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Voilà! My three first dolls are finally done. They all are of different human types: - a little girl (Dorothy)
- an Afro-American lady (Chantalle)
- a man (portrait doll of my husband).
I realised that I was ready to create an image of a beautiful young woman. I was thinking over a historical personage since I was eager to work on an old-fashioned costume. I had a character on mind which has been always very intriguing for me. It is Louise de La Vallière, the famous mistress of King Louis XIV of France, so called "the Sun King". Her life full of love and suffering is worth attention.
Louise de La Vallière
So if you have time and a cup of hot tea, make yourself comfortable and I will tell you a story of this remarkable lady.
Louise
de La Vallière was born in 1644 in Tours in an aristocratic family. She
grew up as a timid and shy girl fond of nature and animals. Her main virtues were modesty and piety.
Louise in her younger years
Henrietta Anne of England, Duchess of Orleans
To counter these rumours, Henrietta selected three young ladies to "set in the King's path". Seventeen-year-old Louise was among them. She had an exquisite complexion, blond hair, blue eyes, a sweet smile, a tender and modest expression on her face. One of her legs was shorter than the other, so Louise wore specially made heels.
Louise
Louise had
been at Fontainebleau only two months before becoming the King's mistress.
Although she was intended to divert attention from the dangerous flirtation
between Louis and his sister-in-law, Louise and Louis soon fell in
love. It was Louise's first serious attachment. In fact she was an
innocent, religious-minded girl who initially brought neither coquetry nor
self-interest to their secret relationship. She was not extravagant and was not
interested in money or titles that could come from her situation; she wanted
only the King's love.
King Louis XIV of France
During her
first pregnancy, Louise was removed from the Princess' service and established
in a lodging in the Palais Royal, where, on 19 December 1663, she
gave birth to a son, Charles. The infant was immediately taken from her and given
to two faithful servants of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the minister of finance. The story
quickly spread to Paris. The public scorn fallen upon Louise at the Christmas
mass on 24 December made her run home from the church in despair.
Maria
Theresa, the King's wife, was extremely venomous towards Louise during the
five-year love affair, continuing even after the affair really ended, unaware
that the king had taken another mistress.
After five years, Louise's favour was waning. She had given birth to a second son, Philippe, in 1665; but both children soon died: Charles in 1665, and Philippe in 1666. The third child, a daughter, was born on 2 October 1666.
In 1667 Louis XIV legitimised his daughter, who was named Marie Anne de Bourbon and was given the title of Mademoiselle de Blois. Louis XIV also made Louise a duchess and gave her the estate of Vaujours. As a duchess, Louise had the right to sit on a tabouret in the presence of the queen, which was a highly prised privilege.
However, Louise was not impressed. She said her title seemed a kind of retirement present given to a servant who was retiring.
Maria Theresa, the King's wife
After five years, Louise's favour was waning. She had given birth to a second son, Philippe, in 1665; but both children soon died: Charles in 1665, and Philippe in 1666. The third child, a daughter, was born on 2 October 1666.
Louise and her children
In 1667 Louis XIV legitimised his daughter, who was named Marie Anne de Bourbon and was given the title of Mademoiselle de Blois. Louis XIV also made Louise a duchess and gave her the estate of Vaujours. As a duchess, Louise had the right to sit on a tabouret in the presence of the queen, which was a highly prised privilege.
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Marie Anne de Bourbon, Louise's daughter
However, Louise was not impressed. She said her title seemed a kind of retirement present given to a servant who was retiring.
On 2
October of 1667 Louise gave birth to their fourth child, a son named Louis, but
by this time her place in the King's affections had been usurped by Francoise-Athenais, marquise de Montespan, whom both she and the queen (both
pregnant when the affair began) had thought of as a trusted friend. Under the
pretence of her pregnancy, Louise was sent away to Versailles while the King
and the court were at the scene of the war; however, she disobeyed the King's
orders and returned, throwing herself at his feet sobbing uncontrollably.
In a
strange twist of fate, she ended her relationship with the King in the same way
in which she started: used initially as a decoy for Louis and Henrietta, Louise now became a decoy for her own successor, as Louis
made her share the Marquise de Montespan's apartments at the Tuileries to prevent the legal manœuvres of the
Marquis de Montespan (who wanted to get his wife back) and to keep the court
from gossipping. Mme de
Montespan demanded that Louise assist her with her toilette, and Louise did so
without complaint. Whenever the king wished to travel with his real mistress,
Athénaïs, he made both Louise and Athénaïs sit in the same carriage with the
queen. Since Athénaïs was married, it meant that both the king and she were
committing adultery, a mortal sin. Louise had refused a smokescreen marriage
for this very reason.
Marquise de Montespan
Mlle de La Vallière was the godmother of Athénaïs' and Louis XIV's first daughter, who was given the first name Louise. Louise hated being the decoy for Athénaïs and begged and wept often to be allowed to join a convent. She took to wearing a hair shirt, and the strain of being forced to live with her former lover and his current mistress caused her to lose weight and become increasingly haggard.
In 1674
Louise was finally permitted to enter the Carmelite convent under the name of Sister
Louise of Mercy.
At the
convent Louise was forbidden to wear the shoes that allowed her to walk without
a limp. "When I shall be suffering at the convent", Louise replied,
"I shall only have to remember what they made me suffer here, and all the
pain shall seem light to me." The day she left, she threw herself at the
feet of the Queen, begging forgiveness: "My crimes were public, my
repentance must be public, too."
Sister Louise of Mercy
She took the final vows a year later, accepting the black veil from the queen herself, who kissed and blessed her. The queen already had a habit of spending brief sojourns at the convent for spiritual consolation and repose. Interestingly, later in life, Mme de Montespan went to Louise for advice on living a pious life. Louise forgave her, and counselled her on the mysteries of divine grace.
In 1683
Louise's son Louis died at the age of 16 after being involved in the court
scandal and sent to exile in Flandres. His father, the King of
France, did not shed a tear. His mother, still obsessed with the sin of her
relationship with the King, said upon hearing of her son's death: "I
ought to weep for his birth far more than for his death".
Louise died
in 1710. The Duchy of La Valliere went to her daughter Marie
Anne as did the fortune she had acquired during her life as Louis's mistress.
Louis XIV
of France never visited her at the convent...
P.S. Louise
De La Valliere is famous not only for being the King's mistress but for her
artistic, literary and philosophical interests. During her years at the convent
she focused in particular on virtue theory.
* * * * * * * * *
And of course, a few photos of the doll I made having inspired by Louise de LaVallière's personality:
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