widow

Mis à jour: 2 mai 2025

Mme. de La Fayette was some twenty-two years old, long past the usual marriageable age of French maidens, when, in 1655, she was married to the Count de La Fayette. Little is known of her married life. Boissier in his Vie de Mme. de Sévigné says: "When the correspondence of Mme. de Sévigné with her daughter begins , Mme. de La Fayette has been long a widow." But of this early widowhood there is no positive evidence, the weight of testimony being rather to the contrary. Those who are curious in this matter are referred to d'Haussonville's Vie de Mme. de La Fayette, where the whole controversy is summed up in the following words: "Une chose est certaine: c'est qu'il faut renoncer désormais

Madame de (Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne) La Fayette - La Princesse De Clèves par Mme de La Fayette : Edited with Introduction and Notes

Having been branded with suspicion, he was compelled to leave the Court during the reign of Henry III., but was soon recalled. In 1562 he aided in the capture of Bourges from the Protestants and later succeeded the Marshall of St. André as Governor of Dauphiné. In 1566 he married Anne d'Este, widow of the Duke of Guise. His later years were spent in retirement from the Court.

Madame de (Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne) La Fayette - La Princesse De Clèves par Mme de La Fayette : Edited with Introduction and Notes