Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon

Born into a ruined noble family in 1635, Françoise d'Aubigné married the poet Paul Scarron at sixteen, a union that opened the doors of Parisian society but left her widowed and uncertain by 1660. Her friendship with Madame de Montespan, the king's mistress, brought her into Louis XIV's orbit as governess to his illegitimate children; when he legitimised them she became royal governess, and in 1675 he made her Marquise de Maintenon. By the late 1670s she had displaced Montespan in the king's affections. After Queen Maria Theresa died in 1683, Louis married her in secret — a union that gave her…