Françoise d'Aubigné, known first as Madame Scarron and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon, was a French noblewoman and the second wife of King Louis XIV from 1683 until his death in 1715. Although sh
Portrait by Pierre Mignard, 1694
Mme de Scarron
Madame de Maintenon with her niece, Françoise Amable d'Aubigné.
Madame de Maintenon with the natural children of Louis XIV by Antoine Coypel, 1684
Maîtresse-en-titre
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The maîtresse-en-titre was the official royal mistress of the King of France. The title was vaguely defined and used in the Middle Ages but finally became an acknowledged, if informal, position during
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon
…legitimised, and in 1675 Louis XIV granted her the title Marquise de Maintenon. By the late 1670s, she had essentially supplanted Montespan as the king's maîtresse-en-titre. After the death of Queen Maria Theresa in 1683, Madame de Maintenon married Louis in a private ceremony. She came to be regarded as the second most…
Madame du Barry became a Maîtresse-en-titre despite her "low birth", which was considered scandalous.
Agnès Sorel
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Madame de Pompadour