Antoinette de Maignelais
Encyclopedia
Antoinette de Maignelais (1434–1474) was the chief mistress
Maîtresse-en-titre
The maîtresse-en-titre was the chief mistress of the king of France. It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartments. The title really came into use during the reign of Henry IV and continued until the reign of Louis XV....

 of Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...

 from 1450 until his death. The Baroness of Villequier by marriage, she replaced her cousin Agnès Sorel
Agnès Sorel
Agnès Sorel , known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté, was a favourite mistress of King Charles VII of France, for whom she bore three daughters....

 as the king's favourite mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...

 after Sorel's sudden death in 1450. Later in life she was the mistress of Francis II, Duke of Brittany.

She was the daughter of Jean II de Maignelais and Marie de Jouy. Through her father she was a first cousin of Agnès Sorel
Agnès Sorel
Agnès Sorel , known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté, was a favourite mistress of King Charles VII of France, for whom she bore three daughters....

, who served Charles VII as his titular mistress from roughly 1441 until her sudden death in 1450.

Even before her cousin's death, Antoinette had caught the king's eye. In 1448, when she was fourteen years old, he gave her the lands of Maignelais, which had been the object of a long lawsuit between her ancestor Raoul de Maignelais and the Duke de Bourbon. In the end, the estate had remained in the duke's possession.

In her sixteenth year, shortly after Agnès died, he married Antoinette to his first gentleman of the bedchamber, André, Baron de Villequier, of Guerche
La Guerche
La Guerche is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.People from La Guerche are called Guerchois or Guerchoises....

 in Touraine
Touraine
The Touraine is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher and Indre.-Geography:...

, and on this occasion presented her with the isles of Oleron
Oléron
Île d'Oléron is an island off the Atlantic coast of France , on the southern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait....

, Marennes
Marennes
Marennes may refer to two communes in France:*Marennes, Charente-Maritime, in the Poitou-Charentes region*Marennes, Rhône, in the Rhône-Alpes region...

, and Arvert
Arvert
Arvert is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...

 as a marriage portion, with a pension of two thousand livres a year for life. The letters granting these advantages are dated October, 1450. For her and her husband, the king ordered the construction of the Château de la Guerche
Château de la Guerche
Château de la Guerche is a castle in La Guerche, in Indre-et-Loire, a département in France. Among his famous owners, the Lords of Rougé used it as their residence between 1351 and 1416....

. She became a widow after only four years of marriage.

In 1458, Charles presented her daughter, Jane de Maignelais, with eight thousand two hundred and fifty francs upon her marriage to the Sire of Rochefort. Antoinette also had another daughter, but neither of them was acknowledged by Charles VII.

The king died in 1461 and she became the mistress of Francis II, Duke of Brittany, with whom she had two sons and two daughters. She died peaceably at his court in 1474.
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