[79] See [below] for his portrait.
[80] Henri, Marquis and afterwards Duc d’Harcourt (1654-1718), of the branch of Beuvron-Harcourt. As a lieutenant-general he had a large share in the victory of Neerwinden. He was appointed Ambassador to Spain in 1697, and it was in a great measure due to him that the Duc d’Anjou was nominated heir to Charles II. After the new king’s accession his influence increased, and as a reward for his services he was created a Duke and a Marshal of France. For portraits of him see III. 210-212, 391-3.
[81] Anne-Marie de La Trémoïlle (circ. 1646-1722) married as her second husband Flavio Orsini, Duca di Bracciano (1675), and on his death in 1698 took the title of Princesse des Ursins (Orsini). Appointed Camarera mayor to the Queen of Spain in 1701 in order to support the French influence, she dominated the King, till December, 1714, when she was summarily dismissed by his second wife, Elizabeth Farnese. “La princesse des Ursins gouverne le roi d’Espagne comme moi mon chien Titi,” says Madame. See Saint-Simon, III. 78-81, and XI. 116, where he records a tête-à-tête with her which lasted eight hours. “Ces huit heures de conversation avec une personne qui y fournissoit tant de choses me parurent huit moments.” Part of her correspondence with Mme de Maintenon is preserved in a copy in the British Museum. It has been printed under the title of Lettres inédites de Mme de Maintenon et Mme des Ursins, 4 vols. 1826, but the editing is careless and inaccurate. Sainte-Beuve has two good articles on her (Caus. du Lundi, V. 401 ff.).
[82] The Duc de Noailles, as Comte d’Ayen, married Mlle d’Aubigné, Mme de Maintenon’s niece.
[83] Rarely.
[84] Archbishop of Paris from 1695 to 1729 and uncle of the Duc de Noailles. He favoured the Jansenists, and when in answer to the King’s demand for a Constitution against the Réflexions morales of Père Quesnel the Pope (Clement XI) issued the Bull Unigenitus, he opposed its reception. His nomination as Archbishop had been warmly supported by Mme de Maintenon, but his attitude to the Constitution made a breach between them in ecclesiastical matters. Saint-Simon’s estimate of him (XII. 138-140) is a fair one.
[85] Henri de Thiard, Cardinal de Bissy, Bishop de Toul and afterwards of Meaux, succeeded to the influence in ecclesiastical matters which the Cardinal de Noailles and Godet Des Marais, Bishop of Chartres, had had with Mme de Maintenon.
[86] He and Cardinal de Bissy were the leaders of the Jesuit party. His high birth, great wealth, and charm of looks and manner gave him great influence. Saint-Simon has a most interesting portrait of him (Mém. X. 28-32).
[87] Charles, Comte d’Aubigné, was a hopeless spendthrift, and in spite of the numerous appointments which Mme de Maintenon obtained for him was always out at elbows. On his death (1703) she wrote: “J’ai pleuré M. d’Aubigné; il étoit mon frère, et il m’aimoit fort; il étoit bon dans le fond, mais il avoit vécu dans de si grandes désordres que je puis dire qu’il ne m’a donné de joie que dans la manière dont il est mort.” See Saint-Simon, Mém. I. 478-480. “C’étoit un panier percé, fou à enfermer, mais plaisant, avec de l’esprit et des saillies;... avec cela bon homme et honnête homme, poli.” He habitually referred to the king as his brother-in-law.
[88] Godet Des Marais was a Sulpician, a disciple of Père Olier. See Saint-Simon, Mém. VII. 123-126.