Gabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart

Gabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marchioness of Thianges (1633 – 12 September 1693) was a French noblewoman. A great beauty and wit, she was the older sister of Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Madame de Montespan. Biography Gabrielle was the eldest child of Gabriel de Rochechouart de Mortemart and his wife Diane de Grandseigne. She joined the court in 1651 during the Fronde. She originally was placed by her parents in the household of the young king Louis XIV. Later, she joined the household of his younger brother Philippe, duc d'Anjou. Gabrielle and the duc d'Anjou remained close friends for the rest of their lives, even after he succeeded to the duchy of Orléans and became known at court as the notoriously flamboyant homosexual Monsieur. In 1655 she married Claude Leonor Damas de Thianges, Marquis of Thianges. The couple had four children, the third of whom married and had issue. Although she may have been a mistress of Louis XIV, she never gained the power and influence over the king exercised by her younger sister, Madame de Montespan who became the king's maîtresse-en-titre in 1668. Gabrièlle was with her sister during the French military tour when Madame de Montespan became Louis XIV's mistress. She was also with the court when La Montespan gave birth to her daughter by Louis XIV, Mademoiselle de Nantes, at Tournai in June 1673.