View source for Maîtresse-en-titre

{{Short description|Title used for the chief royal mistress of the King of France}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2018}}
[[File:Du Barry.jpg | thumb |220px| right|[[Madame du Barry]] became a Maîtresse-en-titre despite her "low birth", which was considered scandalous.]]
[[File:Jean Fouquet 005.jpg | thumb |220px| right|[[Agnès Sorel]]]]
[[Image:Madame de Montespan Pierre Mignard Studio.JPG|220px|right|thumb|[[Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan]]]]
[[Image:Pompadour6.jpg|220px|right|thumb|[[Madame de Pompadour]]]]
The '''''maîtresse-en-titre''''' ({{IPA|fr|mɛtʁɛs ɑ̃ titʁ|lang}}) was the official [[royal mistress]] of the [[King of France]].<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hI1mDwAAQBAJ&q=Ma%C3%AEtresse-en-titre+kings+France&pg=PA44 |title = The Untold History of the Kings and Queens of Europe|isbn = 9781502619099|last1 = Lewis|first1 = Brenda Ralph|date = 2016-07-15}}</ref>
The title was vaguely defined and used in the [[France in the Middle Ages|Middle Ages]] but finally became an acknowledged, if informal, position during the reign of [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]] ({{reign|1589|1610}}), and continued through the reign of [[Louis XV of France|Louis XV]] ({{reign|1715|1774}}). It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartments, estates and a [[title]] if the woman did not have any.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjNDAQAAIAAJ&q=Ma%C3%AEtresse-en-titre+kings+France+apartment | title=La volupté du goût: La peinture française au temps de madame de Pompadour| last1=Hunter-Stiebel| first1=Penelope| last2=Leyzour| first2=Philippe Le| last3=Baumont| first3=Olivier| year=2008| isbn=9782757201695}}</ref>
Some individuals having this position acquired significant power and more influence than the [[Queen of France]], as some mistresses were known to advise the King of France in state affairs if he was so infatuated, broker favors for clients, elevate others in [[social mobility]], forge alliances and negotiate with foreign diplomats.<ref>{{Citation |last=Adams |first=Tracy |title=The Invention of the French Royal Mistress |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/intellectual-dynamism-of-the-high-middle-ages/invention-of-the-french-royal-mistress/D9CE67732599AD21CC83606FEC487FB8 |work=The Intellectual Dynamism of the High Middle Ages |year=2022 |pages=317–336 |publication-date=2022 |editor-last=Monagle |editor-first=Clare Frances |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |doi=10.1017/9789048537174.016 |isbn=978-90-485-3717-4}}</ref>
From the reign of Louis XIV, the term has often been applied, both in translation ("official mistress") and in the original [[French language|French]], to refer to the main mistress of any monarch or prominent man when his relationship with her is not clandestine, e.g. [[Vibeke Kruse]], [[Nell Gwynn]], [[Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes]], [[Lola Montez]], [[Magda Lupescu]].
== Petite maîtresse ==
In contrast, the title ''Petite maîtresse'' was the title of a mistress who was not officially acknowledged.
==French royal mistresses with the position of ''Maîtresse-en-titre'' ==
While the King may have many mistresses, there was normally only one official ''Maîtresse-en-titre''. Below are examples of those with this position. For a full list of all the mistresses of a French King, regardless of their position as official or not, please see [[List of French royal mistresses]].
'''[[Charles V of France]]''' (1338 – 1380)
*[[Biette de Cassinel]] (c. 1340 – c. 1380)
'''[[Charles VI of France]]''' (1368 – 1422)
*[[Odette de Champdivers]] (c. 1384–1424)
'''[[Charles VII of France]]''' (1403 – 1461)
*[[Agnès Sorel]] (c. 1422–1450)
*[[Antoinette de Maignelais]] (c. 1430 – c. 1461)
'''[[Louis XI of France]]''' (1423 – 1483)
*[[Félizé Regnard|Phélise Regnard]] (1424–1474)
*[[Marguerite de Sassenage]] (c. 1449–1471)
'''[[Francis I of France]]''' (1494 – 1547)
*[[Françoise de Foix]] (1495–1537), countess of Châteaubriant
*[[Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly]] (1508–1580), duchess of Étampes
'''[[Henry II of France]]''' (1519 – 1559)
*[[Diane de Poitiers]] (1499–1566)
'''[[Henry III of France]]''' (1551 – 1589)
* [[Louise de la Béraudière|Louise de La Béraudière du Rouhet]] (1530–1611)
* [[La Belle Châteauneuf|Renée de Rieux de Châteauneuf]] (fl. 16th C.)
* [[Marie of Cleves, Princess of Condé]] (1553–1574)
'''[[Henry IV of France]]''' (1553 – 1610)
*[[Diane d'Andoins]] "''La Belle Corisandre''" (1554–1621)
*[[Françoise de Montmorency-Fosseux|Françoise de Montmorency]] (1562–1614)
*[[Esther Imbert]] (1570 – c. 1593)
*[[Antoinette de Pons]] (1570–1632)
*[[Gabrielle d'Estrées]] (c. 1571–1599)
*[[Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues]] (1579–1633), marquise de Verneuil
*[[Jacqueline de Bueil]] (c. 1580–1651)
*[[Charlotte des Essarts]] (c. 1580–1651)
'''[[Louis XIV of France]]''' (1638 – 1715)
*[[Louise de la Vallière|Louise Françoise de la Baume le Blanc de la Vallière]] (1644–1710), duchesse de la Vallière and duchesse de Vaujours
*[[Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan|Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise de Montespan]] (1640–1707)
*[[Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon]] (1635–1719), married the King in 1683
*[[Isabelle de Ludres]] (1647–1722)
*[[Angélique de Fontanges|Marie Angélique de Scoraille de Roussille]] (1661–1681), duchess of Fontanges
'''[[Louis XV of France]]''' (1710 – 1774)
*[[Louise Julie de Mailly-Nesle|Louise Julie de Mailly]] (1710–1751), comtesse de Mailly
*[[Pauline-Félicité de Mailly]] (1712–1741), marquise de Vintimille
*[[Diane-Adélaïde de Mailly]] (1713–1760), duchess de Lauraguais
*[[Marie Anne de Mailly-Nesle|Marie-Anne de Mailly]] (1717–1744), duchess de Châteauroux
*[[Madame de Pompadour|Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson]] (better known as '''Madame de Pompadour''') (1721–1764), marquise de [[Arnac-Pompadour|Pompadour]]
*[[Madame du Barry|Marie-Jeanne Bécu]] (better known as '''Madame du Barry''') (1743–1793), comtesse de Barry
'''[[Louis XVIII of France]]''' (1755 – 1824)
*[[Zoé Talon du Cayla|Zoé Talon, comtesse du Cayla]] (1785–1852)
==See also==
*[[Henry IV of France's wives and mistresses]]
*[[Favourite]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070228125103/http://enviedhistoire.canalblog.com/archives/2006/08/25/2536976.html List of ''maîtresses du Roi-Soleil'' (French)]
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[[Category:Mistresses of French royalty| Maitresse]]
[[Category:1340s establishments in France]]
[[Category:1852 disestablishments in France]]
[[Category:Lists of royal mistresses]]
[[Category:Lists of French women]]