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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Antoine Coëffier de Ruzé d’Effiat, Marquis d’Effiat
Antoine Coëffier de Ruzé d’Effiat comes from family with a prominent status at court. One of his ancestors, Martin Ruzé de Beaulieu, served as Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi, or King’s Secretary, under three Kings of France. Henry III, the last Valois King, Henry IV, the first Bourbon King, and his son Louis XIII. As he…
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Laure Mancini, Duchesse de Mercœur
Laure Mancini was the oldest of the five Mancini sisters. Born on May 6, 1636, she was called to France by Cardinal de Mazarin, along with her sister Olympe and cousin Anne-Marie Martinozzi, in 1647. Upon arriving in France, Laure adopted, like the rest, the French spelling of her name, Laure-Victoire Mancini. Due to the influence of their uncle, Cardinal…
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Alexandre Bontemps, Valet and Special Agent
Born on 9 June in 1626 in Paris, Alexandre Bontemps rose to be one of the most powerful men at the court of Louis XIV. His father, Jean-Baptiste Bontemps, was originally from Marseille and was made first surgeon to Louis XIII in 1633 and in 1643, he became premier valet de chambre ordinaire by lettres patentes. Louis XIII died a…
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Alexandre bâtard de Lorraine, Chevalier de Beauvernois
Alexandre de Lorraine was born to Philippe de Lorraine and a certain Claude de Souches or possibly Mademoiselle de Fiennes, both are mentioned as his mother. His year of birth was between 1668 and 1674, 1670 being the most common year mentioned. Alexandre was one of several children fathered by the Chevalier de Lorraine, the infamous paramour of Louis XIV’s brother, which according…
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Marie-Madeleine-Marguerite d’Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers
Marie-Madeleine Marguerite d’Aubray was born on July 2 in 1630, into a wealthy and well-known noble family. Her father, Antoine Dreux d’Aubray, was a civil lieutenant of the Châtelet during the Fronde. Her mother died in childbirth and, according to reports, Marie Madeleine was sexually abused by three servants as she was seven, then had a incestuous relationship with one of her brothers at the…
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Claude de Vin des Œillets
Claude de Vin des Œillets, dite Mademoiselle des Œillets, was born in the Provence in 1637, as daughter of Nicholas de Vin and Alix de Faviot, better known by their stage name des Œillets, both being actors and country comedians, leading a nomadic life. This lifestyle full of privations came to an end as Nicolas fell ill and died,…
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Catherine Monvoisin, fortune teller, sorceress and poisoner
France was shaken by a scandal of enormous proportions in the late 1670’s, l’affaire des poisons, in its center the King, various women of the best noble families of France and a woman called La Voisin. Catherine Deshayes was born around 1640 and married Antoine Monvoisin, sometimes spelled Montvoison. He was a jeweller with a shop at Pont-Marie, in…
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Anne-Marie Martinozzi, Princesse de Conti
Born in 1637, as youngest daughter of Comte Girolamo Martinozzi and Laura Margherita Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, Anne-Marie came to France in 1648 together with her mother and sister Laura. Mother and daughters lived first at Aix-en-Provence, then in the Palace of her brother and finally settled at the court of Anne d’Autriche, in the apartment of the…
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Philippe-Jules Mancini, Duc de Nevers
Filippo Giulio Mancini was born on May 26, 1641 in Rome as second son of Girolama Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, and the Italian aristocrat Lorenzo Mancini. Just like his sisters, he adopted the French version of his name upon being brought to France. Cardinal de Mazarin had not only just great plans for his nieces, but also…
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Olympe Mancini, Comtesse de Soissons
Born on July 11 in 1638, as Olimpia and third child of Lorenzo Mancini and Geronima Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, Olimpia adopted the French version of her name, Olympe, as she came to France along with her sister Laura Mancini, her brother Paul and cousin Anne Marie Martinozzi. The first set of Marazin relatives in France, which quickly…
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Hortense Mancini, Duchesse Mazarin
Born on June 6 in 1646, Ortensia was the second youngest of the Mancini sisters, who along with their Martinozzi cousins were known as les Mazarinettes. Ortensia was six years old as she arrived in France with her sisters and like them, swiftly adopted the French style of her name, Hortense. She was part of the second group of…
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Marie-Anne Mancini, Duchesse de Bouillon
Born in 1649, to Girolama Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, and Lorenzo Mancini, a Baron and necromancer, Marie-Anne Mancini was the youngest of the five famous Mancini sisters, who along with their Martinozzi cousins became known as the Mazarinettes. Marie-Anne Mancini was the last to join her sisters, brothers and cousins in France. Aged only 6 upon her…
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Philippe de Lorraine-Armagnac, dit le Chevalier de Lorraine
Born in 1643 (day and month unknown), Philippe was the second born son of Monsieur le Grand, Henri de Lorraine, pair de France, Comte d’Harcourt, d’Armagnac, de Brionne, and de Charny, Vicomte de Marsan and de Pagny, Grand écuyer de France, Vice-Roi de Catalogne in 1645, grand Sénéchal de Bourgogne, Gouverneur d’Anjou, and Marguerite-Philippe du Cambout. Philippe’s father, Henri, did his first…
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Louis de Bourbon, Comte de Vermandois
Louis de Bourbon was born at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 2 October 1667 as youngest of five illegitimate children of Louis XIV and Louise de La Vallière. His three older brothers already died before his birth, Charles de La Baume Le Blanc in 1665, and Louis and Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc in 1666. Louis, named after his…
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Louise de Kérouaille
Born on 6 September in 1649, into a noble but relatively poor Breton family, Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, was the daughter of Guillaume de Penancoët, Seigneur de Kérouaille, and Marie de Ploeuc de Timeur. Louise was introduced, at an young age, into the household of Henriette d’Angleterre, Duchesse d’Orléans, sister of Charles II of England, and sister-in-law…
