12. Madame de Maintenon stole Louis IX’s from her friend and patron — and became his secret wife
The widowed Francoise Scarron first came to the court of Versailles at the behest of her friend Athenais de Montespan in 1669. She was meant to act as the governess to the children of de Maintenon and the King. Louis initially found her “unbearable” However, by 1675, Francoise had become the Marquise de Maintenon and supplanted de Montespan as Louis’s mistress. In 1683, de Maintenon became Louis’s secret wife after the death of Queen Maria Theresa.
Unlike De Montespan, de Maintenon established a more restrained royal court. She had a calmer influence on her husband and may have had a hand in some of his political decisions. On Louis’s death, she retired to Saint-Cyr, a school for girls she founded with the King.
