Agnès Sorel
| Agnès Sorel | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Agnès Sorel by an unknown artist |
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| Born | 1422[1] Fromenteau (Yzeures sur Creuse), Touraine, France |
| Died | 9 February 1450 (aged 28) Jumièges, Normandy, France |
| Occupation | Maid of Honour |
| Known for | Royal mistress |
| Partner | Charles VII of France |
| Children | Charlotte de Valois Marie de Valois Jeanne de Valois |
| Parents | Jean Soreau Catherine de Maignelais |
Agnès Sorel (1422[1][2] - 9 February 1450), known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté, was a favourite mistress of King Charles VII of France, for whom she bore three daughters.[citation needed] She is considered the first officially recognized royal mistress.[1]
She was the subject of several contemporary paintings and works of art, including Jean Fouquet's Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels.
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[edit] Life in the royal court
The daughter of soldier Jean Soreau and Catherine de Maignelais, Sorel was twenty years old when she was first introduced to King Charles.[citation needed] At that time, she was holding a position in the household of Rene I of Naples, as a maid of honour to his consort Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. Sorel then went on to serve as the lady-in-waiting for Marie d'Anjou, Charles VII of France's wife. She would soon become his mistress.[1] The King gave her the Château de Loches (where he had been persuaded by Joan of Arc to be crowned King of France) as her private residence.[3]
Soon, her presence was felt at the royal court in Chinon where her company was alleged to have brought the king out of a protracted depression.[citation needed] She had a very strong influence on the king, and that, in addition to her extravagant tastes, earned her a number of powerful enemies at court.[3] Sorel would become the first officially recognized royal mistress.[1]
[edit] Suspicious death
Agnès gave birth to three daughters fathered by the King: Marie de France, Charlotte de France, and Jeanne de France. (Charlotte's son, Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet, in turn married Diane de Poitiers, herself ultimately a famous royal mistress.) While pregnant with their fourth child, she journeyed from Chinon in deep midwinter to join Charles on the campaign of 1450 in Jumièges, wanting to be with him as moral support. There, she suddenly became ill and died at the age of 28. While the cause of death was originally thought to be dysentery[1], scientists have now concluded that Agnès died from being poisoned by mercury, possibly the victim of murder, although mercury was also used to treat worms. She was interred in the Church of St. Ours, in Loches.
Charles' son, the future King Louis XI, had been in open revolt against his father for the previous four years. It has been speculated that he had Agnès poisoned in order to remove what he may have considered her undue influence over the king. It was also speculated that French financier, noble and minister Jacques Coeur poisoned her, though that theory is widely discredited as an attempt to remove Coeur from the French court. In 2005 French forensic scientist Philippe Charlier examined her remains and determined that the cause of death was mercury poisoning, but offered no opinion about whether she was murdered.[4] Mercury was sometimes used in cosmetic preparations and this could therefore have been the reason for her death.
Her cousin Antoinette de Maignelais took her place as mistress to the king after her death.
[edit] Legacy
Sorel plays a main part in Voltaire's La Pucelle. Two Russian operas from the late 19th century also portray her, along with Charles VII: Pyotr Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orleans and César Cui's The Saracen.[citation needed] She is also a featured figure on Judy Chicago's installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the Heritage Floor.[1] Two garments use Sorel's name in their descriptors, Agnes Sorel bodice, Agnes Sorel corsage and a fashion style named after her as well, Agnes Sorel style, which is described as a "princess" style of dressing.[5]
[edit] Further reading
- Autheman, Marc, Agnès Sorel: l'inspiratrice. (2008). ISBN 978-2-84114-952-0
- Desmondes, Tim. Agnes Sorel: The Breast And Crotch That Changed History. Austin: The Nazca Plains Corporation (2009). ISBN 193462571X
- Duquesne, Vie et Aventures galantes de la belle Sorel. Paris (1909)
- Goldsmid, Edmund. A King's Mistress: Or, Charles Vii. & Agnes Sorel and Chivalry in the Xv. Century, Volumes 1-2. Charleston: Nabu Press (2010). ISBN 1146952058
[edit] References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Agnès Sorel |
- ^ a b c d e f g "Agnes Sorel". Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor:Agnes Sorel. Brooklyn Museum. 2007. http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/agnes_sorel.php. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^
Sorel, Agnes. Encyclopædia Britannica. Wikisource. 1911. - ^ a b Editions Montparnasse. "France, la visite (DVD)". Editions Montparnasse. http://www.editionsmontparnasse.fr/france/english/cultural_tourism/loire.html. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
- ^ "Europe , Joan of Arc 'relics' to be tested". BBC News. 14 February 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4711784.stm. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
- ^ Valerie Cumming; Valerie Cumming, C.W. Cunnington, P. E. Cunnington; C. W. Cunnington; P. E. Cunnington (1 September 2010). The Dictionary of Fashion History. Berg. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-84788-738-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=glBf_El4Qd4C. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
