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{{Short description|French courtier}}
{{About|the courtier|the Canadian expert on maritime law|Louise de La Fayette (jurist)}}
[[File:Louise de La Fayette.jpg|thumb|Louise de La Fayette]]
[[File:Louise de La Fayette.jpg|thumb|Louise de La Fayette]]
'''Louise Angélique Motier de la Fayette''' (8 November 1618 – 11 January 1665) was a French [[courtier]] and close friend and confidant of [[Louis XIII of France|King Louis XIII]]. She later left the court and entered a [[convent]]. She was known for her influence upon the monarch both before and after she left the court.
'''Louise Angélique Motier de la Fayette''' (8 November 1618 – 11 January 1665) was a French [[courtier]] and close friend and confidante of [[Louis XIII of France|King Louis XIII]]. She later left the court and entered a [[convent]]. She was known for her influence upon the monarch both before and after she left the court.


== Life ==
== Life ==
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Through her grandmother, Louise de Bourbon-Busset, she came to the French court to Paris, and became [[Maids of Honour|maid-of-honor]] to [[Anne of Austria]]. In 1635 [[Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu|Cardinal Richelieu]] sought to attract the attention of Louis XIII to her in the hope that she might counterbalance the influence exercised over him by [[Marie de Hautefort]].
Through her grandmother, Louise de Bourbon-Busset, she came to the French court to Paris, and became [[Maids of Honour|maid-of-honor]] to [[Anne of Austria]]. In 1635 [[Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu|Cardinal Richelieu]] sought to attract the attention of Louis XIII to her in the hope that she might counterbalance the influence exercised over him by [[Marie de Hautefort]].


However, <blockquote>[t]he hedonism and promiscuity of many courtiers repelled [Louis XIII] and attempts to provide him with a [[Mistress (lover)|mistress]] failed lamentably.<ref name="Miller 1987, p. 126">Miller 1987, p. 126</ref></blockquote>
However, "[t]he hedonism and promiscuity of many courtiers repelled [Louis XIII] and attempts to provide him with a [[Mistress (lover)|mistress]] failed lamentably."<ref name="Miller 1987, p. 126">Miller 1987, p. 126</ref>
The affair did not turn out as the minister wished. The King was attracted to Louise because of her innocence and purity,<ref name="Miller 1987, p. 126"/> and he did indeed make her the ''confidante'' of his affairs. But when he divulged to her his resentment for the Cardinal, she, far from repeating Louis's confidences to the minister, set herself to encourage the King in his resistance to Richelieu's dominion.
The affair did not turn out as the minister wished. The King was attracted to Louise because of her "innocence and purity",<ref name="Miller 1987, p. 126"/> and he did indeed make her the ''confidante'' of his affairs. But when he divulged to her his resentment for the Cardinal, she, far from repeating Louis's confidences to the minister, set herself to encourage the King in his resistance to Richelieu's dominion.


[[File:Souer Louise de La Fayette.jpg|thumbnail|Sister Louise Angelique de La Fayette]]
[[File:Souer Louise de La Fayette.jpg|thumbnail|Sister Louise Angelique de La Fayette]]
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As a [[Visitandines|Visitandine]] [[nun]] she was repeatedly visited by Louis, with whom she maintained a correspondence. Richelieu intercepted the letters, and by omissions and falsifications succeeded in destroying their mutual confidence. The cessation of their intercourse was regretted by the queen, who had been reconciled with her husband through the influence of Louise. At the time of her death in January 1665, Mlle de La Fayette was superior of a convent of her order which she had founded in 1651 with [[Henrietta Maria of France|Henrietta Maria]] widow of [[Charles I of England]] at [[Chaillot]].
As a [[Visitandines|Visitandine]] [[nun]] she was repeatedly visited by Louis, with whom she maintained a correspondence. Richelieu intercepted the letters, and by omissions and falsifications succeeded in destroying their mutual confidence. The cessation of their intercourse was regretted by the queen, who had been reconciled with her husband through the influence of Louise. At the time of her death in January 1665, Mlle de La Fayette was superior of a convent of her order which she had founded in 1651 with [[Henrietta Maria of France|Henrietta Maria]] widow of [[Charles I of England]] at [[Chaillot]].
[[File:Couvent-de-Chaillot.JPG|thumbnail|center|440px|Convent of the Visitations, Chaillot founded by Louise de La Fayette]]
[[File:Couvent-de-Chaillot.JPG|thumbnail|center|440px|Convent of the Visitations, Chaillot founded by Louise de La Fayette]]

== See also ==

* [[Covent of the Visitandines de Chaillot]]


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Portal|Kingdom of France}}
{{reflist|2}}


==References==
==References==
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| last = Miller
| last = Miller
| first = John
| first = John
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Bourbon and Stuart: Kings and Kingship in France and England in the Seventeenth Century
| title = Bourbon and Stuart: Kings and Kingship in France and England in the Seventeenth Century
| publisher =
| publisher = F. Watts
| year = 1987
| year = 1987
| location =
| location =
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/bourbonstuartkin00mill/page/126 126]
| pages = 126
| url = https://archive.org/details/bourbonstuartkin00mill/page/126
| url =
| doi =
| doi =
| id =
| id =
| isbn = 0-531-15052-6}}
| isbn = 0-531-15052-6
| url-access = registration
}}
* ''Mémoires de Madame de Motteville''
* ''Mémoires de Madame de Motteville''
* [[Victor Cousin]], ''Madame de Hautefort'' (Paris, 1868)
* [[Victor Cousin]], ''Madame de Hautefort'' (Paris, 1868)
* L'Abbé Sorin, ''Louise-Angle de La Fayette'' (Paris, 1893).
* L'Abbé Sorin, ''Louise-Angle de La Fayette'' (Paris, 1893).

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Fayette, Louise De La}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fayette, Louise De La}}
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[[Category:1665 deaths]]
[[Category:1665 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Doubs]]
[[Category:People from Doubs]]
[[Category:Maids of Honour]]
[[Category:17th-century French nobility]]
[[Category:French nobility]]
[[Category:17th-century French nuns]]
[[Category:French nuns]]
[[Category:French royal favourites]]
[[Category:Royal favourites]]
[[Category:17th-century French people]]
[[Category:Visitandine nuns]]
[[Category:Visitandine nuns]]
[[Category:French ladies-in-waiting]]
[[Category:French ladies-in-waiting]]
[[Category:17th-century Christian nuns]]
[[Category:French maids of honour]]
[[Category:17th-century French women]]
[[Category:Court of Louis XIII]]
[[Category:Household of Anne of Austria]]

Latest revision as of 02:16, 21 October 2024

Louise de La Fayette

Louise Angélique Motier de la Fayette (8 November 1618 – 11 January 1665) was a French courtier and close friend and confidante of King Louis XIII. She later left the court and entered a convent. She was known for her influence upon the monarch both before and after she left the court.

Life

[edit]

Louise was one of the fourteen children of Jean comte de La Fayette, and Marguerite de Bourbon-Busset. She was born in Amathay-Vésigneux. Her mother was a member of House Bourbon-Busset an illegitimate branch of the royal House of Bourbon. Her sister-in-law was Madame de La Fayette (1634–1693) the author of La Princesse de Clèves, France's first historical novel and one of the earliest novels in literature.

Life in the royal court

[edit]

Through her grandmother, Louise de Bourbon-Busset, she came to the French court to Paris, and became maid-of-honor to Anne of Austria. In 1635 Cardinal Richelieu sought to attract the attention of Louis XIII to her in the hope that she might counterbalance the influence exercised over him by Marie de Hautefort.

However, "[t]he hedonism and promiscuity of many courtiers repelled [Louis XIII] and attempts to provide him with a mistress failed lamentably."[1] The affair did not turn out as the minister wished. The King was attracted to Louise because of her "innocence and purity",[1] and he did indeed make her the confidante of his affairs. But when he divulged to her his resentment for the Cardinal, she, far from repeating Louis's confidences to the minister, set herself to encourage the King in his resistance to Richelieu's dominion.

Sister Louise Angelique de La Fayette

She refused, nevertheless, to become Louis's mistress, and after taking leave of the King in Anne of Austria's presence, retired to the convent of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary in 1637.

Nun

[edit]

As a Visitandine nun she was repeatedly visited by Louis, with whom she maintained a correspondence. Richelieu intercepted the letters, and by omissions and falsifications succeeded in destroying their mutual confidence. The cessation of their intercourse was regretted by the queen, who had been reconciled with her husband through the influence of Louise. At the time of her death in January 1665, Mlle de La Fayette was superior of a convent of her order which she had founded in 1651 with Henrietta Maria widow of Charles I of England at Chaillot.

Convent of the Visitations, Chaillot founded by Louise de La Fayette

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Miller 1987, p. 126

References

[edit]
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "La Fayette, Louise de". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 65.
  • Miller, John (1987). Bourbon and Stuart: Kings and Kingship in France and England in the Seventeenth Century. F. Watts. pp. 126. ISBN 0-531-15052-6.
  • Mémoires de Madame de Motteville
  • Victor Cousin, Madame de Hautefort (Paris, 1868)
  • L'Abbé Sorin, Louise-Angle de La Fayette (Paris, 1893).