With a medieval tower, Renaissance turrets, a gallery built specially for a king and the romantic ruins of an aqueduct, the château de Maintenon is a fairytale castle. And it all once belonged to the secret wife of Louis XIV.
Madame de Maintenon, the wife of King Louis XIV
Frances d’Aubigné was born in 1635 in a prison, hardly an auspicious start for a woman who would one day be a royal wife. Of a noble family, her father, Constant d’Aubigné, had been imprisoned for unpaid debts and her mother, Jeanne de Cardilhac, was the prison keeper’s daughter. On his release the family moved to Martinique where they hoped to make their fortune. Sadly, within eight years the baron was dead and Frances had been taken in by her well-connected godmother. This was probably the best thing that could have happened, as it led her down the glittering path which would end with a marriage to a king.
Witty and charming, Frances was soon here, there and everywhere in high society. The elite of 17th century Paris frequented literary salons such as that of the Hôtel de Rambouillet where Julie d’Angennes shone brightly, theatre performances at the Comédie Française and dances at the Louvre. Now aged sixteen, she captivated the satirical writer Paul Scarron, twenty-five years her senior and in constant pain, possibly with polio. Enamoured with his new bride, he wrote in their wedding contract in 1652:
The bride to be brings a wedding dowry…two big mischievous eyes, a beautiful bodice, a pair of beautiful hands and a lot of spirit.
The marriage was not to last very long; Frances was widowed by the time she was 25. Her widow’s pension wasn’t much but when it ended several years later, she was left almost penniless. A chance meeting with Louis XIV’s mistress, Madame de Montespan, led to an intriguing job offer, as royal governess to their illegitimate children. Here, she was frequently in the presence of the king in a more relaxed setting, and would spend hours discussing religion, economics and politics. She was soon his new favourite mistress.
“Madame de Maintenon knows how to love. There would be great pleasure in being loved by her,”
Richly compensated for educating the illegitimate children of the king, and wanting to boost her standing with the French court, the soon to be wife of Louis XIV had her eye on a not so little something around thirteen leagues from Paris.
It’s a big château at the end of big town, a situation to my liking, with meadows all around and the river running through the ditches.
The Château de Maintenon
The domaine, in the bustling town of Maintenon, had originally belonged to the lords of Amaury, and its medieval sandstone Tour Carrée dates to at least the 13th century. The family sold the castle and extensive grounds to king’s treasurer and superintendent of finances Jean Cottereau in 1503. Flush with funds and keen to turn the medieval stronghold into a luxurious yet comfortable country retreat, Cottereau added in the architectural style of Louis XII three round brick towers and curtain walls linking the towers. With his connections to the French court and a desire to climb the strict social hierarchy, new money met old nobility when his eldest daughter, Isabelle married the lord of Rambouillet Jacques d’Angennes in 1526, adding the estate and barony of Maintenon to their collection.
(Isabelle was the great grandmother of Julie d’Angennes. Read the post on the Guirlande de Julie here.)
Frances purchased the domaine in 1674, now able to style herself as Marquise de Maintenon. After its purchase in 1674, she set about renovating and decorating it to her liking. But most importantly, it had to be fit for a king (literally). A wing joining the church and the 17th century buildings was created with an orangerie and stables below and apartments on top, but mostly it served as a passageway for the king to pass unobstructed on his way to the church.
Modern sensibilities find it curious that Frances, known for her piety and devout Catholic behaviour, would even enter into an adulterous relationship. She later insisted there was no sex until after they had married, which they did so mere months after the queen, Maria Theresa of Austria, died in 1683. It was a very small affair, and conducted in secret one winter’s night at the château of Versailles. However, it was a morganatic marriage, and she would never be queen of France.
the 17th century Château
Little remains of the 17th century décor, lost over time and renovations. Madame de Maintenon joined the 15th century wing to the Tour Carrée, which she chose for her main living quarters, a warm and sunny place with views of the exquisite French garden. Her cream and gold canopy bed hung with silken drapes sits behind a ruelle, a barrier, with a gilded private suite and prayer room just next door.
In her antechamber is an original sedan chair, used by the wealthy to avoid setting foot on any surface, even inside grand houses.
Frances bequeathed the château de Maintenon in 1698 to her niece, Françoise Amable d’Aubigné, as a dowry for her marriage to the Maréchal Adrien-Maurice de Noailles. The rich and powerful Noailles family would remain the keepers of the château de Maintenon for more than 250 years, inherited by its last direct descendant, Geneviève de Noailles, in 1953.
This harpsichord, found in the antechamber of the Maréchal de Noailles, was fabricated by one of the finest harpsichord makers of the 18th century, Albert Delin. Painted underneath the cover is a depiction of the scene The abduction of Europa by Zeus.
The ceremonial canopy bed of a fine percale cotton, with hand painted red and blue floral motifs has a gilded wooden headboard with the Noailles coat of arms.
The 19th century château
The decoration of the dining room is not that of the Marquise; but it is unusual in itself. The walls were redecorated in the mid-19th century with an antique Cordoba leather, tanned with gum resin and embellished with silver, copper or gold leaf in plant and fruit motifs. A similar covering was used on the walls of the Marquise’s anteroom.
As the husband of the Marquise de Maintenon, Louis XIV visited the château, but how often or for how long it is not known. Known now as the salon du roi, his former room is a sea of red silk, with scarlet drapes trimmed with gold and formal armchairs of the same hue, faded to a dark rose. The king observes the goings on from his portrait, a 19th century copy of the famous life-sized painting by Hyacinthe Rigaud, the original which sits in the Louvre. Amidst the splendour and luxury are two golden valets, both laden with X and candles, originally placed on the floor and used to provide light for games tables.
A writing desk, known as a “lady’s cabinet”, sits slightly off-centre. It belonged to Yolande d’Albert de Luynes; given in turn to her by the daughter of the well-known author Comtesse de Ségur. It is believed that sitting at this desk with its pale blue embroidered stool, she wrote her children’s book, Les Malheurs de Sophie.
The Louis XIV wing, where once the king and his wife, the Marquise de Maintenon walked to the church away from curious eyes, was transformed into a series of ceremonial rooms in the mid 19th century.
The Great Hall showcases French kings and queens with imposing portraits of Louis XV and his queen Marie Leszczynska hung between golden curtains and dazzling chandeliers. Next door, a large mahogany billiard table with carved wooden legs in the shape of lion’s paws takes centre stage. A little further is the library which includes original books from Madame de Maintenon’s collection.
This part of the château ends with a magnificent portrait gallery celebrating the “great men” of the Noailles family, with painted representations of their finest moments in history, imagined or real.
Highlights of the 19th century quarters include original Chinese wallpaper and Meissen porcelain.
the Garden
A decided benefit to being the wife of Louis XIV was having access to the king’s gardener. Already engaged fulltime with the gorgeous gardens of the palace of Versailles, Andre Le Notre was summonsed to the château de Maintenon where he created a symmetrical, sumptuous jardin à la française. There have been a number of transformations of the garden over the centuries, most notably during WWII when it was occupied by the German army and used to store munitions, but the beautiful garden there today was recreated in 2013 as closely as possible to the original Le Notre design.
When I visited, endless lines of blue mystic sage, supposedly the favourite colour of the marquise de Maintenon, encircled the parterre. Should you visit in spring, you’ll be overwhelmed by 15,000 tulips in all shades and shimmers, and in summer with the sweet perfume of hundreds of gentle roses.
An aqueduct in ruins
And the aqueduct? Rising majestically at the far end of the small canal are the remains of an ambitious 17th century undertaking to feed the fountains of Versailles. Louis XIV’s extravagant plan was for a seventeen kilometre pipeline, similar to that of the Roman Pont du Gard, to transport water from the Eure river all the way to his newly built château in Versailles. The section of aqueduct at Maintenon was to be the grandest. 30,000 workers toiled on the project over nine years, but it was eventually abandoned in 1694. Now a remarkably preserved ruin, it adds romance and grandiosity to an already enchanted setting.
The marquise had hoped to retire gracefully in Maintenon, surrounded by nature and her garden, but the demands of the king and the court meant she could never be far from his side. Whether she found her apartments in Versailles more to her liking, or as the wife of Louis XIV she had a case of too many royal châteaux, after 1688 she spent very little time there. Frances d’Aubigné died on 15 April 1719.
Here is the link to the official website of the Château de Maintenon
Visit more French châteaux here (affiliate link)
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Have you visited the wonderful Château de Maintenon? I’d love to hear all about it!
