Louise de La Vallière

Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours (6 August 1644 – 6 June 1710) was a French noblewoman and a mistress of King Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667.

La Vallière joined the royal court in 1661 as maid-of-honour to Henrietta of England and soon became King Louis XIV's mistress. She was an important participant in the court's intellectual life, interested in the arts, literature, and philosophy. In 1666, she was replaced by Madame de Montespan but created a suo jure duchess and invested with lands. Two of her five children by the King, Marie-Anne, Mademoiselle de Blois (Princess of Conti by marriage) and Louis, Count of Vermandois, survived infancy and were legitimised.

After an illness in 1670, La Vallière turned to religion, and wrote a popular devotional book. In 1674, she entered a Carmelite convent in Paris where she died in 1710.

Family
Françoise-Louise, Mademoiselle de La Vallière was born on 6 August 1644 at the (also known as Hôtel de la Vallière) in Tours as the daughter of Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc, Seigneur of La Vallière (1611–1651) and his wife, Marie-Françoise Le Provost de La Coutelaye (died 1686). Her father wasShe had an older brother, Jean-François, later Marquess of La Vallière (1642–1676).

In La Vallière’s paternal family, their Catholic faith and loyalty to the king were important values.  Many relatives chose an ecclesiastical or military career. Her maternal family belonged to the noblesse de robe. Her father served as governor of the Castle of Amboise where she occasionally visited him. He was a devout Catholic who practiced penance and charity, and owned a library of forty-four folios, extensive for the time. In March 1651, during the Fronde, in he held Amboise against the forces of the revolt and remained loyal to King Louis XIV.

Childhood
La Vallière and her brother were raised at the family seat, the Castle of La Vallière. Their uncle, Gilles de La Vallière (born 1616) was responsible for their education. La Vallière was educated by the, where two of her aunts lived. She was instructed in reading, grammar, musical composition, and public speaking. The family owned horses, and she may have gained her love of equitation then. It is possible that her limping in later life was caused by a horse riding accident she suffered at this time.

Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc died in the summer of 1651, leaving more debt than money. His widow decided to reclaim her substantial dowry together with her dower to finance a new marriage. This would have meant relinquishing guardianship of her children and depriving them of their maternal inheritance. After negotiations with her husband’s family, she agreed to settle the debts and accepted the furnishings of the family home at an increased value in place of her dower. She then rented the furniture back to her children with an interest. What happened to La Vallière at this time is unknown, but she may have been sent to her aunts’ convent.

Life in the household of Gaston, Duke of Orléans
In March 1655, Françoise Le Provost married Jacques de Courtavel, Marquess of Saint-Rémy, maître d’hôtel (butler) of the exiled Gaston, Duke of Orléans (uncle of Louis XIV). Saint-Rémy had a daughter, Catherine, who was La Vallière’s age, and the couple had a daughter from their union. The family moved to the Duke’s household in Blois La Vallière and her stepsister became demoiselles de compagnie (lady’s companions) to the Duke’s daughters. They also met the Grande Mademoiselle, paternal half-sister of the princesses, exiled, like her father, for her participation in the Fronde, and La Vallière befriended Anne-Constance de Montalais, another demoiselle de compagnie, who remained her confidante for years.

Lair says the education of girls in the Orléans court was neglected, while Conley claims that they were taught painting, music, etiquette, and equitation, as well as literature and philosophy by the Duke’s almoner, Armand-Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé. La Vallière may have been introduced to neo-Aristotelian thought by Rancé. Huertas argues that La Vallière had to receive a good education based on her exceptional spelling. Petitfils sees her education as more rudimentary, being only in ‘reading, prayer, [...] sewing, and embroidery’, but agrees that she was well-trained in the necessary skills for a career at court (such as dancing and horse riding). King Louis XIV was an important topic of conversation among the girls due to plans that the eldest Orléans princess would marry him. In August 1659, the King visited Blois; this was the first time La Vallière saw him. Around the same time, Jacques de Bragenlonge, son of the Duke’s intendant, fell in love with her. They exchanged letters which were discovered by her mother, who forbade her from writing to him. She had a ‘good reputation’; the Duke once said that La Vallière certainly did not take part in mischief, as ‘she [was] too sensible for that’. Later in life, she attributed the ‘beginning of [her] fall’ to the self-assurance she gained from this praise.

In February 1660, the Duke died and his widow, Marguerite of Lorraine, moved the household to the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. The Orléans daughters and their friends spent their time with balls and feasts organised by the Grande Mademoiselle. In August 1660, La Vallière was present at the joyeuse entrée of Louis and his new wife, Maria Theresa of Spain, into Paris.

Background
In April 1661, the King’s younger brother, Philippe, the new Duke of Orléans, married Henrietta of England (they were known as ‘Monsieur’ and ‘Madame’). Madame’s household was organised by Madame de Choisy, Jeanne de Bélesbat de Hurault, a distant relative of La Vallière and wife of the chancellor of the late Duke of Orléans. She placed La Vallière and Montalais in the new Orléans household as filles d’honneur. La Vallière and her brother (who was embarking on a military career) needed loans, but nobody was willing to lend to minors. They petitioned a judge who instructed their mother and stepfather to borrow money for them. La Vallière joined the Orléans household in the Tuileries Palace after the wedding. On 19 April, they moved to the court in Fontainebleau. The King’s attendants courted the maids-of-honour of Madame; La Vallière’s suitor was Armand de Gramont, Count of Guiche. The King and Madame grew close; Louis’ wife Maria Theresa, his mother, Anne of Austria, and Monsieur all disapproved. Rumours spread that the King and his sister-in-law were in love. The King may have been advised to pretend to be in love with others, or they may have decided to do so together with Madame. Huertas and Petitfils suggest that the ploy was Henrietta’s idea to deceive the Queen Mother. Olympia Mancini, Countess of Soissons, assisted them. Henrietta may have chosen the young ladies who would serve as decoys herself, including La Vallière and Bonne de Pons d’Heudicourt.

The King fell in love with La Vallière. She reciprocated his feelings and probably believed them to have been sincere from the beginning. They exchanged letters through, the King's premier écuyer (‘first squire’). Biographers agree that their sexual relationship started around the end of July 1661, after about six weeks of courtship. The Queen Mother noticed that her son neglected religious practice and around mid-July discovered the identity of La Vallière. She asked Louis to think of his duty to his country and to God, and told him to hide his feelings for La Vallière from his wife. Louis did not end his relationship but promised to conduct it secretly.La Vallière seems to have been an ‘innocent’, ‘submissive’, ‘natural[ly] modest’, ‘sincere’, even ‘naïve’ girl, different from the women Louis had known, but corresponding to contemporary feminine ideals. She was not flirtatious and did not act out of self-interest, but exhibited ‘absolute loyalty’ to the King. She was described as tall, slim, and graceful despite her limp. She had blue eyes, fine, silver-blond hair, and a beautiful voice. Fraser suggests that La Vallière refrained from pursuing material benefits through her relationship because she needed to conceptualise it as ‘pure’ or ‘holy’ to fit it into her religious worldview.

In his memoirs, claims to have been in love with La Vallière, not knowing about her affair. The King discovered them when he was painting La Vallière and Brienne complimented her appearance to him, which embarrassed her. Later, when he saw Louis and La Vallière talk, he understood that the King was in love with her. Louis then questioned him about his feelings and asked for his painting of La Vallière; he promised never to talk to her again. However, by the time this story supposedly happened, Brienne had probably already heard about the King’s affair from the Queen Mother.

First years of the relationship
Nicolas Fouquet, superintendent of finances noticed that the King was neglecting his religious and administrative duties. He learnt La Vallière’s identity by 27 June through his extensive network of spies. He wanted to establish a political relationship with the new favourite and sent her a letter complimenting her appearance and offering her a bribe, which she refused. He then attempted to talk to her. La Vallière informed the King, who seems to have believed that Fouquet wanted to sleep with her. This probably added to his resentment against Fouquet, whose vast fortune, probably embezzled, he envied. In September, Fouquet was arrested and remained imprisoned until his death in 1680.

La Vallière became isolated because of her relationship, as Madame resented her for it. The devotion of the King for La Vallière was strenghtened when, in October, he had a conflict with his wife who supported her father, Philip IV of Spain in a diplomatic conflict. Whenever the Orléans household was established separately from the court, the King regularly dined there, probably to see La Vallière. La Vallière grew closer with Montalais. According to Madame de La Fayette, a contemporary who later wrote a fictionalised biography of Madame, the King disapproved, considering Montalais to be a ‘schemer’. He seems to have been jealous of any close relationships La Vallière had. He disliked her mother and they were rarely permitted to see each other.

During Lent 1662, a guest preacher, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet delivered a series of sermons criticising the King’s behaviour through biblical examples. In late February, Louis questioned La Vallière about an alleged affair between Madame and the Count of Guiche, but she refused to answer. After their argument, troubled by Bossuet’s sermons, she fled the Tuileries for the Augustinian Convent of Sainte-Pélerine in Chaillot. The King was informed during an audience with Spanish envoys, rushed to end the talks, and went to search for her personally. He gained entrance to the convent and took her back amid fears that his wife would learn of his affair because of La Vallière’s disappearance. La Fayette claims that Madame and Monsieur were reluctant to admit La Vallière back into their household, but she was permitted to stay. The King’s affair became public when he did not take communion on Easter. His failure to participate in the Eucharist had already been noted, but when he did not receive the sacrament on Easter (which all Catholics were commanded to do), it caused a ‘scandal’. Since people who were ‘living in sin’, such as committing adultery, could not receive the Eucharist, all courtiers became aware that Louis was conducting a sexual affair. In March 1662, Olympia Mancini, Countess of Soissons conspired with the Count of Guiche and to replace La Vallière with someone she could control. She was jealous as she had previously also attracted Louis. She sent an anonymous letter to the Queen informing her of her husband’s adultery and accusing La Vallière of trying to undermine her position. The message was intercepted and given to the King, who exiled Guiche. In the summer of 1662, while he was in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Soissons drew the King’s attention to Anne-Lucie de La Mothe-Houdancourt. She was famous for her beauty and for not granting favours to any of her numerous admirers; the King pursued her for some time, but the attempt failed.

In 1663, Louis gave a pension to La Vallière’s brother, the Marquess of La Vallière, and married him to a wealthy heiress. He put him in charge of a cavalry unit despite his lack of experience. After this public show of favour, in July 1663, Soissons and Madame informed the Queen of the King’s affair; Maria Theresa was devastated and the King furious. Fraser and Petitfils argue that Maria Theresa had to have already suspected her husband’s infidelity: in 1662, while giving birth to her second child, she saw La Vallière pass through the room, and said in Spanish, ‘this maiden […] is the one the King wants’.

First pregnancy and aftermath
In summer 1663, La Vallière became pregnant. In late August, the King left on a military campaign, and his chief minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, transmitted letters between the couple. When Louis returned in October, La Vallière left Madame's service and the King bought her the small Palais Brion near the Palais-Royal. She never left the house and received guests in bed to hide her condition, suffering from headaches and sometimes losing er sight. Colbert arranged for the child to be raised by his servants, Guy Focart Beauchamp and his wife, Clémence Pré; they were told that it was an illegitimate child of Colbert’s brother. On 19 December 1663, at around three in the morning, La Vallière gave birth to a son. At six, the physician, Dr Boucher (who also delivered the Queen’s children) took him to a carriage with the Beauchamps who transported him to Saint-Leu. He was christened Charles, registered as the son of ‘Monsieur de Lincourt’ and ‘Élisabeth de Beux’, with Beauchamp and his wife as godparents. He died in infancy.

Despite precautions, the story spread. People speculated about La Vallière’s disappearance and a talk the King had with Dr Boucher. La Vallière attended midnight mass on 24 December to counter the rumours, but scorn was so great that she had to leave before the end of the service. Courtiers observed that she was ‘very pale’ and ‘much changed’, taking this as proof that she had given birth. The situation was worsened by a story invented by Boucher: at the same time as he was helping La Vallière, another lady called for him. To explain his absence, he told her that he had been blindfolded and taken to deliver the child of a masked woman. Courtiers said that this woman was La Vallière. After the birth, with Queen Maria Theresa aware of the affair, it was impossible to hide the relationship. La Vallière became isolated, as ladies who wanted to retain the favour of the queens did not associate with her. She continued living in the Palais Brion, where only a few male courtiers visited her. As companion, she was assigned Claude-Marie du Guast d’Artigny who spied on her for the King.

Les Plaisirs de l'île enchantée
Between 5 and 14 May 1664, Louis XIV hosted and personally planned a feast called Les Plaisirs de l’île enchantée (‘The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle’) in Versailles (this was the first major event there). It was officially dedicated to Queen Maria Theresa and the Queen Mother, but secretly addressed to La Vallière. She was present and seated at the royal table, even though she was no longer a member of the Orléans household. In June, Louis and his mother had an argument; the Queen Mother reminded her son of the ‘peril to his salvation’. Crying, he told his mother that he was ‘sometimes’ ashamed but that his ‘passions had become stronger than his reason’ and he was no longer trying to end his affair.

Maîtresse-en-titre
Louis moved La Vallière back to court. His relationship with his mother deteriorated, and they briefly stopped talking. In September, he took La Vallière to a reunion with his brother and sister-in-law in Villers-Cotterêts. Queen Maria Theresa, who was pregnant, could not attend and was distraught by his behaviour. According to the memoir of a contemporary, Françoise Bertaut de Motteville, the King promised his wife that after the age of thirty (he was then twenty-six), he would be an ‘examplary husband’, but left with La Vallière. Lair considers La Vallière as official favourite from the time of the festivities at Villers-Cotterêts, where she was presented into the company of Madame. Courtiers now sought to be close to her. When they returned to Vincennes, the King took his mistress to the Queen Mother’s salon and led her to play cards with Monsieur and Madame. Neither queen was present, but they were enraged to learn of his behaviour. Petitfils argues that the King made the decision to declare La Vallière maîtresse-en-titre (official royal mistress) out of love, despite his desire to avoid offending either public morals or his wife and mother. Seeing La Vallière’s isolation, he wanted to legtimate her position as far as possible. Whether La Vallière asked him to do so, or whether she even wanted the position herself, is unknown. A contemporary observer noted that La Vallière had ‘never shown any pride’ when receiving the monarch’s visits. The King lived with her openly, going on walks, hunts, and carriage rides in public.

On 8 December 1664, Armand-Charles de La Porte, Duke of La Meilleraye, husband of Hortense Mancini and an extremely jealous person, publicly rebuked the King for ‘scandalising the nation’ and urged him to ‘correct himself’, claiming to be ‘speaking from God’. The King ridiculed him by touching his forehead and saying, ‘I have always suspected that you have some injury there’ (the exact words have been recorded differently in separate primary sources). The Duke retired from court and public life. Many courtiers were offended by the King’s open adultery, but one diplomat reported that the common people were singing songs about the affair and considered the King’s choice a mark of good taste, as La Vallière was seen as more attractive than the Queen.

Second pregnancy and marriage plans
On 7 January 1665 at noon, La Vallière gave birth to a second son in the Palais Brion with Dr Boucher. At nine in the evening, the physician gave the newborn to Colbert who delivered him to Monsieur Bernard, his servant; he was baptised Philippe, registered as the son of ‘François Derssy, bourgeois’ and his wife, ‘Marguerite Bernard’. La Vallière’s firstborn, Charles, died within two years of his birth, probably of influenza. Philippe was raised in the Tuileries by Colbert’s wife, Marie Charron. The King visited him often and grew to love him. The child, who was ‘robust’ and ‘promised much’ was said to resemble him. He died of a cardiac arrest at the end of July 1666.

Queen Maria Theresa, still gravely ill, asked her husband to arrange La Vallière’s marriage; he agreed that she could wed if the queens found a match. Arranging a marriage for their extramarital partners was a common way for monarchs to provide for them, but marrying would have defeated La Vallière’s idea of a ‘holy devotion’ to her sovereign. According to diplomatic records from early 1665, there was a proposed match between her and the Marquess of Vardes. Both refused the marriage. The same dispatch mentions that the Palais Brion was attacked but the perpetrators were never identified; the King assigned guards to the house. The first book about La Vallière’s affair, by Roger de Rabutin, Count of Bussy, a disgraced courtier who was imprisoned for his work, was written around 1665 and published in 1666, titled Les Amours du Palais-Royal (‘Loves of the Palais-Royal’). It depicted La Vallière as a ‘gentle, kind, [and] selfless’ person who loved the King ‘for himself’, concluding that she would ‘always be the King's great love’. She was becoming known around the country as Louis’ mistress.

In October 1665, the King had a short affair with Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco. He also developed a ‘flirtatious friendship’ with Anne de Rohan-Chabot, Princess of Soubise and had at least ‘occasional’ encounters with Madame de Soissons and probably with other women put forward by factions hoping to replace La Vallière. Their relationship, however, remained strong and La Vallière was reportedly happy. They shared a love of hunting, in which La Vallière was regarded as a talent. A diplomat reported that he had seen her ride a Barb horse bareback, using only a silk string to guide it, standing up and sitting down while it was moving; she handled the pistol and the lance expertly. She was trained by a squire of Moorish origins. During her time as royal mistress, La Vallière played an important role in the intellectual life of the court. She belonged to the circles of libertines such as Isaac de Benserade and Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Duke of Lauzun. She read the popular books of the age and took painting and sculpture classes at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. She was interested in philosophy, reading and discussing Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle and Discourse on Method by René Descartes.

Death of Anne of Austria and birth of third child
By the end of 1665, the Queen Mother was dying. Louis did not abandon his entertainments, for which his wife, who remained with Anne of Austria, blamed the influence of La Vallière. He, however, often slept in Anne’s bedroom on a mattress. Queen Anne died on 20 January 1666, relieving Louis of the only person who could control him. He no longer saw a reason to act against his wishes in his personal life. On the 27th, Queen Maria Theresa invited La Vallière to stand next to her at mass to display her complacency to her husband. However, there were signs that the King’s love was diminishing. Courtiers who sensed the change derided her for not being beautiful and witty enough. On 2 October 1666, La Vallière gave birth to her daughter Marie-Anne at Vincennes. Her pregnancy had been kept secret, but during the delivery, Madame passed through her room on her way to church. La Vallière told her that she was suffering from colic, and urged Dr Boucher to ensure that the birth was over by the end of mass. She hid the smell of blood with flowers to receive visitors. She was present at the medianoche (midnight meal) of the court. The Grande Mademoiselle claimed that even though she tried to keep her pregnancies and children hidden, courtiers were aware of them.

End of relationship with Louis XIV
By the end of 1666, the King seems to have become bored with the La Vallière. Athénaïs, Marquise of Montespan started strategically working to replace her. She was ‘high-spirited and amusing’, and courtiers considered her to be an extraordinary beauty; with her full figure, she was more in line with contemporary beauty ideals than the thinner Louise. She was a member of the salons from which the précieuses movement emerged. Her husband decided to embark on a military career, which gave Montespan the opportunity to seduce the King. Every day, she visited the salon of La Vallière and that of the Queen to see Louis, but she also befriended both women. Soon, La Vallière’s detractors agreed that she could not ‘amuse’ the King without Montespan’s witty conversation. Louis started a sexual relationship with her between November 1666 and July 1667.

It is unclear when sexual relations between La Vallière and the King ended. Plans to arrange her marriage or give her a suo jure title were renewed, seen by contemporaries as a sign of her retirement. That year, Louis XIV started to pursue his personal ‘glory’ through military conquests and magnificient feasts. La Vallière participated in courtly ballet performances, as did Montespan. The King decided to march on Flanders, starting the War of Devolution. On Easter 1667, he took communion again in preparation for the war. In a dispatch from 29 April 1666, a diplomat reported that La Vallière was ‘losing much of her beauty’, becoming ‘very thin’. ‘[A]lmost nobody’ visited her anymore. He found that she was behaving ‘arrogantly’ with courtiers and ‘boldly’ towards the King; public opinion held that she would soon be replaced if she continued this. On 4 May, Louis and Madame de Montespan went on a carriage ride alone.

Legitimisation of her daughter
On 13 May, the King published a letter patent to legitimise his only living child with La Vallière, Marie-Anne. He conferred on her Chasteau in northern Touraine, including the ruins of a fortress on Lake Val Joyeux (Vaujours) and created a duchy ‘to be enjoyed by the said damoiselle Louise-Françoise de La Vallière, and, after her death, by Marie-Anne […] [and] her [legitimate] heirs and descendants’. Marie-Anne was authorised to use her mother’s surname and soon afterwards given the courtesy title of Mademoiselle de Blois. Legitimising the ‘natural’ children of French kings was regular practice, yet devout courtiers and those anxious for their privileges as ‘lawful’ descendants of aristocratic houses scorned the decision. Louis later explained in his Mémoirs that he wanted to provide for his mistress and child in case he died in war. He considered it ‘just’ to grant Marie-Anne ‘the honour of her birth’ and reward La Vallière in a way ‘suited to the affection’ he had had for her. Her brother was promoted in the army and her uncle made a bishop. It seems that La Vallière was not aware that her lover’s actions signalled the end of the relationship. She was pregnant again, but her unborn child (as any later offspring) was barred from succeeding to the duchy. The King gave a speech to his advisors lamenting his mistake in committing adultery and promising that ‘he shall never return to it’; he said the same to his wife.

Journey to Flanders
The military camp left for Compiègne on 24 May; from the ladies of the court, only the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting (including Montespan) were permitted to go. La Vallière remained in Versailles for a few weeks, then travelled to the camp without permission, accompanied by her sister-in-law. She arrived at the Queen’s household at La Fère on 20 June. Maria Theresa was upset by her coming, cried, did not sleep, felt ill, and had violent outbursts. She forbade her staff from giving food to La Vallière (they did so anyways). When she went to church, she had the door of the royal gallery closed so that La Vallière could not go near her; when she greeted Maria Theresa in front of the church, the Queen ignored her. During the following carriage ride, Montespan told Maria Theresa, ‘I admire [La Vallière’s] boldness in daring to appear before the Queen’, adding, ‘God forbid that I should be the King’s mistress! Yet if I were, I should be quite ashamed in front of the Queen’. Maria Theresa cried.In Guise, La Vallière did not attend the Queen’s coucher, probably sensing the hostility surrounding her. On 22 June, the Queen reached the camp at Avesnes. When the approach of the King was announced, La Vallière commanded her carriage to cut the path through the fields at full speed. Upon reaching the sovereign, La Vallière threw herself at his feet, but he received her coldly. Later, he only paid her a formal visit to satisfy customs. She did not attend the cercle (royal reception) at night, probably to avoid rebukes By this time, Montespan was certainly Louis’ lover, but he insisted on following etiquette: as a duchess, La Vallière attended mass with the Queen, travelled in her carriage, and dined at the royal table. Maria Theresa remained angry with her, although she did as her husband asked; neither of them were aware that she had already been supplanted. Montespan and La Vallière remained friend. Many of La Valliére’s early biographers, such as Charles Dreyss or Pierre Clément judged La Vallière harshly for this episode, describing her behaviour as ‘foolish haughtiness and cruel vanity’. She was openly mocked by the ladies of the court.

Later life at court
La Vallière returned to Paris, while the court stayed at Compiègne and Louis went on campaign. The Queen received a letter telling her that the King had taken Montespan as his mistress, but she did not believe it. When the King ended his campaign and returned to Compiègne, La Vallière went there; Louis was noted to sometimes visit her. He then went on a tour of conquered towns, while La Vallière was in Versailles. She re-joined the court in Saint-Germaine-en-Laye, where the King visited her thrice a day. On 2 October, she gave birth to Louis, who was taken away in secrecy. The King, who loved his older children by La Vallière, showed no care for him. Later, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Monsieur’s second wife claimed that this was because the King was ‘led to believe’ by Montespan and her supporters that La Vallière’s youngest child had been fathered by the Duke of Lauzun. Montespan’s husband returned and became extremely jealous, complaining about the relationship between his wife and the King. He publicly lectured Louis on biblical morality and threatened to take revenge by contracting a sexually transmitted infection so that his wife would infect the King. After he insulted and threatened Julie d’Angennes, Duchess of Montausier (whom he blamed for his wife’s adultery), the King imprisoned him. He was freed on the condition that he exiled himself to his country estate. There, he announced the death of his wife, organised a funeral, wore mourning clothes, and forbade his children to contact their mother. In order to contain the scandal, La Vallière remained the official mistress and had to share an apartment with Montespan so that the King could visit her. ‘Double adultery’, an extramarital affair in which both parties are married to others, was considered a grave sin by the church, and adulterous women could be imprisoned in a convent for life. Providing a cover for Madame de Montespan was necessary to protect her from the legal and personal attacks of her husband (who was known to be physically violent). Lair argues that La Vallière endured these humiliations to protect the interests of her son and because her lands produced little income. Her son was acknowledged by the King in February 1669, created count of Vermandois, and made admiral of France, which ensured Louis’ personal control of the navy. In March 1669, Montespan gave birth to her first child by the King.

During her time at court, La Vallière lived in several places, first in the Palais Brion, until, in July 1665, the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture moved there. Then, the King gave her an hôtel particulière near the Tuileries, in the. She owned it until her entry into the convent, when her brother inherited it. Around 1668, she owned a pavilion near in the rue de la Pompe in Versailles; in 1672, the King bought its land to build new stables. In 1669, she was had a pavilion in the Tuileries; she owned a house in Saint-Germaine-en-Laye from March 1669 to December 1674, and had her own apartment in the palace there.

Religious turn and Réflexions sur la miséricorde de Dieu
After the end of her affair with Louis XIV, La Vallière settled into a quiet life at court. She continued studying, reading historical, theological, and philosophical works. In 1670 (certainly before May), during a near-fatal, long illness (perhaps smallpox), she had a vision of her soul at the gates of hell, from which the ‘thunder of God’ awakened her. She turned to religion and abanoned her previous, libertine friends. She read the spiritual works of the Counter-Reformation, being most influenced by Teresa of Ávila’s The Way of Perfection. Bossuet became her spiritual guide. With his help, she wrote her Réflexions sur la miséricorde de Dieu (‘Reflections on the Mercy of God’) in 1671, which was published anonymously in 1680. It became a popular devotional book among French Catholics, reprinted at least ten times, often under her name. Her authorship of Réflexions was later contested. In 1853, argued that the book had been conceived by Bossuet and merely written down by La Vallière. However, the style of Réflexions differs from that of Bossuet’s own work and contains a woman's autobiographical notes. In 1928, Marcel Langlois, a literary critic claimed that La Vallière could not have written the book as its ‘rationalist tone’ cannot belong to a woman. He argued that no women of La Vallière's time had the knowledge of philosophy and theology demonstrated in the book, or read the Bible in Latin as its author had. However, La Vallière was known in salons for her understanding of Aristotle and Descartes, and many women of her circles read religious texts in Latin, as defended. Her authorship has been asserted through textual analyses by Jean-Christian Petitfils and Monique de Huertas. After her conversion, a confessor wanted to allow her to take communion immediately, but she refused, finding herself ‘unworthy’. The second wife of Monsieur, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate recounts questioning La Vallière about why she remained a ‘suivante’ (a servant or companion) of Montespan. She replied that she wished to ‘do penance […] suffer[ing] what was most painful for her, to share the King’s heart [with another woman] and see herself despised by him [...], offer[ing] all her pains to God as atonement for her past sins; for, since her sins had been public, her penance had to be public too’. Courtiers saw her new religiousness as a hypocritical ploy to achieve material gains from the King. Her potential marriage was mentioned again, possibly to Lauzun. In late June 1670, Madame died. She agonised for a long time and believed that she had been poisoned. La Vallière was present at her deathbed. In her last hours, she was told by a canon,, that ‘all [her] life had been but sin’, and she repented publicly. When she complained of excruciating pain, Feuillet told her to embrace the suffering and think of God. Courtiers remained under the impression of Madame’s sudden death and her repentance for a long time.

Second flight to Chaillot
In early spring 1671, La Vallière fled to the Visitation convent of the Filles de Sainte-Marie (‘Daughters of the Virgin Mary’) in Chaillot. She took with her none of her belongings and only left a letter to the King. Whereas he had personally pursued La Vallière in 1662, this time Louis continued his planned activities; however, he was noted to have cried during a carriage ride. He sent Lauzun to persuade La Vallière to return, but he failed, as did Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds, Marquess of Bellefonds, a good friend of La Vallière. To Bellefonds, La Vallière said that she ‘would have left the court sooner’ but she had felt unable to never see the King again. She added that her ‘weakness’ for Louis remained, but she wanted to dedicate the ‘rest of her life’ to ensuring her own salvation. When hearing this, the King cried but sent Colbert to retrieve La Vallière, by force if necessary. Montespan opposed her potential return and quarrelled with the King.

Colbert asked La Vallière to return so that the King ‘could speak to her further’. She agreed on the condition that Louis would permit her to enter a convent ‘if she persevered’. She had spent around twelve hours in Chaillot. Montespan ran to receive her with open arms and tearful eyes; the King talked with her for an hour, crying. Some faulted La Vallière for being ‘inconstant [in her] resolution’ to live a religious life, while others thought that she had acted ‘foolishly’ by returning without exploiting her stronger bargaining position. The Grande Mademoiselle believed that the King would have secretly been happy to ‘get rid of’ La Vallière. Lair argues that Louis still needed La Vallière as a cover for her affair with Montespan because his suit for her separation from her husband did not progress.

The King decided to march on Flanders again and invited La Vallière, who declined. Since her presence was necessary for Montespan, the King commanded her to go. Even her detractors considered her behaviour after her return from Chaillot ‘dignified and reserved’. Onlookers were scandalised to see the King ride in a carriage sitting between her two mistresses. During these years, La Vallière practiced charity, especially towards the poor of Vaujours. She grew close to the Queen who pitied her for her humiliations and appreciated her repentance. Religious practice gained importance in La Vallière’s life: she prayed and meditated often, avoided events and company that could have ‘distracted’ her, and wore a cilice under her robe.

Background of retirement
La Vallière’s children were raised by Colbert and his wife; she only saw them occasionally. Her eight-year-old daughter, Marie-Anne, Mademoiselle de Blois, a child of ‘lively and precocious intelligence’ attended her first ball in January 1664, in her mother’s presence Bellefonds worried that La Vallière’s attachment to her daughter would prevent her from entering the convent. She admitted that she had ‘sensitivity’, but her feelings for her children were conflicted because of their ‘sinful’ birth: ‘I confess that I was delighted to see her […] But, at the same time, I had scruples about it […] These are rather opposite emotions, yet I feel them as I tell you’. She commissioned a painting of her and her children, probably as a remembrance for them.Many noblewomen retired as pensionnaires (boarders) to the Visitation convent of the Filles de Sainte-Marie (‘Daughters of the Virgin Mary’) in Chaillot. They lead relatively unrestricted lives, maintainting their social networks and not bound by a vow; they could leave or marry at any time. However, when it was suggested to her, La Vallière felt that this would not be enough for her as penitence. She considered both the Couvent des Capucines (‘Convent of Capuchin Sisters’) and the Grand Couvent (‘Great Convent’) of Discalced Carmelites, choosing the latter. There were strict requirements for women who sought to enter: they had to have led a ‘regular’ life, demonstrated a ‘good character’, and never been the cause of scandal. The nuns hesitated to accept her, so she sought the help of the aunt of her friend Bellefonds, Judith de Bellefonds, a member of the convent. In late October 1673, the Marquess informed her that she would be accepted as a postulant; however, she was unwell and advised to rest. When she returned to court from her retreat to the convent, her impending retirement became public. She was supported in her decision by Bellefonds, Bossuet, and Paul de Beauvilliers, Duke of Saint-Aignan.

Bossuet helped convince Madame de Montespan to endorse La Vallière’s departure to the King. While she did not oppose it, she ridiculed it publicly. She sent her confidante, Françoise d’Aubigné, Madame Scarron to dissuade her. Scarron warned La Vallière that it might be too difficult to live as a Carmelite after the comforts of the royal court, advising her that she should enter as a secular benefactress and see whether she could tolerate the rules. La Vallière answered that this would not be proper penitence. By December 1673, as a result of Montespan’s campaign, courtiers thought that La Vallière had changed her mind and mocked her. In the same month, she stood as godmother to the third child of the King and Montespan, named Louise-Françoise after her. She and her two brothers were then legitimised; this was perhaps a way for the King to protect them from Madame de Montespan’s husband after La Vallière’s retirement. With the collaboration of the husband, the separation of the Montespans was also pronounced, rendering the use of La Vallière as a front unnecessary. In March 1674, she wrote to Bellefonds that she was ‘leaving the world’ with no ‘regrets’, ‘but not without pain’.

La Vallière was in debt because of her expenditure (especially on charity), but she had to declare herself debt-free to enter the convent. With Colbert’s intervention, the King permitted her son, Vermandois, to lend the necessary funds to her. By March 1674, La Vallière had arranged her finances; on 18 April, she gave her jewels to her children and petitioned the King to establish pensions for her mother and step-sister, as well as for her servants. She renounced her paternal inheritance to her brother, the Marquess of La Vallière.

Postulancy and novitiate
La Vallière paid her last visits on 18 April, giving pieces of jewellery to her friends as remembrances. When she said farewell to the King, he cried. She apologised to the Queen publicly. When Louise de Prie, Madame de la Mothe-Houdancourt asked her to not do so ‘in front of everyone’, La Vallière replied, ‘As my crimes were public, my penitence must be [public], too’. She kneeled before Maria Theresa, who lifted and embraced her, assuring her that she was forgiven. Then, Montespan, who was worried by the sympathy aroused by La Vallière invited her to supper in her apartment, where the Grande Mademoiselle also appeared to say goodbye. The next day, she attended mass; the King cried again and his eyes were red for hours. Then, dressed in her ceremonial robes, she went to the convent accompanied by her children, friends, and family. The court gathered along her path to see her leave. She was permitted to wear the habit of the nuns immediately, and she cut her hair (as nuns who have pronounced their vows do) that night.

La Vallière followed the regulations of the Carmelites from her first day in their convent. To Bellefonds, she reported that she felt ‘calm’, ‘content’, and in ‘safety’. The King developed doubts about her decision, as this public conversion highlighted his adultery. Courtiers still did not believe that La Vallière would stay in the convent. She asked the Carmelites to shorten her postulancy, and less than three months after her entry, she had her vêture (ceremonial donning of a nun’s habit). As date, she chose the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when the Parable of the Lost Sheep was read in churches. As neither Bossuet nor Louis Bourdaloue could be present, he asked the bishop-designate of Aire, to preach. Many courtiers attended the event. Fromentières highlighted La Vallière as an ‘example to all her century’ and warned her about the difficulties of cloistered life. She then received a blessed habit from the Archbishop of Paris, François de Harlay de Champvallon.

In the Holy Week of 1675, she received gratefully the news that the King had separated from Madame de Montespan and took communion; she prayed for the conversion of ‘one [she] had so loved’. After a year of novitiate, she took her perpetual vows on 3 June 1675, in the presence of the Queen, Monsieur, Madame Palatine (his second wife), Mademoiselle (Marie-Louise of Orléans, daughter of Monsieur and the late Henrietta of England), and the Grande Mademoiselle. The mass was conducted by Abbot Pirot, with a sermon by Bossuet who celebrated the ‘renewal’ of La Vallière, contrasting it with the attitude of those seeking glory and fame. The sermon focused more on the King than on La Vallière. The black veil was blessed by Bossuet and handed to the Queen, who gave it to the Prioress, Mère Claire de Saint-Sacrement (‘Mother Claire of the Holy Sacrament’) to cover La Vallière’s head.

Life as a nun
As a Carmelite sister, she used the name Louise de la Miséricorde (‘Louise of Mercy’). She was reputed to seek the most humbling tasks despite her frequent headaches. She believed that ‘nothing was too base for her’ and asked to become a lay sister, but was not allowed to do so. Instead, she was permitted to help novices complete their tasks, as they were given the most humbling chores. She was visited by Rancé who had been almoner in the household of Gaston, Duke of Orléans when she had lived there as a child, by Queen Maria Theresa (who brought along Madame de Montespan twice), and by her childhood friend, Marguerite of Orléans, Grand Duchess of Tuscany.

Multiple stories preserved by the Carmelites recount her discipline. One or two years after her entry, Madame Palatine brought her son, Vermandois, to visit his mother. When the eight- or nine-year-old wanted to kiss his mother, La Vallière refused. Even though she would have been allowed to embrace her child because of his age, and despite the entreaties of Madame Palatine and her son’ distress, La Vallière did not relent. Both guests left in tears. She then resolved to never see her children again, which the King opposed as he believed that they needed the advice of their mother. The Carmelites considered it their duty to maintain family ties if it was not for pleasure but to be useful to others.La Vallière’s brother died in October 1676, followed closely by a Carmelite nun whom she had known from the Orléans household. She envied them but decided to ‘submit’ to God’s will that she would stay alive as a sacrifice. The Marquess only left debts, and her creditors approached La Vallière. She petitioned the King to allow her nephew to inherit the position of governor of Bourbonnais from his father, which he granted. Louis added in his reply that he would go in person to offer his condolences if he were a ‘good enough man to see a Carmelite as holy as’ she. Her daughter, Mademoiselle de Blois continued to be raised by Madame Colbert. In 1680, she married Louis-Armand, Prince of Conti. The Prince and his cousin Henri-Jules, Prince of Condé visited La Vallière, and Conti treated his mother-in-law with reverence; she became her spiritual advisor. Her Réflexions was also published for the first time that year. Despite being anonymous, the book alluded heavily to La Vallière’s person. Its preface covertly attacked the King and Montespan (who was still his mistress) by saying, ‘[m]ay Heaven grant that those who followed her in her sins may imitate her in her penance and make good use of the time that the mercy of God gives them to think seriously about their salvation’. The book became a success and was soon translated to German.

Death of her son
Aged thirteen, Vermandois joined the libertine circles of Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine. After numerous scandals, the King exiled him and briefly imprisoned him in Normandy. La Vallière was distressed by her son’s fate. Vermandois then asked to participate in a military operation and was deployed to the Spanish Netherlands. Being only sixteen, combat took a toll on him, he developed a fever and died on 18 November 1683. In the 18th century, people speculated that Vermandois was the Man in the Iron Mask, declared dead but imprisoned for life. At the time, no one doubted that he had died, and he was mourned publicly for his great potential.

The Prioress, who was going to inform La Vallière of his death, met her before she could think of the right phrasing. Seeing her sadness and hesitation, La Vallière (who was aware of her son’s illness but not of its gravity) said, ‘I understand well’ and went to the chapel to pray. She was never seen to cry for her son, nor did she talk about her grief. A friend advised her that crying could make her feel relieved and that God did not forbid nuns to grieve. ‘One must sacrifice everything; it is for myself that I must weep’, she answered, referring to her sin of having children out of wedlock. In November 1685, her daughter and son-in-law caught smallpox; the Princess recovered but her husband died. La Vallière was again ‘firm and resigned’. Lair argues that this was another form of penance: she refused the usual comforts of mourning people to increase the pain caused by her losses. The next year, her mother died; it is unknown how this affected her.

Later life
La Vallière continued to look after her family. Her niece Louise-Gabrielle was repudiated by her husband,, Duke of Choiseul for her ‘misconduct’. To protect Madame de Choiseul’s sister Marie-Yolande from bad influence, La Vallière placed her as a pensionnaire in Faremoutiers Abbey and forbade her to contact her sister. In response, Marie-Yolande threatened to kill herself; La Vallière advised the family to let her leave. When she married in 1697, La Vallière’s daughter, Madame de Conti, wanted to invite Madame de Choiseul to the wedding and asked her father the King for permission. Louis answered that whatever La Vallière advised should happen; she allowed Madame de Choiseul to attend. Madame de Conti paid the pensions her mother had requested for relatives and old servants. When the Carmelites wanted to support poor people, La Vallière always turned to her daughter, but she often reprimanded her for her ‘light’ conduct. In 1685, working with Bellefonds, she unsuccessfully attempted to convert Gilbert Burnett to Catholicism during his visit to France. Clément claims that she participated in the theological debates of the century concerning Jansenism, which Lair considers doubtful. Foreign dignitiaries frequently visited her, as well as Madame de Montespan after her disgrace in the Affair of the Poisons. She was regularly visited by the Queen, the Dauphine, (Maria Anna of Bavaria), and Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy. In the community, was appointed sacristine (carer of the oratory). She often fasted on bread and water; after experiencing a memory of the refreshments served at the royal court, she only drank half a glass of water for three years. Her physical health was damaged and her superiors urged her to moderate her penance. She suffered from erysipelas but did not seek treatment. She asked to be transferred to ‘one of the poorest [and] most distant’ Carmelite convent, which was refused as the nuns appreciated her company and ‘example’.

Multiple works published during her lifetime discussed La Vallière. A 1678 book by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras declared that her conversion had reasons other than ‘spite’. In 1695, pamphlets written around 1665 were organised into a book titled La Vie de la duchesse de La Vallière (‘The Life of the Duchess of La Vallière’). She became popular among the French; her name was used to sell books to interpret dreams, positioning her as a seer.

Death
At the end of her life, La Vallière suffered from headaches, sciatica, rheumatism, stomach problems, and other, unspecified internal ailments. She tried to hide her pain and only complained of having to still live. She obtained permission to rise two hours earlier than the others. She did so on 5 June 1710; at three in the morning, she was going to the chapel when pain overcame her. She leaned against a wall, unable to speak. and was found two hours later. The doctors performed bloodletting but concluded that she was dying. She refused the offer to use linen instead of her usual coarse bedding. She seemed happy about her imminent death, and repeated the words, ‘expiring in the most severe pain, that is what befits a sinner’. At the night, she asked for Extreme Unction. She confessed and took communion; Abbot Pirot administered the Extreme Unction around eleven in the morning. Madame de Conti arrived, but her mother could no longer speak. She died at noon on 6 June 1710. When the King was informed of La Vallière’s death, he did not seem moved, saying that she had died for him the day she entered the convent.

According to the convent’s customs, La Vallière’s body was displayed in the church behind the grille separating the enclosure. Crowds came to see her, and four nuns were necessary to handle the objects wanted to touch to her body for a blessing. When clergymen arrived to inter the corpse, the laypeople present prayed for La Vallière’s intercession with God on their behalf. She was buried in the cemetery of the Carmelite nuns, a small headstone inscribed with her religious name marking the place. The cemetery, including her grave, was desecrated during the French Revolution.

Issue
Louise de la Vallière had five children by Louis XIV, two of whom survived infancy. The first two were registered under false surnames.
 * Charles ‘de Lincourt’ (19 December 1663 – circa 1665 or 1666), died in infancy and was never legitimised;
 * Philippe ‘Derssy’ (7 January 1665 – July 1666), died in infancy and was never legitimised;
 * Louis de La Baume Le Blanc (27 December 1665 – 1666), died in infancy and was never legitimised;
 * Marie-Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France (2 October 1666 – 3 May 1739); known as Mademoiselle de Blois after her legitimation. She married Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti and had no issue. She inherited the title of duchess of La Vallière from her mother;
 * Louis, Count of Vermandois (2 October 1667 – 18 November 1683); died at the age of sixteen during his first military campaign, and had no issue.

In popular culture
The term ‘lavalier’, meaning a jeweled pendant necklace, comes either from her name or that of Ève Lavallière, through the French term for a pussy bow, lavallière;
 * Letitia Elizabeth Landon composed a ‘poetical illustration’ titled Louise, Duchess of La Valliere to an engraving by John Henry Robinson based on a painting by Edmund Thomas Parris (1838);
 * She is one of the main characters in Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later, the second sequel to The Three Musketeers published between 1847 and 1850. Dumas makes her the fiancée of the fictional titular character, son of Athos. Some editions break the novel up into several books, one of them titled Louise de la Vallière;
 * Christina Rossetti’s 1881 poem Sœur Louise de la Miséricorde is presumed to be about her.
 * A German silent film titled Louise de Lavallière was made about her life, in which she was portrayed by Emmy Schaeff (1922);
 * wrote a novel about her titled Louise de La Valliere (1938);
 * Sandra Gulland titled Mistress of the Sun that features her (2008);
 * Karleen Koen's novel Before Versailles is told from Louise de la Vallière’s point of view (2011);
 * Joan Sanders published a biography of Louise in 1959 titled La Petite : Louise de la Vallière (‘The Little: Louise de la Vallière’);
 * Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, the main female character of The Familiar of Zero, was named after her;