Marie-Élisabeth "Isabelle" de Ludres, Marquess of Ludres (1647 – 28 January 1726) was a French noblewoman and

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

, known for being the mistress of Louis XIV, King of France between 1675 and 1676.

Early life

Marie-Élisabeth de Ludres was born in 1647 in

Ludres Ludres () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle ''département'' in north-eastern France. The inhabitants are called ''Ludréens''. In the past, inhabitants of Ludres were known by their neighbours as ''rôtisseurs'' ("roast meat sellers"), havi ...

, Duchy of Lorraine as the daughter of Jean de Ludres and his wife, born Claude des Salles. She was sent to the '' Chapitre des dames nobles de Poussay'' ( Chapter of the Noble Ladies of Poussay), where she was raised as a

secular canoness Canoness is a member of a religious community of women living a simple life. Many communities observe the monastic Rule of St. Augustine. The name corresponds to the male equivalent, a canon. The origin and Rule are common to both. As with the ca ...

among other daughters of the local nobility.https://livre.fnac.com/a5038/Michel-Parisse-Les-chapitres-de-dames-nobles-entre-France-et-Empire Charles IV de Lorraine

Relationship with Charles IV of Lorraine

In 1662, Charles IV, the 58-year-old Duke of Lorraine and

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

(1604–1675) visited the chapter and met the 15-year-old Ludres, promptly deciding to marry her because of her great beauty. He had abandoned his wife, Duchess Nicole (1608–1657), marrying bigamously his mistress, Béatrix de Cusance,

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

ess of Belvoir and Saint-Julien (1614–1663), and was excommunicated for this. By 1662, however, he had also abandoned the baroness and the children they had together, then returned to them when his legal wife died in 1657, only to leave them again for Ludres. Their

engagement An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

lasted a year before the duke decided to marry the baroness instead on 20 May 1663. When the new duchess died a few weeks after the marriage on 5 June, Ludres expected the duke to return to her. Instead, he chose Marie-Louise d'Aspremont (1651/1652–1692), a 14-year-old noble girl. Ludres actively opposed their marriage, having the support of the Lorraine clergy. Charles threatened to prosecute her for lèse-majesté and married Aspremont.

In the French court

In 1664, Ludres left Poussay for the French royal court, retaining her title of canoness. She was presented to the King Louis XIV on 6 May of that year in the presence of her parents, her brother, and her ex-fiancé. She was appointed

to the Duchess Henrietta of Orléans (1644–1670), the king's sister-in-law, known at the court as "Madame". Upon Madame's death in 1670, Ludres was sent to serve Queen (consort)

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

(1638–1683). When Duke Philippe I of Orléans remarried to Princess Elizabeth Charlotte "Liselotte" of

the Palatinate The Palatinate (german: Pfalz; Palatine German: ''Palz'') is a region of Germany. In the Middle Ages it was known as the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz'') and Lower Palatinate (''Unterpfalz''), which strictly speaking designated only the wes ...

in 1673, known as "Madame Palatine", Ludres was re-appointed to her court. Louis XIV by Robert Nanteuil 1670

Relationship with Louis XIV

Ludres' beauty and her Lorraince

accent Accent may refer to: Speech and language * Accent (sociolinguistics), way of pronunciation particular to a speaker or group of speakers * Accent (phonetics), prominence given to a particular syllable in a word, or a word in a phrase ** Pitch ac ...

attracted many courtiers, whom she all resisted. Around Easter 1675, during a conflict with her '' maîtresse-en-titre'' (official mistress) Madame de Montespan (1640–1707), the king himself, Louis XIV (1638–1715) took an interest in her. They started a discreet

affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of i ...

, but Montespan became jealous. She started a rumour that Ludres suffered of

scabies Scabies (; also sometimes known as the seven-year itch) is a contagious skin infestation by the mite ''Sarcoptes scabiei''. The most common symptoms are severe itchiness and a pimple-like rash. Occasionally, tiny burrows may appear on the skin ...

, leprosy, and all imaginable diseases. The king falsified the allegations by keeping Ludres with him. However, when the king and Montespan made peace, he was forced to at least pretend to break up with Ludres. Montespan continued to mock and criticise Ludres in front of Louis, calling her an ''haillon'' (rag), and imitating her Lorraine accent and her naivety. Still, when she had to leave the court in 1676 to give birth to the king's sixth illegitimate child, she could not prevent Louis and Ludres from reuniting.

Fall from grace

Follower Pierre Mignard - Portrait of a Lady, said to be Madame de Montespan

While the king was away fighting against Spain, Ludres spread the word about their affair, even saying that she was pregnant by him. The ladies who had the privilege of sitting on a stool in the queen's presence stood up when Ludres arrived. She boasted that she had beaten Madame de Montespan and already saw herself as the new royal favourite. She even wrote a letter to the king, which irritated him as he wanted their relationship to remain secret. He broke off all relations with her. After the king and Madame de Montespan had both returned, one day the court was hearing mass. The king greeted Ludres, for which Montespand reproached both of them, signaling her rival's final fall.

Later life

In early 1678, Ludres left the service of the Duchess of Orléans and retired to the ''couvent de la Visitation de Sainte-Marie'' in Paris ( Convent of the

Visitation Visitation may refer to: Law * Visitation (law) or contact, the right of a non-custodial parent to visit with their children * Prison visitation rights, the rules and conditions under which prisoners may have visitors Music * ''Visitation'' (D ...

of Holy Mary), which belonged to the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. The king was indifferent to her departure, but offered her a generous sum of money, which she refused. She lived for several years in the convent, but had to ask for a

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

from the king to repay her debts. She then returned to Lorraine and lived in the

Castle of Vaucouleurs A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified ...

. Here, her cook was Fabien Bécu (de Cantigny), who met his second wife, Anne Husson, a

chambermaid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...

, there. Their granddaughter, Jeanne Bécu, born in Vaucouleurs in 1743, would go on to become

Madame du Barry Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed, by guillotine, during the French Revolution due to accounts of treason—particularly being ...

, mistress of Louis XV, the great-grandson and successor of Ludres' former lover. In 1720, Ludres was created

Marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

of Ludres by Louis XV. She died in Nancy, Lorraine on 28 January 1726, aged almost 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isabelle De Ludres 1647 births 1726 deaths 1680 crimes French ladies-in-waiting Mistresses of Louis XIV Household of Maria Theresa of Spain