Madame de Pompadour, the intellectual sexual companion of Louis XV

Madame de Pompadour was a woman overflowing with beauty and elegance. A lady of the bourgeoisie of high finance entered Versailles for the first time with the magnificent aim of winning the king's heart. She succeeded, as she wished, in becoming the sexual and intellectual companion of Louis XV.

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

His childhood

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

Her father had to flee to Germany, accused of fraudulent dealings. But despite the stream of scandals, Reinette received a good and exquisite upbringing. 

From housewife to royal escort

Forced by her father to marry her cousin in her early 20s, she had a son within 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 dazzling 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 high bourgeois society of Paris. She began to frequent the high salons of the society of her time. The beautiful lady came to meet some of the most famous 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 her sensual seduction she came up with the crazy idea of conquering the heart of none other than the King of France. In truth, it is a mystery how this lady managed to rise to enter the palace of Versailles.

Without aristocratic blood, she managed to penetrate that royal world, and although it is not known why, we strongly suspect that her beauty had something to do with it.  

Jeanne-Antoinette set her crazy plan in motion, she was to meet the king on his repeated hunting trips to the forest of Sénart.

Louis XV began to take an interest in this mysterious lady and it was in the same year that he arranged a private meeting with Madame d'Étiolles. 

Unfortunately the lady's heartbroken husband 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.

PoissonnadesAccompanying person Royal

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

It was the first time in France that a lady of bourgeois origin had managed, against all odds, to occupy the grandiose position of favourite of the royal household. As the reader can imagine, the court and the aristocracy in general not only turned their backs on the beautiful lady, but also turned against her.

The children of Louis XV did not speak to his new mistress. Those closest to the king sought to persuade their monarch of the error of his relationship with a lady of Burgundian origin. 

A plurality of satires were made against it and were known as poissonnadesin reference to his surname, Poisson. It is similar to the English word "poison", which means poison.

But what did Reinette care about the accusations and criticisms! With the King's favour, the taunts had no effect on her. She continued to influence her husband decisively, becoming not only his mistress, but also one of his royal advisors. In this way she deployed her strategy and began to get rid of those who opposed her and interrupted her brilliant path.

Pompadourintellectual lady

A promoter of Diderot's Encyclopédie, she began to support various artistic projects, standing out as a lady who was not only highly sensual, but also deeply cultured. She helped to produce paintings by Boucher and monuments such as the Place de la Concorde in Paris, and Jeanne-Antoinette was one of the leading patrons of the time.

For the reader's clarity, patronage is the profession of sponsoring and financing various talents. In this case, the King's lady-in-waiting, who was already much more than that, helped the artistic splendour of 18th century France.

The Marquise had the Meissen porcelain factory moved to Sèvres and made it the benchmark for decorative and luxury goods in Europe. It was there that the colour known as Pompadour Rose was created in honour of the royal patron. 

In the marvellous Champ du Dieu Mars in Paris, Jeanne-Antoine had an institution specially dedicated to the education of young soldiers built, which was to become the Ecole Militaire in the David building. 

From lover to partner

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

The Seven Years' War and the End of the Marquise

During her time at the King's side, Madame de Pompadour remained a political advisor. In 1756, the Seven Years' War began, with France aligning itself with Austria and Russia against Prussia and England. She was clearly opposed to the Prussian King Frederick II, Madame de Pompadour interceded with the Count of Kaunitz, who was chancellor and foreign minister of the famous Maria Theresa of Austria. Seeking to make an alliance with Austria. However, the Parisian aristocracy, opposed to the Austrians, would never forgive Jeanne-Antoinette's political move. 

Her role in the negotiations with Austria was used by the nobility to continue their campaign against the King's companion. However, she always continued to stand up and be involved in the issues that mattered to her, right up to her last hour.

Source:

womeninhistory