Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King, Antonia Fraser

The dis-oriented is a Francophile. I love all things French. I speak the language passably and my wife and I travel to France about every other year. I had already read Antonia Fraser's sympathetic Marie Antoinette biography (Marie Antoinette: The Journey) so when she came out with Love and Louis XIV — I had to read it.

I have read a variety of books about Louis XIV including Vincent Cronin's Louis XIV). So I knew a fair amount about him. I have also been to Versailles several times and seen the works for which he is justly famous. I knew about Louis the builder, Louis the warrior, Louis the hunter, Louis the ruler, etc. All in all I considered myself quite knowledgeable about the King who (apocryphally) boasted "L'État, c'est moi"

After reading this book I feel like I finally know something about Louis the man.

Fraser's book added depth to my understanding of Louis' life. She focuses on the women who helped shape his life or perhaps reflected his life at various stages. There is certainly some overlap between them but they help us understand the man better.

First, Louis was a ladies man or a gallant in every sense of the word. He enjoyed the company of women throughout his life. The primary women in his life were:

1. His mother: Ann of Austria
2. His first true love: Marie Mancini
3. His wife: Marie Thérèse of Spain
4. His mistress: Louise de La Vallière
5. His mistress: Françoise-Athénaïs de Montespan
6. His second (morgantic) wife: Françoise de Maintenon
7. His granddaughter-in-law Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy

From the time of his father's death France was ruled by Louis in name under his mother's regency. As a young man he fell in love with Marie Mancini, a niece of Cardinal Mazarin. She was not really a suitable match for the King of France.

Eventually, Marie was set aside and Louis married the infanta, Marie Thérèse of Spain. This marriage like most other royal marriages was not based on love but on the possibility of mediating the differences between France and Spain.

Soon enough Louis fell in love with a young girl, Louise de La Vallière. Eventually, Louis left Louise, who spent the rest of her life apparently happily in a convent. Louis moved on and had a long running fair with Françoise-Athénaïs de Montespan. She eventually bore him seven children who were eventually legitimized.

Eventually, Louis left the Montespan for the governess of his children, Françoise de Maintenon. In the later years of his life he was apparently faithful to her. The queen had died and Fraser and most other scholars believe that Louis had a morgantic marriage to Françoise. In this arrangement they would be wed in the eyes of the church but secretly so that she could never be queen.

Finally, Louis was captivated, in a fatherly way, by his granddaughter-in-law Marie-Adélaïde. Alas, Marie-Adélaïde died young.

Louis died with a picture of the Maintenon in his pocket.

Love and Louis XIV gets 5 of 5 dis-oriented smileys

Purchase Love and Louis XIV:  The Women in the Life of the Sun King  from Amazon.com.