Agnès Sorel

For the 1836 opera, see Agnes Sorel (opera).
Agnès Sorel

Agnès Sorel as Madonna lactans by Jean Fouquet
Born 1422
Fromenteau (Yzeures sur Creuse), Touraine, France
Died 9 February 1450 (aged 28)
Jumièges, Normandy, France
Occupation Maid of Honour
Known for Royal mistress
Partner(s) Charles VII of France
Children Charlotte de Valois
Marie de Valois
Jeanne de Valois
Parent(s) Jean Soreau
Catherine de Maignelais

Agnès Sorel (1422[1] – 9 February 1450), known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté, was a favourite mistress of King Charles VII of France, by whom she bore three daughters.[2] She is considered the first officially recognized royal mistress.[3] She was the subject of several contemporary paintings and works of art, including Jean Fouquet's Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels.

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.[3] 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.[3] 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.[4]

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. She had a very strong influence on the king, and that, in addition to her extravagant tastes, earned her powerful enemies at court.[4] Sorel would become the first officially recognized royal mistress.[3]

She is credited with starting a fashion when she wore deep low square décolleté gowns with fully bared breasts in the court.[5]

Children and death

Agnès gave birth to three daughters fathered by the King:

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 after giving birth died on 9 February 1450 at the age of 28.[8] While the cause of death was originally thought to be dysentery, scientists have now concluded that Agnès died of mercury poisoning.[9] She was interred in the Church of St. Ours, in Loches. Her heart was buried in the beautiful Benedictine Abbey of Jumièges.[10]

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 having been an attempt to remove Coeur from the French court.

In 2005 her remains were exhumed and examined by French forensic scientist Philippe Charlier, who determined that the cause of death was mercury poisoning, but offered no opinion about whether she was murdered.[9] Mercury was sometimes used in cosmetic preparations or to treat worms and might have brought about her death.

Her cousin Antoinette de Maignelais took her place as mistress to the king after her death.

Legacy

A 16th-century portrait after Jean Fouquet's 'Virgin and Child'

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. 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.[11] 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.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Wikisource link to Sorel, Agnes. Encyclopædia Britannica. Wikisource. 1911.
  2. ↑ Annandale, Charles (1897). The popular Encyclopedia: A general dictionary of arts, sciences, literature. The Encyclopedia. p. 85.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Wellman, Kathleen (2013). Queens and mistresses of Renaissance France. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300190654.
  4. 1 2 Editions Montparnasse. "France, la visite (DVD)". Editions Montparnasse. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  5. ↑ Canellas-Zimmer, Monique (2005). Histoires de mode. Les Dossiers d'Aquitaine. p. 24. ISBN 2-84622-119-7.
  6. ↑ Vale, Malcolm Graham Allan (1974). Charles the Seventh. Yale University Press. p. 92.
  7. ↑ Wellman, Kathleen (2013). Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France. Yale University Press. p. 191.
  8. ↑ Monks, Peter Rolf (1990). The Brussels Horloge de Sapience: Iconography and Text of Brussels. Brill. p. 10.
  9. 1 2 "Europe , Joan of Arc 'relics' to be tested". BBC News. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  10. ↑ Le Maho, Jacques (2012). Jumieges Abbey. editions du patrimoine. p. 22. ISBN 2-85822-397-1.
  11. ↑ "Agnes Sorel". Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor:Agnes Sorel. Brooklyn Museum. 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  12. ↑ Valerie Cumming; Valerie Cumming, C.W. Cunnington, P. E. Cunnington; C. W. Cunnington (1 September 2010). The Dictionary of Fashion History. Berg. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-84788-738-2. Retrieved 10 January 2012.

Further reading

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