David Tee - AncientPages.com - Born Jeanne Antoinette, Madame de Pompadour was a pretty little child, and she had an innocent start in life.
Her mother made sure that she received one of the finer educations possible by sending her to a convent to be trained. This education lasted until her teenage years.
Then her mother brought her home. It seems that her mother’s ambition is what guided Madame de Pompadour. She took great pains to see that her daughter was refined and educated enough to win the eye and heart of a king. This goal was based on a fortune teller’s prediction.
Left: Madame de Pompadour - Right: Palace of Versaille
Madame de Pompadour’s life was not all fun and games. Her father incurred many debts and when he could not pay he was forced to flee to save his life. There is some question as to who the real biological father was. Some say that it was a tax collector who fathered Jeanne-Antoinette and her brother.
King Louis XV’s Weakness Opened The Door
Madame de Pompadour grew into a fine young lady and she entered her first marriage without any dedication or sincerity in her heart. The marriage was more for convenience than love. The two children from that marriage died young.
This left her free to open her own salon business which attracted a high society clientele. Her friends made represented her well to the King who had a sexual weakness. This weakness for women, it is claimed he had over 100 mistresses, led him to be very vulnerable as he met Madame de Pompadour when he was mourning the loss of his 3rd official mistress.
Palace of Versailles
Madame de Pompadour accepted Louis XV’s offer to become his mistress. Unfortunately, Madame de Pompadour’s mother did not live to see this day. Her death came well before Louis XV bought a Marquise title for his new head mistress.
This is how Jeanne-Antoinette became Madame de Pompadour. The title Louis XV purchased was Marquisate of Pompadour. All of this took place prior to 1745 and before he introduced her to his court.
Madame de Pompadour Supported Science
Her contribution to the elevation of Paris as the capital of taste and culture is well known. Madame de Pompadour was a great supporter of the arts, as well as the sciences and literature. She sponsored many painters, craftsman architects and many people highly skilled artisans throughout her life.
Then she contributed to the porcelain industry by developing the Severe, a porcelain company. She also protected a minority group called the Physiocrates. This was a group of economists who felt that a country was as rich as its agricultural production.
On top of all of this, she and her brother built the Place de la Concorde and the Petit Trianon. These buildings were located on the property of Versailles.
Despite all of these fine contributions to French and Paris society, she still found the time to be hated.
Madame de Pompadour Had King Louis XV Wrapped Around Her Finger
Tess Lewis writes that the origins of the French revolution could be found in the reign of Louis XV. The French revolution was not to take place for another generation, yet the seeds were well planted and watered long before the people rose up and took matters into their own hands.
Left: Portrait of Louis XV of France (1710-1774) by Louis-Michel van Loo - Credit: Public Domain - Right: Madame de Pompadour, portrait by François Boucher - Credit: Public Domain
Because Madame de Pompadour had the King’s ear, as well as other body parts, she was seen as the main culprit in his affair and the disasters that befell France. But it wasn’t just France’s failure to win the Seven Year war or the running court debts that made her so hated.
Those issues helped but it was Madame de Pompadour’s self-appointment to Louis XV unofficial prime minister and her self-appointment as his appointment secretary that helped stir the emotions of those in the court who needed access to Louis XV.
She seemed to have Louis XV wrapped around her finger. It is said that she used sex to get her way and to manipulate the King. She was after all his closest advisor and the person he told everything to. Her controlling who had access to Louis XV probably played a role in how people viewed her.
Other complaints about Madame de Pompadour include her being a wily schemer who did not find it beneath her to use intrigue and other similar acts to get her way. She was also seen as a person who wanted power and used whatever means at her disposal, including sex, to obtain the power she craved.
One historian, Tess Lewis, wrote that Madame de Pompadour may have schemed, used intrigue and sex to get her way but that only made her like everyone else living in the palace. She was not alone with Louis XV in Versailles.
There were others in the royal court who sought power, influence and be successful in getting their own way. Madame de Pompadour was not Louis XV’s only mistress either. Other women may have used sex to get the king to do as they wanted. Or they were used by other figures in the court to manipulate the King.
See also:
Maximilien de Robespierre: A True Revolutionary Man Or A Madman?
Edward Of Woodstock “Black Prince” – Idol Of The English People And Terror Of The French
To single Madame de Pompadour out may seem unfair but was it really? No other mistress was able to get away with what she was allowed to do. She must have captivated Louis XV to be able to control his appointments, make statements on his behalf and act as an unofficial Prime Minister.
What the records do not tell us is how much of a hand Louis XV played in her behavior. He is often portrayed as a buffoon, but he may not have been so naïve to see what was taking place around him. He may have given Madame de Pompadour permission to do all that she did.
Madame de Pompadour has been painted very badly by history and historians for the most part. But was she any different from anyone else who got close to their king? She may have been hated but that hatred may be because the people were barred from doing the exact same thing she was doing.
Written by – David Tee AncientPages.com Staff Writer
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