Death of Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon
The last great female presence in the life of Louis XIV, was Madame de Maintenon.
She later married the king in secret.
Although she was never considered queen of France, she was one of the King’s closest advisers.
Françoise was born on 27th November 1635, in the prison at Niort, where her father Constant d’Aubigné, was imprisoned for debt.
Her mother, Jeanne de Cardilhac, was the daughter of the prison director, and was probably seduced by the incarcerated Constant.
In 1652 married the poet Paul Scarron, who was 25 years older than her.
Upon his death in 1660, Scarron left his wife with nothing more than his name and a mountain of debt.
In 1669, the Marquise de Montespan, the official mistress of Louis XIV, invited Françoise to became governess to the king’s illegitimate children.
This provided an excellent opportunity for Françoise to meet the king in person when he came to visit his children.
Louis’ first impression of her, it appears, was that she was “unbearable.”
Things quickly changed however, and the two became close.
In 1675, Louis XIV granted her two royal donations which enabled her to purchase the estate of Maintenon, and take on the title of Marquise de Maintenon, which came with it.
The king spent much of his spare time with the royal governess by the late 1670s, discussing politics, economics, and religion.
It was around this time, Louis probably asked her to become his mistress.
She later claimed she didn’t yield to his advances.
“Madame de Maintenon knows how to love.
There would be great pleasure in being loved by her,” said the king.
In 1680 Françoise was given the position, created especially for her, of “second lady-in-waiting” to the Dauphine.
Following the disgrace of the Marquise de Montespan in a poisoning scandal, and the death of Queen Maria Theresa of Austria, Françoise married the king in secret in 1683.
Françoise held a great influence over Louis XIV, who visited her every day in her apartments overlooking the palace’s royal courtyard.
He worked here, held meetings with his ministers, and enjoyed moments of tranquillity in the company of his secret wife.
Françoise bore much of the blame for this new state of affairs, which many courtiers resented.
In 1715, a few days before the death of Louis XIV, Françoise retired to Saint-Cyr, the school for girls which she had persuaded the king to found.
Françoise continued to receive visitors at Saint-Cyr, including Tsar Peter the Great of Russia.
He was seated at a chair by the foot of her bed and asked what her illness was, to which she replied, “Old age”
Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon died on 15th April 1719, at the age of 83.
Madame de Maintenon was buried at the school for young girls she founded in Saint-Cyr, which was subsequently converted into a military academy by Napoleon.
Her body was exhumed by revolutionaries in 1793.
Françoise’s remains were rediscovered during the Second World War amid the ruins of the bombed academy, and were transferred to the royal chapel at the Palace of Versailles, before being returned to Saint-Cyr in 1969.
