"Du Barry, Marie Jeanne Becu, Comtesse," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.
http://maitressesroyales.free.fr/barry.htm
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| Madame Du Barry | |||||||||
| Comptesse Marie Jeanne B�cu Du Barry, (1743?-93) was a French mistress of King Louis XV of France, born in Vaucouleurs. She was the natural daughter of a seamstress and a tax collector. After a brief convent education, she became, at the age of 15, a milliner's assistant in Paris. In 1764 she became the mistress of the chevalier Jean du Barry and presided over his Paris gambling house. He contrived to present her to Louis XV, who, after marrying her to the comte Guillaume du Barry, Jean's brother, made her his official mistress. Madame du Barry had great influence with the king until his death in 1777, when she retired to her ch�teau of Louveciennes, near Versailles. Her supposed political intrigues appear to have been of little consequence. She was a generous patron of artists and men of letters and was celebrated for her beauty and wit. In 1792, after the outbreak of the French Revolution, she made at least one trip to England. Her reason for returning to France is not known, although it may have been to recover jewelry that had been stolen. She was arrested on charges of conspiracy against the new French republic and was tried and guillotined. "Du Barry, Marie Jeanne Becu, Comtesse," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation. |
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| Mme Du Barry by Elisabeth Louise Vig�e Le Brun, 1781 | |||||||||
| For more info: (French Page) http://maitressesroyales.free.fr/barry.htm |
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