Louise de La Vallière

Louis XIV in 1660 on an engraving by Abraham van Diepenbeeck and Adriaen Millaert

A close relationship soon formed between the king and Madame, which concerned the Queen Dowager, Anne (1601–1666).[7] In order to counter rumours, they allegedly decided that he should court other women as a front, for which Madame herself selected three young ladies, including La Vallière. She spent only two months in Fontainebleau before becoming the king's mistress. According to one version of the events, she knew nothing of her part in a ploy to avert a scandal, delightfully believing that the monarch's feelings for her were sincere. Apart from her skills in various arts and sports, it was La Vallière's innocence and sincerity that captured the king: one source states that he fell in love with her after, upon their first meeting, she exclaimed "Ah! if he was not the King...".[8][9]

This was Mademoiselle de La Vallière's first relationship. She was reportedly an innocent, religious girl who did not behave flirtatiously or acted on self-interest during the romance. She was not extravagant, nor was she interested in the wealth or the titles she could receive from her situation. Antonia Fraser writes that she was a "secret lover not a maîtresse-en-titre like Barbara Villiers."[10] Nicolas Fouquet's curiosity in the affair was one of the causes of his disgrace, for, when he bribed Louise, the king mistakenly thought that Fouquet was attempting to take her as a lover.[11]^{[clarification needed]} The affair, although discreet, quickly became public, angering the clergy, including celebrated orator and future Bishop of Meaux, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704), as well as many religiously devoted people in the court. It also invoked the bitter sarcasm of Madame. Wishing to avoid scandal and a confrontation with his mother, the king moved La Vallière to a hunting lodge in the forest near Versailles, not far from Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[8]

In February 1662, the couple had a conflict: upon direct questioning by the king, La Vallière refused to tell him about the alleged affair between the Duchess of Orléans and Armand de Gramont, Count of Guiche (1637–1673). Around the same time, Bossuet delivered a series of Lenten sermons condemning the immoral activities of the king through the example of David's adultery, which troubled the pious girl's conscience, and she fled to a convent in Chaillot.[12] Meanwhile, her enemies, led by the Countess of Soissons, born Olympia Mancini conspired to bring La Vallière down by bringing the affair to the attention of Queen Maria Theresa (1638–1683).[13]

During her first pregnancy in 1663, La Vallière was removed from the service of the Duchess of Orléans and sent to live in the Palais-Royal, where, on 19 December 1663, she gave birth to a son, Charles (1663–1665). He was taken immediately and secretly to Saint-Leu and entrusted to the care of two faithful servants of Chief Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683). Despite the attempts of Dr Boucher, who was present at the birth and tried to make the transfer as secret as possible, the story quickly spread through Paris. The public scorn at the Midnight Mass on 24 December was so great that La Vallière escaped from the church.[14]

The theatre installed for the premiere of The Princess of Elid on a contemporary engraving by Israel Silvestre (1621–1691).[15]

In 1664, Louis XIV hosted a multi-day performance and party, called Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée ("The Pleasures of the Enchanted Island") in the hunting lodge where his mistress lived. During the festivities, Molière (1622–1673) presented two new plays, La Princesse d'Élide (The Princess of Elid) and Le Tartuffe, ou l'Imposteur (Tartuffe, or The Impostor/Hypocrite)[16][17] with the musical arrangements of Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687). Queen Maria Theresa and the dowager queen were the official dedicators, while La Vallière was the unofficial dedicatee, leading to court gossip.^{[clarification needed]} This only worsened when she received the domain of Carrières-sur-Seine, and started building a castle there, with gardens designed by André Le Nôtre (1613–1700), the royal landscape architect.

In 1665, the king had two affairs beside the one with La Vallière: he was temporarily involved with Bonne de Pons d'Heudicourt (1644–1709), whose family quickly had her removed from the court,[18] then with the Princess of Monaco, born Catherine Charlotte de Gramont (1639–1678). After the death of his mother in 1666, Louis XIV started to publicly display his affair, which greatly displeased La Vallière. Within a week of the dowager queen's death, La Vallière had to appear at mass next to the queen. Ashamed, she treated Maria Theresa with humility and respect.

Madame de Montespan in 1670

Around the time of the death of the queen dowager, the former Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente, now the Marquise of Montespan returned to the service of the Duchess of Orléans, which she left because of her marriage in 1663. Now a lady-in-waiting, she quickly established herself as the reigning beauty of the court.[9] Enamoured, the king sought to take her as his new mistress.[19]

In May 1667, before going on a military campaign to Flanders, the king legitimised their only living child, Marie-Anne (1666–1739). Their three eldest children, Charles (1663–1665), Philippe (1665–1666), and Louis (1665–1666) had already died by this time. Marie-Anne thus became a fille legitimée de France ("legitimised daughter of France"), could use the surname de Bourbon and received the title Mademoiselle de Blois. On the same day, he created his mistress Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of Vaujours.[8] As a duchess, La Vallière had the right to sit on a taboret in the presence of the queen, which was a highly prized privilege. However, La Vallière was not impressed, saying that the title resembled a present given to a servant when he retired. Affirming this, Louis XIV commented that legitimising their daughter and the gifts to La Vallière "matched the affection he had had for her for six years".[20]

When the king left for the campaign, La Vallière, again pregnant, was ordered to stay at the court. Worrying for the king and maybe feeling jealous, she travelled to the battlefield without permission and threw herself at his feet, sobbing uncontrollably. Infuriated, Louis forced her to return home immediately. Madame de Montespan was the first to denounce her for the scandal. The king made La Vallière share an apartment with Montespan at the Tuileries Palace, as the latter's husband was very uncomfortable with his wife's affair. During this time, a devastated La Vallière wrote a poem, titled Sonnet to the King.[21]

Five months after the battlefield scandal, on 2 October 1667, La Vallière gave birth to her fifth and last child, Louis (1667–1683), who would later be legitimised. Hoping to win back the heart of the king, La Vallière accepted all the humiliations inflicted upon her by the new situation: Montespan demanded that she assist her with her toilette, and the king would often demand the two rivals to travel in the carriage of the queen on journeys. Her tactic was unsuccessful: the king did not return to her, nor did he end his other affairs.[8]

In 1669, when, effectively, their relationship had long since ended, their son was legitimised, created Count of Vermandois, and given the post of Admiral of France. As he was only 2 years old, the king retained his authority over the navy.[22] Around the same time, at the end of March 1669, Madame de Montespan gave birth to her first child by the king, a daughter (1669–1672). La Vallière served as the newborn daughter's godmother, who was named Louise-Françoise after her.

The strain of being forced to live with her former lover and his current mistress took its toll on La Vallière: she lost weight and became increasingly pale and exhausted. In 1670, after a nearly fatal, long illness (which, according to some sources, was the result of a miscarriage[23]), she turned to religion, writing her Réflexions sur la miséricorde de Dieu ("Reflections on the Mercy of God"). She remained at court for two more years, trying to lead an exemplary life in the hope of inspiring others. Her love for the king was not yet dead: she admitted that she was not "dead to her passions, while I feel them live more strongly than ever in what I love more than myself".[24]

La Vallière asking the queen for forgiveness on Louise Adélaïde Desnos' painting from 1838

All of the attempts at dissuading her were in vain, and in 1674, La Vallière was finally permitted to enter the Carmelite convent in the Faubourg Saint-Jacques. The day she left the court she threw herself at the feet of the queen, begging forgiveness, saying that "My crimes were public, my repentance must be public, too."[25] One year later, on 3 June 1675, La Vallière took her perpetual vows under the name Louise de la Miséricorde ("Louise of Mercy"), and accepted the black veil from the queen herself, who kissed and blessed her.[26]

In her absence, the new Duchess of Orléans, born Princess Elizabeth Charlotte "Liselotte" of the Palatinate, known as Madame Palatine, took care of the education of her son Louis. He died on his first military campaign at the age of 16, in 1683, while in exile in Flanders for his involvement with a secret group of young aristocrats practicing what was then called "le vice italien", homosexuality.[27] His sister and aunt were greatly affected by his death, while his father did not shed a tear. His mother, in reference to the adultery of her son's conception, said upon receiving the news, "I ought to weep for his birth far more than [for] his death."[28]

Queen Maria Theresia, the Duchess of Orléans, Bishop Bossuet, and Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné (1626–1696) had a habit of visiting Louise at the convent for spiritual consolation and repose. Later in life, Madame de Montespan herself also went to her for advice on a pious life. Louise forgave her and counselled her on the mysteries of divine grace.

Sister Louise de la Miséricordie died on 6 June 1710, at the age of 65, after 36 years of religious life, and was buried in the cemetery of her convent. Her titles and possessions were inherited by her only surviving child, Marie-Anne, by then Princess Dowager of Conti.