Madame de Maintenon started out as Françoise d’Aubigné on November 27, 1635. Her father Constant d’Aubigne was sent to prison for gambling, killing a man in a duel, abducting a woman, counterfeiting and trying to start a rebellion against the king. While in prison, he met and married Jeanne de Cadillac, daughter of the prison director, and they had three children. Just after her birth, she was sent to live with her aunt Madame de Villette at the Château de Mursay nearby, after all a cold drafty prison wasn’t the place to raise a child.
Yes, it sounds like a Lifetime movie of the week and begs so many questions. In 1642, after Cardinal Richelieu died and Jeanne was able to convince her father to release him, the family headed for Ile Marie Galante. Constant was always after a fast buck, blew through Jeanne’s dowry, and cultivated one scheme after another. Once on the island, he abandoned his family, forcing Jeanne and her three kids to return to Paris.
Times were tough for the family, and they were forced to beg for food on the street. Once again, her aunt stepped in and saved the family. Madame de Villette was raising the children as Protestant, and her godmother, Suzanne de Baudéan, was not having any of that and took her away. She was taken to live at the Ursuline convent on Rue Crémeaux in 1649, followed by the Ursuline convent on Rue Saint Jacques. Françoise didn’t take to convent life and had a difficult time until she became close with Sister Celeste, who looked after her and created a tight bond.
On weekends, her godmother would take her to visit the salons and parties in Paris, where she would meet many authors, artists, and women from the court. On one visit, she met poet Paul Scarron, who was twenty-five years older than her and was suffering from Polio. They shared many letters until he asked for her hand, and they married on April 4, 1652. Due to his health, the eight short years of their marriage were spent taking care of him and lengthy talks about literature. Sadly, he passed away in 1660, and Françoise was left brokenhearted.
Her godmother worked for Queen Anne d’Autriche and was able to convince her to continue Paul’s pension for the widowed Françoise, which would last until Anne died in 1666. Louis XIV wouldn’t agree to continue the payments, which left Françoise in need of making a large change in her life.
After the support of friends ran out, she was about to move to Portugal to become the lady in waiting for the new queen, Marie-Françoise de Nemours, until Madame de Montespan stepped in. In a past episode, we talked about Louis XIV's mistress and her strange and terrifying life. The two women met at the Salon in the Marais, including the popular Salon held by Ninon de l'Enclos, who we have also covered in an earlier episode.
In 1669, Montespan gave birth to the first of many illegitimate children of Louis XIV and then needed a place to go, away from the eyes of the court. Louis XIV purchased a hotel, particulier on the rue de Vaugirard, to hide the children. Montespan convinced Louis that Françoise would be a perfect caretaker to look after the children. Françoise loved them like they were her own and was involved in every aspect of their raising, even convincing Louis to make the children legitimate. He was not impressed with her at first; he thought she was a bit bossy and a little rough around the edges.
He would change his tune after he had the children legitimized, and they all moved to Saint Germain en Laye, where she became the court governess. As a sign of appreciation for all she had done, Louis gave her a very large gift, allowing her to purchase the Chateau de Maintenon in 1675. At the same time, Louis purchased the title, and she became known as the Marquis de Maintenon. Meanwhile, her old friend Montespan was worried about the closeness between the king and the governess.
In 1680, the Affair of the Poisons swept through court and Montespan’s reign was over and she was swiftly removed from court. Louis XIV became closer to Maintenon but she pushed him away from anything romantic or physical. The two became very close and he looked to her for guidance in every manner of the court and state upsetting his fellow ministers.
A very devout catholic, she saw her role as saving Louis in the eyes of the church, while the rest of the court saw her as manipulative. On July 30, 1683, the queen died, and a few months later, on October 9, Louis and Montespan were married in a secret ceremony. Performed by the Archbishop of Paris François de Harlay de Champvalon and the king's confessor, Pére de la Chaise, behind the closed door of the king’s bedroom. The marriage was a morganatic one, which means she could not be recognized as queen or even be known as his official wife.
They spent the majority of their time together in his bedroom, making state decisions and even taking meetings. The two joined forces in creating the Maison Royale de Saint-Louis in Rueil, a school for children of noble families, many of which had lost a parent to the many French conflicts. Recalling her days at the convent, she wanted to create a curriculum that would truly teach children, especially young women.
As Louis got older, he worried his past romantic endeavors would not sit well with God, and he hoped his love of Maintenon would save him in the eyes of the church. Towards the end of his life, on August 30, 1715, Françoise was told there was little they could do for him, and he told her to leave. She retreated to her school, which was now located in nearby Saint-Cyr.
The school was later moved closer to Versailles to Saint-Cyr, and she was there surrounded by children when she got the news of his death on September 1, 1715. She lived out the rest of her life there and would still take visitors, including Peter the Great, who came to seek her council, but noticing how quickly she had aged in the last few years.
On April 15, 1719, she died at 83 years old and was buried at Saint-Cyr, where she would remain until the Revolution. After World War II she was located and moved briefly to the Chapel of Versailles until 1969, when she was once again returned to Saint-Cyr, which was now a military school created by Napoleon.
