Louise de La Vallière
Mistress of Louis XIV (1644–1710) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours (6 August 1644 – 7 June 1710) was a French noblewoman and the first mistress of Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667.
Louise de La Vallière | |
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Born | Françoise Louise de La Blaume Le Blanc de La Vallière (1644-08-06)6 August 1644 |
Died | 7 June 1710(1710-06-07) (aged 65) Paris, Kingdom of France |
Burial place | Cemetery of the Carmelite convent in Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris |
Other names | Mademoiselle de La Vallière Sister Louise de la Miséricordie |
Known for | Mistress of Louis XIV |
Title | Duchess de La Vallière, Duchess of Vaujours |
Successor | Marie Anne de Bourbon |
Children | 5, including Marie Anne de Bourbon Louis, Count of Vermandois |
Parent(s) | Laurent de La Vallière Françoise Le Prévost |
The daughter of a military governor, La Vallière joined the royal court in 1661 as maid of honour to Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans. She soon became a lover to King Louis XIV, who made her Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours in her own right. By 1666, she had been supplanted as the king's favourite due to the machinations of Madame de Montespan. La Vallière's relationship with the king ended a year later. Two of her five children by Louis, Marie Anne and Louis, survived infancy and were legitimised.
Humiliations at court took a toll on La Vallière's health and she gradually turned to religion. In 1671, she decided to leave the royal court and enter a Carmelite convent in Paris. She was only permitted to do so in 1674 and took her perpetual vows one year later. La Vallière died in 1710 following 36 years of religious life.