Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine
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Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine was an illegitimate son of Louis XIV and his official mistress, Madame de Montespan. The king's favourite son, he was the founder of the semi-royal House of Bourbon-Maine named after his title and his surname.
Portrait by François de Troy
Portrait engraved in 1703 by Pierre Drevet after a painting by François de Troy. The engraving shows Maine as he wished to be seen: a soldier and sovereign Prince of the Dombes with a closed crown and sceptre. The Latin title, Ludovicus Augustus Dei gratia Dombarum Princeps, also promoted his claim, but in France there was an unwillingness to regard him as anything more than a duke. Later, after the death of Louis XIV, the regent, Philippe II, duc d'Orléans, had the engraved plate destroyed. Very few prints survive.
Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan
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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