"mother, but had also Louis XIV's orderly mind with his failings of injustice and harshness. Among her male line descendents are Philippe Egalité, Louis-Philippe I, King of the French, and Prince Henri, Count of Paris, the present Orléanist pretender to the French throne. She is also an ancestor of Juan Carlos I of Spain, Albert II, King of the Belgians, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, the pretender to the Italian throne. Madame de Maintenon was a childless widow who, as the king's morganatic wife from the mid 1680s, promoted her charges' interests, scandalizing the"
"In 1680, the king made Madame de Maintenon second Mistress of the Robes to his daughter-in-law, the Dauphine. Soon after, Madame de Montespan left the court. Madame de Maintenon proved a good influence on the king. His wife, Queen Marie-Thérèse, who for years had been rudely treated by Madame de Montespan, openly declared she had never been so well-treated as at this time. After the death of Marie-Thérèse, Françoise was married to the king in a private ceremony by François de Harlay de Champvallon, Archbishop of Paris. It is believed that in attendance were Père la Chaise, the king's confessor,"
"prolonged infidelity with Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan. The king left her to her own devices, yet reprimanded Madame de Montespan when her behaviour at court too flagrantly disrespected the queen's position. Later, the governess of Montespan's illegitimate children by the king, Madame de Maintenon, came to supplant her mistress in the king's affections. At first she resisted the king's advances and encouraged him to bestow more attention on his long-neglected wife, a thoughtfulness which Maria Theresa repaid with warmth toward the new favourite. After the queen's death, Maintenon would become the king's second, although officially secret, wife. There have long"
"build palaces and clear the many pre-existing debts of Henry IV. Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (, ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. She was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici. Following the assassination of her husband in 1610, which occurred the day after her coronation, she acted as regent for her son, King Louis XIII of France, until 1617, when he came of age. She was noted for her ceaseless political intrigues at"
"Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (, ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. She was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici. Following the assassination of her husband in 1610, which occurred the day after her coronation, she acted as regent for her son, King Louis XIII of France, until 1617, when he came of age. She was noted for her ceaseless political intrigues at the French court and extensive artistic patronage. She was born as"
"the Marquis de Montchevreuil, the Chevalier de Forbin and Alexandre Bontemps, a valet with whom Louis was very close. Owing to the disparity in their social status, the marriage was morganatic, meaning that Madame de Maintenon was not openly acknowledged as the King's wife and did not become Queen. No official documentation of the marriage exists, but that it took place is nevertheless accepted by historians. Biographers have dated the wedding to 9 October 1683 or January 1684. In his memoirs, the Duc de Saint-Simon (himself only a boy at the time of the event) wrote the following: But what"
"Queen of France. She married Guy IV, Count of Saint-Pol, in 1292, their children were as follows: Through her daughter Mahaut, Marie was the maternal grandmother of Marie of Valois, Isabella of Valois, who became Duchess of Bourbon and was the mother of Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, and Joanna of Bourbon, who became Queen of France. Mahaut's other daughter was Blanche of Valois, who married Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and was the mother of Katharine of Bohemia. Marie of Brittany, Countess of Saint-Pol Marie of Brittany (1268–1339) was the daughter of John II, Duke of Brittany, and Beatrice"
"King of France. Catherine de' Medici, regent for her son Charles IX, named him lieutenant general of the kingdom in 1561. When his wife allowed the Huguenots to sack the chapel of Vendôme and the churches of the town in 1562, he threatened to send her to a convent. She took refuge in Béarn. Antoine was vain and unstable. He often disappointed his followers and was manipulated by his superiors and out-witted by his adversaries. He laid siege to Rouen and was mortally wounded on 13 November 1562. He died at Les Andelys, Eure. With his wife, Jeanne III of"
"Henry II of France Henry II (; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, in 1536. Henry was the tenth king from the House of Valois, the third from the Valois-Orléans branch, and the second from the Valois-Orléans-Angoulême branch. As a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued"
"Céleste Palaiseau, kept his house in the Rue d'Enfer, and tried to reform the habits of Scarron and his circle. In 1652, he married the impoverished but beautiful Françoise d'Aubigné, afterwards famous as Madame de Maintenon, second wife of Louis XIV. He died in Paris on 6 October 1660. Scarron wrote his own epitaph, which makes reference to the terrible physical pain he suffered during the last years of his life: Scarron was very prolific as an author. The piece most famous in his own day was his ""Virgile travesti"" (1648–1653), a parody of the ""Aeneid"", but the reputation of"
"Napoleon II Napoléon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte (20 March 181122 July 1832), Prince Imperial, King of Rome, known in the Austrian court as Franz from 1814 onward, Duke of Reichstadt from 1818, was the son of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, and his second wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. By Title III, article 9 of the French Constitution of the time, he was Prince Imperial, but he was also known from birth as the King of Rome, which Napoleon I declared was the courtesy title of the heir apparent. His nickname of L'Aiglon (""the Eaglet"") was awarded posthumously"
"is served by Maintenon station on the fast regional rail line between Paris and Le Mans via Chartres. Maintenon is connected to the Ile de France network of suburban trains which start at Rambouliet. Maintenon Maintenon is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located southwest of the center of Paris. Maintenon, together with the neighbouring commune of Pierres, form an urban area of 7,131 inhabitants (1999 census). Maintenon is known for its picturesque Château de Maintenon, first home to the family d’Angennes, Marquis de Maintenon, later home of Madame de Maintenon, morganatic second wife of"
"Elizabeth Charlotte, Madame Palatine Princess Elisabeth Charlotte (; nicknamed ""Lieselotte"", 27 May 1652 – 8 December 1722) was a German princess and, as ""Madame"", the second wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV of France, and mother of France's ruler during the Regency. Louis invoked her hereditary claim to the Palatinate as pretext to launch the Nine Years' War in 1688. Her vast, frank correspondence provides a detailed account of the personalities and activities at the court of her brother-in-law, Louis XIV, for half a century, from the date of her marriage in 1672. Princess"
"Francis II of France Francis II (; 19 January 1544 – 5 December 1560) was a King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also King consort of Scotland as a result of his willing marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1558 until his death in 1560. Francis was the eleventh king from the House of Valois, the fourth from the Valois-Orléans branch, and the third from the Valois-Orléans-Angoulême branch. He ascended the throne of France at the age of fifteen after the accidental death of his father, Henry II, in 1559. His short reign was dominated by"
"Madame de Maintenon. Descendants of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans Philippe de France, Duke of Orléans was the brother of Louis XIV of France and the younger son of Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria. A member of the House of Bourbon, he is the founder of the current House of Orléans. His heirs formed a junior collateral branch of the royal dynasty. They include the second duke, who governed France during the minority of Louis XV in the Regency era; one French monarch, Louis Philippe I; and the Orléanist pretenders to the French throne still flourishing in"
"second wife Eleanor of Austria, a sister of the Emperor Charles V. The couple had no children. During his reign, Francis kept two official mistresses at court. The first was Françoise de Foix, Countess of Châteaubriant. In 1526, she was replaced by the blonde-haired, cultured Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, Duchess of Étampes who, with the death of Queen Claude two years earlier, wielded far more political power at court than her predecessor had done. Another of his earlier mistresses was allegedly Mary Boleyn, mistress of King Henry VIII and sister of Henry's future wife, Anne Boleyn. The amorous exploits of"
"Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223, the seventh from the House of Capet. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself ""King of France"". The son of King Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed ""Dieudonné"" (God-given) because he was a first son and born late in his father's life. Philip was given the epithet ""Augustus"" by the chronicler"
"Catherine de' Medici Catherine de Medici (Italian: ""Caterina de Medici"", ; French: ""Catherine de Médicis"", ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589), daughter of Lorenzo II de' Medici and Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, was an Italian noblewoman who was queen of France from 1547 until 1559, by marriage to King Henry II. As the mother of kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III, she had extensive, if at times varying, influence in the political life of France. From 1560 to 1563, she ruled France as regent for her son Charles IX, King of France. In 1533, at"
"Queen Marie-Thérèse, Madame de Montespan, and the king's son and his wife, which includes in a single ""coup d'œil"" both Versailles and Clagny, showing how closely the two châteaux were located. After the Marquise de Montespan was compromised in the notorious Affaire des Poisons, she was abandoned by the king for Mme de Maintenon, the governess of the marquise's children. As a result of her loss of status at court, she visited the house less and less. In 1685, the king formally made it over to her as a gift, partially for the sake of their eldest natural son, the"
"over the children and their care. ""Madame de Maintenon knows how to love. There would be great pleasure in being loved by her,"" said the king. He probably asked her to become his mistress at that time. Though she later claimed she did not yield to his advances (""Nothing is so clever as to conduct one's self irreproachably,"" she wrote to a friend), some historians doubt that she dared refuse the King at a time when her position remained very insecure. By the late 1670s, the king spent much of his spare time with her, discussing politics, religion and economics."
"Clementia of Hungary Clementia of Hungary (; 1293–13 October 1328) was queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Louis X. Clementia was the daughter of Charles Martel of Anjou, the titular King of Hungary, and Clemence of Austria. Both parents died during her early childhood, and Mary of Hungary, Clementia's grandmother, raised her. The family claimed Hungary through Mary, and so although Clementia was born and grew up in Naples, she was considered a Hungarian princess. When Philip IV of France died, his eldest son, Louis I of Navarre, became King of France. Louis' wife Margaret"
"Louis VII of France Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger or the Young (), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180, the sixth from the House of Capet. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI, hence his nickname, and married Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe. Eleanor came with the vast Duchy of Aquitaine as a dowry for Louis, thus temporarily extending the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees, but their marriage was annulled in 1152 after no male heir was produced. Immediately"
"Louis' second; his first spouse, Margaret of Scotland, had died childless in 1445. Upon her marriage, Charlotte became Dauphine of France. Louis reportedly neglected her. When the news upon his succession to the throne of France reached the couple at the Burgundian court, he immediately abandoned her in Burgundy to secure his inheritance, leaving her dependent upon Isabella of Bourbon to borrow the carts and entourage necessary to travel to France to join him. On 22 July 1461, Charlotte became Queen of France. The following year, she became seriously ill and was close to death by August 1462. Although she"
"infantium tractatus tres"". After Francis became king in 1515, Anne Boleyn stayed as a member of Claude's household. It's assumed that Anne served as Claude's translator whenever there were English visitors, such as in 1520, at the Field of Cloth of Gold. Anne Boleyn returned to England in late 1521, where she eventually became Queen of England as the second wife of Henry VIII. Diane de Poitiers, another of Claude's ladies, was a principal inspiration of the School of Fontainebleau of the French Renaissance, and became the lifelong mistress of Claude's son, Henry II. Claude was crowned Queen of France"
"and last known son. After becoming widowed, it is said that Charles VIII of France became so struck by Jeanne's charms that he wished to marry her. A location for the wedding (Moulins) was even selected. However, his mother Queen Charlotte (1443–1483) had another match in mind for her son: the wealthy heiress Anne of Brittany. Consequently, the King's engagement with Jeanne was broken off. Desormeaux commented that Jeanne would have been Queen of France if beauty and love could have worn the Crown. Jeanne remained a widow for seven years. On 11 January 1495, Jeanne married her second husband"
"France dominated these events through two wars. After the first war, under the Treaty of Verger, the marriage of Francis II's sole surviving issue, Anne, would need to be approved by the King of France. Francis II worked to seek a husband for Anne who would be strong enough to defend Brittany from further influence from the French Crown. Duchesse Anne of Brittany was initially betrothed to Edward, Prince of Wales, the son of Edward IV of England, but upon the king's death his son disappeared and the English throne passed to Richard III of England. Anne was then married"
"married kings and one married a duke. Catherine outlived all her children except Henry III, who died seven months after her, and Margaret, who inherited her robust health. Catherine de' Medici Catherine de Medici (Italian: ""Caterina de Medici"", ; French: ""Catherine de Médicis"", ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589), daughter of Lorenzo II de' Medici and Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, was an Italian noblewoman who was queen of France from 1547 until 1559, by marriage to King Henry II. As the mother of kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III, she had extensive, if at times"
"making himself and his heirs the King's equal outside France (where he was still nominally subject to the Crown). Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married France's newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who ruled much of southwest France, in 1152. After defeating a revolt led by Eleanor and three of their four sons, Henry had Eleanor imprisoned, made the Duke of Brittany his vassal, and in effect ruled the western half of France as a greater power than the French throne. However, disputes among Henry's descendants over the division of his French"
"Christine of France Christine Marie of France (10 February 1606 – 27 December 1663) was the sister of Louis XIII and the Duchess of Savoy by marriage. At the death of her husband Victor Amadeus I in 1637, she acted as regent of Savoy between 1637 and 1648. Christine was born in the Palais du Louvre in Paris, she was the third child and second daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, the Italian Marie de' Medici. As a daughter of the king, she was a Fille de France. She was a younger sister of Louis"
"the age of fourteen, Catherine married Henry, second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France. Throughout his reign, Henry excluded Catherine from participating in state affairs and instead showered favors on his chief mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who wielded much influence over him. Henry's death thrust Catherine into the political arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis II. When he died in 1560, she became regent on behalf of her ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her"
"of Paris, as diocesan, of Louvois (both of whom drew from the King a promise that he would never declare this marriage), and of Montchevreuil. ...<br> The satiety of the honeymoon, usually so fatal, and especially the honeymoon of such marriages, only consolidated the favour of Madame de Maintenon. Soon after, she astonished everybody by the apartments given to her at Versailles, at the top of the grand staircase facing those of the King and on the same floor. From that moment the King always passed some hours with her every day of his life; wherever she might be she"
"was always lodged near him, and on the same floor if possible. The Marquise de Montespan, who had preceded Madame de Maintenon as the King's mistress, in her memoirs wrote the following about the marriage: The following week, Madame de Maintenon ... consented to the King's will, which she had opposed in order to excite it, and in the presence of the Marquis and Marquise de Montchevreuil, the Duc de Noailles, the Marquis de Chamarante, M. Bontems and Mademoiselle Ninon, her permanent chambermaid, was married to the King of France and Navarre in the chapel of the château.<br> The Abbé"
"Renée of France Renée of France (25 October 1510 – 12 June 1574), was the Duchess of Ferrara due to her marriage to Ercole II d'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI. She was the younger surviving child of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany. In her later life she became an important supporter of the Protestant Reformation and ally of John Calvin. Renée was born on 25 October 1510 at the Château de Blois, Blois, Touraine and was the second daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany. Anne, who had always fought fiercely to keep"