Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu | |
---|---|
Countess of Barry | |
Born | Jeanne Bécu 19 August 1743 Kingdom of France |
Died | 8 December 1793
(aged 50) Madeleine Cemetery |
Spouse |
Comte Guillaume du Barry
(m. 1768) |
Signature |
Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being suspected of assisting émigrés to flee from the Revolution. She is also known as “Mademoiselle Vaubernier”.
In 1768, when the king wished to make Jeanne maîtresse-en-titre, etiquette required her to be the wife of a high courtier, so she was hastily married on 1 September 1768 to Comte Guillaume du Barry. The wedding ceremony was accompanied by a false birth certificate, created by Jean-Baptiste du Barry, the comte's older brother. The certificate made Jeanne appear younger by three years and obscured her poor background. Henceforth, she was recognized as the king's official paramour.[1]
Her arrival at the French royal court scandalized some, as she had been a prostitute as well as being of low birth. She was shunned by many, including Marie Antoinette, whose contempt for Jeanne caused alarm and dissension at court. On New Year's Day 1772, Marie Antoinette deigned to speak to Jeanne; her remark, "There are many people at Versailles today",[2] was enough to take the edge off the dispute, though many still disapproved of Jeanne.
Decades later, during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, Jeanne was imprisoned over accusations of treason by her page Zamor. She was executed by guillotine on 8 December 1793. Her body was buried in the Madeleine cemetery. The fabulous gems which she had smuggled to London were sold at auction in 1795.
Early years
Jeanne Bécu was the illegitimate daughter of Anne Bécu, a 30-year-old seamstress.[3][4] Jeanne's father remains unidentified; however, it is possible that her father was Jean Jacques Gomard, a friar known as frère Ange.[5] One of her mother's acquaintances, and presumed brief lover, Monsieur Billiard-Dumonceaux, took 3-year-old Jeanne and her mother into his care when they traveled from Vaucouleurs to Paris. There, Anne worked as cook to Dumonceaux's current mistress Francesca, who pampered Jeanne. Her education began at Convent of Saint Aurea.[6]
When she came of age at fifteen, Jeanne left the convent. Around that time, she and her mother Anne were evicted from Monsieur Dumonceaux's household, and returned to Anne's husband Nicolas Rançon.
Needing an income, Jeanne first hawked trinkets for sale on the streets of Paris. She then found a job assisting a young hairdresser named Lametz, with whom she had a brief relationship, as well as a daughter according to some rumors.
As painted at the time, Jeanne was a beautiful blonde with thick
Mistress of Louis XV: 1768–1774
Jeanne quickly became a sensation in Paris, building up a large aristocratic clientele. She had many lovers, including government ministers and royal courtiers,
Jeanne was installed above the king's quarters in Lebel's former rooms. She lived a lonely life, unable to be seen with the king since no formal presentation had taken place. Very few, if any, of the nobility deigned to acknowledge her, a woman of the street who presumed above her station. Her husband constantly urged Jeanne to persuade the king to have her presented at court, but Louis XV required her to find a proper sponsor. For this, Richelieu eventually found Madame de Béarn, who was bribed by the settlement of her huge gambling debts.
On the first attempt at the presentation, Madame de Béarn panicked and feigned a sprained ankle. The second occasion was cancelled when the king fell off his hunting horse and broke his arm. Finally, Jeanne was presented at court on 22 April 1769, amid a cacophony of gossip among the crowds outside the palace and the courtiers in the Hall of Mirrors. She wore a silvery white gown brocaded with gold, bedecked in jewels sent by the king the night before, and with huge side panniers, whose like had never been seen. Her spectacular coiffure was worked up even as she kept the court waiting.
Jeanne first befriended her husband's sister Claire Françoise, who was brought from Languedoc to instruct her in etiquette. Later on, she also befriended the Maréchale de Mirepoix, and other noblewomen were bribed into her entourage.
Jeanne quickly accustomed herself to living in luxury. Louis XV gave her a young Bengali slave named Zamor, whom she dressed in elegant clothing. Jeanne developed a liking for Zamor and began to educate him.[12][13] In his trial testimony in 1793, Zamor gave Chittagong as his birthplace; he was probably of Siddi origin.
According to Stanley Loomis' biography Du Barry, Jeanne's everyday routine began at 9.a.m, when Zamor would bring her a morning cup of chocolate. She would select a gown and jewellery and be dressed, then her hairdresser Berline (or Nokelle for special occasions) would come to do her powder and curls. She would then receive friends, as well as tradesmen such as dressmakers, jewellers, and artists offering her their finest stock. She was extravagant, but good natured. When the old Comte and Comtesse de Lousene were forcibly evicted from their château for heavy debts, they were sentenced to death because the comtesse had shot dead a bailiff and a police officer while resisting.[14] When Madame de Béarn told Jeanne of their situation, she begged the king to pardon them, refusing to rise from her knees until he agreed. Louis XV was moved: "Madame, I am delighted that the first favour you should ask of me should be an act of mercy!"[15] Jeanne was visited by a Monsieur Mandeville who asked a pardon for a young girl condemned to the gallows for infanticide after concealing the birth of a stillborn child. Jeanne's letter to the Chancellor of France saved the girl.
As the king's maîtresse déclarée, Jeanne was the center of all eyes at court. She wore costly, extravagant gowns and diamonds covered her neck and ears, straining the treasury all the more.
In time Jeanne became acquainted with the
Despite this intrigue,[19] Jeanne, unlike her predecessor Madame de Pompadour, had little interest in politics,[20] reserving her passion for new gowns and jewellery. However, the king went so far as to let her participate in state councils.[21] An anecdote recounts that the king said to the Duc de Noailles that Madame du Barry introduced him to new pleasures; "Sire" – answered the duke – "that's because your Majesty has never been in a brothel."[22] While Jeanne was known for her good nature and support of artists, she grew increasingly unpopular because of the king's financial extravagance towards her. She was forever in debt despite her huge monthly income—at one point up to three hundred thousand livres.[23]
She retained her position until the death of Louis XV, despite the attempt to depose her by the Duc de Choiseul and the Duc d'Aiguillon, who tried to arrange a secret marriage between the king and Madame Pater.[24]
Diamond necklace affair
In 1772, the infatuated Louis XV requested that Parisian jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge create a necklace for Jeanne of unprecedented extravagance, at an estimated cost of two million
Exile: 1774–1792
In time, King Louis XV started to think of death and repentance, and began missing appointments in Jeanne's boudoir.
After a year at the convent, Jeanne was granted permission to visit the surrounding countryside provided she return by sundown. A month later, she was allowed out further, but not to venture within ten miles of Versailles, including to her beloved
In the following years, she had a liaison with
During the French Revolution, Brissac was captured while visiting Paris, and lynched by the mob. Late that night, Jeanne heard a drunken crowd approaching the Château, and through the opened window where she looked came a blood-stained cloth with Brissac's head, at which sight she fainted.[34]
Imprisonment, trial and execution: 1792–93
Jeanne's Bengali slave Zamor, along with another member of du Barry's domestic staff, had joined the
Based largely on Zamor's testimony, Madame du Barry was suspected of financially assisting émigrés who had fled the revolution, and she was arrested in 1793. When the Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris accused her of treason and condemned her to death, she vainly attempted to save herself by revealing the location of the gemstones she had hidden.[35]
On 8 December 1793, Madame du Barry was beheaded by the guillotine on the
Although her French estate went to the Tribunal de Paris, the jewels she had smuggled out of France to England were sold at an auction at
Relationship with Marie Antoinette
Jeanne's relationship with Marie Antoinette was contentious. They first met at a family supper at the
Marie Antoinette defied court protocol by refusing to speak to Madame du Barry. She not only disapproved of Jeanne's background, but felt insulted when she heard from the Comte de Provence of Jeanne's laughter at a salacious story told by the
In popular culture
Food
Many dishes, such as Soup du Barry, are named after Jeanne. All dishes "du Barry" have a creamy white sauce. Many have cauliflower, perhaps an allusion to her powdered hair with curls piled like cauliflower florets.[39]
Film
Madame du Barry was portrayed in film by:
- Mrs. Leslie Carter in the 1915 film DuBarry, directed by Edoardo Bencivenga
- Theda Bara in the 1917 film Madame Du Barry, directed by J. Gordon Edwards
- Pola Negri in the 1919 film Madame DuBarry, directed by Ernst Lubitsch
- Norma Talmadge in the 1930 film Du Barry, Woman of Passion
- Dolores del Río in the 1934 film Madame Du Barry, directed by William Dieterle
- MGM film Marie Antoinette, which starred Norma Shearerin the title role
- DuBarry Was a Lady
- Margot Grahame in the 1949 film Black Magic, also starring Orson Welles in the lead role of Count Cagliostro
- Martine Carol in the 1954 film Madame du Barry, directed by Christian-Jaque
- Asia Argento in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette, directed by Sofia Coppola
Literature
- In Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the character Lebedev tells the story of du Barry's life and execution and prays for her soul.[40]
- Du Barry is one of the central characters in Sally Christie's The Enemies of Versailles (2017).
Television
- Du Barry is portrayed by French actress Gaia Weiss in the BBC/CANAL+ 8-part television series Marie Antoinette. Her relationship with Marie Antoinette is a core theme of the first four episodes, at the end of which Antoinette (now queen) persuades her husband Louis XVI to have her exiled after the death of his grandfather, Louis XV, who had intended to marry Du Barry but died before that could take place.
- Du Barry was also portrayed by Japanese voice actress Ryoko Kinomiya in the anime The Rose of Versailles, as a villainous, scheming enemy of Marie Antoinette; her struggles with the young princess are a major concern of the story in its early stages.
Opera
- Gräfin Dubarry is an operetta in three acts by Carl Millöcker to a German libretto by F. Zell and Richard Genée.
- La Du Barry is an opera (1912) in three acts by Giannino Antona Traversi and Ernrico Golisciani, with music by Ezio Camussi.[41]
References
- Citations
- ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
- ^ a b Kuckhahn, Geni (8 May 2019). "Madame du Barry vs Marie Antoinette". Geni Kuckhahn. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
- ^ "Family tree of Anne BECU de CANTIGNY". Geneanet. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- ^ Haslip 1992.
- ^ Plaidy 2007, p. 302.
- ^ Haslip 1992, p. 3.
- ^ Haslip 1992, p. 6.
- ^ Stoeckl 1966, p. 23.
- ^ Haslip 1992, p. 16. Jeanne was a talented courtesan, as sometimes "[Jean] du Barry regretted when necessity forced him to merchandise what he would willingly have kept for himself". She is referred to many times in books as a courtesan, which in common language means a high-class prostitute (though by no means should one think that she was a common soliciting streetwalker).
- ^ Herman, An Indecent Pitch of Luxury as to Insult the Poverty of the People, p.175
- ^ Haslip 1992, p. 27.
- ISBN 978-0-8050-7949-4.
- ^ Bose, Arghya (14 July 2020). "How an Indian man taken to Europe as a slave played a role in the French Revolution". Scroll.in. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ Stoeckl 1966, p. 43.
- ^ Loomis 1959, pp. 55–56.
- ^ "Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry". Madame Guillotine. 2 May 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
- ^ Haslip 1992, p. 32: "The carriages, jewels....reclaim the money from the royal treasury."
- ISBN 9780345523860.
- ^ Langon, Baron Etienne Leon Lamothe (2010). Memoirs of the Comtesse Du Barry; with intimate details of her entire career as favorite of Louis XV. Chapter XXV: Kessinger Publishing. p. 234.
- ISBN 9780743274548.
- ^ Mme. Campan, Souvenirs
- ^ Herman 2004, p. 22.
- ^ Herman, Pensions, p.146
- ^ Fleury 1909.
- ^ "The Diamond Necklace Affair". Marie Antoinette Online. 11 January 2009. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ^ Herman, Jewels, p.135
- ISBN 9780312283339.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link - ^ Haslip 1992, p. 81: "She never dared go out for long,...rest for a while in peace"
- ^ "newadvent.org".
- ^ Bernier 1984, pp. 246–249.
- ^ Herman 2004, p. 203.
- ^ Haslip 1992, p. 133.
- ^ Haslip 1992, p. 121.
- ^ Smee, Sebastian. "This gorgeous portrait is haunted by intrigue and death". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
- ^ Stoeckl 1966, p. 174.
- ^ "Madame du Barry: From Prostitute to King Louis XV's Last Mistress, and Died as Famous Victim of the French Revolution | Feature Series | THE VALUE | Art News". TheValue.com. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- ^ Haslip 1992, p. 78: "Prince de Rohan had made fun of the pious old Empress... No one, it appears, had laughed so heartily as the hostess"
- ^ Palache 2005, p. 28.
- ISBN 978-0-7858-3488-5.
- ISBN 978-0-375-70224-2.
- ^ Rivista enciclopedica contemporanea, Editore Francesco Vallardi, Milan, (1913), entry by G. Cesari), page 13.
- Bibliography
- Antoine, Michel (1989). Louis XV (in French). Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard. ISBN 9782010178184.
- Bernier, Oliver (1984). Louis the Beloved: The Life of Louis XV. Garden City, New York: ISBN 0-385-18402-6.
- Castelot, André. (1989). Madame du Barry. Paris: Perrin. ISBN 9782262006914.
- Fleury, comte Maurice (1909). Louis XV intime et les petites maitresses (in French). Paris: Plon.
- Haslip, Joan (1992). Madame du Barry: The Wages of Beauty. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. ISBN 978-0-8021-1256-9.
- Herman, Eleanor (2004). Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-06-058544-7.
- La Croix de Castries, René de (1967). Madame du Barry (in French). Paris: Hachette.
- Loomis, Stanley (1959). Du Barry: A Biography. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
- Palache, John Garber (2005). Marie Antoinette The Player Queen. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 9781417902507.
- Plaidy, Jean (2007). The Road to Compiegne. Arrow Books. ISBN 978-0099493372.
- Saint-André, Claude (1915). A King's Favourite, Madame du Barry, and her times from hitherto unpublished documents. New York: McBride, Nast. translated from the French Madame du Barry, published by Tallandier, Paris, 1909.
- Saint-Victor, Jacques de (2002). Madame du Barry: un nom de scandale (in French). Paris: Perrin. ISBN 9782262016616.
- Stoeckl, Agnes, (Baroness de) (1966). Mistress of Versailles: The Life of Madame du Barry. London: John Murray.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Vatel, Charles (1883). Histoire de madame du Barry (in French). Paris: L. Bernard.
External links
- Madame du Barry at Château de Versailles
- Full text of Memoirs of the Comtesse Du Barry from Project Gutenberg
- Catherine Delors: Madame du Barry returns to Versailles Archived 5 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- Jeanne Bécu, Countess du Barry at Unofficial Royalty