Madame de Pompadour, the intellectual sexual companion of Louis XV

Madame de Pompadour, was a woman overflowing with beauty and elegance. A lady from the high finance bourgeoisie entered Versailles for the first time with the magnificent objective of conquering the king's heart. He was able to achieve, as was his desire, to be a sexual and intellectual companion of Louis XV.

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, with her immense political will, came into conflict with the high French aristocracy, without, however, leaving her honorable work as the king's sexual companion until her last days.

His childhood

His mother was Louise Madeleine De La Motte and his father, Lenormant de Tourenhem, she was born in Paris on December 29, 1721. 

His father must have fled to Germany accused of fraudulent business. But despite the current of scandals about it, Reinette received a good and exquisite education. 

From housewife to real companion

Forced by her father to marry her cousin in her early 20s, she had a son a year, and a daughter a few years later. Her husband Charles-Guillaume Lenormand d'Étiolles was madly in love with his wife and deeply enchanted by her ravishing beauty. 

The future sexual companion of the most important king, for curious reasons, in the history of the West, began to rub shoulders with the bourgeois high society of Paris. Thus he began to frequent the high halls of the society of his time. The beautiful lady came to meet well-known historical figures, such as the incredible philosophers of her time, namely the French Voltaire, or the Baron de Montesquieu.

However, the plain bourgeois life seemed to bore Madame de Pompadour and so in 1745 her plans changed. In his sensual seduction he proposed the crazy idea of ​​conquering the heart of nothing more and nothing less than the King of France. To tell the truth, it is a mystery how this lady managed to ascend to enter the Palace of Versailles.

Without aristocratic blood, she managed to penetrate that real world, and although it is unknown why, we fervently suspect that her beauty had something to do with it.  

Jeanne-Antoinette launched her crazy plan, she had to meet the king on his repeated hunting trips to the forest of Sénart.

Louis XV began to notice that mysterious lady and it is in that same year that he got a private meeting with Madame d'Étiolles. 

Unfortunately the lady's husband, heartbroken, had to legally separate from his wife. The lady who broke his heart now accompanied the King, who gave her the noble title of Madame de Pompadour.

poissonnades, Royal companion

It was then on September 14, 1745, that Madame de Pompadour was publicly presented at the palace at Versailles.

It was the first time in France that a lady of bourgeois origin had managed, against all odds, to occupy the great position of favorite of the Royal house. As the reader can imagine the court and the aristocracy in general, not only did he turn his back on the beautiful lady, but he also turned against her.

The sons of Louis XV did not speak to their new lover. Those closest to the king sought to persuade their monarch of the error that their relationship with a lady of burgundy origin supposed. 

A multitude of satires were made against her and were known as poissonnades, referring to his last name, Poisson. It is worth saying that it is similar to the word "poison" in English, whose meaning is poison.

But what did Reinette care about the accusations and criticism ?! With the King's favor, the taunts had no effect on her. She continued to decisively influence her husband, thus becoming not only his lover, but also one of his royal advisers. In this way he deployed his strategy and began to shake off those who opposed him and interrupted his brilliant path.

Pompadour, intellectual lady

Promoter of Diderot's Encyclopedia, she began to support various artistic projects, standing out as a lady not only highly sensual, but also of deep culture. He helped the production of paintings by Boucher or monuments such as the Place de la Concorde in Paris, Jeanne-Antoinette was one of the main patrons of the time

For the reader's clarity, patronage is the job of sponsoring and financing diverse talents. In this case, the King's lady-in-waiting, who was already much more than that, helped the artistic splendor of XNUMXth-century France.

The Marchioness moved the Meissen porcelain factory to Sèvres and made it a benchmark for decorative and luxury items throughout Europe. There, the so-called Rosa Pompadour color was created in honor of the royal patron. 

In the wonderful Field of the God Mars in Paris, Jeanne-Antoine had an institution specially dedicated to the education of young military men to be built, which would give rise to the Military School of the David building. 

From lover to partner

For five years Madame de Pompadour maintained intimate relations with Louis XV, playing the role of sexual companion. Thus, starting from his noble work, he would end up spending no more and no less than 20 years with him; as a confidant, friend, and ambassador of art, as well as an entrepreneur of various projects. 

The Seven Years' War and the end of the Marchioness

During the time she was at the king's side, Madame de Pompadour did not cease to act as a political advisor. In 1756 the Seven Years' War began where France aligned itself with Austria and Russia against Prussia and England. The Prussian King Frederick II was clearly opposed, Madame de Pompadour interceded with the Earl of Kaunitz, who was Chancellor and Foreign Minister of the famous Maria Teresa of Austria. I was looking for agree to an alliance with this country. However, the Parisian aristocracy opposed to the Austrians, would never forgive the political movement of Jeanne-Antoinette. 

His role in the negotiations with Austria was used by the nobility to continue their campaign against the King's companion. However, she always continued with her head held high and involved in the matters that interested her, until her last hour.

Source:

women in history