The queen lay dying, and still the insult came. In her final hours, Maria Teresa of France did not summon her husband’s chief mistress to forgive her, nor did she speak of the decades of humiliation. Instead, she called for the devout Madame de Maintenon and pressed into her hands a special ring. It was a gift of thanks, the queen explained, for resisting the king’s advances, for placing herself between Louis XIV and the woman who had taken his heart.

When Madame de Montespan heard what the queen had done, the message cut deeper than any public disgrace. The dying queen had chosen to honor the one woman who had stood against her, and in doing so, she had delivered a final verdict on the mistress who had believed herself worthy of the crown. She had been born Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart, descended from one of the most powerful families in France. Her father was a prince, her mother a lady-in-waiting, and with beginnings like these it was no wonder she would one day consider herself the rightful queen.

As a young girl she was sent away to the convent of Sainte-Marie for her education, while her older sister Gabrielle married well and began climbing the ranks at the court of King Louis XIV. The king took a liking to Gabrielle, and the two began an affair. Françoise, meanwhile, entered the court at the age of twenty, appointed maid of honor to the king’s sister-in-law, Princess Henrietta Anne. The princess’s marriage was an awkward one, for her husband Philippe, the king’s brother, was known for his gay affairs.

It must have been strange for the young Françoise to serve this dysfunctional couple, which made it all the more surprising when she struck up a brief affair with Philippe herself. It was only the start of her adventures at court. Young and unmarried, she was expected to find a husband, and one suitor caught her eye: the Marquis de Noirmoutier. Her father, however, preferred another match.

The rivalry between the two men escalated until it ended in a duel, despite the fact that Louis XIV had outlawed the practice. When the dust settled, the other suitor was dead, and since the king had decreed that survivors of duels be executed, the Marquis de Noirmoutier fled the country. Both of Françoise’s prospects for marriage were gone. In this strange situation, she encountered the Marquis de Montespan, the younger brother of the slain suitor.

Over their shared loss of his brother, the two grew close and fell in love, all within a single week of the terrible duel. Their families hastily drew up a marriage contract and signed it. There may have been a secret reason for this rush, for only nine months later Françoise gave birth to her first child. From this marriage she became known as the Marquise de Montespan.

At first their union seemed built on a solid foundation of love, but the cracks quickly appeared. The marquis loved to spend, and the couple did not have much money. Under the financial strain her husband had caused, Madame de Montespan knew she had to find a way to earn more. She set her sights high, and it so happened that Queen Maria Teresa was hiring ladies-in-waiting.

The position came with prestige, money, and housing. Madame de Montespan cleverly used her connections with the king’s brother to secure the job. In her new position she encountered her old friend Louise de La Vallière, who was the king’s chief mistress. Seeing how lavishly her friend lived, it is likely she was filled with envy.

She now set her sights on the king. But she was patient. She remained in the distance, going about her duties, waiting to make her next cunning move. The opportunity came when Queen Maria Teresa became pregnant.

Oddly enough, the king’s mistress Louise became pregnant at the same time. The king found himself lonely, and who was there to entertain him but Madame de Montespan herself. She had her perfect moment, the one she had been waiting for so long. The king wanted her, and all she needed to do was give in.

Yet suddenly she was overwhelmed by the seriousness of the situation she was getting into. She went to her husband and begged him to take her to their country estate. Disinterested, he declined. Soon after, King Louis went off to participate in battles, as was his custom, taking the most spirited court ladies along on the journey.

Madame de Montespan was invited on one such trip, and it was during this journey that they finally became lovers. They kept the affair a secret, hiding it from the queen and, ironically, from the chief mistress as well. Eventually the queen received an anonymous letter exposing the affair between the king and her lady-in-waiting. Madame de Montespan denied the claims.

Somehow it worked, and the queen even said she would not let anyone turn her against such loyal women. The affair continued. Louis and Madame de Montespan were certainly passionate, but there was a dark side. Louis expected his women to have boundless energy, both in and out of the bedroom, and never wanted to hear a complaint from them.

When they were pregnant, he did not want to hear about the physical pain and expected them to bounce back to regular life soon after giving birth. For now, luckily, Madame de Montespan was young and up to the challenge of matching the king’s vigor. There was much food, dancing, balls, and races, and he lavished her with gifts. Despite all this, Louise de La Vallière remained the official chief mistress.

The king had not yet given Madame de Montespan a title, but he showed his devotion by giving her an apartment in Versailles with twenty rooms. In comparison, his own wife Queen Maria Teresa had only eleven. One would think all this attention would attract the suspicions of Madame de Montespan’s husband, but he was away participating in battles near the Spanish border. To make sure he stayed there, the king ensured he received lavish praise for his efforts.

In 1668, the affair bore new fruit when Madame de Montespan discovered she was pregnant. Louis helped her have a secret birth, but things were coming to the surface and becoming harder to hide. Eventually her parents found out. Surprisingly, they were fine with it, knowing that being close to the king of France was an esteemed position.

When her husband returned to Paris, however, his reaction was quite different. He was furious. He went about telling everyone he could that the king was a scoundrel. Since everyone knew the king always had many mistresses, no one seemed to care.

The marquis then took it up a notch. He started frequenting brothels in an effort to get syphilis, which he intended to pass to his wife and to the king himself. This was a step too far. The king banished the marquis to his country estate.

Unfortunately, he took their three-year-old son with him. Madame de Montespan would not see her own son for another nine years. Being the unofficial mistress of the king meant she would inevitably become pregnant again. Madame de Montespan ended up having seven children with Louis XIV.

Because of her complicated marital situation, she had the children sent away and entrusted to an old friend named Madame Scarron, who raised them. Madame de Montespan and Louis would visit the children whenever they could. In 1673, the king showed his dedication by legitimizing their children, and in 1674 Madame de Montespan was finally able to separate from her husband. Additionally, Louise de La Vallière decided to leave the court.

Now Madame de Montespan was one step closer to her goal of becoming chief mistress. Freed from her unpleasant husband and the awkward presence of Louise de La Vallière, Madame de Montespan was exactly where she wanted to be. The next years were full of unbridled joy for her and the king. Eventually Louis made her his chief mistress.

The appointment greatly inflated her ego. To honor her, he offered to build her a pavilion. Instead, she demanded an entire château. It ended up costing two million livres, which in today’s money is about thirty-six million dollars.

She started expecting prestigious appointments for all her family members, and when she did not get her way, she threw tantrums. As her power and prestige grew, so did the staff working under her. She deliberately brought on ladies she viewed as less beautiful than herself, to keep the king’s attention away from them. To her dismay, the king started to value Madame Scarron, the devout and kind woman who took care of all the illegitimate children.

In many ways she was the polar opposite of Madame de Montespan, calm, pious, and smart. To show his appreciation, the king bestowed upon her the title of Madame de Maintenon. Madame de Montespan did not like this, and occasionally tensions flared between them, but for the most part they kept things civil. Beneath the surface, though, issues were brewing.

Madame de Maintenon believed their affair was sinful and wanted to save the king’s soul. Little did Madame de Montespan know that Maintenon had brought a bishop into court to help her. During Easter of 1675, Madame de Montespan went to confession, only to be refused by the priest. The priest had deemed her too scandalous.

She immediately went to the king for help, and he in turn went to speak with the bishop that Madame de Maintenon had brought in. The bishop castigated the king for his affair. Surprisingly, after hearing the bishop’s harsh words, the king agreed to break off his affair with Madame de Montespan. When she heard about this, she panicked and locked herself in her room for two days straight.

She decided to take a temporary leave from the court and from her position as chief mistress, hoping her absence would make the king come begging for her. Apparently the plan worked, though it took an entire year before they saw each other again, during a ball held by the queen. As soon as the king saw Madame de Montespan, he ran across the floor to greet her. Despite this display of affection, the king was still keen on being pious and faithful to his wife.

Madame de Montespan had to try harder. So what did she do? She wept in front of him. Her plan succeeded gloriously, and the king fell for her again.

The next few years were as happy for the king and Madame de Montespan as they had been before. They spent their time indulging in food, wine, and much more together. But not everyone was happy. Queen Maria Teresa was upset that her husband was being unfaithful again, and Madame de Maintenon was not pleased with the bishop for fumbling her plans.

After some years, Madame de Montespan began to find it hard to keep up with the king’s lifestyle. Even though she was his main mistress, the king’s appetite for infidelity was large, and he frequently carried on smaller side affairs with other women while still with her. Much to her chagrin, there was little she could do about these little dalliances. Her main concern was keeping Madame de Maintenon away from the king.

So when a new beautiful young woman appeared at court, named Marie Angélique de Scorailles, she paid her little attention. This was a big mistake. Soon Marie Angélique and the king became entwined in a blossoming affair. When Madame de Montespan found out, she threw tantrums and yelled at the king.

This was an even bigger mistake, as the king had no patience for this, and it drove a wedge between them. After many pregnancies, Madame de Montespan was no longer the energetic young lady Louis had fallen for. Despite her being the king’s official mistress, it was Marie Angélique who ruled his bedroom. Furthermore, the king was becoming closer to the pious Madame de Maintenon, who was now one of his dear friends.

Eventually the king grew tired of Marie Angélique. A difficult pregnancy made her fall ill, and rumors began to spread that someone was trying to poison her. At first it seemed preposterous, until she actually died. This sparked much gossip that someone may have poisoned her.

People began to accuse one another, and the prime suspect was the chief mistress herself. This was the beginning of the famous Affair of the Poisons. It was not just Madame de Montespan who was implicated but many other important members of the king’s court. It was a humiliation for the king and imperiled his power and legacy.

An accusation came out that the most notorious poison dealer in Paris had a connection to Madame de Montespan. Allegedly, Montespan had plotted with her to get rid of her old rival Louise de La Vallière. It was also said that the poison dealer plotted to use Montespan’s proximity to the king to poison him as well. Further witnesses even claimed that Montespan had used black magic and dark rituals to keep the king’s love.

These accusations were very far-fetched, but the worst accusation was that Montespan had poisoned Marie Angélique. Whether or not these accusations were true, Madame de Montespan was lucky. The notorious poison dealer from Paris, when questioned, denied ever having worked with her. Montespan was off the hook.

But the damage was already done. Although the accusations had not been proven, her reputation had been tarnished. The sheer number of people close to the king who had been implicated in the affair was shocking, and dozens were tried, convicted, and executed. Even after all this, she still stayed on as the king’s official mistress, but in title only.

The king did not want to dismiss her, as it might imply she was guilty, so he let her stay. He only visited her occasionally, and without any of the love and passion they had once shared. In 1680, Queen Maria Teresa died. But before she died, she left Madame de Montespan the worst insult.

She left a special ring to Madame de Maintenon, to thank her for resisting the king’s advances and for getting in between the king and his chief mistress. Madame de Montespan was shocked. What she did not know was that after this, the king would begin a relationship with Madame de Maintenon herself. Madame de Montespan watched powerlessly as the pious Maintenon transformed the king from a decadent indulger into a devoted and modest king.

This new conservative Louis banned many things from his court, including cleavage and even bare arms. It was over for Montespan. She had finally lost. She still stayed at court for another ten years, but without any of the power or influence she had formerly held.

The king eventually asked her to leave. She packed her bags and went to live in the château that Louis had built for her all those years before. After some time there, and ironically enough, she would even leave the château and move to a convent. As she grew older, her health declined.

She died in the year 1707. King Louis’s reaction was restrained, and he did not even attend her funeral. It seemed he viewed her as something from his past, something he had moved on from many years ago. Interestingly, her former rival Madame de Maintenon wept at the news of her passing.

Madame de Montespan was the most famous mistress of King Louis XIV. Her life was filled with drama, excitement, passion, as well as scandals, gossip, and rivalry. It is possible that in her later years she may have felt remorse, for in contrast to her more sinful younger years, she lived in a convent and devoted much time to charity work.