cahn | 18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 35

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In the previous post Charles II found AITA:

Look, I, m, believe in live and let live. (And in not going on my travels again. Had enough of that to last a life time.) Why can't everyone else around me be more chill? Instead, my wife refuses to employ my girlfriend, my girlfriend won't budge and accept another office, my brother is set on a course to piss off everyone (he WILL go on his travels again), and my oldest kid shows signs of wanting my job which is just not on, sorry to say. And don't get me started about Mom (thank God she's living abroad). What am I doing wrong? AITA?

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From:

mildred_of_midgard

The latest batch of gossip from the Louis XIV bio, which I have now finished.

1. So Louis is courting one of his mistresses, Louise de La Vallière. He wants to write love letters, but he's not the most poetic guy around. So he employs the Marquis de Dangeau, whose well known for his wonderful epistolary style. And of course, his absolute discretion is required here, since Louis is married and not really supposed to be having an affair.

But Louise also wants to make sure she stays in royal favor, so she employs Dangeau as well!

This goes on for a year, until one day, Louis praises Louise's wit, and she confesses that her letters were ghostwritten by Dangeau. And at the end of this conversation, "both admired his discretion."

Cyrano step aside, Dangeau is here!

2. So speaking of Louis and his adulterous affairs, fast-forward and he's been having an affair with a married woman (Marquise de Montespan), thus committing not just adultery but double adultery. This is not going over especially well with the devout faction at court.

But fast-forward again, and now he's taking an interest in the governess of his children with Montespan, to wit, Madame de Maintenon. Maintenon is herself pretty pious, and on a serious guilt trip about having an affair. She considers retiring into a convent.

But her confessor is like NO NO NO. In what Schultz calls a piece of "ecclesiastical casuistry," he convinces her that GOD wants her to sleep with Louis, because at least she's ummarried and then Louis won't be committing DOUBLE adultery.

Look, look what this abbot comes up with:

«Because God does not want [Louis] caught in the snares of the devil, because he wants to stand in [Louis'] way and sanctify him. If Louis withdraws from you and if you withdraw from him, [God's] intention would not be fulfilled (...). Your chamber is his refuge (...). Your room can be compared to the private chapel to which God leads [Louis] to preserve and sanctify him without his realizing it (...). God sees in you not only [Louis'] servant, but also his friend, his confidante and his wife.» The normal sin was thus transformed into a sacred act: «What grace to do as pure virtue what so many other women do without merit and only out of passion.»

(Emphasis and disambiguating proper names mine.)

That is certainly a creative ship manifesto for your OTP!

And of course, Louis' wife died not long after, and he married Maintenon morganatically and secretly, so that all worked out as the abbot planned, I guess.

From:

selenak

LOL and Dangeau writing both sides of the correspondence. Cahn, Louise de la Vallière was the mistress whom according to Versailles gossip Louis originally feigned being interested in to distract people from his flirtation with his sister-in-law, Minette, whose friend and lady-in-waiting Louise was, but then fell for her for real. She‘s also the heroine of the third Musketeers novel, where Athos‘ adopted son falls for her, and then Louis does. Unfortunately, Louise de la Vallière in turn became replaced by her Friend Athenais de Montespan, not least because Athenais was famous for her barbed wit whereas Louise‘s nickname at court was „the dew“ because of her tendency to tears.

ROTFLOL about the abbot‘s shipping manifesto. Well, not so much if you‘re Liselotte and blame Maintenon for Louis‘ increasingly hardcore Catholicism and kicking the Huguenots out. Our Lehndorff wasn‘t a fan, either, as he noted after having read the fake memoirs of Madame de Maintenon‘s which were making the rounds for a while.

From:

mildred_of_midgard

ROTFLOL about the abbot‘s shipping manifesto.

Yeah, the rationalization was clearly strong with that one. "The woman I have influence over might have influence over the King?? Clearly this is God's will! (*Work backwards from there*)"

From:

cahn

not least because Athenais was famous for her barbed wit whereas Louise‘s nickname at court was „the dew“ because of her tendency to tears.

Clearly she should have continued to have Dangeau write her correspondence! :P

From:

luzula

Ha ha, wow! That abbot was certainly creative... *g*

From:

cahn

And at the end of this conversation, "both admired his discretion."

Loooool, that is hilarious!

In what Schultz calls a piece of "ecclesiastical casuistry,"

!! I mean... he's not wrong!

Your room can be compared to the private chapel

Holy cow!

From:

mildred_of_midgard

In what Schultz calls a piece of "ecclesiastical casuistry,"

!! I mean... he's not wrong!

He's not! I quoted him precisely because I thought it was a fantastically accurate and scathing description of what was going on there. Private chapel!!