Louis Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin, marquis de Montespan (1640 – 1 December 1691) was a French nobleman, most notable as the husband of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

's mistress

Madame de Montespan Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

Life

He was the son of Roger-Hector de Pardaillan de Gondrin, marquis of Antin, and Marie-Christine de Zamet de Murat. In February 1663 he married Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart. However, for Mademoiselle de Mortemart, a famed beauty who loved court life, an alliance with a quite obscure noble family from south-western France was not enough and her husband (always short of money) was always away on his judicial duties; she thus became the mistress of

in 1667, bearing him seven children. When her husband found out, instead of accepting it as was usual to

cuckold A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is aw ...

ed husbands of the era (especially when it was the king doing the cuckolding), he raised a scandal at court, challenged the king one day at

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

and decorated his carriage with

antler Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on male ...

s (like horns, a traditional symbol of the cuckolded husband). He was promptly imprisoned in the

For-l'Évêque The For-l’Évêque was a prison in Paris. It was in operation from 1674 until 1780, and was demolished at the start of the 19th century. History Sources * Jules Édouard Alboise du Pujol, Auguste Maquet, ''Les Prisons de l’Europe'', t. ...

, then exiled to his lands. This did not stop his agitation, and not only did Montespan go to Paris nearly every year between 1670 and 1686, he also commanded an annual

requiem mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

to be sung for his wife during her lifetime and forced his two young children to attend a funeral for their 'dead' mother.

In fiction

* Jean Teulé, ''Le Montespan'', Julliard, 2008, Grand Prix du roman historique

Bibliography

* Saint-Simon, ''Mémoires'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gondrin 1640 births 1691 deaths

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

Marquesses of Montespan French nobility