Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, a legitimated prince of the blood royal, was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. At the age of five, he became grand admiral of France.
Toulouse by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1708
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, by François de Troy, c. 1690s
Portrait of Louis Alexandre, by Hyacinthe Rigaud, c. 1690
The Count of Toulouse, by the workshop of Hyacinthe Rigaud, c. 1708
Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan
Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan, commonly known as Madame de Montespan, was a French noblewoman and the most celebrated royal mistress of King Louis XIV. During their romantic relationship, which lasted from the late 1660s to the late 1670s, she was sometimes referred to as the "true Queen of France" due to the pervasiveness of her influence at court.
Portrait of Françoise-Athénaïs, c. 1660, when Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente
Henrietta Anne of England, to whom Madame de Montespan was a lady-in-waiting
Madame de Montespan and four of her children: Mademoiselle de Nantes; Count of Vexin; Mademoiselle de Tours; Duke of Maine
Madame de Montespan by unknown artist, c. 1675
