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Athenas de Rochechouart (1641-1707)
daughter of Gabriel de Rochechouart, 1.Duc
de Mortemart
and Diane de Grandseigne
Born 26 April 1641 Chateau de Tonnay
Died 28 May 1707 Bourbon L'Archambault
Affaire with Louis XIV King of France and
Navarre 1643-1651-1715
Born 5 September 1638 St.Germain-en-Laye
Died 1 September 1715 Chateau de Versailles
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In 1666 when recovering from childbirth, Louise de La Valliere introduced
the witty Athenas de Montespan to the king. Athenas was twenty-six, beautiful,
married and the mother of two children. She was also a lady-in-waiting
to the pious Queen, to whom she ingratiated
herself by pretending to abhor the king's affair with Louise de La
Valliere. While her husband was away she had a number of suitors. However,
in the king's presense she would joke about them and then flirt with the
king.
Sophisticated, witty, voluptuous and sure of herself, she was also
patient. Early in 1667 Louis XIV created Louise de La Valliere a duchess.
However, she was not impressed as she believed she was losing both her
looks and the king's affection. It took until the summer of 1668 before
Louis XIV overcame his scruples and became the lover of a married woman,
Athenas. Had his affaire with Louise been idyllic, his affaire with Athenas
was very
much sensual. The placid Louise tried to object but for a while Louis
XIV had the two mistresses. However, one who did more than just object
was Athenas's husband, Louis, Marquis de Montespan, who was arrested and
banished to his estates. The official reason was: having disapproved His
Majesty's choice of Monsieur de Montausier as governor
of the Dauphin. When he arrived at his castle, he insisted upon passing
through the great doorway "because my horns are too high to pass through
the small one". When Athenas gave birth to the king's child in March 1669,
he announced to his friends "the death of his
wife from coquetry and ambition" and invited them to a sham funeral.
Had Louise de La Valliere loved the king for himself, Athenas loved him
also for the power and wealth that came to her with the king. She not only
had her debts paid but also bought a house near the Louvre, saw her father
named governor of Paris and her sister Abbess of Fontevrault. Yet to everyone's
surprise Athenas retained the friendship of Louise de La Valliere. When
the king went to Flanders, he went in a coach accompanied by his "three
queens", a situation that was to last for six years. However, in 1670 Louise
became seriously ill and, after recovering retired into a convent. Following
the departure of Louise de La Valliere, Athenas became even more avaricious,
declining small presents as, she said, she preferred large ones. The offer
of a country house near Saint-Germain was dismissed with "good enough for
a chorus girl". Instead, she received the Chateau of Clagny. The queen
had always liked Louise de La Valliere but, unable to cope with the vicious
wit of Athenas, was often heard to complain "that slut will kill me yet".
The seven children Athenas produced for Louis XIV were cared for by Madame
Scarron. From 1675 this widow became known as Madame de Maintenon. However,
Louis XIV not only still kept sleeping with both the Queen and Athenas,
but also had affaires with Mademoiselle des Oeillets, Anne de Rohan (Princesse
de Soubise), Mademoiselle de Ludres and Marie Angelique de Fontanges. The
latter drove Athenas into a frenzy and in her fury she accused Madame de
Maintenon of planning her
downfall. Marie Angelique de Fontanges gave birth to a still-born child
while she herself was seriously ill. Shortly afterwards the police arrested
a number of people accused of poisoning. The inquiry that followed took
a long time and suddenly ordered the arrest of six
ladies from the Court. Two of them disappeared to the Netherlands which
created an impression of guilt. The main suspect was known as Madame La
Voisin, who told fortunes and provided love-potions. Madame La Voisin was
found guilty and executed, after which her daughter gave evidence and implicated
Athena‹s de Montespan. Her accusations were very serious as apparently
black masses, love potions and spells involved the king and were repeated
several times. It also appeared that Athena‹s had supplied the king with
aphrodisiacs without his knowledge and had tried to poison Mademoiselle
de Fontanges.
While these investigations took place, the king received verbatim reports
which, after reading, he burned. Even though La Voisin's daughter had never
actually seen Athenas, she was believed. Louis XIV, as a God-fearing man,
was shocked and their affaire was over. As he was not vindictive he did
not want to have the mother of his legitimised children appear in court
and allowed her to remain at court. The one thing that changed was the
sexual habits of Louis XIV.
Francoise d'Aubigne, Madame de Maintenon, who was three years older
than the king, had intrigued the king already for a long time, and after
a while, he married her secretly. Athenas lived for many more years and
in old age her hair became a beautiful snow-white. The thought of death
frightened her so much that she paid several women to sit in her room at
night with candles lit and the curtains drawn so that, if she woke up,
she would be reassured by seeing them playing cards or eating.
Source: Leo van de Pas |
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