Motteville, Françoise Bertaut de (c. 1621–1689)

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Motteville, Françoise Bertaut de (c. 1621–1689)

French memoir writer. Name variations: Madame de Motteville; Madame Langlois de Motteville. Born Françoise Bertaut around 1621; died in 1689; daughter of Pierre Bertaut (a gentleman of the king's chamber) and a Spanish mother (who was the friend and private secretary of Anne of Austria); niece of the bishop-poet Jean Bertaut (1552–1611); married Nicolas Langlois, seigneur de Motteville, president of the Chambre des Comptes of Rouen, in 1639 (died 1641).

French memoir writer Françoise Bertaut de Motteville was the daughter of Pierre Bertaut, a gentleman of the king's chamber; she was also the niece of the bishop-poet Jean Bertaut. Her mother, a Spaniard, was the friend and private secretary of Anne of Austria , wife of Louis XIII. At age seven, Françoise, who by then spoke Italian and Spanish, was also made a member of the queen's household and given a pension of 2,000 livres. The influence of Cardinal Richelieu, however, who wished to separate the queen from her Spanish connections, exiled mother and daughter to Normandy, where in 1639 the young woman was married to the octogenarian Nicolas Langlois, seigneur de Motteville, president of the Chambre des Comptes of Rouen. He died two years later at age 82.

In 1642, Anne of Austria, now the governor of France after the death of Richelieu and Louis XIII, summoned Mme de Motteville to court to become her lady-in-waiting. For 24 years, through all the intrigues and troubles of the Fronde, Mme de Motteville remained devoted to her mistress, eschewing party ties or interests. She was also a friend of Henrietta Maria of England. Some letters of de Motteville's are preserved—especially a curious correspondence with "La Grande Mademoiselle" (Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans, duchess de Montpensier ), on marriage, but her chief work is her Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire d'Anne d'Autriche, which are in effect a history of Anne of Austria, covering events briefly until the date of Mme de Motteville's return to court, and then in complete detail. They give a faithful picture of the life of the court at that time. After nursing Anne of Austria for two years through the terminal stages of breast cancer, Mme de Motteville withdrew to the Convent of the Visitation in 1666 and spent her last years writing on the themes of religion and death.

The best edition of her Mémoires is that of M.F. Riaux (2nd ed., Paris, 1891, 4 vols.), containing the essay by Sainte-Beuve from Vol. V of his Causeries du lundi. Her memoirs were translated into English in 1726 and again by K.P. Wormeley in 3 vols., 1902.