Marie Louise d’Esparbès de Lussan, by marriage vicomtesse then comtesse de Polastron ( Bardigues, 19 October 1764 – London, 27 March 1804) was a French lady-in-waiting, known as the mistress of the comte d’Artois, who later reigned as

Charles X of France Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Lou ...

Life

A member of the Esparbès de Lussan family as the daughter of Louis François d’Esparbès de Lussan and Marie Catherine Julie Rougeot (1746–1764). She was educated at the

Pentemont Abbey Pentemont Abbey (french: Abbaye de Penthemont, ''Pentemont'', ''Panthemont'' or ''Pantemont'') is a set of 18th and 19th century buildings at the corner of Rue de Grenelle and Rue de Bellechasse in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The abbey was ...

alongside many other daughters of the aristocracy. In 1780, she married Denis de Polastron (1758–1821), half-brother to Yolande de Polastron, duchess of Polignac, governess of the royal children and intimate friend of the queen. In 1782, she was appointed ''

dame du palais The Dame du Palais, originally only Dame, was an historical office in the Royal Court of France. It was a title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a female member of the French Royal Family. The position w ...

'' (lady-in-waiting) to queen

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

, and served as such until the outbreak of the French revolution in 1789. The comte d’Artois first saw Louise at the Versailles court, and they initiated a lifelong relationship in 1785. She was described as "a gentle and retiring woman". He became so lastingly attached to her that he made her his "favorite" in title. They had no children. Immediately after the outbreak of the French revolution in July 1789, Louise de Polastron left France along with the comte d’Artois and the entire Polignac family. She and Artois continued to live together in exile. In 1791, she lived with Artois in Koblenz, where she was termed as one of the 'Queens of the Emigration' of the French exile emigree court along with the mistress of the prince of Condé, the Princess of Monaco, and the mistress of the count of Provence,

Anne de Balbi Anne, Countess de Balbi (19 August 1753 – 3 April 1842) was a French aristocrat and lady-in-waiting. She is foremost known as a mistress of the Count of Provence from 1780 to 1791, who later became Louis XVIII. Life Family Anne was born in th ...

.Sandars, Mary Frances.
Louis XVIII
' (Kelly - University of Toronto, 1910). In 1792, Louise de Polastron accompanied Artois to Edinburgh in Scotland, where she lived with him in Holyrood. During the stay of the count of Provence in Warsaw, when he was contemplating a move to Naples, the duke and the duchess of Angoulême answered that they would in that case be forced to join Artois in Scotland instead, as Artois considered Italy too dangerous, which caused the plans to be aborted, as the count of Provence pointed out that it would be impossible (because of contemporary social standards) for the duchess of Angoulême to live in Holyrood because of the position there of Louise de Polastron. When she died of tuberculosis in 1804, the comte d’Artois was so deeply attached to her that he decided to swear a vow of perpetual chastity. He kept the vow after her death, and also became devoted to religion, often enthusiastically supporting the Ultramontanist movement within France's Roman Catholic Church.

Sources

Georges Bordonove Georges Bordonove (25 May 1920, Enghien-les-Bains, Seine-et-Oise – 16 March 2007, Antony, Hauts-de-Seine) was a French biographer and novelist. Biography Bordonove was a prolific writer of both books on history for a general readership an ...

, ''Charles X : dernier roi de France et de Navarre'', Paris, Pygmalion, coll. "Les Rois qui ont fait la France", 1990 *

André Castelot André Castelot, born André Storms (23 January 1911, Antwerp – 18 July 2004, Neuilly-sur-Seine), was a French writer and scriptwriter born in Belgium. He was the son of the Symbolist painter Maurice Chabas and Gabrielle Storms-Castelot (n� ...

, ''Charles X : La fin d’un monde'', Paris, Perrin, 1988 * Yves Griffon, ''Charles X : roi méconnu'', Paris, Rémi Perrin, 1999 * Éric Le Nabour, '' Charles X : le dernier roi'', preface by

Alain Decaux Alain Decaux (23 July 1925 − 27 March 2016) was a French historian. He was elected to the Académie française on 15 February 1979. In 2005, he was, with others authors as Frédéric Beigbeder, Mohamed Kacimi, Richard Millet and Jean-Pierre Th ...

, Paris, Éditions Jean-Claude Lattès

Bibliography

Jules Bertaut Jules Bertaut (28 March 1877 – 7 October 1959) was a French writer, historian and lecturer. He was awarded the grand prix de littérature de la SGDL in 1959 for all his work, the year he died. Works Selected works: *1900: ''Secrets d'un ...

, ''Les Belles Émigrées'', Paris, Club du meilleur livre, 1953 * Monique de Huertas, ''Louise de Polastron : le grand amour du comte d’Artois'', Paris, Perrin, 1983 – * Frédéric de Reiset, ''Louise d’Esparbès, comtesse de Polastron'', Paris, Émile Paul, 1907 {{DEFAULTSORT:Esparbes De Lussan, Louise D French countesses French vicomtesses Mistresses of French royalty 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis 1764 births 1804 deaths French ladies-in-waiting Tuberculosis deaths in the United Kingdom