Portrait of Philippe de Courcillon by Hyacinthe RigaudSignature Philippe de Courcillon de Dangeau (1638–1720)
Philippe de Courcillon, Marquis de Dangeau (21 September 1638 – 9 September 1720) was a French officer and author.
Born in
Louis XIV
.
Biography
Brother of
playing cards, to the extent that "jouer à la Dangeau" became an expression in the language of the time and he attracted the attention of Louis XIV. In 1665, he was named colonel of the king's regiment, and accompanied him as an aide de camp in all of his campaigns. He became, in 1667, governor of Touraine and undertook several diplomatic missions to Trier, Mainz and Modena
.
A patron of men of letters, he became friends with Boileau, who dedicated his Satire on the Nobility (Satire sur la noblesse) to him. La Bruyère depicted him in his Caractères through the traits of "Pamphile".
He was elected a member of the
Académie des sciences
, of which he became president in 1706.
From 1684 to 1720, he kept a journal on daily life at the court of
Madame de Genlis in 1817 and by Pierre-Édouard Lémontey in 1818. It was whilst writing notes on these memoirs that Saint-Simon
undertook to write his own Mémoires. The 19 volumes of the complete edition of Journal de la cour de Louis XIV appeared for the first time between 1854 and 1860.
In 1686, Philippe de Courcillon married his second wife Sophia Maria Wilhelmina von Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (1664, Wertheim – 1736, Paris), at Versailles. She was the daughter of
Ferdinand Karl, Count of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (1616–1672) and his wife Countess Anna Maria of Fürstenberg (1634–1705). Together they had at least one son, also called Philippe de Courcillon, who fought at the battle of Malplaquet
(during the War of the Spanish Succession) on 11 September 1709.
Anecdote
Dangeau willingly lent his pen to the king and his entourage. The
Louise de la Vallière
, and she asked him to perform the same service to reply to the king. The abbé relates the epilogue : 'He thus created the letters and their responses ; and that lasted for a year, until La Vallière, pouring out her heart, confessed to the king, who it was that was freely lending her so much of her wit, the best part of which she owed to their mutual confidant, whose discretion they admired. The king, on his part confessed that he had had the same idea.' In his “Siècle de Louis XIV” Voltaire relates precisely the same story about the king and his sister-in-law, Princess Henrietta Maria of England.
First wife: Anne Françoise Morin married 11 May 1670 and had one daughter Marie Anne Jeanne de Courcillon who married Honoré Charles d'Albert de Luynes and were the parents of
Charles Louis d'Albert de Luynes; present Duke of Luynes
are descendants of Philippe;
Second wife: Princess Sophia Maria Wilhelmine zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort' married at Versailles on 26 March 1686 and had one son Philippe Egon de Courcillon' who married Françoise de Pompadour and had a daughter
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