Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan

Born into the ancient House of Rochechouart in 1640, Françoise-Athénaïs married the Marquis of Montespan in 1663 and entered court service - first to Princess Henrietta, then to Queen Maria Theresa. Armed with beauty and wit, she carefully cultivated Louis XIV's attention and by the late 1660s had replaced Louise de La Vallière as his favourite. She had seven children by the king, six later legitimised, four surviving infancy, mostly raised by Madame Scarron - who would herself become the Marquise de Maintenon and eventually supplant Montespan in Louis's bed. Her alleged involvement in the Affair of the Poisons in 1677 shattered her standing and sealed her fall from favour. She withdrew to a Paris convent in 1691, relocated to the Château d'Oiron in 1704, and spent her final years in charity and penance until her death in 1707 at sixty-six.