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Revision as of 09:52, 6 May 2009
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Marie Angélique de Scorailles de Roussille, duchesse de Fontanges (1661 – 1681) was one of the many paramours of Louis XIV, King of France. A lady-in-waiting to his sister-in-law the Princess Palatine, she caught the attention of the Sun King and became his lover in 1679.
Mistress to a king, untimely death
Mlle de Fontanges was very pretty as reflected in art from the day, but not very clever. The King made her a duchess, as well as pregnant. She gave birth to a stillborn child while she herself was seriously ill. Afterward she left the court for a convent, although by then the atmosphere at court was such that many people believed that she had been poisoned by Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Mlle de Fontanges died in June 1681 in Port-Royal.
The fontange, a headdress worn by women in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, was named after Mlle de Fontanges. It is said that she tied her hair up with a ribbon after losing her cap while horseback riding. The king liked the look and it soon became fashionable.