. 234.
  143. ^ Lair 1907, p. 241.
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  146. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 244–246.
  147. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 246–247.
  148. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 130. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  149. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 256–257.
  150. ^ Lair 1907, p. 258.
  151. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 145. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  152. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 268–269.
  153. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 269–270.
  154. ^ Lair 1907, p. 270.
  155. ^ a b c Lair 1907, p. 271.
  156. ^ Lair 1907, p. 285.
  157. ^ Lair 1907, p. 272.
  158. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 273.
  159. ^ Lair 1907, p. 275.
  160. ^ Lair 1907, p. 276.
  161. ^ Lair 1907, p. 282.
  162. ^ Lair 1907, p. 288.
  163. ^ Lair 1907, p. 304.
  164. ^ Lair 1907, p. 305.
  165. ^ Lair 1907, p. 306.
  166. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 293.
  167. ^ Lair 1907, p. 295.
  168. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 295–296.
  169. ^ a b Lair 1907, pp. 296–297.
  170. ^ Lair 1907, p. 297.
  171. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 297–298.
  172. ^ Lair 1907, p. 298.
  173. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 142. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  174. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 143. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFraser2006 (help)
  175. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 302–303.
  176. ^ Lair 1907, p. 307.
  177. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 307–308.
  178. ^ a b Lair 1907, pp. 310–311.
  179. ^ Lair 1907, p. 292.
  180. ^ a b Lair 1907, pp. 336–337.
  181. ^ Lair 1907, p. 311.
  182. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 311–312.
  183. ^ Lair 1907, p. 312.
  184. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 312–313.
  185. ^ Lair 1907, p. 313.
  186. ^ Lair 1907, p. 315.
  187. ^ Lair 1907, p. 316.
  188. ^ Lair 1907, p. 317.
  189. ^ Lair 1907, p. 318.
  190. ^ Lair 1907, p. 319.
  191. ^ a b Lair 1907, p. 324.
  192. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 325–327.
  193. ^ Lair 1907, p. 329.
  194. ^ Lair 1907, p. 330.
  195. ^ Lair 1907, p. 320.
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  198. ^ Lair 1907, p. 333.
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  203. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 339–340.
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  210. ^ Lair 1907, p. 348.
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  212. ^ Lair 1907, p. 355.
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  216. ^ Lair 1907, p. 359.
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  223. ^ Lair 1907, p. 367.
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  225. ^ Lair 1907, p. 369.
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  227. ^ Lair 1907, pp. 369–370.
  228. ^ Lair 1907, p. 371.
  229. ^ François Bluche: "Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle".
  230. ^ Jean-Christian Petitfils: "Louise de la Vallière".
  231. ^ Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1838). "poetical illustration". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839. Fisher, Son & Co.Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1838). "picture". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839. Fisher, Son & Co.
  232. ^ Marcelle Vioux: Louise de La Valliere, Fasquelle 1938, 263 p.

References

  • Fraser, Antonia (25 June 2010). Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King. Toronto: Anchor Canada. ISBN 9780385660631.
  • Huertas, Monique de (1998). Louise de la Vallière. De Versailles au Carmel [Louise de La Vallière: From Versailles to Carmel] (in French). Pygmalion. ISBN 9782857045489.
  • Lair, Jules (1907). Louise de La Vallière et la jeunesse de Louis XIV d'après des documents inédits [Louise de La Vallière and the Youth of Louis XIV, Based on Unedited Documents] (in French) (4th ed.). Paris: Plon. Retrieved 13 June 2024 – via BnF Gallica.
  • Jean-Christian Petitfils (2002). Louis XIV (in French). Perrin, Paris.
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