[MR] Wikipedia: Death of Agnès Sorel, French Royal Mistress

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

This day marks the death of Agnès Sorel, "official" mistress of French king
Charles VII.

Agnès was a Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen of France, Marie d'Anjou. She
caught the eye of Charles around 1422 or 1423, and soon the two were "an
item" (to put it euphemistically).

She also scandalized the French court with her provocative low-cut gowns
which showed much more of her womanly attributes than were thought proper
at the time. She caused further controversy when he modeled as the Virgin
Mary in an altarpiece by Jean Foquet today known as the "Virgin and Child
Surrounded by Angels".

Agnès held a great deal of power over Charles. He was something of a
milquetoast and was henpecked by Agnès, his Queen and his mother-in-law
Yolande of Aragon. After defeats by the English in the Hundred Years' War,
Charles was moping around in the greatly reduced corner of France he still
controlled. Agnès is said to have put him on notice to get his butt in
motion to save his country (some sources say it was Yolande, but the ladies
may have ganged up on him). So Charles took the field with his army,
perhaps to get away from the women. There he found no escape, as the king
was soon being pushed about by another strong-willed woman, Joan of Arc.

Agnès died at the age of just 28, shortly after delivering her fourth
daughter by Charles. The actual cause of her demise is not known. There is
some suspicion that she was poisoned with mercury, and one possible culprit
was Charles' own itchy son Louis. Louis, who later as King Louis XI was
known as "The Universal Spider", certainly was devious enough to have done
the deed.

You can read about Agnès, and see the scandalous painting, at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agn%C3%A8s_Sorel .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.