Isabelle de Ludres

Marie -Elisabeth Isabelle de Ludres, called La belle Isabelle or La belle de Chanoinesse Poussay, (* 1647 in Ludres; † January 28, 1726 in Nancy) was maid of honor at the royal court and mistress of the French King Louis XIV

Life

Marie- Élisabeth was the daughter of Jean IV de Ludres and his wife Claude des Salles. She was educated as Kanonisse in the monastery of Poussay and was betrothed by her parents to the elderly Duke Charles IV of Lorraine. But this did not want to leave his mistress, Marie- Louise d' Apremont, and struck his young fiancée a ménage à trois ago. But Marie -Elisabeth defied the and had the support of the Lorraine clergy.

In 1666, Marie -Elisabeth left the monastery in the Vosges and went to Versailles. As maid of honor, she was in the household of the Duchess of Orléans, Henrietta Anne Stuart, the favorite sister of Charles II, if and introduced at court. It is believed that her family Marie -Elisabeth in the hope they would notice the French King Louis XIV and ascend to the mistress, introduced at court. After the early death of the Duchess of Orléans ( † 1670 ), she came into the court of the French queen Maria Theresa. Due to its beauty and Lorraine accent she moved the courtiers in their spell, including the grandson of César de Bourbon, Philippe de Bourbon- Vendôme. The king was also interested in La belle Isabelle. The connection was Madame de Montespan, the Maîtresse en titre of the king, not hidden, which then intrigued against Marie -Elisabeth.

1678 left Marie -Elisabeth de Ludres the court and retired to the monastery of the " Order of the Visitation of Our Lady " after she had turned down a donation by the King. Years later, and now in debt, La belle Isabelle was forced to call for a pension of Louis XIV. He asked her out a pension of 2000 livres, from which they could live more bad than good. She died on January 28, 1726 in Nancy.