The famous marquis, Madame de Pompadour is the most famous mistress and lover of Louis XV. During her stay there, she had a significant impact on Versailles and its functioning, it is believed that in general, she had quite a large influence in France at that time. As for Versailles itself: she organized entertainment for the king there: theaters, balls, and later even ... she selected subsequent lovers of Louis XV. But isn't its importance overestimated?
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, because her real name was Madame de Pompadour, was born in 1721 to a middle-class family. The word Poisson means fish in French, which in Jeanne's life was the cause of numerous scoffs and mockery. Her father was a tax leaseholder. He was convicted of embezzlement and had to flee to Germany. Jeanne herself stayed with the Ursuline Sisters in Poissy for several years. In the future, she supported this monastery with generous donations. From childhood, she was accompanied by health problems, she often caught a cold and fever.
It has been speculated that Jeanne's father is not a biological father. One of the "candidates" for her real father was, inter alia, Lenormant de Tournehem. Apparently, on his initiative on March 9, 1741, she married his nephew, 24-year-old Charles Guillaume Le Normant d'Etiolles. Jeanne was the mistress of the house, she visited salons, she had the opportunity to meet Voltaire and Montesquieu. She herself, in turn, was gifted with acting talent. Jeanne and Charles's first child - the son - died, and they later had a daughter, whom they named Alexandrine.
Jeanne is said to have been of exceptional beauty. According to Benedetta, Craveri had an oval face with regular features, beautiful eyes characterized by exceptional radiance. She was called Reinette, or the little queen. Apparently, she chose Louis XV as her goal quite early. Even her mother was to convince her that she was a morsel for the king, and one day the fairy would prophesy to her that she would be the king's bride. By a "lucky" coincidence, Versailles was located near the d'Etioles estate.
It is not clear how she first came into contact with the king. Apparently, her father-in-law was involved in it (he sent his nephew on business at that time), but also her former lover Dominique Guillaume Le Bel, servant of Louis XV. The masquerade ball, organized in 1745 on the occasion of the marriage of the royal son, was to be a good moment for a tryst.
These types of balls were an easy opportunity to make this type of acquaintance. Louis XV, as well as 6 other people, was dressed as a yew tree. He was supposed to use this easy camouflage to meet Jeanne. The couple liked each other so much that Jeanne's father-in-law finally informed his nephew that his wife had abandoned him. The couple would later function only in separation.
While Louis XV was busy with hostilities in Flanders, Jeanne was getting ready to function in the French high society, in which Voltaire himself was to help her. On July 11, she received from the king the act of conferring the title of Marquis de Pompadour on her, and on September 14 she was officially introduced to the royal couple. She lived in Versailles no longer as a lover, but as an official mistress and could take the place vacated by the Duchess de Châteauroux. Due to its origin, this has in itself become a source of scandal.
The irony of fate in the context of her "function" of the favorite was the fact that Madame de Pompadour was reportedly not very temperamental, and her health was still quite weak. However, due to her bourgeois origin, she brought a certain freshness into the life of Louis XV that delighted him. In the years 1747-1752, she organized performances and operas for the king, in which she also took part. She is believed to have been a champion in overcoming the king's apathy and discouragement.
At the same time, she tried to build her position at court. She supported the already mentioned Voltaire and Montesquieu, opposing the devotees. She supported young talents, it is claimed, probably not without reason, that she contributed to the development of French culture at that time. She bought palaces, which she then rebuilt. The most important of them was the Bellevue Palace, which no longer exists, its name means "beautiful view".
An interesting fact was that there was no hostility as such between Madame de Pompadour and Maria Leszczyńska. The marquis respected the queen, she even tried to influence Louis XV so that he would treat his wife better, which was effective. Maria, on the other hand, seemed to tolerate Jeanne, perhaps even with a little forbearance.
At the same time, however, its opposition grew stronger. This opposition was led by none other than the dolphin himself, who called Madame de Pompadour "mummy whore". His sisters were also hostile to her. At the same time, the king's confessors constantly rebuked him, and offensive faith and songs called poissonades circulated among the people. One of the authors of their texts was to be Count de Maurepas, minister, and secretary of state, who hated Madame de Pompadour, who overestimated his strength. For when, after another conflict with Madame and her miscarriage, fresh and up-to-date texts appeared on the streets, on April 23, 1749, the count received a letter from the king demanding his resignation and departure to his estate for 25 years.
The irony of fate in the context of her "function" of the favorite was the fact that Madame de Pompadour was reportedly not very temperamental, and her health was still quite weak. However, due to her bourgeois origin, she brought a certain freshness into the life of Louis XV that delighted him. In the years 1747-1752, she organized performances and operas for the king, in which she also took part. She is believed to have been a champion in overcoming the king's apathy and discouragement.
At the same time, she tried to build her position at court. She supported the already mentioned Voltaire and Montesquieu, opposing the devotees. She supported young talents, it is claimed, probably not without reason, that she contributed to the development of French culture at that time. She bought palaces, which she then rebuilt. The most important of them was the Bellevue Palace, which no longer exists, its name means "beautiful view".
An interesting fact was that there was no hostility as such between Madame de Pompadour and Maria Leszczyńska. The marquis respected the queen, she even tried to influence Louis XV so that he would treat his wife better, which was effective. Maria, on the other hand, seemed to tolerate Jeanne, perhaps even with a little forbearance.
At the same time, however, its opposition grew stronger. This opposition was led by none other than the dolphin himself, who called Madame de Pompadour "mummy whore". His sisters were also hostile to her. At the same time, the king's confessors constantly rebuked him, and offensive faith and songs called poissonades circulated among the people. One of the authors of their texts was to be Count de Maurepas, minister, and secretary of state, who hated Madame de Pompadour, who overestimated his strength. For when, after another conflict with Madame and her miscarriage, fresh and up-to-date texts appeared on the streets, on April 23, 1749, the count received a letter from the king demanding his resignation and departure to his estate for 25 years.
Jeanne's health was affected by fighting the opposition, including hostility from the king's children, fulfilling a variety of duties and stress. Her coldness grew, and problems of a gynecological nature accumulated. As a consequence, her role as a lover would come to an end. In 1750 she and Louis XV were to agree to close this sphere of their relationship. However, she remained at court as a person still important to the king.
Paradoxically, it was then that the political role of Madame de Pompadour grew. Anyway, she tried to make such an impression herself. She welcomed princes, ambassadors ... At the same time, she tried to change her image, moving towards piety. She changed the way she dressed, she started attending services. At that time, at the age of 13, her daughter Alexandrine probably died as a result of appendicitis. Jeanne even offered to make up for her husband, but this offer he flatly rejected. The marquis herself, having obtained the function of the palace lady of Maria Leszczyńska, officially announced her entry into the path of piety.
Later, however, together with the king's first servant, Le Bel, she was to play a completely different role: it can be said that she chose subsequent lovers of Louis XV. Young girls and women who were well-mannered, but not of high society, were chosen so that they could not endanger the position of Madame de Pompadour herself. And preferably virgins from houses that would gladly accept an additional salary for "making" their daughter available. They were located in an apartment on Saint Mederic Street, it was still widely understood Versailles, but on its periphery.
The situation related to Damiens' attack on the king was used by Madame's opponents, who saw in her an opportunity to get rid of her. A conspiracy led by a dolphin had developed. Although the wound suffered by Louis XV was not serious, he, after confessing, asked his family for forgiveness. Madame de Pompadour locked herself in her rooms, surrounded only by trusted people, awaiting a sentence. And there were reasons for this because her hostile environment tried to convince the king that it was necessary for the marquis to leave for his salvation. The crowd gathered in front of Versailles shouted "long live the king, death to Pompadour". Jean Baptiste d'Arnouville Machault, minister of the navy, successor to Maurepas, allegedly on behalf of the king, ordered her to leave Versailles. However, a few days later, the king felt better, and both Machault and Count d'Argeson, the minister of war, who had participated in the conspiracy against Marquis Marc Rene, was dismissed, which was a mistake in the context of the impending Great War. It was 1757.
Madame de Pompadour, moreover, was to play a role in the context of the Seven Years' War, because Count von Kaunitz, the chancellor of Austria, was to send Louis XV through her a proposal to conclude an alliance. In turn, secret negotiations with Austria were conducted by two "her people": the priest de Bernis and the Count de Staimalle, later Duke de Choiseul. Partly, the talks between representatives of both countries were to take place at her property in Belleuve. Paradoxically, the case of war attracted her to the actions of the King of Prussia, Frederick II, who began to disseminate among French society biased information about her contacts with the Empress of Austria and about her expenses.
At that time, Madame de Pompadour acted blindly, trying to influence everything, even general appointments. It must also be made a reservation that it is impossible to assess exactly how big its influence was on the staffing of positions in the state, what was its real significance in this context. By luck, the aforementioned Francois de Choiseul, already as Duke of Etienne, led to the end of the war, which turned out to be no more painful for France than it really could.
Madame de Pompadour died at Versailles on April 15, 1764. Lung disease was the likely cause of her death. Earlier it was noticed that her skin is sallow and that puffiness appeared under her eyes. She was prescribed donkey's milk as a treatment, which of course could not help. The end of her life is coughing attacks and hemorrhages.
After her death, her body was surreptitiously carried out covered with a sheet. She was buried in the Capuchin Church in Paris. Even Maria Leszczyńska ordered a mass for her, saying in an interview with one of the ladies of the court that “It is natural, my dear, Madame de Pompadour was a lady of the court and I could never complain about her. I don't care about the rest, it's a matter between God and the king ”(Libiszowska, p. 89).
Bibliography:
- J. Baszkiewicz, History of France, Ossolineum, Warsaw 1999.
- B. Craveri, Mistresses and Queens. Power of women, W.A.B. Publishing House, Warsaw 2005.
- Z. Libiszowska, Ludwik XV, National Institute of Ossoliński, Wrocław 1997.
No comments:
Post a Comment