Random Biggest Scandals From Court Of Louis XIV (10 items)

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  (#7) La Grande Mademoiselle Fought Hard To Marry The Duc De Lauzun - And Deeply Regretted It

  Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchesse de Montpensier, was better known as La Grande Mademoiselle. She was a cousin of Louis XIV, and although she received many marriage offers (even one from Louis XIV himself), by her 40s she had become an old maid of the court.

  However, one day a man finally caught her eye - it was the somewhat unattractive, charming yet rude Antoine Nompar de Caumont. He is better known today by the title he received later in life, Duc de Lauzun. Although Mademoiselle fell head-over-heels for him, he unfortunately didn't feel the same way. She did everything in her power to make him love her, and eventually he just gave in and agreed to marry her.

  But the engagement was short-lived and ended on what would have been the couple's wedding day. Once other members of the court realized Mademoiselle was marrying a man who was essentially a nobody (and far beneath her), the king withdrew his permission.

  Soon afterward, Lauzun found himself in prison because of various altercations with members of the court. After 10 years of begging the king to release the man she loved, Mademoiselle agreed to sacrifice some of her fortune to free him. Reportedly they did finally get married, but their relationship was volatile and ended with Lauzun permanently kicked out of their home.
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  (#8) The King Had A Widely Known Affair With His Sister-In-Law

  The marriage between Henriette Anne of England and the king's brother, Philippe, the Duc d'Orléans, at first appeared genuinely loving and relatively stable; however, the facade quickly crumbled as both parties began having affairs. Henriette, known at court as Madame, was very close with Louis XIV and served as a diplomat for France's dealings with England. Rumor had it she was also very close with him in a sexual way.

  There were plenty of rumors flying around Versailles regarding the intimate relationship between Henriette and Louis XIV, fueled by their many private rendezvous. And the idea that Henriette was sleeping with her husband's brother only added to the scandalous nature of the affair.
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  (#1) Louis XIV Lost His Virginity To A Woman Called One-Eyed Kate

  When Louis XIV was 15 years old, his mother began her search for the woman who would introduce the young king to the act of procreation. It was incredibly important for Louis to produce "an heir and a spare," as they say, to ensure the continuation of the royal line. However, historical consultant and author Aurora von Goeth described just how hard the queen had to work to find the perfect woman to deflower her son:

  The chosen woman must lack ambitions to raise herself above her current rank, she must be discreet, she must be experienced, but not too much, she must be clean and without any diseases, she must be charming, but not to a level of being too enchanting, after all the whole act will be quite bewitching already.

  In the end, the queen settled on one of her own ladies-in-waiting, Catherine Henriette Bellier, also known as One-Eyed Catherine (or Kate). Not only was she missing an eye, but she was also known for being "ugly as ugly can be." However, she followed the queen's instructions and reportedly did an outstanding job at taking Louis's virginity after he returned to his room one day to find her lying on his bed wearing almost nothing.

  The queen rewarded Catherine handsomely for her efforts - she received 2,000 livres, two townhouses, the title of baroness, and the Hôtel de Beauvais. In fact, the hotel still stands today with the only surviving image of Catherine carved into the wall of the courtyard.
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  (#2) The Queen Possibly Cheated On Her Husband With An African Dwarf

  The details surrounding the origin of Sister Louise Marie Thérèse are very cloudy. What historians do know, though, is she lived as a nun in Moret and rumor said she had royal heritage. However, most don't agree on exactly who her parents were.

  One theory says a Black baby was born to Queen Marie Thérèse, but the child wasn't actually of African heritage. Some historians believe the baby may have been born with dark blue or purplish skin because it had been deprived of oxygen, and that it died soon after being born.

  However, the more salacious version of the story claims an illegitimate child was born to either Queen Marie Thérèse or King Louis XIV. Marie Thérèse was known to have had a jester who was an African dwarf, while Louis XIV had access to "exotic" women from Africa. Either of them could have been Louise Marie Thérèse's parent, but the truth behind her heritage has been lost to history.
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  (#4) Louis XIV Had A Top-Secret Second Wedding

  After his first wife, Marie Thérèse d'Autriche, died suddenly in 1683, Louis XIV was not in a hurry to remarry. He had produced an heir and successfully kept the lineage alive, and had little interest in the available European princesses. However, there was one woman who had his attention - Françoise d'Aubigné.

  She was known at the time as the Marquise de Maintenon and had been born into poverty. Her first marriage was to a poet named Paul Scarron, and she became a widow at a young age. She worked in Versailles as a nanny to the illegitimate children of the palace. As she became closer and closer with the king, he supposedly fell in love with her.

  But the Marquise de Maintenon was religious; she did not feel comfortable living with Louis XIV out of wedlock. Although there is no concrete proof of the wedding, historians and authors like Aurora von Goeth insist that evidence found in memoirs proves the king secretly married her. There were few witnesses, and it was all kept as quiet as possible due to her lower status.

  The marriage was a morganatic one, meaning nothing really changed for the Marquise de Maintenon. She did not gain any titles or rights to the monarchy, but she did have a place by Louis's side and apartments close to his from that time onward.
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  (#10) Some Members Of The Court Believed The Duchesse d'Orleans Was Poisoned

  Historians believe King Louis XIV's sister-in-law, Henriette Anne of England, Duchesse d'Orleans, most likely died from natural causes. In the months leading up to her sudden and unexpected death, Madame complained of pains in her side and was generally in poor health.

  After returning from a diplomatic trip to England and traveling with Monsieur to Saint-Cloud, her health quickly worsened. She regularly drank chicory water, and on June 29, 1670, she asked her husband to bring her a glass. Upon drinking it, she almost instantly cried out in pain and claimed she had been poisoned. Suffering from an intense pain in her side, she was taken to her room where she died before the next morning.

  While lying in agony, Madame reportedly insisted multiple times she had been poisoned. However, the remainder of the chicory water was given to the hounds, and none suffered any side effects. Despite the lack of evidence, a rumor quickly spread that it was Madame's husband, Philippe, who had killed her. A second rumor began soon after, claiming Philippe's lover, the Chevalier de Lorraine, had actually poisoned Madame. He presumably had acted out of revenge, since Madame was partially responsible for him having spent time in the worst prison in France.

  In the end, an autopsy of Madame by well-respected surgeons revealed colic, gastroenteritis, and signs of gangrene on her organs - all natural causes.

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