Marie Gigault de Bellefonds, Marquise de Villars was a well-regarded figure in Parisian salons and esteemed by King Louis XIV, and she traveled internationally to accompany her ambassador husband, playing significant diplomatic roles at the court of Savoy in Turin and at the court of Spain in Madrid. She became the confidante of the queen of Spain, Marie-Louise d’Orléans, the niece of Louis XIV, and, as instructed by the king of France, endeavored to pursue French political interests in Madrid with female members of royalty.
This volume includes her surviving letters from Madrid to her friend Madame de Coulanges and an appendix of her letters sent from Paris and Turin. The letters from Spain, written between 1679 and 1681, paint a vivid and engaging picture of the royal court and its new queen.
Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Other Voice
A Diplomatic Life
Women and the Epistolary Arts
The Marquise de Villars, Letter Writer and Travel Writer
The Self-Fashioning of an Ambassadress
Bellefonds-Villars’ Extant Letters
A Note on the Translation
Letters from Spain, 1679-1681
Appendix: Three Additional Letters by the Marquise de Villars
Letter A: To the Marquise de Sévigné, Paris, August 25, 1673
Letter B: To Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne, Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, Turin, November 1, 1676
Letter C: To Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne, Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, Turin, September 11, 1677
Bibliography
Index
Marie Gigault de Bellefonds, marquise de Villars (1624–1706) was a French ambassadress.
Marie Gigault de Bellefonds, Marquise de Villars (1624–1706) was a French ambassadress. Nathalie Hester is associate professor of French and Italian and director of European studies at the University of Oregon. She is the author of Literature and Identity in Italian Baroque Travel Writing.
Nathalie Hester is associate professor of French and Italian and director of European studies at the University of Oregon. She is the author of Literature and Identity in Italian Baroque Travel Writing.
