Category: Biographies

Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan — Complete

Historians have, on the whole, dealt somewhat harshly with the fascinating Madame de Montespan, perhaps taking their impressions from the judgments, often narrow and malicious, of her contemporaries. To help us to get a fairer estimate, her own "Memoirs," written by herself, a...

Chapters

109. Chapter 109

To-day, when time and reflection, and, perhaps, that fund of contempt which is so useful, have finally revealed to me the insurmountable necessities of life, I can look with a c...

97. Chapter 97

Mademoiselle de l'Enclos is universally known in the world for the agreeableness of her superior wit and her charms of face and person. When Madame de Maintenon, after the loss...

60. Chapter 60

Journey to Poitou.--The Mayor and the Sheriffs of Orleans.--The Marquise's Modesty.--The Serenade.--The Abbey of Fontevrault.--Family Council.--Duchomania.--A Letter to the King...

4. Chapter 4

Madame de Montespan at the Palace.--M. de Montespan.--His Indiscreet Language.--His Absence.--Specimen of His Way of Writing.--A Refractory Cousin.--The King Interferes.--M. de...

37. Chapter 37

The castle of Petit-Bourg, of which the King made me a present, is situate on a height overlooking the Seine, whence one may get the loveliest of views. So pleasant did I find t...

62. Chapter 62

Amoung the novices at Fontevrault there was a most interesting, charming young person, who gave Madame de Mortemart a good deal of anxiety, as she thought her still undecided as...

107. Chapter 107

When Madame de la Valliere (led by suggestions coming from the Most High) left the Court and the world to shut herself up in a cloister, she committed a great imprudence; I shou...

14. Chapter 14

First Vocation of Mademoiselle de la Valliere.--The King Surprises His Mistress.--She is Forced to Retire to a Convent.--The King Hastens to Take Her Back.--She Was Not Made for...

104. Chapter 104

The Verse of Berenice.--Praises of Boileau.--The King's Aversion to Satirical Writers.--The Painter Le Brun.--His Bacchus.--The Waterbottle.--The Pyramid of Jean Chatel Injuriou...

98. Chapter 98

Birth of the Duc d'Anjou.--The Present to the Mother.--The Casket of Patience.--Departure of the King for the Army.--The King Turns a Deaf Ear.--How That Concerns Madame de Main...

90. Chapter 90

While the Turks and the Imperialists were fighting in the plains of Hungary, the King, followed by all his Court, had made his way towards the frontiers of Alsace. He reviewed c...

38. Chapter 38

I do not desire to hold up to ridicule the rites of that religion in which I was born and bred. Neither would I disparage its ancient usages, nor its far more modern laws. All r...

47. Chapter 47

The Court Goes to Flanders.--Nancy.--Ravon.--Sainte Marie aux Mines.--Dancing and Death.--A German Sovereign's Respectful Visit.--The Young Strasburg Priests.--The Good Bailiff...

61. Chapter 61

The great liberty which we enjoyed at Fontevrault, compared with the interminable bondage of Saint Germain or Versailles, made the abbey ever seem more agreeable to me; and Mada...

63. Chapter 63

The Prince de Mont-Beliard.--He Agrees to the Propositions Made Him.--The King's Note.--Diplomacy of the Chancellor of England.--Letter from the Marquis de Montespan.--The Duchy...

85. Chapter 85

Madame de Maintenon at Loggerheads with Madame de Thianges.--The Mint of the D'Aubigne Family.--Creme de Negresse, the Elixir of Long Life.--Ninon's Secret for Beauty.--The King...

50. Chapter 50

President de Nesmond--upright, clear-headed magistrate as he was--was of very great service to me at the Courts of Justice. He always managed to oblige me and look after my inte...

96. Chapter 96

The Young Nobility and the Turks.--Private Correspondence.--The Unlucky Minister and the Page of Strasburg.--The King Judged and Described in All the Documents.--The King Humili...

101. Chapter 101

Lovers' Vows.--The Body-guards.--Racine's Phedre.--The Pit.--Allusions.--The Duel.--M. de Monclar.--The Cowled Spy.--He Escapes with a Fright.--M. de Monclar in Jersey.--Gratitu...

108. Chapter 108

The House of Saint Cyr.--Petition of the Monks of Saint Denis to the King, against the Plan of Madame de Maintenon.--Madame de Maintenon Summons Them and Sends Them Away with Sm...

57. Chapter 57

After the siege and surrender of Maestricht, when the King had no other end in view than the entire conquest of Dutch Brabant, he took us to this country, which had suffered gre...

105. Chapter 105

Little Opportune.--M. and Madame Bontems.--The Young Moor Weaned.--The Good Cure.--The Blessed Virgin.--Opportune at the Augustinians of Meaux.--Bossuet Director.--Mademoiselle...

102. Chapter 102

Parallel between the Diamond and the Sun.--Taste of the Marquise for Precious Stones.--The King's Collection of Medals.--The Crown of Agrippina.--The Duchess of York.--Disappoin...

34. Chapter 34

M. de Lauzun Proposes for the Hand of Mademoiselle de Thianges.--Letter from the Duc de Lorraine.--Madame de Thianges Thinks that Her Daughter Has Married a Reigning Prince.--Th...

100. Chapter 100

The Reformed Religion and Painting on Enamel--Petitot and Heliogabalus.--Theological Discussion with the Marquise.--The King's Intervention.--Louis XIV. Renders His Account to t...

36. Chapter 36

M. de Lauzun and Mademoiselle de Montpensier.--Marriage of the One and Passion of the Other.--The King Settles a Match.--A Secret Union.--The King Sends M. de Lauzun to Pignerol...

72. Chapter 72

Two or three days after our arrival at Fontevrault, the King, who loves to know all the geographical details of important places, asked me of the form and particulars of the cel...

95. Chapter 95

Mesdemoiselles de Mazarin.--The Age of Puberty.--Madame de Beauvais.--Anger of the Queen-mother.--The Cardinal's Policy.--First Love.--Louis de Beauvais.--The Abbe de Rohan-Soub...

78. Chapter 78

Madame de Maintenon was already forty-four years old, and appeared to be only thirty. This freshness, that she owed either to painstaking care or to her happy and quite peculiar...

94. Chapter 94

M. Colbert had been ailing for a long time past. His face bore visible testimony against his health, to which his accumulated and incessant labour had caused the greatest injury...

25. Chapter 25

Mademoiselle de Valois.--Mademoiselle d'Orleans.--Mademoiselle d'Alencon.--M. de Savoie.--His Love-letters.--His Marriage with Mademoiselle de Valois.--M. de Guise and Mademoise...

79. Chapter 79

Madame de Sevigne.--Madame de Grignan.--Madame de Montespan at the Carmelites.--Madame de la Valliere.--These Two Great Ruins Console One Another.--An Angel of Sweetness, Goodne...

91. Chapter 91

Judgment Given by the Chatelet.--The Marquis d'Antin Restored to His Father.--The Judgment is Not Executed.--Full Mourning.--Funeral Service.--The Notary of Saint Elig.--The Let...

15. Chapter 15

Despite the endeavours made by the ministers concerning the pamphlet or volume about which I am going to speak, neither they nor the King succeeded in quashing a sinister rumour...

99. Chapter 99

The King Takes Luxembourg Because It Is His Will.--Devastation of the Electorate of Treves.--The Marquis de Louvois.--His Portrait.--The Marvels Which He Worked.--The Le Tellier...

35. Chapter 35

My second sister, Mademoiselle de Mortemart, was so unfortunate as to fall in love with a young Knight of Malta, doomed from his birth and by his family to celibacy. Having set...

69. Chapter 69

The four or five words which had escaped Mademoiselle de Montpensier had remained in the King's recollection. He said to me: "If you had more patience, and a sweeter and more pl...

87. Chapter 87

The family of Madame de Maintenon had not only neglected but despised her when she was poor and living on her pension of two thousand francs. Since my protection and favour had...

53. Chapter 53

Directly Tournai had surrendered, and the new outposts were occupied, the King wished to make his entry into this important town, which he had long desired to see. The people an...

103. Chapter 103

The Duchesse de Lesdiguieres.--Her Jest.--"The Chaise of Convenience."--Anger of the Jesuits.--They Ally Themselves with the Archbishop of Paris.--The Forty Hours' Prayers.--Tha...

77. Chapter 77

Pere de la Chaise has never done me good or ill; I have no motives for conciliating him, no reason to slander him. I am ignorant if he were the least in the world concerned, at...

67. Chapter 67

The King had only caused against his own desire the extreme grief which Mademoiselle felt at the imprisonment of Lauzun. His Majesty was sensible of the wisdom of the resolution...

64. Chapter 64

At the great slaughter of Candia, M. de Vivonne had the pleasure of saving a young Venetian drummer whom he noticed all covered with blood, and senseless, amongst the dead and d...

80. Chapter 80

I wept much during the journey; and to save the spectacle of my grief from the passers-by, I was at the pains to lower the curtains. I passed over in my mind all that the Duches...

73. Chapter 73

The King, in his moments of effusion and abandonment (then so full of pleasantness), had said more than once: "If I have any physical beauty, I owe it to the Queen, my mother; i...

88. Chapter 88

Political Intrigue in Hungary.--Dignity of the King of the Romans.--The Good Appearance of a German Prince.--The Turks at Vienna.--The Duc de Lorraine.--The King of Rome.

9. Chapter 9

Cardinal Mazarin.--Regency of Anne of Austria.--Her Perseverance in Retaining Her Minister.--Mazarin Gives His Nieces in Marriage.--M. de la Meilleraye.--The Cardinal's Festivit...

59. Chapter 59

The Observatory.--The King Visits the Carthusians.--How a Painter with His Brush May Save a Convent.--The Guilty Monk.--Strange Revelations.--The King's Kindness.--The Curate of...

21. Chapter 21

The King became ever more attached to me personally, as also to the peculiarities of my temperament. He had witnessed with satisfaction the birth of Madame de la Valliere's two...

7. Chapter 7

On going out into society, I heard everybody talking everywhere about M. Fouquet. They praised his good-nature, his affability, his talents, his magnificence, his wit. His post...

32. Chapter 32

The King Alters His Opinion about Madame Scarron.--He Wants Her to Assume Another Name.--He Gives Her the Maintenon Estates.--She and Madame de Montespan Visit These.--A Strange...

45. Chapter 45

In marrying Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain, the King had made an advantageous match from a political point of view. For through the Infanta he had rights with regard to Flander...

51. Chapter 51

I had successively lost the first and second Comte de Vegin; God also chose to take Mademoiselle de Tours from me, who (in what way I know not) was in features the very image of...

86. Chapter 86

The Casket of M. de Lauzun.--His Historical Gallery.--He Makes Some Nuns.--M. de Lauzun in the Lottery.--The Loser Wins.--Queen out of Pique.--Letter from the Queen of Portugal....

58. Chapter 58

One day the King was passing through some of the large rooms of the palace, at a time of the morning when the courtiers had not yet made their appearance, and when carpenters an...

44. Chapter 44

The Comte de Guiche.--His Violent Passion for Madame.--His Despair.--He Flees to La Trappe.--And Comes Out Again.--A Man's Heart.--Cured of His Passion, He Takes a Wife.

42. Chapter 42

Monsieur's Second Marriage.--Princess Palatine.--The Court Turnspit.--A Woman's Hatred.--The King's Mistress on a Par with the First Prince of the Blood.--She Gives His Wife a L...

17. Chapter 17

When leaving, despite himself, for the provinces, M. de Montespan wrote me a letter full of bitter insults, in which he ordered me to give up his coat-of-arms, his livery, and e...

65. Chapter 65

The Equipage at Full Speed.--The Poor Vine-grower.--Sensibility of Madame de Maintenon.--Her Popularity.--One Has the Right to Crush a Man Who Will Not Get Out of the Way.--What...

81. Chapter 81

The Court Travels in Picardy and Flanders.--The Boudoir Navy.--Madame de Montespan Is Not Invited.--The King Relates to Her the Delights of the Journey.--Reflections of the Marq...

12. Chapter 12

MARIA THERESA, the King's new consort, was the daughter of the King of Spain and Elizabeth of France, daughter of Henri IV. At the time of her marriage she had lost her mother,...

93. Chapter 93

She was left for ten days, lying in state, in the mortuary chapel of Versailles, where mass was being said by priests at four altars from morning till evening. She was finally r...

31. Chapter 31

Once a Queen, Always a Queen.--An Anonymous Letter.--The Queen's Confidence.--She Has a Sermon Preached against Madame de Montespan.--Who the Preacher was.--One Scandal May Aver...

24. Chapter 24

The Abbe d'Estrees.--Singular Offers of Service.--Madame de Montespan Declines His Offer of Intercession at the Vatican.--He Revenges Himself upon the King of Portugal.--Differe...

19. Chapter 19

Madame Scarron.--Her Petition.--The King's Aversion to Her.--She is Presented to Madame de Montespan.--The Queen of Portugal Thinks of Engaging Her.--Madame de Montespan Keeps H...

49. Chapter 49

Those spiteful persons who told the Queen how obliging the Duchesse de Montausier had shown herself towards me were also so extremely kind as to write an account of the whole af...

54. Chapter 54

After the furious siege of Conde, which lasted only four days, the King, who had been present, left for Sebourg, whence he sent orders for the destruction of the principal forts...

92. Chapter 92

The Duc du Maine Provided with the Government of Languedoc.--The Young Prince de Conti.--His Piety.--His Apostasy.--The Duc de la Feuillade Burlesqued.--The Watch Set with Diamo...

106. Chapter 106

M. de Louvois--by nature, as I have said, hard and despotic--was quite satisfied to gain the same reputation for the King, in order to cover his own violence and rigour beneath...

26. Chapter 26

Random Recollections.--Madame de Montespan Withdraws from Politics.--The Queen's Dowry.--First Campaign in Flanders.--The Queen Meets the King.--Some One Else Sees Him First.--T...

43. Chapter 43

My father-confessor, who since my arrival at Court had never vexed or thwarted me, suddenly altered his whole manner towards me, from which I readily concluded that the Queen ha...

27. Chapter 27

The King Contemplates the Conquest of Holland.--The Grand Seignior's Embassy.--Madame de Montespan's Chance of Becoming First Lady of the Harem.--Anxiety to Conclude Negotiation...

40. Chapter 40

The youthful Marquis d'Antin--my son--was growing up; the King showed him the most flattering signs of his attachment, and as the child had lived only with me, he dreaded his fa...

46. Chapter 46

The Abbe le Bouthilier de Rance,--son of the secretary of state, Le Bouthilier de Chavigny,--after having scandalised Court and town by his public gallantries, lost his mistress...

74. Chapter 74

The "Powder of Inheritance."--The Chambre Ardente.--The Comtesse de Soissons's Arrest Decreed.--The Marquise de Montespan Buys Her Superintendence of the Queen's Council.--Madam...

66. Chapter 66

Charles II., King of England.--How Interest Can Give Memory.--His Grievances against France.--The Two Daughters of the Duke of York.--William of Orange Marries One, in Spite of...

76. Chapter 76

Eight months after the wedding of Marie Louise, we witnessed the arrival of Anne Marie Christine, Princess of Bavaria, daughter of the Elector Ferdinand. The King and Monseigneu...

52. Chapter 52

As Madame de Maintenon's character happened to please the King, as I have already stated, he allotted her handsome apartments at Court while waiting until he could keep her ther...

10. Chapter 10

Monsieur would seem to have been created in order to set off his brother, the King, and to give him the advantage of such relief. He is small in stature and in character, being...

41. Chapter 41

I have already told how the envoys of the King of Arda, an African prince, gave to the Queen a nice little blackamoor, as a toy and pet. This Moor, aged about ten or twelve year...

16. Chapter 16

In marrying Monsieur, the King consulted only his well-known generosity, and the richly equipped household which he granted to this prince should assuredly have made him satisfi...

18. Chapter 18

After six months of wedlock, Henrietta of England had become so beautiful that the King drew every one's attention to this change, as if he were not unmindful of the fact that h...

30. Chapter 30

Comte de Vegin, Abbe of Saint Germain des Pres.--Revenues Required, but Not the Cowl.--Discussion between the King and the Marquise.--Madame Scarron Chosen as Arbiter.--An Unans...

83. Chapter 83

Mademoiselle, having by means of her donations to the Duc du Maine obtained, at first, the release, and subsequently the entire liberty of Lauzun, wished to go to meet him and t...

82. Chapter 82

Madame la Dauphine brought into the world a son, christened Louis at the font, to whom the King a few moments afterwards gave the title of the Duke of Burgundy. We had become ac...

68. Chapter 68

I have related in what manner Charles II., suddenly pronouncing in favour of his nephew, the Prince of Orange, had signed a league with his old enemies, the Dutch, in order to c...

55. Chapter 55

The Chevalier de Rohan.--He is Born Too Late.--His Debts.--Messina Ceded to the French.--The King of Spain Meditates Revenge.--The Comte de Monterey.--Madame de Villars as Consp...

28. Chapter 28

The petty princes placed too near a great potentate are just like the shrubs that grow beside an old oak tree, whose broad shade blights them, while its roots undermine and sap...

56. Chapter 56

Since Catiline's famous hatred for Consul Cicero, there has never been hatred so deep and envenomed as that of William of Orange for the King. For this loathing, cherished by a...

20. Chapter 20

The King's studies with his preceptor, Perefixe, had been of only a superficial sort, as, in accordance with the express order of the Queen-mother, this prelate had been mainly...

89. Chapter 89

The King, by the last peace, signed at Nimegue, had engaged to restore the Principality of Orange to William, Stadtholder and Generalissimo of the Dutch. This article was one of...

75. Chapter 75

The unfortunate lady, Henrietta of England, had left, at her death, two extremely young girls, one of them, indeed, being still in the cradle. The new Madame was seized with goo...

70. Chapter 70

The Abbe de Brisacier, the famous director of consciences, possessed enough friends and credit to advance young Brisacier, his nephew, to the Queen's household, to whom he had b...

84. Chapter 84

Since the birth of Mademoiselle de Blois, and the death of Mademoiselle de Fontanges, the King hardly ever saw me except a few minutes ceremoniously,--a few minutes before and a...

71. Chapter 71

Monsieur, having learnt what his cousin of Montpensier had just done for my Duc du Maine, felt all possible grief and envy at it. He had always looked to inherit from her, and t...

29. Chapter 29

Embassy of the King of Arda.--Political Influence Exercised by the Good Looks of Madame de Montespan.--Gifts of the Envoys.--What the Comte de Vegin Takes for a Horse.--Madame d...

48. Chapter 48

The King had not much leisure, yet occasionally he gave up half an hour or an hour to the society of a chosen few,--men famous for their wit and brilliant talents. One day he wa...

8. Chapter 8

Close of the Queen-mother's Illness.--The Archbishop of Auch.--The Patient's Resignation.--The Sacrament.--Court Ceremony for its Reception.--Sage Distinction of Mademoiselle de...

33. Chapter 33

My poor little Comte de Vegin died. We all mourned for him as he deserved; his pretty face would have made every one love him; his extreme gentleness had nothing of the savage w...

6. Chapter 6

The Marquis de Bragelonne was born for Mademoiselle de la Valliere. It was this young officer, endowed with all perfections imaginable, whom Heaven had designed for her, to comp...

5. Chapter 5

MADEMOISELLE DE LA VALLIERE was tall, shapely, and extremely pretty, with as sweet and even a temper as one could possibly imagine, which eminently fitted her for dreamy, contem...

13. Chapter 13

Out of affection and respect for the Queen-mother, the King had until then sought to conceal the ardour of his attachment for Mademoiselle de la Valliere. It was after the six m...

22. Chapter 22

One evening I was walking at the far end of the long terrace of Saint Germain. The King soon came thither, and pointing to Saint Denis, said, "That, madame, is a gloomy, funerea...

1. Chapter 1

Historians have, on the whole, dealt somewhat harshly with the fascinating Madame de Montespan, perhaps taking their impressions from the judgments, often narrow and malicious,...

2. Chapter 2

The reign of the King who now so happily and so gloriously rules over France will one day exercise the talent of the most skilful historians. But these men of genius, deprived o...

23. Chapter 23

M. de Lauzun.--His Pretensions.--Erroneous Ideas of the Public.--The War in Candia.--M. de Lauzun Thinks He Will Secure a Throne for Himself.--The King Does Not Wish This.

11. Chapter 11

A few moments before he died, Cardinal Mazarin, through strategy, not through repentance, besought the King to accept a deed of gift whereby he was appointed his universal legat...

3. Chapter 3

My sisters thought it of extreme importance to possess positive knowledge as to their future condition and the events which fate held in store for them. They managed to be secre...

39. Chapter 39

Eight days after the conclusion of the jubilee I returned to Versailles. The King received me with every mark of sincere friendship; my friends came in crowds to my apartments;...