Marie Mancini

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Marie Mancini (August 28, 1639 - May 8, 1715) was the middle of five Mancini sisters, daughters of Michele Mancini and Geronima Mazarini, and nieces to Cardinal Mazarin who were brought to France to marry advantageously.

Marie captured the biggest prize of the French court: the love of Louis XIV. According to Antonia Fraser's biography Love and Louis XIV, Marie's mother, Hieronyma (or Geronima) was told by a horoscope that Marie would cause trouble and demanded on her deathbed that Cardinal Mazarin should "shut Marie up in a convent and keep her there".

Marie did not consummate her relationship with the Sun King. His love for her was a somewhat idealistic one, and he wanted to marry her. Eventually, Cardinal Mazarin and Anne of Austria, separated the couple, banishing Marie into exile and arranging Louis' wedding to the Spanish Infanta. In 1661, Marie married an Italian prince, Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna. They had three children, all sons: Filippo, born in 1663, Marcantonio, born in 1664, and Carlo, born in 1665.

After the birth of her third child, relations between Marie and her husband deteriorated. On May 29, 1672, fearing that her husband would kill her, Marie left Rome accompanied by her sister Hortense. In 1677, she wrote her memoirs. She did not return to Italy until her husband's death in 1689. She died in Pisa.

The other Mancini sisters were:

Victoire or Laura

Olympe, born 1638

Hortense, born 1646

Marianne or Marie Anne, born 1649

Their cousins, the Martinozzis, also moved to France at the same time, for the same goal (to marry well). The elder, Laura, married Alfonso IV d'Este, duke of Modena and was mother of Mary of Modena, second wife of James II of England. The younger, Anne Marie Martinozzi, married Armand, Prince de Conti.

The Mancini also had three brothers: Paul, Philippe, and Alphonse.