Die Frauen der Sforza I: Bianca Maria Visconti – Die Stammmutter der Sforza
nur als Buch (Farbband) bei amazon.de: 294 Seiten, mit Stammtafeln und 243 Bildern, Independently published, 1. Auflage 2020, ISBN 978-1-6515-0580-9, € 51,02
Bilder-Galerie
Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, geboren am 5. Oktober 1640 und gestorben am 27. Mai 1707, wurde im Jahr 1660 eine der sechs Hofdamen der jungen französischen Königin Maria Teresa von Spanien (1638-1683). Sie war das dritte Kind von Gabriel de Rochechouart (1600-1675), dem ersten Herzog von Mortemart, und dessen Gattin Diane de Grandseigne (1615-1666). Ihre berühmteste Schwester war Gabrielle de Rochechouart (1633-1693), die Marquise von Thianges, die am französischen Hof wegen ihrer Schönheit, ihres Scharfsinns und ihres Spottes geliebt und gefürchtet war. Im Jahr 1661 ernannte man Françoise-Athénaïs zur Hofdame der jungen Gattin des Bruders des Königs, Philippe I., des Herzogs von Orléans, Henriette Anna von England. Und hier lernte sie Mademoiselle de La Vallière kennen, die ebenfalls Hofdame der Letzteren geworden war. Am 28. Januar 1663 hatte Françoise-Athénaïs schließlich auf Wunsch ihres Vaters Louis-Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin (1640-1691), den Marquis de Montespan, zu heiraten, den sie in ihren Memoiren als ungebildet, dickköpfig und starrsinnig beschrieb und dem sie zwei Kinder schenkte: ihre Tochter Marie Christine (1663-1674) und ihren Sohn Louis Antoine (1665-1736). Als verheiratete Frau verlor sie ihre Position als Hofdame der Herzogin von Orléans. Als ihr Gatte im Dezember 1666 oder im Januar 1667 den königlichen Hof, in dem er ebenfalls eine Anstellung erhalten hatte, wegen einer Erbschaft im Süden Frankreichs verließ, bat er seine Gattin im Mai 1667, den königlichen Hof, in dem sie eine andere Anstellung erhalten hatte, zu verlassen und zu ihm zu kommen.
Ihre Antwort auf seine Bitte teilte sie uns in ihren Memoiren mit: "I hastened to tell my husband in reply that his impatience and ill-humour made me most unhappy; that as, through sickness or leave of absence, five or six of the Court ladies were away, I could not possibly absent myself just then; that I believed I sufficiently merited his confidence to let me count upon his attachment and esteem, whether far or near. And I gave him my word of honour that I would join him after the Court moved to Fontainebleau, that is to say, in the autumn. My answer, far from soothing or calming him, produced quite a contrary effect." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan – Being Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV, Volume 1, Boston 1899, pp. 27-28). Und seinen Antwortbrief fügte sie hinzu: "Your allegations are only vain pretexts, your pretexts mask your falsehoods, your falsehoods confirm all my suspicions; you are deceiving me, madame, and it is your intention to dishonour me. My cousin, who saw through you better than I did before my wretched marriage, - my cousin, whom you dislike and who is no whit afraid of you, - informs me that, under the pretext of going to keep Madame de la Vallière company, you never stir from her apartments during the time allotted to her by the King, that is to say, three whole hours every evening. There you pose as sovereign arbiter; as oracle, uttering a thousand divers decisions; as supreme purveyor of news and gossip; the scourge of all who are absent; the complacent promoter of scandal; the soul and the leader of sparkling conversation. One only of these ladies became ill, owing to an extremely favourable confinement, from which she recovered a week ago. At the outset, the King fought shy of your raillery, but in a thousand discreditable ways you set your cap at him and forced him to pay you attention. If all the letters written to me (all of them in the same strain) are not preconcerted, if your misconduct is such as I am told it is, if you have dishonoured and disgraced your husband, then, madame, expect all that your excessive imprudence deserves. At this distance of two hundred and fifty leagues I shall not trouble you with complaints and vain reproaches; I shall collect all necessary information and documentary evidence at headquarters; and, cost me what it may, I shall bring action against you, before your parents, before a court of law, in the face of public opinion, and before your protector, the King. I charge you instantly to deliver up to me my child. My unfortunate son comes of a race which never yet has had cause to blush for disgrace such as this. What would he gain, except bad example, by staying with a mother who has no virtue and no husband? Give him up to me, and at once let Dupré, my valet, have charge of him until my return. This latter will occur sooner than you think; and I shall shut you up in a convent, unless you shut me up in the Bastille. Your unfortunate husband, MONTESPAN." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan – Being Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV, Volume 1, pp. 28-29).
Und ihr Gatte wurde in der Tat aktiv: "M. de Montspan came to Paris and instituted proceedings against me before the Châtelet authorities. To the King he sent a letter full of provocations and insults. To the Pope he sent a formal complaint, accompanied by a most carefully prepared list of opinions which no lawyer was willing to sign. For three whole months he tormented the Pope, in order to induce him to annul our marriage. [Was ihm nicht gelang.] ... He went into the deepest mourning ever seen. He draped his horses and carriages with black. He gave orders for a funeral service to be held in his parish, which the whole town and its suburbs were invited to attend. He declared, verbally and in writing, that he no longer possessed a wife; that Madame de Montespan had died of an attack of coquetry and ambition; and he talked of marrying again when the year of mourning and of widowhood should be over." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan – Being Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV, Volume 1, pp. 31-32).
Übrigens durften nur die Menschen, die ihr wie z. B. der französische König Ludwig XIV. sehr nahestanden, sie "Athénaïs" nennen.
"It was just about this time [im Jahr 1667] that I [Madame de Montespan] noticed the beginning of the monarch's serious attachment for me. Till then it had been only playful badinage, good-humoured teasing, a sort of society play, in which the King [Ludwig XIV.] was rehearsing his part as a lover. I was at length bound to admit that chaff of this sort might end in something serious, and his Majesty begged me to let him have La Vallière for some time longer. I have already said that, while becoming her rival, I still remained her friend. Of this she had countless proofs, and when, at long intervals, I saw her again in her dismal retreat, her good-nature, unchanging as this was, caused her to receive and welcome me as one welcomes those one loves." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan – Being Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV., Volume 1, pp. 67-68).
Laut Madame de Montespan soll Ludwig XIV. Folgendes zu ihr gesagt haben: "Athénais, we have been created for each other: if Heaven were suddenly to deprive me of the Queen, I would have your marriage dissolved, and before the altar and the world, join your destiny to mine." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan, Volume 2, pp. 258-259).
Ihr Verhältnis mit dem französischen König Ludwig XIV. begann im Jahr 1667.
Ludwigs XIV. "neue Favoritin [Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart (1640-1707), Madame de Montespan] zeigte sich ebenso machtbesessen wie habgierig, entschlossen, aus der Beziehung zum König für sich und die Ihren den größtmöglichen Gewinn herauszuschlagen. Ihrem Bruder verschaffte sie den Marschallstab, anderen Verwandten Titel und Privilegien. Um ihre Ziele zu erreichen, waren ihr alle Mittel recht, selbst der obskurste Okkultismus. Sie trat in geheime Kontakte zu der wahrsagenden Giftmischerin Voisin [ursprünglich Hebamme] und der nicht weniger berüchtigten Marquise de Brinvilliers, die alle Interessenten mit dem Poudre de succession (Erbfolgepulver) versorgten, um Rivalen und lästige Erben aus dem Wege zu schaffen. ... [Madame de Montespan] beschaffte sich von der genannten Voisin aus üblen Ingredenzien gefertigte Wundersäfte, um Ludwig an sich zu binden. ... Dazu nahm sie an schwarzen Messen teil. ... Als Ludwig seiner Françoise .... das kleine Lustschloß von Clagny in der Nähe von Versailles errichten ließ, verlangte diese ein viel größeres Schloß, das ihr schließlich Mansart für die bescheidene Summe von knapp drei Millionen Livres bauen mußte. ... Zwar fand Ludwig das anmaßende, fast in Bevormundung umschlagende Auftreten der Montespan zunehmend lästig, zumal sie weder der Königin [seiner Gattin Maria Teresa von Spanien] noch Monsieur [seinem Bruder Philippe I., dem Herzog von Orléans] gegenüber die erforderliche Etikette respektierte, auch ging ihre auswuchernde Spielwut stark zu Lasten der königlichen Schatulle, dafür gebar sie dem König acht Kinder, unter ihnen den künftigen Herzog von Maine, Lieblingssohn Ludwigs XIV. Letztlich hat die um alles oder nichts kämpfende Gräfin von Montespan ihren Stern selbst zum Verlöschen gebracht. Als Ludwig XIV. die Einzelheiten des Prozesses gegen die Voisin erfuhr, darunter auch die Verwicklungen höchster Hofkreise, waren die Stunden der skrupellosen Geliebten gezählt." (in: Manfred Kossok: Am Hofe Ludwigs XIV., ebenda, S. 116-118). Die Montespan hatte schließlich im Jahr 1691 Versailles zu verlassen und sich in das Kloster Saint-Joseph zu begeben. Ludwig XIV. gewährte ihr zum Abschied eine monatliche Rente von 1000 Livres.
Nach dem Tod von Ludwigs XIV. nächster Geliebten, Mademoiselle de Fontanges, im Jahr 1681, fand er nicht sogleich zurück zu seiner vorherigen Geliebten, Madame de Montespan: "The King, consoled as he was for the death of the Duchesse de Fontanges, did not, on that account, return to that sweet and agreeable intimacy which had united us for the space of eleven or twelve years. He approached me as one comes to see a person of one's acquaintance, and it was more than obvious that his only bond with me was his children." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan, Volume 2, p. 112).
Wie Madame de Montespan allmählich feststellen musste, dass Ludwig XIV. sie zu meiden begann und die Gesellschaft von Madame de Maintenon, die sechs von ihren acht Kindern, die sie dem König geschenkt hatte, erzogen hatte, bevorzugte: "I collected together a crowd of slight and scattered circumstances; and in this union of several small facts, at first neglected and almost unperceived, I distinguished on the part of the King a gradual and increasing attachment for the governess [Madame de Maintenon], and at the same time a negligence in regard to me - a coldness, a cooling-down, at least, and that sort of familiarity, close parent of weariness, which comes to sight in the midst of courtesies and attentions the most satisfying and the most frequent. The King, in the old days, never glanced towards my clock till as late as possible, and always at the last moment, at the last extremity. Now he cast his eyes on it a score of times in half-an-hour. He contradicted me about trifles. He explained to me ingeniously the faults, or alleged faults, of my temper and character. If it was a question of Madame de Maintenon, she was of a birth equal and almost superior to the rest of the Court. He forgot himself so far as to quote before me the subtilty of her answers or the delight of her most intimate conversation. ... Soon there was not the slightest doubt left to me; and I knew, as did the whole Court, that he openly visited the Marquise [Madame de Maintenon], and was glad to pass some moments there. ... He showed himself always assiduous with Madame de Maintenon, who, by her animated and unflagging talk, had the very profitable secret of keeping him amused. Although equally clever, I venture to flatter myself, in the art of manipulating speech, I could not stoop to such condescensions. You cannot easily divert - when you have a heart and are sincere - a man who deserts you, who does not even take the trouble to acknowledge it and excuse himself." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan, Volume 2, pp. 72-73/126).
"From my tenderest childhood, I was notable amongst all my brothers and sisters for my distinct fondness for precious stones and diamonds. I have made a collection of them worthy of the Princes of Asia; and if my whole fortune were to fail me to-day, my pearls and diamonds, being left to me, would still give me opulence. ... When he [Ludwig XIV.] loved me with a tender love, I had only to wish and I obtained instantly all that could please me, in rare pearls, in superfine brilliants, sapphires, emeralds and rubies. ... As to my diamonds, either changed in form, or acquired and collected by myself, I destine them for my four children by the King [die das Erwachsenenalter erreicht hatten]. These pomp will have served to delight my eyes, which are pleased with them, and then they will go down to their first origin and source, belonging again to the Bourbons whom I have made." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan, Volume 2, pp. 269/275-276).
Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, bekannt unter ihrem Namen "Madame de Montespan", schenkte dem französischen König Ludwig XIV. folgende acht Kinder (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan – Being Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV., Volume 1, pp. 307-308, Volume 2, p. 6): 1. und 2. Zwillinge, eine Tochter Louise Françoise von Bourbon, geboren Ende März 1669 und gestorben am 23. Februar 1672, und einen Sohn, von dem wir nicht den Namen und auch nicht das Sterbedatum besitzen, aber den Titel "Graf von Vexin" (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan – Being Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV., Volume 1, p. 106).; 3. ihren Sohn Louis Auguste, Herzog von Maine, geboren am 31. März 1670 und gestorben am 14. Mai 1736; 4. ihren Sohn Louis César, Graf von Vexin, geboren am 20. Juni 1672 und gestorben am 10. Januar 1683; 5. ihre Tochter Louise Françoise von Bourbon, geboren am 1. Juni 1673 und gestorben am 16. Juni 1743; 6. ihre Tochter Louise Marie von Bourbon, geboren am 12. November 1674 und gestorben am 15. September 1681; 7. ihre Tochter Françoise Marie von Bourbon, geboren am 9. Februar 1677 und gestorben am 1. Februar 1749; und 8. ihren Sohn Louis Alexandre, Graf von Toulouse, geboren am 6. Juni 1678 und gestorben am 1. Dezember 1737. Während die ersten sechs Kinder unter der Aufsicht von Madame de Maintenon aufwuchsen, wurden die zwei jüngsten Kinder in die Obhut des Finanzministers Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) gegeben.
Zum Abschied, als Madame de Montespan, Versailles verlassen musste, soll Ludwig XIV. Folgendes zu ihr gesagt haben: "From our union amiable children have been born, for whom I have done, and will do, all that a father with good intentions can do. The Act which acknowledged them in full Parliament has not named you as their mother, because your bonds prevented it [sie war immer noch mit einem anderen Mann verheiratet], but these respectful children know that they owe you their existence, and not one of them shall forget it while I live. You have charmed by your wit and the liveliness of your character the busiest years of my life and reign. That pleasant memory will never leave me, and separated though we be, as good sense and propriety of every kind demands, we shall still belong to each other in thought. Athénais will always be to me the mother of my dear children. I have been mindful up to this day to increase at different moments the amount of your fortune: I believe it to be considerable, and wish, nevertheless, to add to it even more. [Sie soll eine jährliche Zahlung von 600.000 Livres erhalten, wenn sie mehr möchte, sollte sie es ihm schriftlich mitteilen] ... Your children being proclaimed Princes of France, the Court will be their customary residence, but you will see them frequently ... If you are prudent, you will write first to the Marquis de Montespan, not to annul and revoke the judicial and legal separation which exists, but to inform him of your return to reasonable ideas, and of your resolve to be reconciled with the public." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan, Volume 2, pp. 340-341).
"... all were more or less pleased with my mishap and downfall. I had seen all these figures at my feet, and almost all were under obligations to me ... I settled at Paris, where my personal interest and my great fortune gave me an existence which many might have envied. I never returned to Versailles, except for the weddings of my eldest daughter, and my son, the Serious [Louis Auguste]; I always loved him better than he did me. Père de Latour, my director, obtained from me then, what I had refused hitherto to everybody, a letter of reconciliation to M. le Marquis de Montespan. I had foreseen the reply, which was that of an obstinate, ill-bred and evil man. Pére de Latour .... and his admirers have stated that I wore a hair shirt and shroud. Pious slanders, every word of them! I give many pensions and alms, that is to say, I do good to several families; the good that I bestow about me will be more agreeable to God than any harm I could do myself, and that I maintain." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan, Volume 2, pp. 350-351).
"The Marquise [Madame de Montespan] had never inspired any one of her family with a lively affection ... Madame de Montespan was ... a good mother, and loved her children. The latter did not reciprocate. The Marquis d'Antin, her legitimate son, like the four legitimatised Princes, had but a cold attachment to her ... Perhaps, too, the Marquise should attribute the indifference of her children to the caprices of her temper. Rather bilious than nervous, though she pretended above all to nerves, Madame de Montespan was charming, as the King must have perceived for long years, when she chose to be; but she brought into her ordinary relations, when they were not modified by the need to please, a certain stiffness, certain imperious and despotic forms, which she could not failed to have with her children. ... If wit consists in quickness of perception, in subtlety of traits and expression, nobody at the Court of Louis XIV. had more wit than the Marquise. She was one of those people whose conversation has been rightly compared with fireworks; but it often happened that the sparks of this ever-glowing fire injured the spectator. ... Madame de Montespan, who, in spite of her frankness, never speaks to us of this intemperate tongue, has left us in equal ignorance of a certain disposition to be carried out of herself, which, notably at the time of her rupture with the King, leads her to excesses hardly credible in a woman of her rank speaking to Louis XIV., a man as accustomed to make himself respected as there has ever been. ... 'Madam,' he replied, 'I have done everything to make you happy; you take pleasure in making me the most unhappy of men. For twelve years I have endured without complaint your caprices of every kind.' 'And I, Monsieur, your odour,' replied Madame de Montespan. ... The triumph of Madame de Maintenon had been too bitter for a heart like hers ever to bring itself to pardon; she broke even with the Abbess of Fontevrault [ihrer jüngsten Schwester], because the latter, like a woman aware of her interests, continued from time to time to correspond with the former Widow Scarron [Madame de Maintenon]. Madame de Montespan, because of her great impetuosity, passed generally for a proud woman; that is an error. She was quick, impatient, and ready to scold, when there was any excuse for it; but she had more nobility and dignity than actual haughtiness. ... A very brief illness reduced her to extremity, and the Marquis d'Antin only arrived to be witness of her death-agony. He hurriedly obtained possession of her keys, of which the most important were upon her, and returned at once to Paris, where she had accumulated her treasures. By her will, the Marquise left her wedding-ring and her heart to the community of Saint-Joseph. She likewise destined for them her entrails; but the Capuchin Fathers of Bourbon, who were charged with this commission, confided it to a boatman, who, to save himself from infection, threw the casket into the river." (in: Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan, Volume 2, pp. 353-359).
Madame de Maintenon schreibt in ihren Briefen vom 29. Mai, 19. Juni und 26. Juni 1707 über den Tod von Madame de Montespan Folgendes: " Madame de Montespan died at Bourbon the 27th of this month: she had only three days' illness, and received all her sacraments. A courier was sent for M. d'Antin, but I do not know whether he could have found her in her senses. ... M. d'Antin has given you [der Prinzessin des Ursins] an account of Madame de Montespan's death: he attended her during the three last days of her illness; she was as tranquil as had been the reverse during her lifetime upon the subject of death, which no person dare introduce in her presence when well. She did not say a word about any body, nor to her son, though he was present. She merely said to the priest, 'Father, exhort me as an ignorant mortal, and as briefly as you can.' ... The death of Madame de Montespan has not disabled me from writing to you; but it is, nevertheless, true that I feel it very sensibly, and that I was always interested about her. As her rank was not acknowledged by the courts of Europe, her daughters have not received formal letters of condolence; and I think I have signified as much as this to you before: I will however inform them of your wishes, and I think the matter must rest there. The two daughters have manifested a grief which has excited the praise of all their friends, and it even began to appear excessive; but we are not fond of long afflictions at court." (in: The Secret Correspondence of Madame de Maintenon with the Princess des Ursins, Volume I, London 1827, pp. 109/115-117).
Lesetipps:
1. Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan – Being Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV, Volume 1, Boston 1899
2. Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan – Being Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV, Volume 2, London 1895
Neu: Bianca Maria Visconti
Buch und e-Book
Lucrezia Borgia – Das Leben einer Papsttochter in der Renaissance
als Buch bei amazon.de, 152 Seiten, 78 SW-Abbildungen, ISBN 978-1-9732-7487-2, € 9,08
als E-BOOK bei amazon.de mit Stammtafeln und 78 Bildern, davon 37 in Farbe, Eigenproduktion 2014, € 9,02
Neu: Wer ist Mona Lisa?
Wer ist Mona Lisa? – Identifizierung einer Unbekannten mit Hilfe historischer Quellen
als Buch bei amazon.de: 172 Seiten, mit Stammtafeln und 136 Bildern (130 Bilder in Farbe), Independently published, 1. Auflage, ISBN 978-1-9831-3666-5, € 29,31
Neu: Caterina Sforza
Die Frauen der Sforza II: Caterina Sforza - Die Amazone der Sforza und die Muse von Botticelli
nur als Buch (Farbband), bei amazon.de: 320 Seiten, mit Stammtafeln und 153 Bildern, Independently published, 1. Auflage 2021, ISBN 979-8-7119-9157-1, € 44,73
Dritter Band der Sforza Serie
Die Sforza III: Isabella von Aragon und ihr Hofmaler Leonardo da Vinci
488 Seiten, 322 Abbildungen und Stammtafeln, €49.90 (Format 21 x 27 cm)
