Born: 5 October 1641, France
Died: 27 May 1707
Country most active: France
Also known as: Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Favorite of Louis XIV. She was the second daughter of the Duke of Mortemart, and the wittiest and most beautiful member of a family renowned for those qualities.
She soon became the most popular of of the queen’s ladies in waiting at Versailles, and in 1663 married the Marquis de Montespan. Five years later, she attracted the king’s attention and shared his favor with the Duchess de la Valliere, but supplanted her in 1674. For several years she ruled the king and his court, dictated matters of policy and was uncrowned Queen of France. Eventually she was superseded by Mme. de Maintenon, whom she had engaged as governess for the children she had borne the king. After leaving court about 1687, she wandered disconsolately over France, and her last years she spent in a convent, where she devoted herself to religious exercises, acts of benevolence, and penitence.
It is said she was a profound believer in witchcraft and she seems to have been connected with the La Voison poisoning cases, though because of her intimacy with the king the matter was hushed up. The better reports of her are that she spent vast sums on hospitals and charities, and that she was a generous patron of letters, and befriended Corneille, Racine and La Fontaine. Her Memoires appeared in 1829.