La Cour
Prominent and lesser known individuals of the Sun King's court. From Ministers and Princesses to traitors and sorceresses.
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Jules Raymond Mazarin, Cardinal de Mazarin
Born on 14 July 1602 in the Kingdom of Naples as Giulio Raimondo Mazzarini, sometimes also spelled Mazzarino, the First Minister of France comes from a rather modest background. His grandfather, Giulio Mazzarini, was a craftsman from Genoa who settled in the Sicilian town Mazzarino. This Giulio ensured that his sons were provided with a good education. One of them…
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Marie-Madeleine Agnès de Gontaut Biron, Marquise de Nogaret
Born in 1653, and known as Mademoiselle de Biron before her marriage, Marie-Madeleine managed to wake the interest of Louis XIV in the 1680’s. Her father, François de Gontaut, Marquis de Biron et Baron de Saint Blancard, served as lieutenant-general of the King’s armies. Her mother Elisabeth de Cossé-Brissac, a daughter of the Duc de Brissac, Grand Panetier de France.…
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Marie-Angélique de Scorraille de Roussille, Duchesse de Fontanges
Born in July 1661, a few months before Louis XIV’s heir was born, Marie-Angélique was to become the last great love of the Sun King and suffered an early and mysterious death aged only twenty. Marie-Angélique was born at the at the Château de Cropières in Upper Auvergne to Jean-Rigal de Scoraille, serving as Lieutenant to the King in…
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Catherine Charlotte de Gramont, Princesse de Monaco
Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont was born in either 1638 or 1639 as second child and first daughter of Antoine III de Gramont and his wife Françoise-Marguerite du Plessis de Chivré. Her father being a great military commander, her mother a great beauty and her older brother the infamous Comte de Guiche. Mademoiselle de Gramont spent much of her youth with the…
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Philippe de Courcillon, Marquis de Dangeau
Philippe de Courcillon was born on September 21 in 1638, only a couple of days after Louis XIV, whose death Philippe de Courcillon would record almost a century later. Born at the Château de Dangeau to Louis de Courcillon and Charlotte des Nouhes, and into a Calvinist family, Philippe converted to Catholicism early. After a youth not much is known…
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Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Born in Reims on 29 August 1619 into a family of wealthy merchants, Jean-Baptiste Colbert’s family claimed to descend from ancient Scottish nobility, something that could never be proved. His father Nicolas Colbert, Sieur de Vandières, acted as merchant and financier and married his cousin Marie Pussort, daughter of a merchant, in 1614. Some years later, in 1629, the couple settled in Paris, where…
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Marie-Anne de Wurtemberg, Princesse de Wurtemberg
Anna-Maria-Ignacia von Württemberg, sometimes also Maria-Anna, or in French Marie-Anne-Ignace de Wurtemberg, was the daughter of Ulrich von Württemberg-Neuenbürg, younger brother of the reigning Herzog von Württemberg, and his second wife. His first wife Gräfin Sophia Dorothea von Solms, which he married in 1647, had died in child-bed and the child two days later. Ulrich married again in 1651, this…
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Gabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Thianges
Born in 1633 at Lussac-Les-Châteaux into the illustrious de Rochechouart de Mortemart family, Gabrielle was the older sister of the famous Madame de Montespan and just like her little sister, Gabrielle was celebrated for her great beauty, sharp mind and wit. Gabrielle was the first-born child of Gabriel de Rochechouart de Mortemart and his wife Diane de Grandseigne. Her childhood…
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Dame Louise de Maisonblanche
Louise-Marie-Antoinette-Josèphe-Jeanne de Bourbon-Maisonblanche was born on June 17 in 1676 as daughter of Philippe de Maisonblanche, Captain of the Guards/Cavalry, and his wife Gabrielle de La Tour. This was the official version at least. The girl, her name being shortened to Louise de Maisonblanche, was actually the daughter of Claude de Vin des Œillets, a lady-in-waiting and companion of Madame…
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Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon
A plague at the Hotel du Chaumont in Niort suggests Françoise d’Aubigné, the future Marquise de Maintenon, was born there… but that seems not to be quite true. Her father, Constant Agrippa d’Aubigné lodged in the city of Niort, in its prison to be precise, for allegedly conspiring against Cardinal Richelieu. He led quite the debauched life, murdered his wife along with her…
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Élisabeth-Charlotte du Palatinat, Duchesse d’Orléans
She is known under many names and one of my favourite people in history. In Germany most people know her by her nickname Liselotte von der Pfalz. In France she is Élisabeth-Charlotte du Palatinat or de Bavière, some call her la Palatine or simply Madame. As she was born in Heidelberg on May 27 in 1652, her parents gave her the name Elisabeth…
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Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche
Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche was born on September 10 in 1638, five days after her future husband, which made many believe they were meant for each other. As daughter of the reining King of Spain Philip IV and his Queen Élisabeth de France, sister of Louis XIII, Marie-Thérèse was Infanta of Spain – meaning as much as Princess – from the day she…
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Guy-Armand de Gramont, Comte de Guiche
Guy-Armand de Gramont, mostly just called by his second name Armand, was born on November 25 in 1637. He achieved fame due to his bravery on the battlefield, his libertine lifestyle and his scandalous affair with Philippe de France, brother to the great Sun King. Armand was the first-born child of Antoine III de Gramont, Peer-Duc de Gramont and Marshal…
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Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Montespan
Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart was born on October 5 in 1640 into the ancient house of House of Rochechouart. Dating back to the days of Charles the Bald, who ruled as King of the Franks from 840 to 877, the House of Rochechouart teamed up with the House of Montemart, a Montemart is first mentioned in 1094, by marriage in 1205. Making them…
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Anne-Madeleine de Conty d’Argencourt
Before Marie Mancini and Louise de La Vallière, Louis XIV, aged tender sixteen, had a fling for a certain Mademoiselle de la Motte-Argencourt. Born in 1637 or 1638 to Pierre de Conty d’Argencourt and Madeleine de Chaumont de Bertichères, Anne-Madeleine de Conty d’Argencourt was around the same age as Louis XIV. She was baptised on September 20 in 1641 and entered the household of Anne d’Autriche later…
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Bonne de Pons, Marquise d’Heudicourt
Bonne de Pons was born between 1641 and 1644 in Poitou to Pons de Pons, Seigneur de Bourg-Charente, and his wife Elisabeth de Puyrigaud. Bonne is the youngest of the couple’s three children, having an older brother, Renaud de Pons, and an older sister, Marie Elisabeth de Pons. Bonne’s family was of old nobility and related to many great names, among them César…
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Louise de La Vallière, Duchesse de La Vallière et de Vaujours
Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc was born on August 6 in 1644 to Françoise Le Provost and the officer Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc. Her father Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc was a member of the poorer branch of the House of La Baume and Seigneur de la Vallière as well as Govenour of the château d’Amboise.…
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Nicolas Fouquet
Born in Paris into a wealthy family on January 27, 1615, Nicolas Fouquet made it to the heights of political power and fell very deep. His father, François Fouquet, was a member of the noblesse de robe and as such was a Maître des requêtes, a high-level judicial officer of administrative law, as well as Counsellor to the Parliament of Paris and…
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Marie Mancini, Princesse Colonna
Anna Maria Mancini, adopted, like her sisters and cousins, the French version of her name, Marie, as she came to France. Born on August 28, 1639, to the Italian aristocrat and necromancer Lorenzo Mancini and Geronima Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, Marie was the sister of Laure, Olympe, Hortense, Marie Anne and the first love of Louis XIV. Marie spent…
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Laure Martinozzi, Duchesse de Modène
Born as Laura Martinozzi on May 27, 1639, Laura adopted the French version of her name, Laure, when setting foot on French soil. She was the oldest daughter of Laura Margherita Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, and the Italian noble Girolamo Martinozzi da Fano, majordomo to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII. Laure came to France…
