![]() ![]() Wishing to avoid scandal and a confrontation with his mother, the king moved La Vallière to a hunting lodge in the forest near Versailles, not far from Saint-Germain-en-Laye. It also invoked the bitter sarcasm of Madame. The affair, although discreet, quickly became public, angering the clergy, including celebrated orator and future Bishop of Meaux, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704), as well as many religiously devoted people in the court. Antonia Fraser writes that she was a "secret lover not a maîtresse-en-titre like Barbara Villiers." Nicolas Fouquet's curiosity in the affair was one of the causes of his disgrace, for, when he bribed Louise, the king mistakenly thought that Fouquet was attempting to take her as a lover. She was not extravagant, nor was she interested in the wealth or the titles she could receive from her situation. She was reportedly an innocent, religious girl who did not behave flirtatiously or acted on self-interest during the romance. This was Mademoiselle de La Vallière's first relationship. ![]() Apart from her skills in various arts and sports, it was La Vallière's innocence and sincerity that captured the king: one source states that he fell in love with her after, upon their first meeting, she exclaimed "Ah! if he was not the King.". According to one version of the events, she knew nothing of her part in a ploy to avert a scandal, delightfully believing that the monarch's feelings for her were sincere. She spent only two months in Fontainebleau before becoming the king's mistress. In order to counter rumours, they allegedly decided that he should court other women as a front, for which Madame herself selected three young ladies, including La Vallière. Louis XIV's mistress (1661–1667) Louis XIV in 1660 on an engraving by Abraham van Diepenbeeck and Adriaen MillaertĪ close relationship soon formed between the king and Madame, which concerned the Queen Dowager, Anne (1601–1666). She served the duchess together with Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente (1640–1707), the future Madame de Montespan. Henrietta, known as "Madame" joined the court at Fontainebleau in 1661, where La Vallière likely first met her future lover, Louis XIV, King of France (1638–1715). Through the influence of a distant relative, Madame de Choisy (born Jeanne-Olympe Hurault de L'Hospital 1604–1669) Mademoiselle de La Vallière was named maid of honour to Henrietta (1644–1670), the new Duchess of Orléans, wife of Louis XIV's brother Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (1640–1701) and moved to her home, the Tuileries Palace. After the death of the Duke of Orléans, his widow Marguerite (1615–1672) moved with her daughters to the Luxembourg Palace, Paris and took then-sixteen-year-old La Vallière with them. La Vallière served as a lady's companion to the duke's three younger daughters, Princesses Marguerite-Louise (1645–1721), Élisabeth-Marguerite "Isabelle" (1646–1696), and Françoise-Madeleine (1648–1664), being educated with them in painting, music, etiquette, equitation, literature and philosophy by the duke's first almoner, Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé, who went on to found the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ("Trappists"). įollowing her father's death, La Vallière's mother married Jacques de Courtavel, Marquess of Saint-Rémy, butler of the exiled Gaston, Duke of Orléans (uncle of Louis XIV, known as "Monsieur", 1608–1660). During these years, she was educated by her aunts, Ursuline nuns Élisabeth and Charlotte in reading, grammar, musical composition and public speaking. At the time of her birth, her father was the governor of the Castle of Amboise, where she spent her first years, also spending time in her family's Castle of La Vallière in Reugny. The La Blaume Le Blanc family had distinguished itself in military service to the crown, while the Le Prévosts had served the throne with their legal knowledge for generations. After leaving the royal court, Louise dedicated her life to religion, becoming a nun in 1674.Īncestry and early life (1644–1661) įrançoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc de La Vallière, Mademoiselle de La Vallière was born on 6 August 1644 at the Hôtel de la Crouzille (also known as Hôtel de la Vallière) in Tours, Kingdom of France as the daughter of military officer Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc, Lord of La Vallière and his wife, born Françoise Le Prévost, widow of a councillor of the parlement. ![]() ![]() She was created suo jure Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of Vaujours. Cemetery of the Carmelite convent in Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Parisĭuchess de La Vallière, Duchess of Vaujoursįrançoise Louise de La Vallière, Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours, born Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc de La Vallière, Mademoiselle de La Vallière (6 August 1644 – 7 June 1710) was a French noblewoman and the first mistress of Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667. ![]()
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