List of French royal mistresses
Encyclopedia
This page contains a listing of notable French royal mistress
es.
Clovis I
Chlothar I
Charibert I
Chilperic I
Dagobert I
Charlemagne
Louis the Pious
Louis the Stammerer
Charles the Simple
·Edgiva of Kent
Charles V of France
Charles VI of France
Charles VII of France
Louis XI of France
Francis I of France
Henry II of France
Charles IX of France
Henry III of France
Henry IV of France
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XVIII of France
Louis Philippe I
Royal mistress
A royal mistress is the historical position of a mistress to a monarch or senior Royal. Some mistresses have had considerable power. The prevalence of the institution can be attributed to the fact that royal marriages were until recent times conducted solely on the basis of political and dynastic...
es.
Clovis I
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
- Evochilde
Chlothar I
- Waldrada, Princess of the Lombards
- Valtrude of the Lombards
- Arnegundis
Charibert I
- Merofleda
- Clothilde
- Marcovefa
- Theogilda
Chilperic I
Chilperic I
Chilperic I was the king of Neustria from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund....
- Fredgunde d'ArdennesFredegundFredegund was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.All her wealth and power came to her through her association with Chilperic...
Dagobert I
Dagobert I
Dagobert I was the king of Austrasia , king of all the Franks , and king of Neustria and Burgundy . He was the last Merovingian dynast to wield any real royal power...
- Regintrude of Austrasia
- Berthilde
Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
- Gersuinda of the Saxons
- Amaltrud of Vienne
- Ethelind
- Sigrade
- Madelgard
- ReginaRegina (concubine)Regina was a concubine of Charlemagne who bore him two illegitimate sons, both of whom became clerical men. First, she gave birth to Drogo in 801, then to Hugh in 802. They would be the last-living sons of Charlemagne, though not the longest-living: Louis the Pious lived to the age of 62....
- Landrade des Herbages
- Adelindus
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
- Theodelinde of Sens
Louis the Stammerer
Louis the Stammerer
Louis the Stammerer was the King of Aquitaine and later King of West Francia. He was the eldest son of Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans. He succeeded his younger brother in Aquitaine in 866 and his father in West Francia in 877, though he was never crowned Emperor...
- Luitgrade of Saxony
- Adelheid of Paris
Charles the Simple
Charles the Simple
Charles III , called the Simple or the Straightforward , was the undisputed King of France from 898 until 922 and the King of Lotharingia from 911 until 919/23...
·Edgiva of Kent
- Frederuna von Ringleheim
Charles V of France
Charles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
- Biette de Casinel (ca 1340 - ca 1380)
Charles VI of France
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
- Odette de ChampdiversOdette de ChampdiversOdette de Champdivers was the mistress of Charles VI of France...
(ca 1384 - 1424)
Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
- Agnès SorelAgnès SorelAgnès Sorel , known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté, was a favourite mistress of King Charles VII of France, for whom she bore three daughters....
(ca 1422 - 1450) - Antoinette de MaignelaisAntoinette de MaignelaisAntoinette de Maignelais was the chief mistress of Charles VII of France from 1450 until his death. The Baroness of Villequier by marriage, she replaced her cousin Agnès Sorel as the king's favourite mistress after Sorel's sudden death in 1450...
(ca 1430 - ca 1461)
Louis XI of France
Louis XI of France
Louis XI , called the Prudent , was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois....
- Phélisé Regnard
- Marguerite de Sassenage (ca 1449 - 1471)
Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
- Françoise de FoixFrançoise de FoixFrançoise de Foix, Comtesse de Châteaubriant was a mistress of Francis I of France.-Background:Françoise was the daughter of Jean de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, and Jeanne d'Aydie. Her father was the son of Pierre de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec; Pierre had been a younger brother of Gaston IV of Foix,...
(1495 - 1537), countess of Châteaubriant - Anne de Pisseleu d'HeillyAnne de Pisseleu d'HeillyAnne de Pisseleu d'Heilly , Duchess of Étampes, was the mistress of Francis I of France.She was a daughter of Adrien de Pisseleu, seigneur d'Heilly, a nobleman of Picardy, who, with the rise of his daughter at court, was made seigneur of Meudon, master of waters and forests of Île de France, of...
(1508 - 1580), duchess of Étampes - Mary Boleyn (1500 - 1543) (disputed)
Henry II of France
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
- Diane de PoitiersDiane de PoitiersDiane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress...
(1499 - 1566) - Jane FlemingLady Janet StewartJanet Stewart, Lady Fleming was an illegitimate daughter of James IV of Scotland and served as governess to her niece, Mary, Queen of Scots. Janet was briefly a mistress to Henry II of France, by whom she had an illegitimate son, Henri d'Angouleme...
(or Jane Stewart) (ca 1508 - ca 1553) - Filippa Duci (ca 1520 - ?)
- Nicole de Savigny (1535 - 1590), baroness of Fontette
Charles IX of France
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
- Marie TouchetMarie TouchetMarie Touchet , Dame de Belleville, was the only mistress of Charles IX of France.-Humble origins, mistress to the king:...
(ca 1553 - 1638)
Henry III of France
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
- Louise de La Béraudière du Rouhet
- Renée de Rieux de Châteauneuf
- Veronica FrancoVeronica FrancoVeronica Franco was an Italian poet and courtesan in 16th century Venice.- Life as a courtesan :Renaissance Venetian society recognized two different classes of courtesans: the cortigiana onesta, the intellectual courtesan, and the cortigiana di lume, lower-class prostitutes who tended to live and...
(1546 - 1591) - Marie van Kleef (1553 - 1574), countess of Beaufort
Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
- Diane d'Andoins (1554 - 1621)
- Françoise de Montmorency (1562 - ?)
- Esther Imbert (1570 - ca. 1593)
- Antoinette de Pons (1570 - 1632)
- Gabrielle d'EstréesGabrielle d'EstréesGabrielle d'Estrées, Duchess of Beaufort and Verneuil, Marchioness of Monceaux was a French mistress of King Henry IV of France, born at either the Château de la Bourdaisière in Montlouis-sur-Loire, in Touraine, or at the château de Cœuvres, in Picardy....
(ca 1571 - 1599) - Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'EntraguesCatherine Henriette de Balzac d'EntraguesCatherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues, Marquise de Verneuil was the favourite mistress of Henry IV of France after Gabrielle d'Estrées died...
(1579 - 1633), marquise of Verneuil - Jacqueline de Bueil (ca 1580 - 1651)
- Charlotte des Essarts (ca 1580 - 1651)
- Charlotte-Marguerite de MontmorencyCharlotte-Marguerite de MontmorencyCharlotte Marguerite de Montmorency was an heiress of one of France's leading ducal families, and Princess of Condé by her marriage to Henry de Bourbon. She almost became a mistress of Henry IV of France, but her husband escaped with her after the wedding.-Life:She was the daughter of Henry de...
(1594 - 1650), princess of CondéPrince of CondéThe Most Serene House of Condé is a historical French house, a noble lineage of descent from a single ancestor... - Charlotte de SauveCharlotte de SauveCharlotte de Beaune Semblançay, Viscountess of Tours, Baroness de Sauve, Marquise de Noirmoutier was a French noblewoman and a mistress of King Henry of Navarre, who later ruled as King Henry IV of France...
(c.1551- 1617)
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
- Marie de Hautefort (1616 - 1691)
- Louise de La FayetteLouise de La FayetteLouise Angélique Motier de la Fayette was a French courtier and close friend of King Louis XIII who renounced the corruption of his court and entered a convent.- Life in the royal court :...
(ca 1616 - 1665)
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
- Catherine BellierCatherine BellierCatherine-Henriette Bellier, baroness de Beauvais , was a French courtier, the first mistress of king Louis XIV of France....
(1614 - 1689), baronne de Beauvais - Olympe Mancini (1638 — 1708)
- Lucie de la Motte-Argencourt
- Mademoiselle de Marivault
- Marie ManciniMarie ManciniAnna Maria Mancini was the third of the five Mancini sisters; nieces to Cardinal Mazarin who were brought to France to marry advantageously...
(1639 - 1715) - A gardener's daughter who gave birth to a daughter
- Hortense ManciniHortense ManciniHortense Mancini, duchesse Mazarin , was the favourite niece of Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister of France, and a mistress of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland...
(1646 – 1699) - Henrietta Anne of England (1644 - 1670), his sister-in-law
- Louise de La VallièreLouise de La VallièreLouise de La Vallière was a mistress of Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667. She later became the Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of Vaujours in her own right...
(1644 - 1710), duchess of Vaujours - Anne-Lucie de la Mothe-Houdancourt
- Catherine-Charlotte de GramontCatherine-Charlotte de GramontCatherine Charlotte de Gramont was a French noblewoman and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Louis I of Monaco and a mistress of Louis XIV of France.-Biography:...
(1639 - 1678), princess of Monaco - Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de MortemartFrançoise-Athénaïs, marquise de MontespanFrançoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan , better known as Madame de Montespan, was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children....
(1640 - 1707), marquise of Montespan - Gabrielle de Rochechouart de MortemartGabrielle de Rochechouart de MortemartGabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marchioness of Thianges was a French noblewoman. A great beauty and wit, she was the older sister of Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Madame de Montespan.-Biography:...
(1633-1693), marquise of Thianges; sister of the above; - Anne de Rohan-ChabotChabotChabot may refer to:*Chabot Space & Science Center, a public science center and planetarium in Oakland, California*Chabot College, a public community college in Hayward, CaliforniaPeople with the surname Chabot:...
(1648 - 1709), princess of Soubise - Françoise d'AubignéFrançoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de MaintenonFrançoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon was the second wife of King Louis XIV of France. She was known during her first marriage as Madame Scarron, and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon...
(1635 - 1719), marquise of Maintenon - Claude de Vin des ŒilletsClaude de Vin des ŒilletsClaude de Vin des Œillets, known as Mademoiselle des Œillets, , was a mistress of Louis XIV of France and a the companion of the official royal mistress and favorite Madame de Montespan...
(ca 1637 - 1687) - Isabelle de LudresIsabelle de LudresMarie Elisabeth de Ludres, known as Isabelle , was a French noble lady-in-waiting and canoness, royal mistress of Louis XIV of France in 1675-76....
(1687 - 1722) - Marie Angélique de Scoraille de RoussilleAngélique de FontangesMarie Angélique de Scorailles was a French noblewoman and one of the many mistresses of Louis XIV. A lady-in-waiting to his sister-in-law the Duchess of Orléans, she caught the attention of the Sun King and became his lover in 1679...
(1661 - 1681), duchess of Fontanges - Charlotte-Éléonore Madeleine de la Motte HoudancourtMadame de VentadourCharlotte de La Motte Houdancourt, Duchess of Ventadour was the governess of King Louis XV of France, great-grandson of King Louis XIV. She is credited with saving Louis XV from the ministrations of the royal doctors when he was ill as a child...
, Duchesse de Ventadour (1654–1744)
Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
- Louise Julie de MaillyLouise Julie, Comtesse de MaillyLouise Julie de Mailly, comtesse de Mailly was the eldest of the five famous de Nesle sisters, four of whom would become the mistress of King Louis XV of France.- Early life, family and marriage :...
(1710 - 1751), countess of Mailly - Pauline-Félicité de MaillyPauline-Félicité de MaillyPauline Félicité de Mailly , marquise de Vintimille, was the second of the five famous de Nesle sisters, four of whom would become the mistress of King Louis XV of France.- Early life and family :...
(1712 - 1741), marquise of Vintimille - Diane-Adélaïde de MaillyDiane-Adélaïde de MaillyDiane Adélaïde de Mailly, duchesse de Lauraguais was the third of the five famous de Nesle sisters, four of whom would become the mistress of King Louis XV of France.- Early life, family and marriage :...
(1713 - 1760), duchess of Lauraguais - Marie-Anne de MaillyMarie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchess de ChâteaurouxMarie Anne de Mailly, duchesse de Châteauroux was the youngest and prettiest of the five famous de Nesle sisters, four of whom would become the mistress of King Louis XV of France....
(1717 – 1744), marquise of La Tournelle, duchess of Châteauroux - Jeanne Antoinette PoissonMadame de PompadourJeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
(1721 - 1764), marquise of PompadourArnac-PompadourArnac-Pompadour is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.The city is famous for its chateau and its stud farm, the Pompadour National Anglo-Arab Stud, headquarters of the French National Stud and France's principal production centre of Anglo-Arabian horses.-History:Arnac was... - Jeanne BécuMadame du BarryJeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
(1743 - 1793), countess du Barry - Marie-Louise O'MurphyMarie-Louise O'MurphyMarie-Louise O'Murphy de Boisfaily was one of the younger mistresses of King Louis XV of France. Her original surname is also given in sources as Murphy, Morphy, or O'Morphy, and she is sometimes referred to as "La Morphise" or "La Belle Morphise"...
(1737 - 1815) - Françoise de Châlus (1734 - 1821), duchess of Narbonne-Lara
- Marguerite Catherine Haynault (1736 - 1823), marquise of Montmélas
- Lucie Madeleine d'Estaing (1743 - 1826)
- Anne Couffier de Romans (1737 - 1808), baroness of Meilly-Coulonge
- Louise Jeanne Tiercelin de La Colleterie (1746 - 1779), called Madame de Bonneval
- Irène du Buisson de Longpré (? - 1767)
- Catherine Éléonore Bénard (1740 - 1769)
- Marie Thérèse Françoise Boisselet (1731 - 1800)
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
- Zoé TalonZoé Talon, comtesse du CaylaZoé Victoire Talon , styled comtesse du Cayla, was an intimate friend and confidante of Louis XVIII of France, and was his maîtresse-en-titre.She was born at Le Boullay-Thierry...
(1785 - 1852), countess of Cayla
Louis Philippe I
- Rosalie DuthéRosalie DuthéCatherine-Rosalie Gerard Duthé was a celebrated French courtesan. A companion of French kings and European nobility, she has been called "the first officially recorded dumb blonde." Duthé was an often requested subject for portraits, including partial and full nudes, many of which still exist in...
(1748–1830)