Madame de Montespan - AMBITION At Court

Hi! Welcome to my channel, the Kings of France. This video is the second part of a three-part series on the mistresses of the Sun King. Today I'll talk about Athenaïs de Montespan. Born in October 1640 at the castle of Lussac-les-Châteaux and baptized on October 5, Françoise Athenaïs de Roche-Chouard de Mortremart was the daughter of Gabrielle de Roche-Chouard de Mortremart, Duke of Mortremart, and of Diane de Grand-Seigne, lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV. Françoise, who later adopted the name Athenaïs under the influence of the popularity of Greek mythology, was sent to the convent of Sainte-Marie-at-Sainte at the age of 11, where she received an education reserved only for high nobility. She left the convent at 1658 to attend the French court. Due to the intervention of Anne of Austria and her aunt, Anne de Roche-Chouard de Mortremart, de Montespan became lady-in-waiting to Henriette Anne Stuart, sister of King Charles II of England. Because of her great beauty, she quickly became a coveted party for marriage. In February 1663, she married Louis-Henri de Pardaillon de Gondrin, Marquis de Montespan. They had two children together, Marie-Christine de Pardaillon de Gondrin and Louis-Antoine de Pardaillon de Gondrin. The Montespans were nobility, but they were not rich. Her husband, having gone into debt, the Montespans were reduced to living in a small house near the Louvre, where the French court resided. The Montespans, now lady-in-waiting to the Queen, Maria Thérésia of Spain, was often seen at court. She met Louis XIV in the fall of 1666. Occupied by his love for his favourite, the Duchess Louise de Lavallière, he initially paid no attention to her. But due to her presence at court, being lady-in-waiting to the Queen, the King, often meeting her in the Queen's apartments, soon noticed her beauty and cheerful conversation. Furthermore, the King began to show signs of weariness towards Louise de Lavallière because of her reserved behaviour. Thus, Louis XIV let himself be charmed by the beauty, charm and wit of Marquis de Montespan. In order to amuse the King, the Montespans would often ridicule courtiers. Although such behaviour could be dangerous at court, the courtiers feared her due to her position as favourite of the King. The Marquise became the King's mistress in May 1667. Her husband caused a scandal at court when he heard the news. He was promptly locked up in Fort-les-Vecs prison, then exiled to Gascony, where he remained until his death in 1691. The affair with the King soon became public without being official. Madame de Lavallière remained the maîtresse en titre, or official mistress, as she was unmarried and thus scandal was avoided. In July 1668, the Montespans took up residence in an apartment not far from the apartment of the King. The courtiers had no difficulty understanding why both the King and the Montespans shied away from the Queen. The Queen, however, remained oblivious to the new affair until 1670, when the Montespans took a trip to the Netherlands alongside the King and the Queen. The Montespans was beautiful, but also capricious, authoritarian, burning with ambition and jealousy. She even made scenes in front of the King, going so far as to point out to him that her family was older than the House of Bourbon. During one of many fights between the lovers, she tried to retire to a convent, but, as with Louise de Lavallière, the King did not allow her to leave court. In 1673, the King recognized and legitimized the children given to him by the Montespans. However, to avoid an uproar by the Montespans' husband, the name of the Marquise is omitted in the Acts of Legitimation, and the legitimates appear there as the children of the King alone. Athenaïs herself is not mentioned in any of the Acts. In 1674, Louise de Lavallière left court to enter the Carmelite convent in the Faubourg Saint-Jacques, not without asking the Queen for forgiveness. At this point in time, Madame de Montespans became the reigning mistress of Louis, but still not maîtresse en titre because of her marriage. From the royal affair between the King and the Montespans, seven children are born, six whom are legitimized, as mentioned, the Acts of Legitimation registered at the Parliament of Paris, do not mention their mother, who was married to another man. Four children reached adulthood. The first child was kept secret. He was born in 1669 and died in 1672. The gender of the child remains unknown. The second child was Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duc de Main, born in 1670 and died in 1736. He married Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon. The third child, Louis-César de Bourbon, Comte de Vexin, Abbot of Saint-Germain-de-Pré, born in 1672 and died in 1683. The fourth child was Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Nantes, born in 1673, she died in 1743. She married Louis de Bourbon, Duc de Bourbon, 6th Prince de Condé. The fifth child, Louise-Marie-Anne de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Tours, born in 1674 and died in 1681. The sixth child, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, the second Mademoiselle de Blois, born in 1677, she died in 1749. She married Philippe d'Orléans. The seventh and last child of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan was Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon. He was born in 1678 and died in 1737. He was the Count of Toulouse. The children of the Montespan were well loved by the King, and Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duc de Main, was added to the line of the French succession in case of the extinction of the official Bourbon line. The Montespan entrusted the children's education to Madame Scarron, the future Madame de Maintenon, her later rival. The hold that the proud mistress exercised over the heart of the King made her powerful at court. She had so many means to influence the King's mind that many ministers and courtiers went to de Montespan when they needed a favor from the King. Furthermore, she helped develop in Louis XIV his taste for great things and magnificence. The de Montespan era turns out to be the most brilliant and glorious of this of the reign of the Sun King. As de Montespan aged and due to her many pregnancies, de Montespan's beauty faded and she grew overweight. At the same time, Louis XIV felt the need for a more regular life, encouraged by Madame de Maintenon, who in the meantime became a friend of the King. De Maintenon, with her unblemished reputation, used religion and morality to influence the King. Madame de Maintenon's philosophies were greatly admired by the King, but he still allowed himself weak moments in the arms of de Montespan, after which he'd return to Madame de Maintenon lamenting about his weaknesses. The behavior of the King caused great rivalry between the two women. Louis XIV himself had to intervene in fierce quarrels between them to see them arguing all over again the very next day. In 1678, Louis XIV fell head over heels in love with Mademoiselle de Fontange, a 17-year-old courtier. De Fontange quickly became pregnant, but gave birth prematurely to a little boy who did not survive. De Fontange died afterwards of complications due to giving birth. However, during this time, Madame de Montespan was at the center of the affair of the poisons. Several courtiers accused her, among others, of poisoning several of them, of attending black masses and child sacrifice rituals. She quickly became a suspect in the death of de Fontange and her child. Due to the poison scandal, de Montespan was abandoned by the King and was requested to leave her apartment in Versailles. She remained a regular at court though, but de Montespan was left to the whims of the court, the rejections of her former lover, the taunts of her triumphant rival, Madame de Maintenon, and the contempt of the courtiers. From 1683 onward, de Montespan no longer held a title at court. However, she remained there as she was unable to leave the King whom she still loved. Madame de Montespan remained at court until 1691, when she retired to the convent. De Montespan died at the age of 66 on May 28, 1701 in Bourbon-Larchambault. She is buried in the chapel of the Cordeliers convent. The next video will be a biography on Madame de Maintenon, the last famous mistress and second wife, although not queen, of Louis XIV. If you enjoyed this video, please don't forget to comment, like and subscribe. Thank you for watching. Take care. Bye.