Undercover Queen:THE SECRET WIFE OF LOUIS XIV Françoise d’Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon

The New York Times ^ | September 6, 2009 | Veronica Buckley

[Cincinna]

“Kings,” Louis XIV once observed, “should enjoy giving pleasure” and when it came to the fairer sex, he obeyed this precept zealously and often. “They’re all good enough for him, provided they’re women,” his sister-in-law remarked, “peasants, gardeners’ daughters, chambermaids, ladies of quality”; women of every stripe benefited from the Sun King’s sexual largesse. Neither the bonds of matrimony (to the sad, neglected Marie-Thérèse of Spain) nor the intrigues of his “official” mistresses (one of whom, Athénaïs de Montespan, wasn’t above spreading the rumor that a particular rival had scabs all over her body) could deter him from sharing the love.

But the prospect of eternal damnation was, to a Catholic sovereign, a rather more forceful deterrent. As Louis aged — afflicted by chronic tooth decay, a prostate tumor and a nasty case of gout — he worried that his adultery might cost him the kingdom of heaven. Eventually and paradoxically, this concern propelled him into a liaison with the morally exacting, middle-aged Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon. To the astonishment of the court, accustomed to a monarch whose tastes ran more to pulchritude than to piety, she exerted such influence over him in his final years that once he was a widower he even, despite her shameful origins as a convicted felon’s daughter, deigned to wed her (albeit secretly). In his well-known chronicle of Louis XIV’s reign, the Duc de Saint-Simon demonized Madame de Maintenon as ruthless schemer whose devoutness was a ruse, devised solely to exploit her lover’s fear of sin. While likewise revealing that her faith was a matter of strategy rather than of substance, “The Secret Wife of Louis XIV: Françoise d’Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon,” by Veronica Buckley, offers a lively, sympathetic portrayal of the woman who, against all odds, succeeded in taming the royal tomcat.

[JRandomFreeper]

Things were sorta rough back then. But it was a long time ago.

Maybe we could cut them some slack.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

Which reminds me. Teddy Kennedy is still dead. He's part of history. Just like Louis 14th and Caesar Augustus.

Some things just give you a warm fuzzy.

/johnny

[Erasmus]

IOW, not exactly Miss “Right,” but rather Miss “Right Now!”

[Constitutions Grandchild]

“These people were such sweethearts ~ just who the heck let her get near the Court?”

The same type of person who let Van Jones into the White House — the King. ;-)

[Cincinna]

Try this.. WIKI in English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_de_Maintenon

Quite detailed and extensive bio of M<adame de Maintenon.

[SunkenCiv]

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	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks Cincinna. Great, now I'm having an Allen Sherman flashback, and it's not even the right Louie. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
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