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Jeanne Marie Biography & Facts

Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being suspected of assisting émigrés to flee from the Revolution. She is also known as “Mademoiselle Vaubernier”. In 1768, when the king wished to make Jeanne maîtresse-en-titre, etiquette required her to be the wife of a high courtier, so she was hastily married on 1 September 1768 to Comte Guillaume du Barry. The wedding ceremony was accompanied by a false birth certificate, created by Jean-Baptiste du Barry, the comte's older brother. The certificate made Jeanne appear younger by three years and obscured her poor background. Henceforth, she was recognized as the king's official paramour. Her arrival at the French royal court scandalized some, as she had been a courtesan and came from humble beginnings.. She was shunned by many, including Marie Antoinette, whose contempt for Jeanne caused alarm and dissension at court. On New Year's Day 1772, Marie Antoinette deigned to speak to Jeanne; her remark, "There are many people at Versailles today", was enough to take the edge off the dispute, though many still disapproved of Jeanne. Decades later, during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, Jeanne was imprisoned over accusations of treason by her page Zamor. She was executed by guillotine on 8 December 1793. Her body was buried in the Madeleine cemetery. The fabulous gems which she had smuggled to London were sold at auction in 1795. Early years Jeanne Bécu was the illegitimate daughter of Anne Bécu, a 30-year-old seamstress. Jeanne's father remains unidentified; however, it is possible that her father was Jean Jacques Gomard, a friar known as frère Ange. One of her mother's acquaintances, and presumed brief lover, Monsieur Billiard-Dumonceaux, took 3-year-old Jeanne and her mother into his care when they traveled from Vaucouleurs to Paris. There, Anne worked as cook to Dumonceaux's current mistress Francesca, who pampered Jeanne. Her education began at the Convent of Saint Aurea. When she came of age at fifteen, Jeanne left the convent. Around that time, she and her mother Anne were evicted from Monsieur Dumonceaux's household, and returned to Anne's husband Nicolas Rançon. Needing an income, Jeanne first hawked trinkets for sale on the streets of Paris. She then found a job assisting a young hairdresser named Lametz, with whom she had a brief relationship, as well as a daughter according to some rumors. She was soon employed as a companion (dame de compagnie) to an elderly widow, Madame de la Garde, but was sent away when she drew the attentions of Madame de la Garde's two married sons. Later, Jeanne worked as a milliners assistant and grisette in the haberdashery shop of Madame Labille and her husband. Labille's daughter, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, became a good friend of Jeanne. As painted at the time, Jeanne was a beautiful blonde with thick ringlets and almond-shaped blue eyes. In 1763, when she was entertaining in the brothel-casino of Madame Quisnoy, her beauty attracted the notice of Jean-Baptiste du Barry. His brother Comte Guillaume du Barry, also the owner of a casino, installed Jeanne in his household as his mistress, calling her Mademoiselle Lange. Guillaume helped establish Jeanne's career as a courtesan in the highest circles of Parisian society, including the aristocracy. Mistress of Louis XV: 1768–1774 Jeanne quickly became a sensation in Paris, building up a large aristocratic clientele. She had many lovers, including government ministers and royal courtiers, the most prominent being Maréchal de Richelieu. Though the Duc de Choiseul found her rather ordinary, in 1768 he took her to Versailles, where King Louis XV caught sight of her. The king took a great interest, and sent for her through his valet and procurer Dominique Lebel. The popular Queen Marie Leszczyńska was dying, and Jeanne was escorted to the king's boudoir so frequently as to cause Lebel concern for his position. After weeks of sincerely mourning the Queen's death in June 1768, Louis XV was ready to resume his affairs. As a woman of low birth as well as a prostitute, Jeanne could not qualify as maîtresse-en-titre; but the king ordered she be married to a man of good lineage and brought to court. On 1 September 1768, she was married to her former lover Comte Guillaume du Barry. The marriage ceremony included a false birth certificate created by Jean-Baptiste du Barry, making Jeanne appear younger by three years and of fictitious noble descent. Jeanne was installed above the king's quarters in Lebel's former rooms. She lived a lonely life, unable to be seen with the king since no formal presentation had taken place. Very few, if any, of the nobility deigned to acknowledge her, a woman of the street who presumed above her station. Her husband constantly urged Jeanne to persuade the king to have her presented at court, but Louis XV required her to find a proper sponsor. For this, Richelieu eventually found Madame de Béarn, who was bribed by the settlement of her huge gambling debts. On the first attempt at the presentation, Madame de Béarn panicked and feigned a sprained ankle. The second occasion was cancelled when the king fell off his hunting horse and broke his arm. Finally, Jeanne was presented at court on 22 April 1769, amid a cacophony of gossip among the crowds outside the palace and the courtiers in the Hall of Mirrors. She wore a silvery white gown brocaded with gold, bedecked in jewels sent by the king the night before, and with huge side panniers, whose like had never been seen. Her spectacular coiffure was worked up even as she kept the court waiting. Jeanne first befriended her husband's sister Claire Françoise, who was brought from Languedoc to instruct her in etiquette. Later on, she also befriended the Maréchale de Mirepoix, and other noblewomen were bribed into her entourage. Jeanne quickly accustomed herself to living in luxury. Louis XV gave her a young Bengali slave named Zamor, whom she dressed in elegant clothing. Jeanne developed a liking for Zamor and began to educate him. In his trial testimony in 1793, Zamor gave Chittagong as his birthplace; he was probably of Siddi origin. According to Stanley Loomis' biography Du Barry, Jeanne's everyday routine began at 9.a.m, when Zamor would bring her a morning cup of chocolate. She would select a gown and jewellery and be dressed, then her hairdresser Berline (or Nokelle for special occasions) would come to do her powder and curls. She would then receive friends, as well as tradesmen such as dressmakers, jewellers, and artists offering her their finest stock. She was extravagant, but good natured. When the old Comte and Comtesse de Lousene were forcibly evicted from their château for heavy debts, they were sentenced to death because the comtesse had shot dead a bailiff and a police office.... Discover the Jeanne Marie popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jeanne Marie books.