Madame de Maintenon -The True Love of King Louis XIV

The marriage of Louis XIV of France with Marie Therese of Spain in 1660 was an arranged union meant to serve a political purpose. However, Louis XIV married in secret some years later when he fell in love with the Marquise de Maintenon. This is an extraordinary story of a woman who captured the king’s heart and became his wife against the royal conventions of the court of Louis XIV of France.
The images used are in the Public Domain.
Music - YT Audio Library.

[@moodylittleowl]

I really like her - she climbed social ladder without stepping on anyone's head. She was simply a good person, always strived for self-improvement and in the end it was her personality that led to her marriage

[@livesandhistories]

Well said. And I think that the king would have agreed with you :) Thank you for watching.

[@teemo8870]

Agree!

[@bplatt1069]

It’s always so nice to listen to a French native narrate French history. As one who knows the language, I often bristle when many English speakers do presentations involving French names, places, and events; they frequently mispronounce the words. The woman on this video does such a nice job. Not only is the French all exquisitely spoken; but also, her tone is lovely and graceful. Thank you for posting this brief but thorough overview of Mme. de Maintenon, a lady who lived her life well and honorably.

[@livesandhistories]

Thank you for your lovely comment.

[@springfauna1465]

As an American who studied french in school for five years, I always practiced pronouncing every word correctly. When I went to France years later, I made sure to speak it correctly to everyone I was talking to, but I knew that I must have had an accent because the first thing they did was smile. Everyone was so kind to me though, and to this day, France is still my favorite country!! ❤️

[@verablexitasap858]

I figure you're English or American? Sounds like something one would say

[@GOLDESCAFLOWNE]

Agree

[@marie-heleneleclerc3181]

She never dreamed of reaching such a high position; however, her greatest talent is to never miss a step in ascending the social ladder.

[@livesandhistories]

Very well said. Thank you for watching Marie-Helene.

[@marie-heleneleclerc3181]

@@livesandhistories I was paraphrasing from Madame de Maintenon's best French biographer, Françoise Chandernagor. She could not have been more accurate.

[@livesandhistories]

@@marie-heleneleclerc3181 Indeed.

[@olzhena9681]

She was the true Queen, not by the title but by her personality. I am glad for Luis. He was able to find his true love and happiness in his adulthood. Thanks for bringing to us this beautiful story. 🙌

[@livesandhistories]

Indeed. Thank you for watching.

[@frankie3010]

After treating his poor first wife as something he stepped in.

[@ambreeniram2268]

What a nice lady, wanted the king to be with his wife instead of her. They met at a mature age when one knows what makes them happy. Great love story.

[@Yvonne2214]

Finally! The history of the French monarchs in English. I needed this. Now I can enjoy one of my favorite subjects while performing other household tasks. I have never had the patience to sit still and read subtitles. Two of my favorite historical figures are Catherine de Medici, and Madame de Pompadour. Women who had much more influence on history than they are given credit for, not unlike the Marquise de Maintenon and her predecessor. I am fascinated when women take on such significant rolls against all odds in a time of male dominance.

[@livesandhistories]

Glad you like them, Yvonne. Thank you for watching.

[@adrianjohnson7920]

What a sweet story --playboy king in midlife grows bored with having any woman he wants, and marries the virtuous, kindly, and intelligent governess educating his children.

[@livesandhistories]

Nicely summed up!

[@juliecopelandbarrows2971]

Love that she set-up a girl's school

[@livesandhistories]

Yes. Thank you for watching.

[@elohimbart]

Well initialy it was a scool where girls where brought up to be educated in the arts,music etc to let them have a good chance to find a suitable husband. The older madame the maintenon came and more religious, the scool got deprived from the finer education and turned more into a convent. As it first gave the girls a sense of freedom it became more of a prison.

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

It’s so great to have these presentations in English from a native French speaker. Most native English speakers don’t have a clue about French pronunciation and are so painful to listen to. I’ve forgotten a lot of my University French from 40 years ago, but not the pronunciation!

[@livesandhistories]

Thank you very much Kimberly.

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

I forgot to say, your English pronunciation is perfect and your French accent is very charming.

[@livesandhistories]

Very kind of you to say that.

[@donsarde]

It is true that French lady speaks very good English and I love her accent.

[@leanie9660]

I always thought it was funny that her official title sounded like "Mrs Right Now".

[@livesandhistories]

Yes. Thank you for watching.

[@saibliss7976]

King finally found love, nice video. Love the accent👌💕💖

[@livesandhistories]

😊 thank you

[@dmeblue]

My estimation of Louis the 14th just went up because of this video.

[@MsJournalist09]

I recently discovered your channel and have binge watched multiple videos and love them all! Your voice is such a joy to listen to ❤

[@livesandhistories]

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like them.

[@jesinino1534]

Maravillosa historia de Madame Maintenon 💜

[@whenitsraining861]

Great video. I would like to recommend topics like 'Juana the Mad', 'Catherine de' Medici', 'Jane Grey' , Some Ottoman kings (like the famous 'Suleiman the Magnificent' or how his daughter became the most influential princess there), 'Fall of the Roman Empire', but I thought it might be pressuring you and that these topics may be too common. I really like how you are doing topics most people do not make videos or know about. Good job. Keep going!

[@livesandhistories]

Thank you so much for your feedback. I'll keep all those recommendations in mind.

[@whenitsraining861]

@@livesandhistories Thank you for taking my opinion, but don't worry. You know more about history than me, so keep uploading videos you would like to make.

[@davidebryant8999]

Francoise d'Aubigne was my great great great great great cousin from my mother's side. In my grandmother's family home had the cotes of arms of the house of d'Aubignie everywhere. one side of the d'Aubigne had fled to England and eventually left to Nova Scotia Canada.

[@livesandhistories]

That's very interesting. Thank you for watching Davide.

[@BTScriviner]

Years ago, I read an interesting biography of Madame de Maintenon. I think this was it: "The Secret Wife of Louis XIV: Françoise d'Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon" by Veronica Buckley.

[@livesandhistories]

Good to know. Thank you for watching.

[@sjfulton10]

Another good book is The King’s Way in English or L’Allee du Roi. It’s written it first person, like a diary.

[@madelinesadvocate1510]

One if my ancestors was a dr mercy! He apparently married one of Louis illegitimate daughters, he rescued her from a convent in Spain and took her to England and married her!

[@livesandhistories]

Impressive! That could be some good material for a story :) Thank you for watching.

[@daniedanguilan3860]

From humble beginning to be the wife of a king is a very monumental success in one's life.

[@NC-ij9rb]

A caring and loving family woman.

[@livesandhistories]

Yes, she was. Thank you for watching.

[@lilyofthevalley5586]

Thank you for this wonderful documentary! I appreciate it very much.

[@livesandhistories]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you.

[@bellaandrews6305]

A lovely story. Thank you.

[@livesandhistories]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@springfauna1465]

I was listening to this from across the room and it sounded like her name was, "Madame de Maintenant!!" Ohhh, it really made me laugh because we have a joke here in the States about the difference between Mr. Right, and Mr. Right Now!! ha, ha, ha, ha....with all due respect, she sounded like she might have been Mrs. Right Now to Louis XIV. ;o)

[@livesandhistories]

I know what you mean. Even during her lifetime there were jokes about her at court in relation to the similarity of her name to the French word for "now". And she was referred to as "Madame de Maintenant"! :)

[@springfauna1465]

@@livesandhistories Oh wow!! 😂😂😂 So I wasn't off on this!! 🤣💜

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

Life was so hard for women then, we couldn’t just go out and get a job to support ourselves and were often forced by circumstances to marry old and ugly men.

[@livesandhistories]

They had very few options. Hard times back then.

[@HappyDogsAndCrafts-y3q]

This was a great video!!... Full of information!

[@livesandhistories]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching.

[@simplelifelost]

Great story. It reveals a little more about the personality of The Sun King

[@itachi-kun7736]

i forgot she was older and outlived Louis XIV's reign

[@mea5138]

She was only 3 years older than him

[@Sunny25611]

This is a beautiful narrative ! Thank you so much 😊

[@livesandhistories]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching.

[@Sunny25611]

@@livesandhistories It’s interesting to watch a series like Versailles and wonder if there’s a kernel of truth hidden somewhere among the melodrama. So these facts are exactly what I needed to hear to distinguish between the true and the false ! Again many thanks 🙏

[@livesandhistories]

@@Sunny25611 You're right, it is fascinating to compare what they show on TV to what really happened in history. Most of the time, it's up to the screenwriter to what extent they want to keep history in the foreground.

[@melieflynn-hayes7996]

From a common to a wife of a king what a journey.

[@livesandhistories]

Incredible, I would say.

[@heliedecastanet1882]

She actually was not a commoner, since she came from an aristocratic family (yet recently ennobled, in the XVI° century) : the family of Aubigné.

[@katw.6519]

She was at court due to her BEST FRIEND, the great love of Louis' younger life Mme De Montespon. She was a study in how to get what you want, so can't blame her for that one - but she gave him exactly what he wanted when he wanted it.

[@livesandhistories]

Well said, Kat. Thank you for watching.

[@katw.6519]

@Lives & Histories I love the channel, and have so much love for history and historical figures in various cultures and time periods. Keep going; great channel!

[@livesandhistories]

@@katw.6519 Thank you very much, Kat. I am delighted to know you like history and enjoy watching my videos.

[@katw.6519]

@@livesandhistories , very much so! Keep up the good work!

[@shellyreena2192]

So interesting, didn't know this about Louis XIV thought he was a total despot. Thank you so much for this, how/where can I learn more about this side of the French monarchy during the time period?

[@livesandhistories]

Thank you for watching, Shelly.

[@Irulan10]

You might want to watch "L'Allée du Roi" (The King's Way), a 1995 movie based on the same title book by Françoise Chandernagor. It's the story of Mme de Maintenon, and very well done.

[@Pepipeperoni]

Watch VERSAILLES it's on Netflix... It's really cool

[@antony-ll9tp]

@@Pepipeperoni I'm watching it a second time

[@sariel8406]

Netflix has 3 seasons of Versailles. About the building of the Palace, the King, the people around him and ended with his marriage to this lady. Highly recommended!

[@torgeirbrandsnes1916]

Great vlog as always!

[@livesandhistories]

Glad you enjoyed! Thank you for watching.

[@kaya_parsomen_bicak]

Inspirational woman 😌😌

[@georginamannor4373]

Amazing

[@livesandhistories]

Thank you for watching Georgina.

[@cassandraralph5906]

A most interesting and educational video, I learned a lot about this particular woman, but however I am still very much against the practice of adultery, as it causes so much damage and pain in peoples lives and hearts. However she set up a school for girls, something that I would have liked to do.

[@livesandhistories]

Thank you for watching Cassandra.

[@mea5138]

We don’t know if she practiced adultery. But she encouraged the king to get closer to his wife when she was still alive.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

There is doubt on that front to be honest. I think she did not but she was very close to the King.

[@cloggy010]

wonderful!

[@livesandhistories]

I'm glad you think so. Thank you very much for watching.

[@patricia7792]

Excellent narrative.

[@livesandhistories]

Thank you kindly.

[@pompom7x728]

Merci 🌺

[@alexrafe2590]

Oh give me a break. He was a notorious philanderer when he was a younger man even for a French King. He made his lecherous cousin Charles II of England seem practically chaste by comparison. Louis’ aunt Henrietta Maria knew what she was talking about when she once referred to her husband and their marriage years after his execution back in England at the hands of the Parliamentarians. ‘I was the luckiest of Queens,’ her reference being to Charles I’s complete love and fidelity to her for the whole of their marriage. Living much of her life in exile back in France, she knew very well the very different approach Louis took to being a husband and the practice of fidelity. And he turned to Madame de Maintenant when the flames of passion were rapidly dissipating as he aged. And though in his younger years he was tall and athletic, he was never any particular beauty in the masculine sense, as portraits make clear. With age and pounds he became downright decidedly unattractive, to put it mildly. But fortunately for him, despite his lack of sexual appeal, throughout his life he had the kind of life he wanted because he was King of France. Yet he wasn’t invincible, the dissipations of his youth eventually led his body to really begin falling apart in his last years, in ways that were both painfully unpleasant and humiliating. His ailments were helped very little even by the ministrations of his wife, simply because few of the known remedies for most types of ailments really did much good in those days. Indeed many treatments were downright harmful. Because most concepts of how the body worked dated back to Classical Greek and Roman times. Despite all the knowledge recovered in architecture, engineering and other sciences during the Renaissance, in medicine the ancient Greeks and Romans were little better informed than medieval Europeans. Overall Louis XIV had pretty much had his own way during his lifetime until his last years. Then metaphorically the bills in terms of physical health started coming due. And considering the suffering he imposed on much of Europe with the many mostly pointless wars he waged against his neighbours, and the state of economic exhaustion he left his country in, you could argue it was a modest penalty to suffer to feed his monstrous ego.

[@pamtime22]

Having huguenot ancestry, she is not one of my favorite women in history. To me, she was a snake in the grass and an opportunist. I think she was disappointed that Louis XIV did not ultimately make her Queen. She was behind the persecution of the huguenots in horrible ways. Madame Montespan made a big mistake in elevating her to governess.

[@livesandhistories]

Well said Pam. She was that type of person.

[@mea5138]

Historians are not sure if Madame de Maintenon was really behind the persecution of the Hugenots as they have found letters dated 1675 where she defended them.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

Ummm, even though I do not like protestants in France, I do not support the Dragonnades, she was not to blame here. She herself was a Huguenot but converted, which is why she could not openly defend them. Also she was good with children unlike Montespan.

[@plamenivanov92]

Mentnon`s favorite out of the King`s kids was Louis Auguste and he is my personal favorite too because i understand what he had to endure i myself have a slight in my left leg to this end out of the King`s kids my favorites are Louis Auguste and Marie Anne plus one more thing we know about Louis Cesar Compte de Vexin`s disability he had scoliosis sence birth because Montespan lacked folic acid because of her frevoulous way of life but it was not only Louis Cesar his sister Louise Francoise Madmoaselle de Nantes allso had the same problem only not that severe btw Madame La Palatine really hated Mentnone in her letters to her aunt Sofie of the Palatinate she calls Mentnon Old Hag Old Witch and so on....

[@livesandhistories]

Yes, when one reads the stories of all these historical characters and discovers particular things about their lives, one can identify sometimes with similar experiences. Thank you for your comment.

[@plamenivanov92]

@@livesandhistories the scoliosis from wich Louis Cesar and Louise-Françoise both suffered comes from the fact that Montespan had folic acid deficiency

[@livesandhistories]

@@plamenivanov92 It is incredible how many things can still be discovered today about times gone by. Thank you for the info.

[@plamenivanov92]

@@livesandhistories I messed up the two sisters it's actually Françoise Marie Mademoiselle du Blois ho had scoliosis (but not as serious as her brother Louis Cesar Comte de Vexin)

[@livesandhistories]

@@plamenivanov92 Thank you for the info.

[@mizfrenchtwist]

very , very good share...........new subbie , thank you , for sharing.............

[@livesandhistories]

Thanks and welcome.

[@OWOT-re5jf]

Interesting! Was she considered his queen?

[@livesandhistories]

Although, officially not, because of her lower rank, she was always with the king, and yes, she was perceived as such. Thank you for watching.

[@sariel8406]

Wife yes, never officially a Queen, as is, never bestowed with the Queen title.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

She was not coronated Queen. Morganatic marriages did occur and they never were crowned.

[@HalifaxPeacock]

I suspect her niece may have been her daughter. They look almost identical.

[@abdacnc3969]

She was born in jail ,, that s important to mention ,,

[@houseofvanity8]

🥰

[@livesandhistories]

Thank you for watching.

[@houseofvanity8]

@@livesandhistories thank you for sharing interesting people’s stories

[@colormetakenaback]

Your French kings were so much nicer than England's! 😂 Ugh. Seriously though, I've noticed a disturbing trend on the Isle's history. The kings are totally unhinged 😂

[@livesandhistories]

Some may say that Henry VIII was an absolute charmer :-)

[@colormetakenaback]

@@livesandhistories Yeah he'd charm your head right off! 😂😂

[@livesandhistories]

@@colormetakenaback 🤣

[@totallydomestic433]

I guess they didn’t get God’s memo: Thou shot not commit adultery.

[@denseone]

She became a mistress after the death of Louix’ first wife, so I think no ‘they’ technically didn’t commit adultery.

[@destinyclark4133]

@@denseone She still committed fornication which is strictly forbidden.

[@mea5138]

@@destinyclark4133 She secretly married the king after the death of Louis first wife. We don’t know if she committed fornication before…

[@johnnotrealname8168]

@@denseone This may not be the case either.

[@bux6776]

El amor verdadero de ella fue el sr marqués que la explotó y el de Luis XIV fue la esposa de su hermano

[@Valdesgreen]

Bu X, quien tu dices? la primera o la segunda esposa de Phillipe?

[@bux6776]

@@Valdesgreen First

[@pawanj1019]

@@Valdesgreen primero

[@mileslong3904]

Official side piece lol