13. Madame de Montespan was feared by her fellow courtiers — until she was supplanted and fell from grace.
Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart or Athénaïs de Montespan was the official mistress of Louis XIV of France for 13 years. Together, she and Louis had seven children — six of whom Louis legitimised. Louis installed de Montespan in luxurious apartments near his own from which she dominated the court, ruling with her wit and acidic tongue. De Montespan became a great patron of the arts, nurturing the careers of the actor and writer Moliere, the dramatist Philippe Quinault and the poet Jean de La Fontaine.
However,1680, de Montespan’s fading looks and terrible temper eroded the King’s interest in her, and Madame de Maintenon supplanted her. De Montespan remained at Versailles until 1691 when the Affair of the Poisons forced her from the court. She retired to the convent of Saint-Joseph in Paris where she died in 1707.
