''Charlotte''-Jeanne Béraud de La Haye de Riou (4 October 1738 – 6 February 1806) was a

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

to Louis Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, and ultimately, his wife; however,

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

would not allow her to become the Duchess. She wrote and acted in several plays. She is known simply as ''Madame de Montesson''.

Life

''Charlotte''-Jeanne Béraud de La Haye de Riou was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

of an old Breton family. On 11 October 1757, she married the seventy-year-old widower Jean Baptiste, Marquis of Montesson, who died in 1769. Her beauty and intelligence attracted the attention of the widowed Louis Philippe d'Orléans, ''the fat'' (his wife

Louise Henriette de Bourbon Louise Henriette de Bourbon (20 June 1726 – 9 February 1759), ''Mademoiselle de Conti'' at birth, was a French princess, who, by marriage, became Duchess of Chartres (1743–1752), then Duchess of Orléans (1752–1759) upon the death of her fat ...

had died in 1759), whom she secretly married in 1773 with the authorisation of

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

. After her marriage to the Duke of Orléans, a member of the royal family and a '' Prince du Sang'', her low rank did not allow her the title of ''

Duchess of Orléans Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

''. For her husband's amusement and her own, she set up a little theater and wrote several plays, in the acting of which she herself took part. She was arrested on 20 April 1793 (''1 floréal an II'' of the Republican calendar)Turquan, Appendice pp. 316-317 during the Terror, and first imprisoned in the ''La Force'' prison in Paris. She was released on 28 September 1794 (after the fall of

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

), befriended

Joséphine de Beauharnais Josephine may refer to: People * Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer Places *Josephine, Texas, United States *Mount Josephine (disambiguation) * Josephine Cou ...

, and was a prominent figure at the beginning of the empire.

Works

The best edition of her works appeared under the title of ''Œuvres anonymes'' in 1782–1785. See

Charles Collé Charles Collé (14 April 1709 – 3 November 1783) was a French dramatist and songwriter. Biography The son of a notary, he was born in Paris. He became interested in the rhymes of Jean Heguanier, the most famous writer of couplets in Paris. F ...

, ''Journal'' (1868); the ''Memoirs of St Simon, Madame de Genlis, the duchesse d'Abrantes and Mme de Levis''; G Strenger, "La Société de la marquise de Montesson," in the ''Nouvelle revue'' (1902); J Turquan, ''Madame de Montesson douairière d'Orléans'' (Paris, 1904); and G. Capon and R Yves-Plessis, ''Les Théâtres clandestins du xviii' siècle'' (1904).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montesson, Charlotte-Jeanne Beraud De La Haye De Riou, Marquise De 1737 births 1806 deaths Writers from Paris House of Orléans 18th-century French writers 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights Morganatic spouses 18th-century French women writers French women dramatists and playwrights French marchionesses