17-18th Cent. Louise Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc de La Vallière, Duchesse de La Vallière et Vaujours.

Louise de La Vallière

by Nicolas de Largilliere

 

Louise Françoise de La Vallière was born on 6 August 1644, in Tours, France. She was the daughter of Françoise Le Prévost and Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc, Seigneur de la Vallière. Her father, an officer, Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc died in 1651. According to the Memoirs of Madame de Montespan by Madame de Montespan, Louise's father said to his daughter, "In losing me, my poor little Louise, you lose all. What little there is of my inheritance ought, undoubtedly, to belong to you; but I know your mother; she will dispose of it. If my relatives do not show the interest in you which your fatherless state should inspire, renounce this world soon, where, separated from your father, there exists for you but danger and misfortune. Two of my ancestors left their property to the nuns of Saint Bernard at Gomer-Fontaines, as they are perfectly well aware. Go to them in all confidence; they will receive you without a dowry even; it is their duty to do so. If, disregarding my last counsel, you go astray in the world, from the eternal abodes on high I will watch over you; I will appear to you, if God empower me to do so; and, at any rate, from time to time I will knock at the door of your heart to rouse you from your baleful slumber and draw your attention to the sweet paths of light that lead to God." In 1655, her mother married Jacques de Courtarvel, Marquis de Saint-Rémy. She joined the Court of Marguerite de Lorraine, Duchesse d'Orléans (22 July 1615 - 13 April 1672) and Gaston, Duc d'Orléans (25 April 1608 - 2 February 1660), at the Château de Blois. Louise was brought up with their daughters, Marguerite Louise d'Orléans (28 July 1645 - 17 September 1721), Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans (26 December 1646 - 17 March 1696), Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans (13 October 1648 - 14 January 1664) and Marie Anne d'Orléans (9 November 1652 - 17 August 1656). Gaston died on 2 February 1660. His widow then moved with her daughters and Louise, to the Palais du Luxembourg, in Paris. In 1661, Louise was appointed Maid of Honour to Henrietta Anne of England (16 June 1644 - 30 June 1670), the wife of Philippe I, Duc d'Orléans (21 September 1640 - 9 June 1701), the brother of Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre (5 September 1638 - 1 September 1715). When Henrietta Anne's friendly relationship with her brother-in-law, King Louis XIV fed rumours of a romantic affair they decided that the King should pay Court elsewhere. Madame Montespan wrote, "She was maid of honour to the Princess Henrietta of England, and I filled a like office. Our two companions, being the most quick-witted, durst not talk about their love-affairs before Louise, so convinced were we of her modesty, and almost of her piety. In spite of that, as she was gentle, intelligent, and well-bred, the Princess plainly preferred her to the other three. In temperament they suited each other to perfection." She was the girl who originally was intended to divert attention away from the flirtation between the King and his sister-in law, Princess Henrietta Anne. Madame Montespan wrote, "Being brought in such close contact with the King, who in private life is irresistibly attractive, Mademoiselle de la Valliere conceived a violent passion for him; yet, owing to modesty or natural timidity, it was plain that she carefully sought to hide her secret. One fine night she and two young persons of her own age were seated under a large oak-tree in the grounds of Saint Germain. The Marquis de Wringhen, seeing them in the moonlight, said to the King, who was walking with him, "Let us turn aside, Sire, in this direction; yonder there are three solitary nymphs, who seem waiting for fairies or lovers." Then they noiselessly approached the tree that I have mentioned, and lost not a word of all the talk in which the fair ladies were engaged. They were discussing the last ball at the chateau. One extolled the charms of the Marquis d'Alincour, son of Villeroi; the second mentioned another young nobleman; while the third frankly expressed herself in these terms: "The Marquis d'Alincour and the Prince de Marcillac are most charming, no doubt, but, in all conscience, who could be interested in their merits when once the King appeared in their midst? "Oh, oh!" cried the two others, laughing, "it's strange to hear you talk like that; so, one has to be a king in order to merit your attention?"

"His rank as king," replied Mademoiselle de la Valliere, "is not the astonishing part about him; I should have recognised it even in the simple dress of a herdsman." The three chatterers then rose and went back to the chateau. Next day, the King, wholly occupied with what he had overheard on the previous evening, sat musing on a sofa at his sister-in-law's, when all at once the voice of Mademoiselle de la Beaume-le-Blanc smote his ear and brought trouble to his heart. He saw her, noticed her melancholy look, thought her lovelier than the loveliest, and at once fell passionately in love." Madame Montespan recalled, "They soon got to understand one another, yet for a long while merely communicated by means of notes at fetes, or during the performance of allegorical ballets and operettas, the airs in which sufficiently expressed the nature of such missives." In July 1661, Louise became the King's mistress. According to Madame Montespan, "In order to put the Queen-mother off the scent and screen La Valliere, the King pretended to be in love with Mademoiselle de la Mothe-Houdancour, one of the Queen's maids of honour."

"The adventure of Mademoiselle de la Mothe-Houdancour seemed to her just what it actually was, - a subterfuge; as she surmised, it could only be La Valliere. Having discovered the name of her confessor, the Queen herself went in disguise to the Theatin Church, flung herself into the confessional where this man officiated, and promised him the sum of thirty thousand francs for their new church if he would help her to save the King. The Theatin promised to do what the Queen thus earnestly desired, and when his fair penitent came to confess, he ordered her at once to break off her connection with the Court as with the world, and to shut herself up in a convent. Mademoiselle de la Valliere shed tears, and sought to make certain remarks, but the confessor, a man of inflexible character, threatened her with eternal damnation, and he was obeyed. Beside herself with grief, La Valliere left by another door, so as to avoid her servants and her coach. She recollected seeing a little convent of hospitalieres at Saint Cloud; she went thither on foot, and was cordially welcomed by these dames. Next day it was noised abroad in the chateau that she had been carried off by order of the Queen-mother. During vespers the King seemed greatly agitated, and no sooner had the preacher ascended the pulpit than he rose and disappeared. The confusion of the two Queens was manifest; no one paid any heed to the preacher; he scarcely knew where he was. Meanwhile the conquering King had started upon his quest. Followed by a page and a carriage and pair, he first went to Chaillot, and then to Saint Cloud, where he rang at the entrance of the modest abode which harboured his friend. The nun at the turnstile answered him harshly, and denied him an audience. It is true, he only told her he was a cousin or a relative. Seeing that this nun was devoid of sense and of humanity, he bethought himself of endeavouring to persuade the gardener, who lived close to the monastery. He slipped several gold pieces into his hand, and most politely requested him to go and tell the Lady Superior that he had come thither on behalf of the King. The Lady Superior came down into the parlour, and recognising the King from a superb miniature, besought him of his grandeur to interest himself in this young lady of quality, devoid of means and fatherless, and consented, moreover, to give her up to him, since as King he so commanded." In February 1662, after the couple had a quarrel, Louise fled to the Convent at Chaillot. The King followed her there and convinced her to return to Court. Louise gave birth to her first child, a son, Charles on 19 December 1663. Her little son was immediately given to the servants of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, in Saint-Leu. Louise had six children by King Louis XIV.

The Children of Louise Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc de La Vallière and King Louis XIV:

Charles de Bourbon (19 December 1663 -1665)

Philippe de Bourbon (7 January 1665 -1666)

Louis de Bourbon (27 December 1665 - 15 July 1666)
Marie Anne de Bourbon (2 October 1666 - 3 May 1739) Married Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti.
Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vermandois (2 October 1667 - 18 November 1683)

According to Madame de Montespan, "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, contemplative love-making, such as one reads of in idyls and romances. She would willingly have spent her life in. contemplating the King,—in loving and adoring him without ever opening her mouth; and to her, the sweet silence of a tete-a-tete seemed preferable to any conversation enlivened by wit. The King's character was totally different. His imagination was vivid, and mere love-making, however pleasant, bored him at last if the charm of ready speech and ready wit were wanting. I do not profess to be a prodigy, but those who know me do me the justice to admit that where I am it is very difficult for boredom to find ever so small a footing. Mademoiselle de la Valliere, after having begged me, and begged me often, to come and help her to entertain the King, grew suddenly suspicious and uneasy. She is candour itself, and one day, bursting into tears, she said to me, in that voice peculiar to her alone, "For Heaven's sake, my good friend, do not steal away the King's heart from me!" When mademoiselle said this to me, I vow and declare in all honesty that her fears were unfounded, and that (for my part at least) I had only just a natural desire to gain the good-will of a great prince. My friendship for La Valliere was so sincere, so thorough, that I often used to superintend little details of her toilet and give her various little hints as to attentive conduct of the sort which cements and revives attachments. I even furnished her with news and gossip, composing for her a little repertoire, of which, when needful, she made use. But her star had set, and she had to show the world the touching spectacle of love as true, as tender, and as disinterested as any that has ever been in this world, followed by a repentance and an expiation far superior to the sin, if sin it was. Moreover, Mademoiselle de la Valliere never broke with me. She shed tears in abundance, and wounded my heart a thousand times by the sight of her grief and her distress. For her sake I was often fain to bid farewell to her fickle lover, proud monarch though he was. But by breaking with him I should not have reestablished La Valliere. The prince's violent passion had changed to mere friendship, blended with esteem. To try and resuscitate attachments of this sort is as if one should try to open the grave and give life to the dead. God alone can work miracles such as these." In May 1667, by letters-patent confirmed by the Parlement de Paris, Louis XIV legitimised his daughter with Louise. She was named Marie Anne de Bourbon, with the title Mademoiselle de Blois. The King also made Louise a Duchess and gave her the estate of Vaujours. According to Madame Montespan, "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 months of mourning that he shook off all restraint, showing that, like any private person, he felt himself master of his actions and his inclinations. He gave the Vaujours estate to his mistress, after formally constituting it a duchy, and, owing to the two children of his duchy, Mademoiselle de la Valliere assumed the title of Duchess. What a fuss she made at this time! All that was styled disinterestedness, modesty. Not a bit of it. It was pusillanimity and a sense of servile fear. La Valliere would have liked to enjoy her handsome lover in the shade and security of mystery, without exposing herself to the satire of courtiers and of the public, and, above all, to the reproaches of her family and relatives, who nearly all were very devout. On this head, however, she soon saw that such fears were exaggerated. The Marquise de Saint-Remy was but slightly scandalised at what was going on. She and the Marquis de Saint-Remy, her second husband, strictly proper though they were, came to greet their daughter when proclaimed duchess. And when, a few days afterwards, the King declared the rank of the two children to the whole of assembled Parliament, the two families of Saint-Remy and La Valliere offered congratulations to the Duchess, and received those of all Paris." Louise gave birth to her last child, a son named Louis on 20 October 1667. By this time the King had a new mistress, Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan. Louise was the godmother of Françoise-Athénaïs and Louis XIV's first daughter, named Louise. Henrietta Anne died on 30 June 1670, at Château de Saint-Cloud, France. Phillippe married his second wife, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate (1652-1722) by proxy on 16 November 1671, at Metz. In 1671, Louise fled to the convent of Ste Marie de Chaillot. She was soon compelled to return. In 1674, she entered the Carmelite Convent at the Faubourg Saint-Jacques, in Paris, as Sister Louise of Mercy. In 1675, she took the final vows, accepting the black veil from the Queen. According to Madame de Montespan, "The Carmelite nuns of the Rue Saint Jacques loudly proclaimed this conversion, and in their vanity gladly received into their midst so modest and distinguished a victim, driven thither through sheer despair. The ceremony which these dames call "taking the dress" attracted the entire Court to their church. The Queen herself desired to be present at so harrowing a spectacle, and by a curious contradiction, of which her capricious nature is capable, she shed floods of tears. La Valliere seemed gentler, lovelier, more modest and more seductive than ever. In the midst of the grief and tears which her courageous sacrifice provoked, she never uttered a single sigh, nor did she change colour once. Hers was a nature made for extremes; like Caesar, she said to herself, "Either Rome or nothing!" When Louise left the Court, the new Duchess of Orléans, took care of the education of her son, Louis. Her daughter, Marie Anne married Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, on 16 January 1680, in the Chapel of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In June 1682, her son, Louis was exiled to Normandy after a scandal at Court. He was then sent as a solider, to the Siege of Courtray. Louis died aged 16, on 18 November 1683, while in exile in Flandres. He was buried in the Cathedral at Arras, Arras. Queen Marie-Thérèse died on 30 July 1683, at Versailles. Louis XIV married his second wife, Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon in secret at midnight on 10 October 1683, in the Chapel at Versailles. The King never visited Louise at the convent. Louise de La Vallière died aged 65, on 7 June 1710, in Paris, France. The Duchy of La Vallière went to her daughter Marie Anne. King Louis XIV died on 1 September 1715. He was succeeded by Louis XV, King of France and Navarre (1710-1774), with Philippe II, Duc de Orléans as his Regent.

Excerpts and Source: The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan by Madame de Montespan.