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Marie-Elisabeth de Ludres, Marquise de Bayon
A canoness, an almost-Duchesse, a mistress. Born in Lorraine in 1647 to Jean de Ludres and his wife Claude des Salles, Marie-Elisabeth came from a family related to the first Ducs de Bourgogne. Due to her high-birth, she was admitted to the Chapitre des dames nobles de Poussay, a abbey of women, as child to be educated and raised virtuous. Isabelle,…
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Anne de Rohan-Chabot, Princesse de Soubise
Anne-Julie de Rohan-Chabot was born in 1648 to Marguerite de Rohan and Henri Chabot. She was the third child born in a marriage that was a proper scandal. Her mother was the only child of Henri de Rohan, Duc de Rohan, and her family held the rank of Prince étranger. As Henri de Rohan died, Marguerite became Duchesse de…
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The gruesome death of Louis, le Grand Dauphin
In the last years of his reign, Louis XIV had to witness the demise of a lot of his family members. The one of his only son, the person supposed to become King as Louis XV after him, was particularly awful. On April 8 in 1711, Wednesday in Easter week, Monseigneur, as the Dauphin was called, left the…
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Dangeau’s Diary, October 1686
2d. — Within these few days past, the King has very frequently seen the Siamese ambassadors, both in his little apartment, where he has said a thousand obliging things to them, and also in his gardens, into which he allowed no-one to enter, in order that they might observe everything with the greater ease and convenience. They are delighted with…
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Jean-Baptiste Lully, surintendant de la musique de Louis XIV
For Louis XIV, music was not just something nice to listen to. It was a tool to create his Sun King persona and the person who understood this the best, was not French but Italian-born. Giovanni Battista Lulli was born on 28 November 1632 in Florence, capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. His father Lorenzo Lulli was a miller,…
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Marie-Émilie Thérèse de Joly de Choin, Mademoiselle de Choin, secret wife of le Grand Dauphin
Like the father, so the son. After the demise of Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche in 1683, Louis XIV married Françoise d’Aubigné in secret. His son Louis de France, married a certain Mademoiselle de Choin after the death of his wife. Marie-Émilie Thérèse de Joly de Choin was born on 2 August in 1670 to at Bourg-en-Bresse to Guillaume Claude de Joly de Choin, grand bailiff…
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Marie-Thérèse de France, Madame Royale
The fourth child and third daughter of Louis XIV and his wife Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche died two months after her fifth birthday. Born at the château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, like her father, on 2 January in 1667, as a fille de France -daughter of France- Marie-Thérèse carried the last-name of de France. As the oldest daughter of the King, she also…
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Ice cream for the Sun King
Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of ice cream on a hot summer’s day? Louis XIV certainly did. Eating ice became a fashion at the Sun King’s court in the 1660’s. The Italians did it for a while already and Louis was immediately taken with the idea as he heard of it. A certain Monsieur Audiger, who spent time in Genoa to get…
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Marie-Anne de Bavière, Dauphine de France
Maria-Anna Christine Victoria born on 28 November 1660, the future mother of Spain’s first Bourbon king, was the oldest daughter of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, and his wife Princesse Henriette-Adélaïde de Savoie, granddaughter of Henri IV de France. Born in the Bavarian capital Munich, Marie-Anne was given an education to prepare for a future role as Queen. Aged…
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Mademoiselle de Scudéri by E. T. A. Hoffmann
For some strange reason, I have never quite gotten to read E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Mademoiselle de Scudéri, A Tale from the Times of Louis XIV… but I had it in my mailbox the other day and read it thus, while I totally was not supposed to engage in other activities. Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann was a Prussian Romantic author of fantasy…
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Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon
Saint-Simon. You probably heard that name once or twice before and most likely in combination with quotes. Louis de Rouvroy, commonly called Saint-Simon, managed to write himself into the history books of the world by writing his memoirs. If he had not written those, hardly anyone would know he existed. Louis de Rouvroy was born on 16 January 1675 in…
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Françoise-Thérèse de Voyer de Dorée, dite Mademoiselle de Dorée
Coming from a less prestigious and younger branch of the Voyer family, Françoise-Thérèse’s date of birth is unfortunately not known. She was a daughter of René de Voyer, Chevalier et Seigneur de Dorée, who was known as the Comte de Dorée and served as councillor to Louis XIV, while his wife acted as governess to the children Louis XIV had with Madame…
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Dangeau’s Diary, September 1686
1st. — The King gave audience to the ambassadors from Siam, upon a throne raised for him at the end of the gallery adjoining the apartments of the Dauphine: the arrangements were admirable, and his Majesty said that he was indebted for them to Monsieur D’Aumont, first gentleman of the bed-chamber for that year: the ambassadors spoke very well. The…
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Louis de France, le Grand Dauphin
Heir of a King, but never King himself, yet father of a King. Louis de France, born on 1 November in 1661, was the first-born son of Louis XIV and Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche and the only of their children to reach adulthood. To celebrate the birth of his heir, the Sun King hosted a lavish party called the Le Grand Carrousel. He…
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Mademoiselle at Quedlinburg Abbey…
I have been told to scribble more about my trips, so here we go… Yesterday, which happened to be my day of birth, I spent the day in Quedlinburg. It’s not too far away from my place, thus we (meaning my mum and I) go there once in a while to admire the lovely Fachwerkhäuser – timber framed houses. The…
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Marie-Antoinette de Rouvroy, Comtesse d’Oisy
Born around 1660 to Pierre de Rouvroy, Seigneur de Puys and Ursule de Gontery, Marie-Antoinette was known as Mademoiselle de Rouvroy before her marriage. With beauty and wit, she managed to wake Louis XIV’s interest in 1681. Unfortunately for her, she did not become the new Madame de Montespan and the affair did not last long. Mademoiselle de Rouvroy served…
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The secret second marriage of Louis XIV
One night, at the chateau de Versailles, a group of selected people gathered, sworn to complete secrecy, to witness the second marriage of Louis XIV. To this very day, no document has been discovered that proves the whole thing, yet it is accepted to have happened by historians all over word. The great Sun King had lost his wife Marie-Thérèse…
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Anne-Madeleine de L’Isle Marivaux, Marquise de Calvisson
Anne-Madeleine de L’Isle Marivaux was the daughter of François de L’Isle Marivaux, Marquis de Marivaux and his wife Catherine Caillebot. The couple was married in 1630 and had six children, four sons and two daughters. Not much is known about Anne-Madeleine, called Mademoiselle de Marivaux before her marriage, early days apart from that she was a pretty girl and…
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Le Appartement du Roi
The more private version of the Grand Appartement du Roi, faces the cour de marbre and served as the living quarters of Louis XIV. While the Grand Appartement was open to the nobles during the day and certain evenings, getting into the Appartement du Roi was an entirely different matter. Who could enter and proceed how far was strictly regulated, while today we (humble peasants)…
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Louise-Elisabeth de Rouxel, dite Madame de Grancey
Born in 1653 to Jacques de Rouxel, Comte de Grancey and Médavy as well as Marshal of France, and his second wife Charlotte de Mornay-Villarceaux, Louise-Elisabeth (sometimes also called Isabelle) had twenty-one siblings. Called Mademoiselle de Grancey, after her father’s property, Louise-Elisabeth found her way into the Household of the King’s brother with the help of her mother and one…
