Françoise d’Aubigné was the final official mistress of King Louis XIV of France and ended up marrying him secretly near the end of his life (so she was never queen). She married the much older poet Paul Scarron which allowed her to enter high society, was deeply religious, and became governess to the king’s legitimized children.
She became the king’s mistress in the 1670s, marrying him sometime around 1684 — meaning Louis, who is renowned for being a libertine, was actually with the same woman for several decades (he died in 1715). She was politically influential and founded a school for girls from impoverished noble families at Saint-Cyr, which focused on an actual education rather than the religious teaching that was the focus of conventional convent schools.
Let’s look at Madame de Maintenon on film!
Mary Marquet in Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954)
Anne Béranger in Blagapar: Versailles (1964)
All I can find out is this was a comedic French TV show.
Dominique Blanc in L’Allée du Roi (1995)
A two-part TV miniseries that focuses on Maintenon.
Isabelle Huppert in The King’s Daughters (2000)
A French film about Maintenon and her girls school.
Marisa Berenson in Julie, chevalier de Maupin (2004)
A TV movie about an orphaned girl with a confusing-to-read plot summary, but it does involve her wearing men’s clothing and swashbuckling.
Catherine Walker in Versailles (2015-18)
The TV series focused on Louis XIV, his building/expansion of Versailles, and the court he created there. I never made it long enough to see Maintenon, was she any good?
Irène Silvagni in The Death of Louis XIV (2016)
A film about, you guessed it, the death of Louis XIV.
Have you seen any of these productions? Fill us in on your thoughts!
Was she featured at all in A Little Chaos? I don’t remember, and IMDB doesn’t make it clear. :)
I watched her arc on “Versailles”, and she was played as a villain. She managed to sway Louis away from some people, and I believe took over the care of his children with Madame de Montespan. I hated her character so much, so it is hard to read articles about how she was actually a good person in reality. I also hated her so much that I don’t remember much about her time on the show.
Interesting how the serious, religious de Mainton is usually written as a villain.
Yeah, it’s strange. I reviewed her career on Wikipedia this afternoon and, just as I remembered, she was a strong, intelligent woman who believed in education for girls. Louis XIV’s neglected queen said her life was much more pleasant after Mme. de M became his companion. Kind of cute, too.
I saw most of these productions.
“L’allée du roi” is very generous to Mme. de Maintenon. But Dominique Blanc maybe is the best actress in the list too.
There is an excellent historical fiction (writen as a memoir) called The King’s Way by Francoise Chandernegor. One of my favorites. Maintenon was considered very beautiful and quietly quite powerful. I don’t think the book is still in print, but definitely worth the read.