Maîtresse-en-titre

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Olympia Mancini.

Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan.

Madame de Pompadour.

Madame du Barry.

The maîtresse-en-titre (French: [mɛtʁɛs ɑ̃ titʁ]) was the chief royal mistress of the King of France.^[1] The title came into use during the reign of Henry IV and continued through the reign of Louis XV. It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartments.^[2] In contrast, the title petite maîtresse was the title of a mistress who was not officially acknowledged.

From the reign of Louis XIV, the term has often been applied, both in translation ("official mistress") and in the original French, to refer to the main mistress of any monarch or prominent man when his relationship with her is not clandestine, e.g. Vibeke Kruse, Nell Gwynn, Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, Lola Montez, Magda Lupescu.

French royal mistresses with the position of Maîtresse-en-titre[]

While the King may have many mistresses, there were normally only one official Maîtresse-en-titre. Below are examples of those with this position. For a full list of all the mistresses of a French King, regardless of their position as official or not, please see List of French royal mistresses.

Charles V of France

• Biette de Cassinel (c. 1340 – c. 1380)

Charles VI of France

• Odette de Champdivers (c. 1384–1424)

Charles VII of France

• Agnès Sorel (c. 1422–1450)
• Antoinette de Maignelais (c. 1430 – c. 1461)

Louis XI of France

• Phélise Regnard (1424-1474)
• Marguerite de Sassenage (c. 1449–1471)

Francis I of France

• Françoise de Foix (1495–1537), countess of Châteaubriant
• Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly (1508–1580), duchess of Étampes

Henry II of France

• Diane de Poitiers (1499–1566)

Henry III of France

• Louise de La Béraudière du Rouhet
• Renée de Rieux de Châteauneuf
• Marie of Cleves, Princess of Condé

Henry IV of France

• Diane d'Andoins "La Belle Corisandre" (1554–1621)
• Françoise de Montmorency (1562–?)
• Esther Imbert (1570 – c. 1593)
• Antoinette de Pons (1570–1632)
• Gabrielle d'Estrées (c. 1571–1599)
• Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues (1579–1633), marquise de Verneuil
• Jacqueline de Bueil (c. 1580–1651)
• Charlotte des Essarts (c. 1580–1651)

Louis XIV of France

• Louise Françoise de la Baume le Blanc de la Vallière (1644–1710), duchesse de la Vallière and duchesse de Vaujours
• Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise de Montespan (1640–1707)
• Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon (1635–1719), married the King in 1683
• Isabelle de Ludres (1687–1722)
• Marie Angélique de Scoraille de Roussille (1661–1681), duchess of Fontanges

Louis XV of France

• Louise Julie, Comtesse de Mailly (1710–1751)
• Pauline-Félicité de Mailly (1712–1741), marquise de Vintimille
• Diane-Adélaïde de Mailly (1713–1760), duchess of Lauraguais
• Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchess de Châteauroux (1717–1744)
• Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson (better known as Madame de Pompadour) (1721–1764), marquise de Pompadour
• Marie-Jeanne Bécu (better known as Madame du Barry) (1743–1793), countess of Barry

Louis XVIII of France

• Zoé Talon, comtesse du Cayla (1785–1852)

See also[]

• Henry IV of France's wives and mistresses
• Favourite

References[]

External links[]

• List of maîtresses du Roi-Soleil (French)