:La Grande Mademoiselle at the Court of France, 1627-1693

Abstract

Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orleans - a cousin to Louis XIV and known in her time and to posterity as Grande - is still remembered in France today for her unconventional life and heroic deeds. Her Memoires, first published in 1718 and initially suppressed in France, remains a major source of information on the period's political and social events as well as a page-turning melodrama of court intrigue. Mademoiselle also left behind a number of other works - literary portraits of the prominent personalities of her day, letters, satirical short stories, and two essays on religion - which, together with her memoirs, stand as an unusual achievement for any 17th-century woman, let alone one so high-born and wealthy. This comprehensive biography of this remarkable woman draws on Mademoiselle's own writings as well as Vincent J. Pitts' own command of her times. Viewed through her writings, the events of Mademoiselle's life offer a perspective on several aspects of 17th-century France - the evolution of the Bourbon monarchy over the course of the century, the dynamics of aristocratic resistance to the centralizing power of the state, and the debate over the role of women in public and private life. As both an active participant in and a keen observer of the great events of her time, la Grande Mademoiselle helped define her age even as she challenged the limitations it placed upon her, as this account of her life makes clear.