Opening book details…
Can I read Athénaïs : the life of Louis XIV's mistress, the real queen of France on EtoBox?
Athénaïs : the life of Louis XIV's mistress, the real queen of France by Hilton, Lisa is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.
What is Athénaïs : the life of Louis XIV's mistress, the real queen of France about?
"Athenais de Montespan reigned as official mistress to Louis XIV during the most glorious period of "the splendid century." As lovely and charming as she was witty and cunning, Athenais quickly rose to far greater prominence than the King's own spouse. It was Madame de Montespan who was known as "the real Queen of France," the symbol of the apotheosis of French culture in the seventeenth century. As a lover, she risked the disgrace of adultery to conduct an affair that scandalized Europe; as a patron, she supported many of the leaders of the cultural renaissance; as a mother, she is the ancestor of most of the royal houses of Europe." "In her superb new biography, Lisa Hilton chronicles the life of this extraordinary woman. She vividly describes Athenais's unhappy marriage to a gamester nobleman, her entry into the decadent and intricate world of court politics, and her brilliant seduction of France's most desired suitor, the King himself. Athenais transformed Louis from a shy, awkward young monarch into the polished Sun King of legend." Throughout the "age Montespan," Athenais used her wit and beauty to stave off the intrigues of courtiers, the machinations of Versailles's clerics
Who reads Athénaïs : the life of Louis XIV's mistress, the real queen of France?
It is typically read by self-directed learners exploring a subject in depth.
Common subject areas: history, science, philosophy, social sciences.
- Author
- Hilton, Lisa
- Publisher
- Little, Brown and Company
- Published
- 2007
- Language
- EN
- ISBN
- 9781306769907
- Category
- nonfiction
- Subjects
- History, Biography, Memoir
- Rating
- 3.77 / 5 (27 ratings)
- Updated
- 2026-03-14
Other editions & translations
More by Hilton, Lisa
Browse all works by Hilton, Lisa
Similar books
- Queen of Versailles : Madame De Maintenon, First Lady of Louis XIV's France — Mark Bryant (2020)
- Madame de Pompadour : mistress of France — Christine Pevitt Algrant (1976)
- Love and Louis XIV : the Women in the Life of the Sun King — Antonia Fraser (2007)
- Orientalism in Louis XIV's France (Oxford Historical Monographs) — Nicholas Dew (2009)
- Madame de Pompadour: The Life and Legacy of French King Louis XV’s Chief Mistress — Charles River Editors (2019)
- Dangerous and Dishonest Men: the International Bankers of Louis XIV's France the International Bankers of Louis XIV's France — Guy Rowlands (auth.) (2015)