Marguerite de Valois (1553-1605) was one of the most beautiful women of her time. Her blue eyes, beautiful face, flowing black hair, and shapely figure made the young Marguerite one of the most desirable women at the king's court. Don Juan of Austria was stunned when he saw her and wrote in his diary, "She looks more like a goddess of heaven than a princess ruling the earth. Her charms are more suited to ruin a man than to save him. Her beauty is made to haunt us."
It is therefore not surprising that during her life Marguerite, who thanks to the novel of Alexandre Dumas Known to us as Queen Margot, she had a number of affairs with many lovers. Unfortunately for her lovers, many of them ended their lives in a particularly unsympathetic manner.
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Queen Margot saves her husband during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
Margot's mother, who saw her as nothing more than a pawn in her political chess game, decided to marry her in 1572 to Henry of Navarre (the future Henry IV), the leader of the Protestant community in France, in order to try and put an end to the religious wars that were raging in the kingdom at the time. Margot, who at the time was in love with the Duke of Guise, did not agree to marry Henry, who, among his other virtues, smelled of goats, and the queen was forced to bring her to church by force.
In fact, Margot never said “I do” as is customary in Catholic weddings because when the priest asked her if she agreed to marry Henri of Navarre, Margot decided to remain silent. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Henri, Duke of Anjou (the future Henri III) gave her a push from behind and, as far as the priest was concerned, Margot’s nod was enough to marry them. However, it quickly became clear that the wedding was nothing more than a trap for Catherine de Medici Its entire goal was to gather all the Protestant leaders in Paris and eliminate them once and for all.
Six days after the wedding, the bloodbath began, which became known as the “St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre,” during which thousands of Protestants were murdered in Paris and several French countryside towns. Although Margot, as mentioned, did not love her husband, she fiercely defended him against the Catholics and did not allow him to be harmed. This experience made them allies and they remained married solely for political reasons, each taking lovers.
Shortly after her wedding, Margot took the first of a long string of lovers. Boniface de La Môle (Joseph Boniface de La Môle 1526-1574) was a gifted dancer and one of the most handsome men in the court of King FranceHe soon fell in love with the new Queen of Navarre, but this love affair did not last long. A wax statue was found in his room and he was accused of plotting to murder Margot's brother, Charles IX (reigned 9–1560), using witchcraft.
Margot's mother, Catherine de Medici, ordered his execution, before which La Moule was subjected to infernal torture in the Conciergerie. Legend has it that before his head was beheaded, he asked the audience to tell Queen Margot that she was in his last thoughts. After hearing of his execution, Margot decided to wear mourning clothes and some say that she even managed to obtain her lover's skull to provide her with a proper burial (the bodies of people who were executed as a result of an attempt to harm the king were burned or hung and became food for crows).
If the Queen had only known that her Margo was only the first in a long line of lovers who would harm her or lose their lives as a result of their affair, she might have chosen to retire to a monastery at that time...
Fate continues to be cruel to the Queen's lovers
Shortly after the death of her first lover, Margot took her next lover, Jacques de Harlay (died 1630), and it was even rumored that at that time she slept with her younger brother, the Duke of Alençon (1555–1584). Her brother, Henry III (reigned 3–1574), detested her sexual freedom and decided to teach her a lesson. He asked his sister to be the hostess of a ball he was planning to throw at the palace. The Louvre.
However, in the middle of the ball, in front of all the guests, he accused her of being pregnant by de Harla. The king continued to list all her romantic relationships, not omitting a single “spicy” detail, and when he was finished, he ordered her to rid the royal court of her “sickly presence.” Jacques de Harla, realizing that continuing the relationship with Margot could endanger his life, abandoned her (and as a result, became one of her only lovers who lived to an old age). Following the ball, Margot decided to flee Paris and live in Agen in the Auvergne region.
Margot's bad luck in love life followed her there. Some time after arriving at the castle, she fell ill and almost died. The one who nursed her back to health was the son of the local pharmacist, who fell hopelessly in love with her. However, one of Margot's bodyguards was also in love with her, and one day, in a fit of jealousy, he burst into the bedroom and stabbed Margot's lover to death.
Margot did not give up and took another lover, who was a captain in the army of the King of France. She described her lover as “a figure who in previous centuries would have easily become the inspiration for the songs of the troubadours.” However, Henry III, who had heard of the affair, sent his soldiers to capture the new lover. In vain, Margot tried to hide him in the chimney of her room. He was found and executed in her presence. The unfortunate lover was hung with his feet up until his head filled with blood. While still breathing, he was thrown into an open grave and buried alive, holding a piece of the hem of her dress.
Queen Margot died of her brother in 1589, when he was murdered by Jacques Calment. Her husband became King Henry IV, who decided to divorce her so that he could find himself a young wife who would provide him with a legitimate heir (he already had plenty of bastards). Margot agreed in exchange for keeping the title of queen and quite a bit of money, thus becoming one of the richest women in France. However, as we know, money does not buy love and Queen Margot continued to seek lovers, which she took from all levels of French society.
And so, among her list of lovers, one can find a tenor singer from one of the cathedrals, a carpenter's son, a shepherd, a servant and even a wandering singer. Margot was eventually able to convince Henry IV to allow her to return to Paris, but by then she was already a shadow of her former self. Now in her fifties, Margot had gained weight and lost most of her hair, which she replaced with huge blonde wigs. In order to provide her with enough hair for the wigs, she kept blonde servants, who at any given moment were required to donate their hair for a new wig for her. And despite her old age, her ill-fated love stories continued.
Queen Margo's Last Lovers
While waiting for the completion of her palace on the Left Bank of Paris, Marguerite lived at the Hotel de Sens, where she took the Comte de Vermond as her lover. However, the Count's performance did not satisfy Marguerite's lust and she decided to take another young lover, Julien Datte, in his place.
Alas, this romance was also short-lived, as the Count de Vermond, consumed by jealousy, killed Julien on her doorstep. Queen Margot was overcome with anger and grief and ordered that the Count be executed the next day in the exact spot where he had killed her lover. After watching the execution from her window, the former queen left the Hôtel de Sens and moved to live near the Louvre. There she was nicknamed “Queen Venus,” after the lovers’ parties she organized. Her husband, Henry IV, begged her to stop associating with young lovers and to act her age.
Also the Archbishop of Paris He came out against the Queen, claiming that her deep cleavages were an inspiration to young women and thus corrupted their figures. They said that she was too fat to fit through some doors and that she had wigs hidden between her dresses in case of “accidents.” Finally, they even claimed that she kept pouches containing the hearts of her dead lovers.
And yet, Queen Margaux continued to live her last years in exactly the same way she had always lived. Her turbulent lifestyle did not prevent her from outliving all her family members, or even her ex-husband, who was murdered in 1610. She died in her palace on the Left Bank, surrounded by young lovers, just before her 62nd birthday. Unfortunately, the palace has long since ceased to exist, and in its place, among other things, the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts was built. And it is a shame, because if her magnificent palace had remained intact, how many stories could its walls tell…
The writer Heinrich Mann wrote a wonderful novel about the period: "The Youth of King Henry IV," translated into Hebrew by Leah Goldberg. The intrigues of the court, Bartholomew's Day. As far as is known, Henry IV was the most beloved king of the French kings.
Fascinating. I would like more.