Maîtresse-en-titre

The maîtresse-en-titre (French: [mɛtʁɛs ɑ̃ titʁ]) was the chief royal mistress of the King of France.[1] The title was vaguely defined and used in the Middle Ages but finally became an acknowledged office during the reign of Henry IV and continued through the reign of Louis XV. It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartments, estates and a title if the woman did not have any.[2] The position could come with significant power, even more influence than the Queen of France, as some mistresses were known to advise the King of France sometimes in state affairs if he was so infatuated, broker favors for clients, elevate others in social mobility, forge alliances and negotiate with foreign diplomats all the while supplying the king his emotional and physical needs at the same time enriching themselves in the relationship.[3] In contrast, the title petite maîtresse was the title of a mistress who was not officially acknowledged.

Madame du Barry
Agnès Sorel
Olympia Mancini
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Madame de Pompadour

From the reign of Louis XIV, the term has often been applied, both in translation ("official mistress") and in the original French, to refer to the main mistress of any monarch or prominent man when his relationship with her is not clandestine, e.g. Vibeke Kruse, Nell Gwynn, Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, Lola Montez, Magda Lupescu.

French royal mistresses with the position of Maîtresse-en-titre

While the King may have many mistresses, there was normally only one official Maîtresse-en-titre. Below are examples of those with this position. For a full list of all the mistresses of a French King, regardless of their position as official or not, please see List of French royal mistresses.

Charles V of France (1338 – 1380)

Charles VI of France (1368 – 1422)

Charles VII of France (1403 – 1461)

Louis XI of France (1423 – 1483)

Francis I of France (1494 – 1547)

Henry II of France (1519 – 1559)

Henry III of France (1551 – 1589)

Henry IV of France (1553 – 1610)

Louis XIV of France (1638 – 1715)

Louis XV of France (1710 – 1774)

Louis XVIII of France (1755 – 1824)

See also

References
  1. Lewis, Brenda Ralph (2016-07-15). The Untold History of the Kings and Queens of Europe. ISBN 9781502619099.
  2. Hunter-Stiebel, Penelope; Leyzour, Philippe Le; Baumont, Olivier (2008). La volupté du goût: La peinture française au temps de madame de Pompadour. ISBN 9782757201695.
  3. Adams, Tracy (2022), Monagle, Clare Frances (ed.), "The Invention of the French Royal Mistress", The Intellectual Dynamism of the High Middle Ages, Amsterdam University Press, pp. 317–336, doi:10.1017/9789048537174.016, ISBN 978-90-485-3717-4
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