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Madame du Barry
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Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry (French: [baʁi]; 19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being suspected of assisting émigrés to flee from the Revolution. She is also known as "Mademoiselle Vaubernier" ([vobɛʁnje]).[not in body]
In 1768, when the king wished to make Jeanne maîtresse-en-titre, etiquette required her to be the wife of a high courtier, so she was hastily married on 1 September 1768 to Comte Guillaume du Barry. The wedding ceremony was accompanied by a false birth certificate created by Jean-Baptiste du Barry, the comte's older brother. The certificate made Jeanne appear younger by three years and obscured her poor background. Henceforth, she was recognised as the king's official paramour.
Her arrival at the French royal court scandalised some, because she had been a courtesan and came from humble beginnings. She was shunned by many including Marie Antoinette, whose contempt for Jeanne caused alarm and dissension at court. On New Year's Day 1772, Marie Antoinette deigned to speak to Jeanne; her remark, "There are many people at Versailles today", was enough to take the edge off the dispute, though many still disapproved of Jeanne.
Decades later, during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, Jeanne was imprisoned over accusations of treason by her servant Zamor. She was executed by guillotine on 8 December 1793. Her body was buried in the Madeleine Cemetery. The fabulous gems which she had smuggled to London were sold at auction in 1795.
Marie-Jeanne Bécu was the illegitimate daughter of Anne Bécu, a 30-year-old seamstress. Jeanne's father remains unidentified; however, it is possible that her father was Jean Jacques Gomard, a friar known as frère Ange. One of her mother's acquaintances and presumed brief lover Monsieur Billiard-Dumonceaux took 3-year-old Jeanne and her mother into his care when they traveled from Vaucouleurs to Paris. There, Anne worked as cook to Dumonceaux's mistress Francesca, who pampered Jeanne. Her education began at the Convent of St Aure, in the outskirts of Paris.
When she came of age at fifteen, Jeanne left the convent. Around that time, she and her mother Anne were evicted from Monsieur Dumonceaux's household and returned to Anne's husband Nicolas Rançon. Needing an income, Jeanne first hawked trinkets for sale on the streets of Paris. In 1758 she found a job assisting a young hairdresser named Lametz, with whom she had a brief relationship, as well as a daughter according to some rumors. She was soon employed as a reader and companion (dame de compagnie) to an elderly widow, Madame de la Garde, but was sent away when she drew the attentions of la Garde's two married sons and one of their wives. From 1763 Jeanne worked as a milliner's assistant and grisette in the fashionable haberdashery shop called "La Toilette" of Madame Labille and her husband. Labille's daughter, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, became a good friend of Jeanne.
As painted at the time, Jeanne was a beautiful blonde with thick ringlets and almond-shaped blue eyes. In 1763, when she was visiting the brothel-casino of Madame Quisnoy, her beauty attracted the notice of the owner, Jean-Baptiste du Barry. He installed Jeanne in his household as his mistress, calling her Mademoiselle Lange. From 1766 du Barry helped establish Jeanne's career as a courtesan in the highest circles of Parisian society, including the aristocracy.
Jeanne quickly became a sensation in Paris, building up a large aristocratic clientele. She had many customers, including government ministers and royal courtiers, the most prominent being the Maréchal de Richelieu. Though the Duc de Choiseul found her rather ordinary, in 1768 he took her to Versailles, where King Louis XV caught sight of her. The king took a great interest and sent for her through his valet and procurer Dominique Lebel. The popular Queen Marie Leszczyńska was dying, and Jeanne was escorted to the king's boudoir so frequently as to cause Lebel concern for his position. After weeks of sincerely mourning the queen's death in June 1768, Louis XV was ready to resume his affairs. As a woman of low birth as well as a prostitute, Jeanne could not qualify as maîtresse-en-titre; but the king ordered she be married to a man of good lineage and brought to court. On 1 September 1768 she was married to Count Guillaume du Barry, the younger brother of her former lover Jean-Baptiste du Barry. The marriage ceremony included a false birth certificate created by Jean-Baptiste du Barry, making Jeanne appear younger by three years and of fictitious noble descent.
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Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry (French: [baʁi]; 19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being suspected of assisting émigrés to flee from the Revolution. She is also known as "Mademoiselle Vaubernier" ([vobɛʁnje]).[not in body]
In 1768, when the king wished to make Jeanne maîtresse-en-titre, etiquette required her to be the wife of a high courtier, so she was hastily married on 1 September 1768 to Comte Guillaume du Barry. The wedding ceremony was accompanied by a false birth certificate created by Jean-Baptiste du Barry, the comte's older brother. The certificate made Jeanne appear younger by three years and obscured her poor background. Henceforth, she was recognised as the king's official paramour.
Her arrival at the French royal court scandalised some, because she had been a courtesan and came from humble beginnings. She was shunned by many including Marie Antoinette, whose contempt for Jeanne caused alarm and dissension at court. On New Year's Day 1772, Marie Antoinette deigned to speak to Jeanne; her remark, "There are many people at Versailles today", was enough to take the edge off the dispute, though many still disapproved of Jeanne.
Decades later, during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, Jeanne was imprisoned over accusations of treason by her servant Zamor. She was executed by guillotine on 8 December 1793. Her body was buried in the Madeleine Cemetery. The fabulous gems which she had smuggled to London were sold at auction in 1795.
Marie-Jeanne Bécu was the illegitimate daughter of Anne Bécu, a 30-year-old seamstress. Jeanne's father remains unidentified; however, it is possible that her father was Jean Jacques Gomard, a friar known as frère Ange. One of her mother's acquaintances and presumed brief lover Monsieur Billiard-Dumonceaux took 3-year-old Jeanne and her mother into his care when they traveled from Vaucouleurs to Paris. There, Anne worked as cook to Dumonceaux's mistress Francesca, who pampered Jeanne. Her education began at the Convent of St Aure, in the outskirts of Paris.
When she came of age at fifteen, Jeanne left the convent. Around that time, she and her mother Anne were evicted from Monsieur Dumonceaux's household and returned to Anne's husband Nicolas Rançon. Needing an income, Jeanne first hawked trinkets for sale on the streets of Paris. In 1758 she found a job assisting a young hairdresser named Lametz, with whom she had a brief relationship, as well as a daughter according to some rumors. She was soon employed as a reader and companion (dame de compagnie) to an elderly widow, Madame de la Garde, but was sent away when she drew the attentions of la Garde's two married sons and one of their wives. From 1763 Jeanne worked as a milliner's assistant and grisette in the fashionable haberdashery shop called "La Toilette" of Madame Labille and her husband. Labille's daughter, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, became a good friend of Jeanne.
As painted at the time, Jeanne was a beautiful blonde with thick ringlets and almond-shaped blue eyes. In 1763, when she was visiting the brothel-casino of Madame Quisnoy, her beauty attracted the notice of the owner, Jean-Baptiste du Barry. He installed Jeanne in his household as his mistress, calling her Mademoiselle Lange. From 1766 du Barry helped establish Jeanne's career as a courtesan in the highest circles of Parisian society, including the aristocracy.
Jeanne quickly became a sensation in Paris, building up a large aristocratic clientele. She had many customers, including government ministers and royal courtiers, the most prominent being the Maréchal de Richelieu. Though the Duc de Choiseul found her rather ordinary, in 1768 he took her to Versailles, where King Louis XV caught sight of her. The king took a great interest and sent for her through his valet and procurer Dominique Lebel. The popular Queen Marie Leszczyńska was dying, and Jeanne was escorted to the king's boudoir so frequently as to cause Lebel concern for his position. After weeks of sincerely mourning the queen's death in June 1768, Louis XV was ready to resume his affairs. As a woman of low birth as well as a prostitute, Jeanne could not qualify as maîtresse-en-titre; but the king ordered she be married to a man of good lineage and brought to court. On 1 September 1768 she was married to Count Guillaume du Barry, the younger brother of her former lover Jean-Baptiste du Barry. The marriage ceremony included a false birth certificate created by Jean-Baptiste du Barry, making Jeanne appear younger by three years and of fictitious noble descent.
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