Angélique, the Marquise of the Angels is a 1956

1956 in literature

The year 1956 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Writing under the pseudonym of Emile Ajar, author Romain Gary becomes the only person ever to win the Prix Goncourt twice.*Iris Murdoch marries John Bayley....

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Anne Golon

Anne Golon

Anne Golon is a French author, better known to English-speaking readers as Sergeanne Golon. She has written a series of novels about a heroine Angelique....

 & Serge Golon, the first novel in Angélique series

Angelique (series)

Angelique is series of 13 French historical adventure books by the novelist duo Anne and Serge Golon. The first 10 books have been adapted into English while numbers 11-13 have not...

. Inspired by the life of Suzanne de Rougé

Rougé

Rougé is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.It lies near Rennes.The name "Rougé" comes from the Latin "Rubiacus", means the red place...

 du Plessis-Bellière, known as the Marquise du Plessis-Bellière.
Angélique's marriage to Joffrey de Peyrac is thought to be parallel to that of the daughter of Madame de Sévigné, Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné

Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné

Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné, Comtesse de Grignan was a French aristocrat, remembered for the letters that her mother, Madame de Sévigne, wrote to her.-Life:...

 to the Comte de Grignan

Comte de Grignan

François Adhémar de Monteil, Comte de Grignan was a French aristocrat, remembered chiefly for being Lieutenant-Governor of Provence and the beloved son-in-law of Madame de Sévigne.- Life :...

.

Plot summary

In Mid-17th century France: young Louis XIV is struggling for his throne, beggars and thieves haunt Paris and brigands roam the countryside.

Fifth child of an impoverished country nobleman, Angélique de Sancé de Monteloup grows up in the Poitou

Poitou

Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....

 marshlands. Her logical destiny would be to marry a poor country nobleman, have children and spend her life fighting for a meagre subsistence.

Destiny has other plans in store for her. At 17, on returning from her education in a convent, she finds herself betrothed to the rich count, Joffrey de Peyrac, (Joffrey Comte de Peyrac de Morens d'Irristru, Lord of Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...

 and Aquitaine

Aquitaine

Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...

), 12 years her senior, lame, scarred and reputed to be a wizard.

For the sake of her family, Angélique reluctantly agrees to the match but refuses the advances of her husband. Peyrac respects her decision and does not pursue his claim to conjugal rights, wishing rather to seduce than use force.

With the passing of months, Angelique discovers the talents and virtues of her remarkable husband: scientist, musician, philosopher; and to her surprise falls passionately in love with him.

But Peyrac's unusual way of life is threatened by the ambitions of the Archbishop of Toulouse, and soon arouses the jealousy of the young king himself, Louis XIV - who (in actual historical record as in this fictional book) disliked nobles who were too powerful and independent of the Royal power. Joffrey was arrested and charged with sorcery. Angélique then single-handedly take on the might of the royal court, survived murder and poison attempts on herself in a supreme effort to save Joffrey from being burned at the stake

Burned at the Stake

Burned at the Stake is a 1981 film directed by Bert I. Gordon. It stars Susan Swift and Albert Salmi.-Cast:*Susan Swift as Loreen Graham / Ann Putnam*Albert Salmi as Captaiin Billingham*Guy Stockwell as Dr. Grossinger*Tisha Sterling as Karen Graham...

, but to no avail.

Instinctively, her whole being intent on revenge and her determination to survive, Angélique, alone and desperate, plunges into the darkness of the Paris underworld.

Upon realising that her underworld existence is undeserving to her sons, whose noblesse belonging to one of the highest lineage of the Kingdom. Angélique left the underworld to undertake all sorts of enterprises to have them regain their rightful inheritance that they had been so deceitfully deprived of by the King. She even go so far as blackmailing her cousin, Philippe du Plessis de Bellière, the favourite Marshal of Louis XIV, into marriage.

Characters in "Angélique, the Marquise of the Angels"

• Angélique de Sancé de Monteloup (Sagittarius, 1639) – Main protagonist, the second daughter and the fifth of ten children of the Baron Armand de Sancé de Monteloup, an impoverished lesser nobleman of a very old family line. Her mother, Adeline, who died while Angélique was still in the convent, is a woman of little words, a proud and understanding mother. Until her death, she spent most of her time in her garden tended fruit trees and vegetables to subsidise the family's meagre table. The de Sancé children's robust health and youthful beauty are owed to their mother's efforts in the garden and allowed them growing up freely in the countryside.
• Joffrey de Peyrac de Morens d'Irristru (1627) – Angélique's enigmatic husband, a righteous and rich Count of Toulouse, Prince of Aquitaine, to whom she reluctantly married and later loves deeply. As a highly celebrated troubadour he is known as "The Golden Voice of the Kingdom". Being a crack shot, a first-rate swordsman, and with his profound knowledge, he is often known as "The Great Lame Devil of Languedoc". While those who feared and envious of him referred to him as "The Sorcerer". Angélique have two sons by him, Florimond (~4th May 1659) and Cantor (~27th January 1661). Florimond is the exact likeness of the man who sired him, sans the scars and limping, while Cantor inherited the talents of this great troubadour. Joffrey was the youngest child of an impoverished Languedoc aristocrat of very ancient lineage. As in the Ancien Régime ways, the infant Joffrey was to be brought up by his wet-nurse until reached schoolage, but the hometown of his Protestant wet-nurse's was massacred by Catholic zealots, during the religious conflict between the Catholics and the Huguenots. Joffrey's face was disfigured by the swords of the Catholics and was thrown out of a window, hence he became lame for the rest of his life. He was recognised by a Catholic who plundered the ruined castle, and with Joffrey's foster sister, Margot, they endured much hardship to return him to his mother, whom nursed the then three-year-old Joffrey back to life. Because of the jeers and insults other children heaped at him about his disfigurement and limping, Joffrey retreated into his studies. At seventeen, already a profound scholar, Joffrey left his family and travelled wide and far to quench his thirst for knowledge. He returned to find his family gone, and his heritage divided among creditors. Joffrey then set his knowledge to use, brought his heritage back to its magnificence and increased in wealth.
• Louis XIV – Being sovereign of the already unstable realm, the King feared Joffrey's widespread affluence and the reported contempt he held for those that abuse their powers as authorities. Which, might make Joffrey set up as a new power against the young monarch, therefore ordered for Joffrey's arrest for sorcery and life imprisonment.
• Maître François Desgrez – A poor but very shrewd lawyer, the only one willing to help defend in the ridiculous court trial set up against Angélique's husband. After Joffrey's death, Desgrez was forced to flee, he later sold his law licence and became a Lieutenant of Police of Paris. He remained as Angélique's great friend and would often come to her aid.
• Conan Bécher – An Inquisitor and alchemist Franciscan friar. He was chosen by the Archbishop of Toulouse to observe Joffrey's gold processing technique, but instead of acknowledging such as a valid scientific technique, the bigot scholar was bent on condemning everything shown to him as heresy. With Fouquet's influence, he impelled Joffrey's death sentence at the stake, forced Angélique and others associated with Joffrey to be on the run from the police, being hanged or became slaves in the King's galleys.
• Baron Benoît de Fontenac, Archbishop of Toulouse – Also known as the Grand Inquisitor, a very avaricious man, who secretly desired power like that of the Cardinal Richelieu, always seek to have Joffrey fallen from affluence and to obtain Joffrey's secret of processing gold. Upon hearing of Joffrey's arrest, the people of Languedoc knew it was instigated by the Archbishop, formed mass protests and riots against him and those authorities who are known to serve the interests of the 'Northerners' while oppressing the liberty of the 'Southerners', it lasted until the King himself put a stop to it overall.
• Chevalier de Germontaz – A boorish and equally avaricious nephew of the Archbishop of Toulouse. As an example to others, his existence was conveniently cut short by the hand of the watchful and jealous Joffrey. His death served the vindictive Archbishop in further condemning Joffrey.
• Maître Molines – A Huguenot steward who manages the finances of the de Sancé's and the du Plessis' estates, Joffrey's Poitou business contact, and more. It was Molines who promoted the marriage between Joffrey and Angélique, later on he too assisted in Angélique's marriage with Philippe. Molines treats Angélique as like his own daughter, and oftentimes it was he who would give her advices that served to her advantages.
• Barbe – A nursemaid in Hortense's service, she was entrusted with Angélique's sons, but when Hortense's family was forced to flee, she had to find work elsewhere. Angélique finally found her again while she was working at Maître Bourjus' The Brazen Cock. Then became permanent nurse to her sons after Angélique's return to affluence.
• Kouassi-Bâ – A Moor in Joffrey's service as bodyguard and indispensable assistant in his studies in the natural sciences. He was forced to flee after Joffrey's death but was captured and sent to the King's galleys.
• Fritz Hauër – A Saxon miner, Joffrey's other indispensable assistant in his study of the natural sciences and managages his mining operations. Like Kouassi-Bâ, the loyal miner risked his life chosen to help Joffrey at the trial.
• Marquis Bernard d'Andijos – A Toulousain playboy nobleman, just like Péguilin Antoine Nompar de Caumont, Duke of Lauzun, both are good friends of Joffrey. He acted as Angélique's proxy bridegroom on her wedding in Monteloup. After Joffrey's death he led a rebellion in Languedoc against the King for Joffrey's sake.
• Clément Tonnel – A spy and extortionist working under Nicolas Fouquet
  Nicolas Fouquet
  Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV...
  
  . He shadows Angélique, working as a major-domo in Joffrey's palace. Have several times attempted on Angélique's life and helped in bringing ludicrous heretical evidence against Joffrey.
• Carmencita, Duchess of Mérecourt – One of Joffrey's mistresses whose connection he had long severed when he married Angélique. The flighty and pleasure-loving Duchess became embittered against Joffrey when he refused to resume relationship with her and plays a part in condemning Joffrey in his trial for sorcery.
• Nicolas Merlot – A shepherd in the service of Angélique's father, along with Valentin, a miller's son, they are Angélique's childhood friends. On the day of Angélique's wedding he escaped Poitou to become Calembredaine, "the Illustrious Scamp", a bandit leader of the Parisian underworld. It was under his protection when Angélique was cast out from her society after Joffrey was burned at the stake.
• Philippe du Plessis de Bellière (1637) – Angélique's more prominent nobility, vain, and arrogant cousin, whose family estate runs next to her father's and who happens to be her secret love in her teenage years. Because of his parents' ambitions for power, Philippe had a very neglected upbringing, which resulted in him being a brutal misogynist when Angélique married him. In order to secure for her sons their rightful inheritance, she blackmailed the King's favourite Grand Marshal, this "Handsomest man in the Court" into marriage.
• Raymond de Sancé – Angélique's second eldest brother, who against the wishes of his father, became a Jesuit priest instead of staying at home to inherit his inheritance. Especially after Josselin, Angélique's eldest brother, prevented by the family to join the King's navy, ran away to America. The resourceful Raymond would often make himself available to aid his younger siblings whenever they are in difficulties.
• Hortense de Sancé – Angélique's eldest sister, she married a cousin of the minor de Sancé branch, Gaston Fallot, a respected procurator in Paris. Her family suffered much for being involved with Angélique since Joffrey's arrest.
• Gontran de Sancé – Angélique's third eldest and closest brother, he ran away to Paris to become a painter and was disinherited by his father in the process, as artisans are classed beneath the nobles. He has preternatural ability in the depictions of his sitters in his paintings.
• Guillaume Lützen – An old German mercenary in the Baron de Sancé's service. Mainly to protect the Monteloup castle and it's inhabitants, especially the de Sancé women, from brigands, soldiers, and worse, tax collectors. He is very dear to Angélique.
• Fantine Lozier – Nurse to the de Sancé children. Often would tell her charges scary stories about Gilles de Rais
  Gilles de Rais
  Gilles de Montmorency-Laval , Baron de Rais, was a Breton knight, a leader in the French army and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known as a prolific serial killer of children...
  
   or their family's ghost.
• Pulchérie and Jeanne/Marthe de Sancé – The Baron Armand de Sancé's unmarried sisters. Most likely due to lack of dowry.
• Madelon de Sancé – Angélique's younger sister, who died in a plague-ridden famine during the Fronde while she, Hortense, and Angélique were educated in the convent.
• Denis de Sancé – Angélique's fourth brother, who succeeded his father's expectation by going into the service of the King's army.
• Marie-Agnès de Sancé – Angélique's youngest sister, who became a Maid of Honour to the Queen of France and then retreated into a convent.
• Albert de Sancé – Angélique's fifth brother, he became a page in the household of Monsieur's, the King's brother.
• Jean-Marie de Sancé – Angélique's sixth brother, he was on his way to becoming a priest.
• Brother Anselme and Brother Jean of the Nieul Abbey – After Josselin fled to America, Angélique, Nicolas and a band of urchins wanted to try their luck too. However they got lost in the Nieul forest and was sheltered by the kind-hearted Brother Anselme. Brother Jean rescued Angélique from being perverted by some of the novices. Meanwhile, for his act of kindness, when he personally escorted the children back to their families, Brother Anselme was rewarded with abuses hurled at him.
• Father Vincent – Angélique met him during her stay at the convent. He prevented her from being ravished and convinced her to leave her rebelliousness to pursue her studies more seriously. As well as having a hand in transforming the young Henri de Roguier's life. This virtuous priest became Saint Vincent de Paul after his death.
• Father Antoine – A Lazarist priest, a devoted follower of Father Vincent. He served as confessor just before Joffrey's execution and relayed messages between Joffrey and Angélique.
• Maître Aubin – The King's public executioner. A good man for one with such a disturbing occupation and an equally disturbing wife. Uncle to Cordeau (Cord-around-the-neck) whose mother was landlady to Angélique's secret lodging during Joffrey's trial.
• Wood-Bottom Janir – Angélique's friend during her existence in the Parisian underworld. He succeeded as the Great Coësre, ruler of the Parisian underworld, after Angélique killed the former, Squat Rolin', in order to save Florimond from being sold into beggary.
• Barcarole – a dwarf who befriended Angélique and brought her to Calembredaine when she was an outcast and on the run from the King's police. He later became one of the jesters to the Queen of France and continued to help Angélique whenever she's in danger.
• Flipot – An orphan of Calembredaine's gang, became a pickpocket and Angélique's faithful lackey.
• The Polack – A camp-follower known as "The Marquise of the Polacks", was Calembredaine's mistress until Angélique supplanted her. She became Angélique's friend and taught her all sorts of self-defense tricks.
• Linot – Another orphan in Calembredaine's gang, Angélique saved him from being sold to Rotten-Jean, the sinister Trader of Children. Linot's vocation being a peddler by playing the hurdy-gurdy which his grandfather had left him, as well as selling waffles, pastries, etc. He was horribly killed during one of those dissipated sprees of the King's brother and his companions.
• Claude le Petit – "The Gutter Poet", a pamphleteer whom Angélique at first wanted to kill for writing slanders about her and her husband during Joffrey's imprisonment. He later became her lover and she acquired his help to disgrace those responsible for Linot's and Maître Bourjus' deaths, which resulted in him being hanged.
• David Chaillou – Son of a spice importer from Toulouse, apprentice cook and orphan nephew of Maître Jacques Bourjus, the keeper of The Brazen Cock tavern. It was after the tavern keeper's death that Angélique had the opportunity to help in realising David's father's dream of patenting chocolate and making it available to the masses which in turn helped Angélique amassed wealth and risen into the upper society.
• Maître Audiger – Army cook, master chef specialised in confections and refreshments, then butler to the Count of Soissons, he tried to compete with Angélique and David in the race for patenting chocolate in France, but ended up as their partner. He had wanted to marry Angélique upon his first meeting her, but her marital thoughts were still very much for Joffrey. She however was passionate about him and tried many ways to tempt him as a lover, but the exemplary and pious Audiger wanted her only as his seemingly ideal wife and mother of his family. It was only when he learned that Angélique was going to marry her cousin, Philippe, this ambition was a final blow to his impressions of her. He relinquished his suit, left the chocolate business and rejoined the army.
• Javotte – An orphan girl who looked after and helped Florimond and Cantor from abuse and starvation after they were abandoned from Hortense's family's flight. She later became Angélique's personal maid.