Athénaïs de Montespan

As a Palace of  Versailles lover I'd like to post about an extravagant, beautiful, glorious & intrigant character at the image of the palace itself: Athénaïs de Montespan, Louis the XIVth's  famous mistress, called by some historians the "True Queen of France" because of her influence over the king & pervasiveness at the court of Versailles.

Mme de Montespan

Mme de Montespan was born Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart on october 5 of 1640 and belonged to one of the oldest noble families of France, spending her early childhood either at court which was at the Louvre at the time or at her parents various estates before being sent to the covent of Sainte Marie where she received the education given to young women from high social standing. At the age of 23 she married the Marquis de Montespan before becoming the official mistress of the Sun King four years later, after having firts met him in the early 1660's. 
She ousted Louise de La Vallière, the king's first official mistress with whom he had four children.

Louise de La Valmlière

Before being Louis the XIVth mistress she made her way to the court of Versailles thanks to the king's mother Anne of Austria, by becoming a member of the Queen's household.
Athénaïs was famous for her witty spirit for wich her family was renowned, called the "Mortemart spirit", her beauty as well as her passion for arts. She would later protect illustrious artists such as Molière and La Fontaine. Soon she played a prominent role in the palace political life and was even scared by both courtisants and ministers with her circle becoming the epicenter of court. Louis the XIVth and Athénaïs had seven children together that the king legitimated.

However her unpredictable, bad temper ultimately alienated the king from her, who then became involved with their children's nanny Mme de Maintenon:

Françoise d'Aubigné (future Mme de Maintenon) was born on november 27 in 1635 in prison as her father was incarcerated for the murder of his first wife. His second wife, Mme de Maintenon's mother lived with him in prison where she gave birth. At the age of 17 she married Scaron, a poet who received famous French writers like La Rochefoucauld as well as nobles. Following her husband's death, Mme de Maintenon became good friend with Mme de Montespan later raising her royal chidren.
She would eventually became the king's last "maîtresse en titre" as well as becoming Louis the XIVth second wife following the Queen's death. She married him in her 50's during his last 15 years of reign. Encouraging an atmosphere of dignity & pity at court, in sharp contrast with its previous decadant atmosphere, she founded an educational institution for poor girls at Saint Cyr in the 1680's.

Mme de Maintenon

Athenaïs' fall was also marked by the "Affaires des Poisons" which erupted in 1677 & signed the end of her "reign"after many years in the spotlight and her struggle to maintain the upper hand over her rivals such as Mlle de Fontanges. She was caught up in the "Affaires des Poisons" on suspicion of being involved in black messes, blood soaked ceremonies, new borns sacrifices and even murder, among them the murder of Mlle de Fontanges, Louis the XIVth then mistress who died under misterious circumstances at the age of 20.

In the 1690's, having become a discarded mistress, Athenais de Montespan retired to the convent "Les Filles de Saint Joseph" in Paris.
She is one of the ancestors of the modern house of Orléans through three of hers and the king's children and their descendence.