Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy
Jeanne de la Motte | |
---|---|
Comtesse de la Motte ( self proclaimed) | |
Born | 22 July 1756 |
Died | 23 August 1791 | (aged 35)
Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy,
Early years and marriage
Jeanne de Valois was born on 22 July 1756 in Fontette (northeastern France near
Jeanne was the third of six children. Three of Jacques de Valois de Saint-Rémy and Marie Jossel's six children died in infancy: Joseph (9 March 1753 – 9 December 1753), Marie Marguerite Anne (17 February 1759 – 23 May 1767) and Jean (5 March 1760 – 9 March 1760). The three surviving de Valois de Saint-Rémy children,[1] Jacques (25 July 1751 – 1785), Jeanne, and Marie-Anne (2 October 1757 – 1786) were neglected, went barefoot, tended the cows, and often found it necessary to beg for food. According to Count Beugnot as written in his Mémoires, they were rescued by his father and the abbot of Langres. According to another source, the family moved to Boulogne near Paris where a priest and one of his rich parishioners, Madame de Boulainvilliers, took care of them.
In any case, their Valois ancestry was ascertained by a genealogist at
At the time of her wedding, Jeanne was heavily pregnant; only one month later (7 July) her newborn twins were baptized as Jean-Baptiste and Nicolas-Marc de la Motte. Both children lived only a few days.While the de la Motte family's claim to nobility was dubious, both husband and wife assumed the title Comte and Comtesse de La Motte Valois. Of the three siblings, Jeanne would be the only one to achieve notoriety. Jacques died on military duty on Saint-Louis Island; Marie-Anne went back to religious life. None of the three Saint-Rémy children had any known living descendants.
Affair of the Diamond Necklace
When it became clear that Nicolas was unable to meet the couple's financial needs to maintain them in the extravagant style that his wife avidly desired, Jeanne resolved to ask a more generous pension from the royal family due to her royal blood. She decided to approach Queen Marie Antoinette, anticipating sympathetic reception based on commonality of gender. Jeanne therefore made frequent visits to Versailles in the hope of catching the Queen's attention. At that time, any ordinary citizen dressed in suitable attire could enter the palace and its gardens, and observe the royal family. Nevertheless, Marie-Antoinette had been told of Jeanne's questionable lifestyle and refused to meet her.
The marriage between Jeanne and her husband was unsuccessful although they continued to live together. Jeanne took a lover,
Jeanne was described as having been slender with small breasts; she had white skin, chestnut-brown hair, limpid blue eyes, and a "winning smile".[6] The Abbé Georgel, Cardinal de Rohan's loyal servant, describes Jeanne as having "the wiles of a Circe."[5] She obtained some money from the Cardinal, and a commission for her husband in the Comte d'Artois's bodyguard.[6]
At the same time, the jeweler
Jeanne, with the active help of her husband and de Villette, concocted a plan to use this situation to their financial advantage. Rétaux de Villette was a master
The necklace was given to Jeanne de la Motte to pass on to the Queen. Her husband promptly began selling the diamonds in Paris and London. The affair came to light only when the Cardinal was arrested. Also soon arrested were Jeanne de la Motte, Rétaux de Villette, Nicole d'Oliva, and
While they were not directly implicated and could have tried the swindlers without publicity, the King and the Queen insisted on a public trial to defend their honor.[citation needed]
Nevertheless, the trial actually had the opposite effect and destroyed the reputation of the Queen, because the public saw her as the guilty party. The Cardinal was found not guilty and acquitted.
The Cardinal survived the revolution and lived out his life in exile. Rétaux de Villette also lived and died in exile in Italy. Nicole d'Oliva faded into obscurity and died at age 28. Count Cagliostro was imprisoned by the Roman Inquisition and died in prison. Nicolas de la Motte returned to Paris after the Revolution.
Jeanne died in London as a result of injuries sustained after falling from her hotel room window, while hiding from debt collectors. A contemporary report in The Times stated that she was found "terribly mangled, her left eye cut out – one of her arms and both her legs are broken."[9] She died on 23 August 1791, two years before Marie Antoinette, who went to the guillotine in 1793. Jeanne is buried in St. Mary's Churchyard in Lambeth, London.
See also
- The Rose of Versailles, a manga by Riyoko Ikeda that had Jeanne as a major antagonist.
References
- ^ a b "St Remy". www.audcent.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ Haslip, p. 165
- ^ Castelot, p. 202
- ^ Castelot, p. 201
- ^ a b Haslip, p. 167
- ^ a b Cronin, p. 239
- ^ Haslip, p. 179
- ^ Comtesse de Valois de La Motte, Jeanne de Saint-Remy. "Memoirs of the Countess de Valois de La Motte: Containing a Compleat Justification of Her Conduct, and an Explanation of the Intrigues and Artifices Used Against Her by Her Enemies, Relative to the Diamond Necklace". Retrieved June 12, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ News in Brief. In The Times, Friday, June 3, 1791, p. 3, column D.
Bibliography
- Dumas, Alexandre (1848). The Queen's Necklace.
- OCLC 401503.
- ISBN 9780688003319.
- ISBN 9780297795674.
- Vizetelly, Henry (1867). The Story of the Diamond Necklace. London: Tinsley Brothers.
External links
Media related to Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy at Wikimedia Commons