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The Women in the Life of the Sun King
Nan A. Talese
November 2006
On Sale: October 24, 2006
416 pages
ISBN: 0385509847
EAN: 9780385509848
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography
The self-proclaimed Sun King, Louis XIV ruled over the most
glorious and extravagant court in seventeenth-century
Europe. Now, Antonia Fraser goes behind the well-known tales
of Louis’s accomplishments and follies, exploring in
riveting detail his intimate relationships with women. The king’s mother, Anne of Austria, had been in a childless
marriage for twenty-two years before she gave birth to Louis
XIV. A devout Catholic, she instilled in her son a strong
sense of piety and fought successfully for his right to
absolute power. In 1660, Louis married his first cousin,
Marie-Thérèse, in a political arrangement. While unfailingly
kind to the official "Queen of Versailles," Louis sought
others to satisfy his romantic and sexual desires. After a
flirtation with his sister-in-law, his first important
mistress was Louise de La Vallière, who bore him several
children before being replaced by the tempestuous and
brilliant Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Later, when
Athénaïs’s reputation was tarnished, the king continued to
support her publicly until Athénaïs left court for a life of
repentance. Meanwhile her children’s governess, the
intelligent and seemingly puritanical Françoise de
Maintenon, had already won the king’s affections; in a
relationship in complete contrast to his physical obsession
with Athénaïs, Louis XIV lived happily with Madame de
Maintenon for the rest of his life, very probably marrying
her in secret. When his grandson’s child bride, the
enchanting Adelaide of Savoy, came to Versaille she
lightened the king’s last years—until tragedy struck. With consummate skill, Antonia Fraser weaves insights into
the nature of women’s religious lives—as well as such
practical matters as contraception—into her magnificent,
sweeping portrait of the king, his court, and his ladies.
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