Odette de Champdivers
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Odette de Champdivers, La Petite Reine (b. about 1390) was the mistress of Charles VI of France (the Mad) and previously his brother, the Duke of Orléans.
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[edit] Mistress to royalty
Called la petite reine, "the little queen" by her contemporaries, Odette de Champdivers (sometimes Odinette or Oudine) was sent by Queen Isabella to attend upon the sick king, Charles VI; i.e., to replace the queen in the king's bed. She became royal mistress ca. 1407.
Charles VI had begun to display ambivalent characteristics of schizophrenia. His often violent fits led Isabella to fear him. Finally she abandoned Charles entirely, leaving him without necessaries and proper food.
Isabella found a lookalike, the fair, young Burgundian Odette de Champdivers, who was then lover to Charles VI's brother, allegedly. She is described as a lively, beautiful young girl with a gentle disposition. She was daughter to a dealer in horses. Isabella arranged for Odette to take her place as caregiver and lover of the unapproachable king.
Odette cared for her unhappy sovereign with the utmost patience and devotion. She is credited for introducing playing cards into France, "for the amusement of [Charles IV] during his paroxysms of insanity."[1]
Meanwhile, the voluptuous Isabella found consolation in the arms of her debonair brother-in-law, the Duke of Orléans, Odette's former lover. Together, Odette and Charles VI had a daughter, Margaret. On his deathbed, the last words of Charles VI were her name: "Odette. Odette." She later passed into the service as mistress of Charles VII of France, the son of Charles VI and Isabella.
A breed of French rose has been named for her.
Also, the nineteenth-century French novelist Balzac wrote a historical novel inspired by her life titled Odette de Champdivers.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Pardoe (1849), p. 177 - 178.
[edit] References
- Pardoe, Julia. (1849). The Court and Reign of Francis the First, King of France. Lea and Blanchard Publishing. pp. 177 - 178. Google Book Search. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.
