Armande Félice de La Porte Mazarin

Armande Félice de La Porte Mazarin (1691–1729), was a French noblewoman, courtier and duelist. She is known for the famous duel she fought over her lover with another woman, for being a figure of scandal during the Regency period, and for being the mother of the Nesle sisters, mistresses to Louis XV.

Pierre Gobert - Portrait de Armande Felice de Mazarin

Life

She was born to Paul Jules de La Porte, Duke de La Meilleraye, Duke de Mazarin, and Charlotte Félice Armande de Durfort-Duras, and the maternal granddaughter of Hortense Mancini, Duchess de Mazarin. In 1709, she married Louis de Mailly, Marquis de Nesle et de Mailly, Prince d'Orange (1689–1767).

Her spouse reportedly "wasted his substance on actresses and the capacious requirements of Court life".[1]

She was a famous profile of the Régence and belonged to the aristocrats associated with the debaucheries during the ill-reputed period. She was the lover of Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, Duke de Richelieu, who was also the lover of Vicomtesse de Polignac. Informed that she was not the only lover of Richelieu, she challenged her rival Vicomtesse de Polignac to a duel.[2] On 10 September 1718, the famous duel took place, ending in Armande Félice being injured in the shoulder with a pistol. Richelieu commented the duel with the words that both ladies had fought well for him, and thus he refused to choose between them.[3]

She discontinued the relationship with Richelieu, and became the lover of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, with whom she had a daughter, Henriette de Bourbon-Condé (1725–1780), who in 1740 was married to Jean Roger de Laguiche, marquis de Laguiche, comte de Sivignon.[4]

In 1725, she was one of the officials appointed to the Household of the new queen, Marie Leszczyńska, due to her rank and her connections to Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon and Madame de Prie.[5] She served as Dame du Palais to the queen until her death in 1729 and was succeeded in her office by her eldest daughter Louise Julie de Mailly.

Issue

With Louis de Mailly, marquis de Nesle et de Mailly, Prince d'Orange:

With Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon:

  • Henriette de Bourbon (1725–1780), Mademoiselle de Verneuil, who married Jean, marquis de Laguiche, (1719–1770) in 1740.

References
  1. Latour, Louis Therese, Princesses Ladies And Salonnieres of The Reign of Louis XV, 1927
  2. Marcel Pollitzer, Le Marechal Galant Duc de Richelieu
  3. Georges Touchard-Lafosse, Chroniques pittoresques et critiques de l'Oeil de Boeuf: des petits appartements de la cour et des salons de Paris, sous Louis XIV, la régence, Louis XV et Louis XVI
  4. Patrick Van Kerrebrouck, La Maison de Bourbon, Villeneuve d'Ascq, l'auteur, 2004, 1010 p. (ISBN 2-9501509-5-0)
  5. Clarissa Campbell Orr: Queenship in Europe 1660-1815: The Role of the Consort. Cambridge University Press (2004)
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