Hortense Mancini

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Ortensia or Hortense Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin (1646 – November 9, 1699), was the niece of Cardinal Mazarin and a mistress of Charles II.

[edit] Life

One of five sisters noted for their great beauty, she was born in Rome, but moved to France at an early age. Charles II proposed to her while there, but the exiled king’s proposal was refused by her uncle, Cardinal Mazarin. Instead, at age 15 she married Armand-Charles de la Meilleraye, one of the richest men of the time. Her marriage was unstable, and she left her husband and her family home in 1666.

Hortense wrote a memoir to justify her flight from marriage, portraying her husband as controlling, possessive, and spendthrift. With the exception of Marguerite de Valois, Hortense and her sister Marie were the first women to put their memoirs into print in France.

Hortense was considered a great adventuress, infamous throughout Europe for her skill with swords and pistols and her penchant for dressing in men’s clothing. She had many lovers, amongst whom Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy.

Hortense arrived at the court of Charles II, in 1675, and became the king’s mistress shortly thereafter. She was well known as a patron of literature and the fine arts.