Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc
Encyclopedia
Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc, duc de Vaujours, duc de La Vallière
(9 October 1708 – 16 November 1780) was a French nobleman, bibliophile
and military man. The present duc d'Uzès and duc de Luynes
descend from him.
.
His father was a nephew of Louise de La Vallière
, the first official mistress of King Louis XIV of France
. On his father's side of the family, Louis César's relatives at court included Louise de La Vallière's daughter by Louis XIV
, Marie Anne de Bourbon, princesse de Conti
. On his mother's side, his aunt was Marie Victoire de Noailles
, the wife of Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse
, and mother of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre, the wealthiest man in France during Louis César's lifetime. His uncle, Adrien Maurice de Noailles married Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné
, the niece of Madame de Maintenon. Another cousin was Louis de Pardaillan de Gondrin, duc d'Antin, a great-grandson of Madame de Montespan.
When Louise de La Vallière left Versailles for a religious life after her displacement in the king's affections by Madame de Montespan, she gave the duchies of Vaujours and La Vallière to her daughter, the princesse de Conti. The princess sold them in 1698 to Louis César's father. From his birth, Louis César was known at court as the marquis de La Vallière. His father retained the Vaujours title for himself until his own death in 1739.
In 1727 at the early age of nineteen, Louis César was promoted to the rank of colonel of the regiment under the title of duc de La Vallière. In 1730, his father also gave him the duchy of Vaujours. With this new title came the rank of pair de France
. Even though his father officially gave up the duchy in 1732, he was still styled at court as the duc de Vaujours.
.
Upon his father's death in 1739, Louis César became the new duc de La Vallière and was made the governor of Bourbonnais
. In addition, he inherited the Château de Champs-sur-Marne
. Around 1750, he added a beautiful rococo
salon chinois (Chinese salon) to the château with wall paintings by noted artist Christophe Huet
. The property had been given to his father by his cousin, the princesse de Conti, in 1718 in order to settle some debts. At the château, Louis César entertained many of the famous writers of the day, including Diderot
, Voltaire
, d'Alembert
and François-Augustin de Paradis de Moncrif
, with whom he also corresponded regularly.
Monsieur de La Vallière was also created the Captain of the Hunt by Louis XV of France
as well as the Grand Falconer of France
in 1748. King Louis XV respected him, and Louis César became close with the king's mistress, the famous Madame de Pompadour
, who named him the master of her private theatre. In 1749 the king bestowed upon him the Order of the Holy Spirit
in a ceremony which took place at the Palace of Versailles
on 25 May. The order was the most prestigious in France.
After the construction of a magnificent new château at Montrouge
around 1750, the duke gradually abandoned the Château de Champs-sur-Marne
. Eventually, he tried to sell the estate, but he could not find a buyer and was forced to rent it out. Between July 1757 and January 1759, he leased the estate to Madame de Pompadour
for 12,000 livres per year. The marquise spent 200,000 livres in less than eighteen months to renovate the château. In November 1757, she received the prince de Soubise there after his defeat at the Battle of Rossbach
. As the king did not like the château, the marquise left it at the beginning of 1759. In 1763, the duke finally sold Champs to Gabriel Michel de Tharon (1702–1765), a rich shipowner.
Louis César was one of the greatest bibliophiles of his time. With the assistance of his librarian, the abbé Rive, he bought entire libraries and sold whatever he already had. His great library was eventually sold in three stages, first in 1767; then in 1783 and again in 1788. Part of the famous collection was acquired by the comte d'Artois
, brother of Louis XVI
and future king of France. That part of the library was incorporated into the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal
in Paris
.
The duke's library was famous:
The duke also wrote two books: Ballets, opera, et autres ouvrages lyriques (1760) and the Bibliothèque du Théâtre-Français
(1768, 3 vol. in-12). The latter was edited by Barthélemy Mercier de Saint-Léger.
and her daughter, the princesse de Conti
, his daughter was able to inherit the title. On her death, however, the title became extinct.
Duchy of La Vallière
The Duchy of La Vallière was a French peerage created on 13 May 1667 by Louis XIV for his one time mistress Louise Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc...
(9 October 1708 – 16 November 1780) was a French nobleman, bibliophile
Bibliophilia
Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Accordingly a bibliophile is an individual who loves books. A bookworm is someone who loves books for their content, or who otherwise loves reading. The -ia-suffixed form "bibliophilia" is sometimes considered to be an incorrect usage; the older...
and military man. The present duc d'Uzès and duc de Luynes
Philippe d'Albert, 13th duc de Luynes
Philippe Jean Paul Marie Raymond d'Albert , 13th Duke of Luynes, is the son of Jean d'Albert, 12th duc de Luynes and Christine de Luynes...
descend from him.
Family and childhood
Louis César was the son of Charles François de La Baume Le Blanc, marquis and then duc de La Vallière, and his wife, Marie Thérèse de Noailles, a daughter of Anne Jules de Noailles, duc de NoaillesDuke of Noailles
The title of Duke of Noailles was a French peerage created in 1663 for Anne of Noailles, count of Ayen.The second, third and fourth dukes were all marshals of France...
.
His father was a nephew of Louise de La Vallière
Louise de La Vallière
Louise 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...
, the first official mistress of King 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...
. On his father's side of the family, Louis César's relatives at court included Louise de La Vallière's daughter by Louis XIV
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...
, Marie Anne de Bourbon, princesse de Conti
Marie Anne de Bourbon
Marie Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and Louise de La Vallière. At the age of thirteen, she was married to Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and as such was the Princess of Conti by marriage...
. On his mother's side, his aunt was Marie Victoire de Noailles
Marie Victoire de Noailles
Marie Victoire Sophie de Noailles, Countess of Toulouse , was the daughter of Anne Jules de Noailles, the 2nd Duke of Noailles, and his wife, Marie-Françoise de Bournonville...
, the wife of Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse , duc de Penthièvre , d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet , , was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Madame de Montespan...
, and mother of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre, the wealthiest man in France during Louis César's lifetime. His uncle, Adrien Maurice de Noailles married Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné
Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné
Françoise Charlotte Amable d'Aubigné, Duchess of Noailles was the wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles, 3rd Duke of Noailles. She was the niece of Françoise d'Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon, and her heiress.-Biography:...
, the niece of Madame de Maintenon. Another cousin was Louis de Pardaillan de Gondrin, duc d'Antin, a great-grandson of Madame de Montespan.
When Louise de La Vallière left Versailles for a religious life after her displacement in the king's affections by Madame de Montespan, she gave the duchies of Vaujours and La Vallière to her daughter, the princesse de Conti. The princess sold them in 1698 to Louis César's father. From his birth, Louis César was known at court as the marquis de La Vallière. His father retained the Vaujours title for himself until his own death in 1739.
In 1727 at the early age of nineteen, Louis César was promoted to the rank of colonel of the regiment under the title of duc de La Vallière. In 1730, his father also gave him the duchy of Vaujours. With this new title came the rank of pair de France
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
. Even though his father officially gave up the duchy in 1732, he was still styled at court as the duc de Vaujours.
Adulthood
In 1732 Louis César married Jeanne Julie Françoise de Crussol d'Uzès, the daughter of Charles Emmanuel de Crussol (1743–1815) and his wife Emilie de La Rochefoucauld. His wife was a member of the House of Crussol, the most important peers in France after that of the Princes of the BloodPrince du Sang
A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
.
Upon his father's death in 1739, Louis César became the new duc de La Vallière and was made the governor of Bourbonnais
Bourbonnais
Bourbonnais was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponded to the modern département of Allier, along with part of the département of Cher. Its capital was Moulins.-History:...
. In addition, he inherited the Château de Champs-sur-Marne
Château de Champs-sur-Marne
The Château de Champs, at Champs-sur-Marne was built in its present form for the treasurer Charles Renouard de la Touane in 1699 by Pierre Bullet, architecte du roi. After the first proprietor's bankruptcy, another financier, Paul Poisson de Bourvalais, took up the project...
. Around 1750, he added a beautiful rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
salon chinois (Chinese salon) to the château with wall paintings by noted artist Christophe Huet
Jean-Baptiste Huet
Jean-Baptiste Marie Huet was a French painter, engraver and designer associated with pastoral and genre scenes of animals in the Rococo manner, influenced by François Boucher....
. The property had been given to his father by his cousin, the princesse de Conti, in 1718 in order to settle some debts. At the château, Louis César entertained many of the famous writers of the day, including Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
, Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, d'Alembert
Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. He was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclopédie...
and François-Augustin de Paradis de Moncrif
François-Augustin de Paradis de Moncrif
François-Augustin de Paradis de Moncrif was a French writer and poet, of a family originally of Scots origin. He was appointed royal historiographer to Louis XV of France. His parody of owlishly pedantic scholarship, Histoire des chats, and the protection of the house of Orléans gained him entry...
, with whom he also corresponded regularly.
Monsieur de La Vallière was also created the Captain of the Hunt by 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...
as well as the Grand Falconer of France
Grand Falconer of France
The Grand Falconer of France was a position in the King's Household in France from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. The position first appeared in 1250 as "Master Falconer of the King" ; the title was changed to Grand Falconer in 1406, although the title "First Falconer" was sometimes...
in 1748. King Louis XV respected him, and Louis César became close with the king's mistress, the famous Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne 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:...
, who named him the master of her private theatre. In 1749 the king bestowed upon him the Order of the Holy Spirit
Order of the Holy Spirit
The Order of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit, was an Order of Chivalry under the French Monarchy. It should not be confused with the Congregation of the Holy Ghost or with the Order of the Holy Ghost...
in a ceremony which took place at the Palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
on 25 May. The order was the most prestigious in France.
After the construction of a magnificent new château at Montrouge
Montrouge
Montrouge is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the center of Paris, France. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe...
around 1750, the duke gradually abandoned the Château de Champs-sur-Marne
Château de Champs-sur-Marne
The Château de Champs, at Champs-sur-Marne was built in its present form for the treasurer Charles Renouard de la Touane in 1699 by Pierre Bullet, architecte du roi. After the first proprietor's bankruptcy, another financier, Paul Poisson de Bourvalais, took up the project...
. Eventually, he tried to sell the estate, but he could not find a buyer and was forced to rent it out. Between July 1757 and January 1759, he leased the estate to Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne 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:...
for 12,000 livres per year. The marquise spent 200,000 livres in less than eighteen months to renovate the château. In November 1757, she received the prince de Soubise there after his defeat at the Battle of Rossbach
Battle of Rossbach
The Battle of Rossbach took place during the Seven Years' War near the village of Roßbach, in the Electorate of Saxony. Frederick the Great defeated the allied armies of France and the Holy Roman/Austrian Empire...
. As the king did not like the château, the marquise left it at the beginning of 1759. In 1763, the duke finally sold Champs to Gabriel Michel de Tharon (1702–1765), a rich shipowner.
Louis César was one of the greatest bibliophiles of his time. With the assistance of his librarian, the abbé Rive, he bought entire libraries and sold whatever he already had. His great library was eventually sold in three stages, first in 1767; then in 1783 and again in 1788. Part of the famous collection was acquired by the comte d'Artois
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
, brother of Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
and future king of France. That part of the library was incorporated into the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal
Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal
The Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in Paris is one of the branches of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.-History:...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
The duke's library was famous:
Monsieur le duc de La Vallière has just died. He was one of those lords who was the most corrupt of the old court, friend of the late king and all his mistresses. He did merit the conservation of his name to posterity of a distinguished author, collector of letters and even their maker. He had sold his very renowned library for his manuscripts. He had been composed of another genre, very precious indeed ; he had paintings and, a modern Lucullus Lucullus Lucius Licinius Lucullus , was an optimate politician of the late Roman Republic, closely connected with Sulla Felix... , he possessed beautiful gardens, like the Roman |
M. le duc de La Vallière vient de mourir. C'était un des seigneurs les plus corrompus de la vieille cour, ami du feu roi et voué à toutes ses maîtresses. Il mérite cependant qu'on conserve son nom à la postérité comme auteur distingué, comme protecteur des lettres et même comme faiseur. Il avait vendu une fois sa bibliothèque très renommée alors pour les manuscrits. Il s'en était composé une autre d'un nouveau genre, fort précieuse encore ; il avait des tableaux et, moderne Lucullus, il possédait des jardins délicieux, comme ce Romain |
The duke also wrote two books: Ballets, opera, et autres ouvrages lyriques (1760) and the Bibliothèque du Théâtre-Français
(1768, 3 vol. in-12). The latter was edited by Barthélemy Mercier de Saint-Léger.
Issue
Louis César and his wife, Jeanne Julie Françoise de Crussol d'Uzès, had only one child, a daughter. As the duchy of La Vallière had previously been held by several women, including Louise de La VallièreLouise de La Vallière
Louise 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...
and her daughter, the princesse de Conti
Marie Anne de Bourbon
Marie Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and Louise de La Vallière. At the age of thirteen, she was married to Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and as such was the Princess of Conti by marriage...
, his daughter was able to inherit the title. On her death, however, the title became extinct.
- Adrienne Emilie Félicité de La Baume Le Blanc (29 September 1740 - ? duchesse de Châtillon et de La Vallière, dame de Wideville married 4 April 1756 to Louis Gaucher, duc de ChâtillonDuc de ChâtillonDuc de Châtillon was a French noble title.The first creation, in 1643, was for Gaspard III de Coligny, a Marshal of France, who was also known as duc de Coligny. The title referred to Châtillon-sur-Loing, a possession of the Coligny family. He was also to have been made a peer of France at the same...
, and had issue.
Ancestry
Sources
- Cardinal Georges Grente (dir.), Dictionnaire des lettres françaises. Le XVIIIe siècle, nlle. édition revue et mise à jour sous la direction de François Moureau, Paris, Fayard, 1995
- Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc, duc de La Vallière », dans Gustave Vapereau, Dictionnaire universel des littératures, Paris, Hachette, 1876, 2 volumes
- Dominique Coq, « Le parangon du bibliophile français : le duc de La Vallière et sa collection », dans : Histoire des bibliothèques françaises, Cl. Jolly dir., Paris, Promodis Cercle de la Librairie, 1988
Titles and styles
- 9 October 1708 - 1730 the Marquis of La Vallière (Monsieur le marquis de La Vallière)
- 1730 - 22 August 1739 the Duke of Vaujours (Monsieur le duc de Vaujours)
- 22 August 1739 - 16 November 1780 the Duke of La Vallière (Monsieur le duc de La Vallière)