MOTTEVILLE, FrançoiseBertaut, Madame de (1621-1689), was born in 1621. She was of fair family (the poet-bishop Jean Bertaut being her kinsman), and by her mother of Spanish blood. This circumstance attracted Anne of Austria to Madame Bertaut, and the child Françoise was made a member of the queen’s household and pensioned at seven years old. The influence of Richelieu, however, who constantly endeavoured to deprive the queen of confidantes, exiled mother and daughter to Normandy. There, at the age of eighteen, Françoise married Nicholas Langlois, Seigneur de Motteville, first president of the Chambre des Comptes. She was very soon a widow, but she had before that date (1641) visited the court, renewed her relations with the queen, and been rewarded by a pension increased from 600 to 2000 livres. No sooner did Anne of Austria become her own mistress by the deaths of Richelieu and of her husband than she summoned Madame de Motteville to court and made her her most intimate friend. Through all the intrigues and troubles of the Fronde, Madame de Motteville preserved the honourable reputation of being devoted to her mistress without any party ties or interests. She was also on very intimate terms with Henrietta Maria of England during her residence in France. After Anne of Austria’s death Madame de Motteville lived in retirement, but not in absolute seclusion, seeing especially Madame de Sévigné and Madame de la Fayette. She died on 29th December 1689. Some letters of hers are preserved, especially a curious correspondence with “La Grande Mademoiselle” on marriage, but her chief work is her Mémoires, which are in effect a history of Anne of Austria, written briefly till the date of Madame de Motteville’s return to court, and then with fulness. The author is ...