Who was Jeanne du Barry, this daughter of the people who caused scandal at the court of Louis XV?

He is the last favorite of the ancien regime monarch. “La du Barry,” a commoner’s daughter noted for her striking beauty, knew how to equal a queen, becoming the mistress of Louis XV from 1768 to 1774. beheaded. Often caricatured, it is still the subject of fantasy today and has inspired many works of fiction, the latest being Maiven’s film, which was presented at the opening of the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday 16 May. The reality of this character is complex, however, and his impact on History is important.

He was born Jeanne Becoux in 1743 in Vaucouleurs, Lorraine, to a seamstress mother and a father, probably a Franciscan monk. A young girl, who is promised a domestic career, is for a time with the widow of a farm general who owns a saloon, but has already been fired for her promiscuity. Then she became a Parisian in the rue Saint-Honore, but, noticed for her beauty, quickly moved into high society, frequenting fashionable salons, where she engaged in gallantry. His contemporaries testify to his gentle and flattering gaze, his blue eyes and his very white skin, a sign of grace in this Grand Siècle. Still young, she would have been an expert in carnal pleasures, sleeping with influential gentlemen and thus building a personal fortune. Her lovers teach her the ways of the aristocracy; Among them, Vicomte Jean-Baptiste du Barry, a depraved libertine and notorious swindler from the Parisian demimonde, plans to force her to meet Louis XV so she can become his mistress. The ambitious hope to take advantage of this rapprochement in high places.

In the video, Jeanne du Bary, clip

convenience unit

Jeanne made several trips to Versailles in hopes of luring the monarch there. He noticed her, was attracted by the breathtaking beauty of this courtesan, and became her lover in the spring of 1768. Louis XV’s popularity, nicknamed “The Beloved” for a time, was at its lowest during this period. The silent, depressed king spent three years in mourning for his son, the Dauphin Louis Ferdinand, who died of tuberculosis, his beloved Madame de Pompadour, who died of pulmonary congestion the following year, and his wife, Queen Marie Leszczynska, who died. In 1768 probably depression. He was a 58-year-old man, when Jeanne was only 25, he made her believe that she was 20 years old. the official mistress.

However, for propriety (that is without nobility) it is necessary to settle the situation and force her to marry an aristocrat. Jean-Baptiste du Barry, already married, offers his brother Guillaume a sham marriage, a union for a large sum of money, with the aim of offering Jeanne the title of countess, which brings her entry to Versailles. The union is celebrated on September 1, 1768. The priest who officiates at the ceremony is none other than Jeanne’s supposed father.

“He pleases me, that’s enough”

Louis introduces his favorite to the court, all texts testify to the very cold reception reserved for du Barry. His shared origins and sulphurous past are the subject of lively gossip. “He’s very handsome, I like him, that’s enough,” snapped the sovereign. Settled in an apartment renovated for him, he enjoys many privileges and gifts, in particular, the domain of Louveciennes. Jeanne adapts to the court, yet manages to seduce the courtiers with her charm and good manners, learned from the king, who cares to lavish his advice on her. Biographers attest to the true nature of their feelings, Jeanne loves Louis for the man he is, ignoring the age difference. He is also careful not to interfere in public affairs, which is commendable. It is said that this playful young beauty introduces His Majesty to previously unknown carnal pleasures, restores his taste for life, the illusion of rediscovered youth.

Zhanna, who has always wanted a child, is offered a 7-year-old colored slave named Zamor as a servant. He baptized him and adopted him as his godchild, attending to his education and spending a great deal of money on him. History states that the countess acted as an enlightened patron at the court. A lover of arts and letters, he befriended Voltaire, developed the neoclassical style in Versailles. With a very confident taste, he commissioned many works. Madame du Barry, one of the best-dressed women of her time, introduced naturalness into fashion codes.

Regardless, the countess finds herself caught up in the kingdom’s political rivalry. The Duc de Choiseul, the king’s chief minister of state, is upset at his arrival, he would like to put his sister in the position of favorite. Jeanne breaks down, hated by a part of the court that scolds her for flaunting her lavish outfits and elegance. Versailles is actually pitted against two clans, the Schoeilists and the faithful party, which in turn finds itself supporting the favorite. According to historians, M. de Choiseul harbors a very strong resentment against his enemy and even against the king, whom he secretly despises. His camp publishes pornographic brochures against the favorite. This same Chouzul, who thought himself invulnerable by arranging the Dauphin’s marriage to seal the Franco-Austrian union, was finally removed in 1771.

Marie-Antoinette as a rival

Jeanne wins this time, but a new rival appears in the form of Marie-Antoinette. The young dauphin, influenced by the king’s daughters, despises the countess. He comes to write to his mother, the Empress of Austria, that Madame du Barry is “the most foolish and insolent creature imaginable.” In this French court, etiquette dictates that one cannot speak directly to a person of higher rank. Therefore, Madame du Barry cannot converse with the future queen before she has spoken to her for the first time. What the latter enjoys giving up. Jeanne’s childish stubbornness has a terrible effect, but above all, it threatens to turn into a diplomatic crisis within the framework of the recently formed alliance. Louis XV warned his granddaughter that she must be friendly. Marie-Antoinette, also pressured by her mother, capitulated one New Year’s Eve with these few words addressed to her rival and transmitted to posterity: “There are a lot of people in Versailles today.” The Dauphin comes out of this affair humiliated.

In 1774, the king, suffering from “smallpox”, died. Jeanne helps him to the bedside despite the risk of infection. Realizing that these are his last hours, the monarch asks his lady to retire to save her the humiliation of being banished. He died six days later at the age of 64.

Ascending the throne, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette exiled the Countess and her followers. Driven out by prescription, he retired to his estate in Louvesien to lead a life of peace, receiving the great names of the realm, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He is clearly a royalist, but favors liberal ideas and reforms. In those years, the countess had somewhat forgotten herself. She, who embodies this now distant memory of Louis XV’s reign, develops a romantic relationship with the Duke of Brissac, governor of Paris.

When the revolution broke out, he thought he had nothing to fear, not feeling frankly aristocratic. In January 1791, his castle was looted and jewels of enormous value were stolen. Some of the loot was found in England, but he cannot claim it back for legal reasons. He makes several trips across the channel in hopes of regaining his ability, and thus draws attention to himself during a time of great turmoil.

In the video, Maiwen and Benjamin Laverne return to Jeanne du Barry from the Palace of Versailles.

Expedited trial

Her lover, the Duke of Brisac, was killed in the terrible massacres of September 1792. The corpse of the man with whom she had shared fifteen years of her life was mutilated, paraded through the streets of Versailles, and his head dumped in Louvesien. his lover’s living room. In these harsh times, it is essentially her status as the king’s ex-mistress that makes Jeanne du Barry a prime target. Suspected of immorality and aristocracy, the countess was arrested and imprisoned in 1793. on September 22. He was later transferred, in a historical irony, to the cell of Marie-Antoinette, his great rival. The people of Louvesien decide to help him, they sign the petition to save him, his generosity proves it. But Jeanne is betrayed by her godson Zamor, whom she had previously fired, who bears false witness against her and takes advantage of her arrest to plunder the Louvesien estate.

A victim of a hasty trial, where he defends himself very poorly, he is accused of organizing a conspiracy against the Republic. His stay in England is accepted as masked help to the counter-revolutionaries. Awaiting his judgment in the Conciergerie, in an act of sacrifice he lets go of his last chance for survival. He does make room for the possible escape offered to him by Madame de Mortemart, daughter of the Duke of Brissac, whose life he thus saves.

Pull up to the scaffolding

Jeanne is sentenced to the guillotine. The cruelty of fate wants his executioner, Charles-Henri Sanson, to be one of his old friends from the days of Parisian chivalry. In his memoirs we can read that the execution of Madame du Barry caused him the most. Believing in the mistake to the end, clinging to life, you have to drag it to the scaffold. Zhanna does everything to delay the sentence, struggles, screams. He would say these words. “Another time, Mr. Executioner,” but this historical quote is apocryphal, with no source confirming its veracity. However, his tragic image shapes the character’s legend. Jeanne died on December 8, 1793 at the age of 50 in Revolution Square, now Concord Square. He is buried in the Madeleine Cemetery, today in the Place Louis XVI.

In his work The idiotDostoevsky said about his death. he was innocent, but it was necessary to satisfy the fisherwomen of Paris. His fear was such that he did not understand what was happening to him. When Samson forced him to bow his head and kicked him under the axe, he began to shout, Well, for this moment, perhaps the Lord will forgive him, because it is impossible for the human soul to imagine a more painful situation.”