Marie-Sophie de Courcillon
Five after the death of his first wife, Hercule-Mériadec remarried at the age of 63. His second wife was the 19 year old Marie– Sophie de Courcillon, who became the next Princess of Soubise.
Madame du Barry’s Bed
If the nobility had a problem with Mme de Pompadour’s background, it paled into insignificance when the next (and last) official mistress arrived on the scene. Madame du Barry was from a working class family and had been a high class call girl before she became Louis XV’s mistress. Marie Leszczynska had died before Madame du Barry was presented at court. Louis XV met the very beautiful blue eyed blonde when he was 58 and she was 24. The King defied everyone’s opinion. He was in love and had never been happier. Unlike most mistresses, she had no political ambitions. Even when people hated her (as Marie-Antoinette did), she tried to get on with them and was polite. Madame du Barry occupied a large luxurious apartment on the second floor. This was not the original mistresses’ apartment. Its previous occupant had been Louis XV’s widowed daughter in law, who had died the year before Louis met Madame du Barry. The apartment was immediately above the King’s private bed chamber, overlooking the marble courtyard. Access was via the King’s staircase but there was also hidden staircase directly linking the King’s private apartment and Madame du Barry’s bedroom. In the wood panelling there is a service door which opens on to a toilet (the new kind with a flush!) and a small room for the maid. Unlike many of the courtiers, Madame du Barry was fastidious about hygiene and bathed regularly. It was something the King appreciated. They were together at the Petit Trianon when Louis became very ill. He had smallpox and returned to his private bedroom at Versailles where he died two weeks later. As soon as Louis XV died, Madame du Barry was packed off to a convent where she remained for almost a year before being allowed to return to Louveciennes, the chateau Louis XV had given her. She was beheaded during the French Revolution.
Madame de Ventadour
Madame de Ventadour was a duchess who was a friend of Madame de Maintenon and had been given the prestigious role of governess** of the royal children when Louis XIV’s first great grandchild was born. Eight years later an outbreak of measles claimed the lives of Louis XIV’s grandson and his wife. Their sons were also infected. The elder son, who was five, had become the heir to the French throne. The doctors were preoccupied with saving him. Madame de Ventadour observed their treatment, which included bleeding him, had severely weakened the child and he died. She was determined the surviving two year old would not suffer the same fate and removed him from their care. In so doing, she saved his life. She became a mother figure to him and he called her “Maman Ventadour”. She took care of him until he turned seven, the age when boys were traditionally turned over to be educated by men. She was seated in pride of place for his coronation and later “Maman” was well into her sixties when she was made governess of Louis XV’s own children.
Louis XV’s Bed
When he returned to Versailles Louis XV moved into his great grandfather’s bedroom. He kept up the tradition of the “lever” and “coucher” – the going to bed and getting up ceremonies – but Louis XV found the room too cold and too public. He later had a second fireplace installed in the official bedchamber. Louis XV was very shy in comparison to Louis XIV. In keeping with the new emphasis on private spaces, when he was 28 he created a private apartment in the rooms where Louis XIV’s collections had been housed. His private bedroom was set up in the former billiard room of Louis XIV. From then on this was where he actually slept, It was close to the official bedchamber, on the same floor. The private bedroom also overlooked the courtyard but was facing south. He maintained the official “lever” and “coucher” public ceremonies in the original King’s bed but retired to his private bedroom each night. Appropriately, this bed chamber is not open for public visits and can only be seen on the “private apartment” tours. However if you are walking between the Hall of Mirrors and the King’s bedchamber, you will pass through the King’s Council chamber. Normally the door is open and you can see the private bed chamber. The area around the bed has been screened for some time as a new bed is being constructed.
Louis XV’s Marriage
It had been agreed that Louis XV would marry his Spanish cousin Mariana Victoria. She arrived in Paris at the age of 4 and initially went to live in the Louvre. Louis was 12 and mortified by his engagement to the charming little girl. He was the only person who was immune to the appeal of the lively intelligent child. Three years after her arrival in France, Mariana was sent back to Spain. Louis XV was 15 and now capable of fathering an heir. His advisors recommended it was in the interests of the French crown for him to have a son and heir as soon as possible. Louis married the 22 year old daughter of the deposed King of Poland 5 months later. The new Queen Marie Leszczynska was not a member of a prestigious royal family but Louis was very happy with the choice. She was not his first cousin, which was a good start. She gave birth to ten children in the next 12 years, including two sons. For the first eight years, Louis was faithful to his wife. Initially Marie was disturbed by rumours of his infidelity but after the birth of her tenth child which proved almost fatal to her, she ceased sharing a bed with her husband. He was to go on to have a famous love life, with his two best known mistresses being Madame de Pompadour and Madame du Barry.
Louis XV’s Children
Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska had ten children. Twin girls were born less than two years after their marriage. Louis was 17. The following year another daughter was born. Finally the long awaited son and heir was born the following year. The new dauphin was named Louis after his father. The future was looking even brighter when a second son Philippe was born the following year. Louis XV was 20 years old and already the father of five children. Keeping up the rate of one child a year, Marie Leszczynska gave birth to three more daughters in the next three years. Philippe had died at the age of two so the preponderance of daughters was a problem. The queen gave birth to two more children, but once again they were daughters. The birth of the tenth child — another daughter — was difficult for the Queen and the doctors advised her any further births could be fatal. It was the end of her intimate relations with the King. The girls had not been officially named at birth. They were collectively known as “Mesdames” and called by numbers—the eldest was Madame Premier, followed by Madame Second, Madame Third and so on. They didn’t receive their actual names until they were baptised some years later. When Louis XV was 23 years old, two of his children, Louise, who was 4 and Philippe, who was 2, died within weeks of each other. Madame Fourth (Adelaide) who had been born the previous year now became Madame Third. With the birth of three more girls and no chance of another son Louis XV had moved on to his mistresses. His First Minister suggested that the cost involved in the large number of courtiers required as staff for each princess could be avoided. He suggested sending the five younger daughters to be brought up at the Abbey of Fontevraud. It was the most prestigious convent in France but it was also 270 kilometers from Versailles. Adelaide was six years old. She had a strong personality, even then. She was determined not to leave Versailles. In tears, she threw herself at her father’s feet as he left the mass. It was too much for him and he allowed her to remain at the court with her older twin sisters who were eleven and her eight year old brother, the Dauphin. The four youngest princesses headed off in a large horse drawn carriage for the thirteen day journey to Fontevraud. Victoire was five, Sophie almost four, Thérèse two and Louise 11 months old. Thérèse, who was often ill, caught smallpox when she was eight. She died and was buried at Fontevraud. When she was fifteen, Victoire returned to Versailles. Sophie and Louise returned to Versailles two years after Victoire. They had not seen their parents in twelve years. Ten years after they left Versailles, Louis XV sent Nattier to Fontevraud to paint their portraits (above) which he presented to the queen. Only Louis XV’s eldest daughter Elisabeth married. His son, as heir to the throne, was an entirely different matter. His marriage, like his father’s, was arranged when he was fifteen.
The Dauphin and Dauphine
The Bourbon succession relied on Louis XV’s sole surviving son—Louis Ferdinand who was the Dauphin (heir to the throne). When Louis XV’s children were born, his former governess Madame de Ventadour, who was still like a mother figure to him, became the governess of his own children. She was 75 when the dauphin was born. When he turned 7, the young prince moved from the childrens’ apartment to the Dauphin’s apartment on the ground floor of Versailles with his new governor and tutor. Like his father, the Dauphin was married at 15 to ensure the dynasty. He married his second cousin, Marie-Thérèse de Bourbon, the 19 year old daughter of the Spanish King – and younger sister of Louis XV’s original fiancée Mariana Victoria! Some saw it as a make good for the previous broken engagement. Their apartment was set up on the first floor of the wing which now contains the Hall of Battles. They were very happy. The year after the wedding the dauphin’s wife died three days after giving birth to a daughter. He was inconsolable, but the urgency for an heir was still in play, so a new marriage had to be organised. His late wife Marie-Thérèse had a younger sister and she was suggested as a replacement. This time the King decided enough was enough with marrying one sister after another. There was also influence from Louis XV’s mistress Madame de Pompadour who had been treated with great disdain by the Dauphin’s first wife. She favoured the 15 year old niece of Maurice de Saxe, the spectacularly successful head of Louis XV’s army. Marie-Josèphe de Saxe was the daughter of the King of Poland and the Austrian Archduchess Marie-Josèphe of Habsbourg. This was a potential problem with her future mother-in-law, Marie Leszczynska, whose father had been displaced as King of Poland by Marie-Josèphe’s father. It is a testament to her tact and diplomatic skills that the young Dauphine was able to win the respect of the entire royal family while maintaining a friendship with the King’s mistress who she knew was responsible for her marriage.
Marie Leszczynska’s Bedroom
When Marie Leszczynska arrived at Versailles she had the Queen’s bedroom renovated. The first official order placed with artist François Boucher was for four grisailles (greyscale paintings) depicting the virtues of Marie—Charity, Prudence, Generosity and Piety. Paintings over the doors also featured Marie’s children. This bedroom was Marie’s home from the time she arrived in France in 1725. It was where she gave birth to her ten children. She died in the bed there in 1768. Marie ordered the new fabric from the silk manufacturers in Lyon as Louis XV was trying to support them. She chose a crimson silk brocade embroidered with gold flowers. In keeping with tradition, the fabric changed for summer.
Marie-Thérèse’s Bed
Anne of Austria had been delighted to welcome Marie-Thérèse as the new Queen of France. She took her niece under her wing to teach her the ropes. Marie-Thérèse had an early victory when she gave birth to a healthy son. Unfortunately she did not have the intelligence of her aunt/mother-in-law. It soon became evident she lacked the wit and social graces which were so much a part of Louis’ life. For example, she had two left feet when it came to dancing, one of Louis’ great talents. She did not speak French well and spent most of her time with her entourage consisting of Spanish ladies companions, monks and dwarves. This self-effacing queen endured Louis XIV’s many affairs and resulting children. She was certainly already accustomed to unusual domestic situations.* In her forties she was delighted that Louis XIV started paying her a little more attention, even though she knew it was at the instigation of Mme de Maintenon, his new “favourite”. *Her own father had married his niece. In the typical Spanish tradition, Marie-Thérèse’ brother Baltasar was supposed to marry their cousin. When Baltasar died shortly before his seventeenth birthday, their father Philip IV decided he would marry his niece instead. Marie-Thérèse’ was eleven at the time and her new stepmother was fifteen.