Voltaire in Love is a four-part mini-series on Yoreflix exploring the early life of Voltaire – his ambition, his talent and his numerous love affairs. As Voltaire grows into his destiny as one of the greatest writers of the French Enlightenment, the series centralises its action around Voltaire's connection to the "court" of the Duchess of Maine and his involvement in the Cellamare Conspiracy.
But who exactly was the Duchess of Maine?
Born on the 8th of November 1676, in the Hôtel de Condé in Paris, Princess Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé was one of the three surviving daughters of Prince Henri-Jules de Bourbon (Prince de Condé) and Anne Henriette of Bavaria. All three daughters inherited their small stature from their father and their doll-like appearances prompted their collective nickname as the "Dolls of the Blood". Louise Bénédicte was declared to be the tallest and prettiest of her sisters, even so this did not stop the Duchesse d'Orléans from later referring to Louise Bénédicte as "the little toad". From an early age, Louise Bénédicte displayed a remarkable talent for studying. Her memory was excellent and her love of books was voracious. Her quick-wit and intelligence were much admired, yet, she had also inherited her father's temper and overweening disposition. Her wayward and mischievous nature was readily remarked upon, so much so that the Marquise du Maintenon (the second wife of Louis XIV) wrote that the seventeen-year-old wife of the Duc du Maine needed a "governess rather than a lady-in-waiting".
Madame du Maintenon was especially disappointed at Louise Bénédicte's wilfulness, since it was she who had encouraged Louise Bénédicte's marriage to the Duc du Maine. Maine was Louis XIV's illegitimate son by Mademoiselle de la Valliere. Whatever his birth, Maine was the darling of Maintenon who had raised him whilst she had still been Madame Scarron - the royal governess. After Maintenon encouraged the marriage, the King personally visited Princess Palatine to ask for her daughter's hand on behalf of his son. The betrothal took place in Louis XIV's personal rooms at Chantilly, and fêtes were held in honour of the newlyweds.
Louise Bénédicte's marriage to Maine allowed her to become more free-spirited than ever. Her savage temper inspired such terror that Maine was afraid to incur his wife's wrath and gave her, her own way in everything. It was Louise Bénédicte's ire that indirectly prompted her to found the little court at the Château de Sceaux. In spite of her best efforts to convince Louis XIV to legitimise her husband as a Prince of the Blood, the King would only agree to promote Maine to an intermediate rank above the Duc's peers, yet below that of Louis XIV's legitimate heirs. Furious, Louise Bénédicte withdrew from court. It was during this time that the Duchess du Maine began to hone her abilities as a scholar. Whilst staying at Châtenay, the home of Nicolas de Malézieu, Louise Bénédicte was introduced to the works of classical writers, as well as astronomy, philosophy and mathematics. By the time of her death, she had a collection of approximately three-thousand books.
It was her love of knowledge that allowed the Duchess to found her court at Sceaux. In response to Malézieu's suggestion, Louise Bénédicte purchased the Château at Sceaux and created her own chivalric order, the Order of the Honey-bee, awarding herself the part of the Queen. Her palace was dedicated to music, art, poetry and revelry. She held fêtes, organised by Malézieu, and even had a theatre erected so that she could take up acting. Apparently, the Duchess was known as an "enthusiastic" actress, if rather deficient in skill. Despite this, theatre was to be a lifelong passion of Louise Bénédicte. Upon visiting her at the end of her life, Voltaire commented that a "piece of theatre would do the dying duchess more good than Extreme Unction." Her love of art, and her husband's wealth, allowed the Duchess to make favourites of aspiring artists and writers – including Voltaire. The Duchess lavished attention upon her young favourite, and her partiality ensured Voltaire's loyalty towards the Duc and Duchess during the Duchess' Cellamare Conspiracy against Philippe d'Orléans.
By 1714, multiple deaths in the French Royal Family meant that a regency would become inevitable upon the King's demise. With the support of Madame du Maintenon, the Duc du Maine was finally declared a legitimate Prince of the Blood and in line to become regent. That was, until, parliament overturned the late King's will in favour of Philippe d'Orléans. Refusing to cow-down to d'Orléans, Louise Bénédicte rallied her little court and, with the satires of Voltaire in her arsenal, set about attempting to re-establish her husband as the rightful regent of France.