Mémoires d'Hortense et de Marie Mancini

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Chicago Series

by Marie Mancini, Hortense Mancini

On ne peut rêver existences plus romanesques. Nièces de Mazarin, grands personnages de la cour, courtisées par des rois - Louis XIV pour Marie, Charles II pour Hortense -, mêlées aux affaires politiques, aux grands complots et aux petits potins, voyageuses infatigables, amoureuses proverbiales, Hortense et Marie Mancini, c'est encore l'intrigue de la Fronde, c'est déjà la passion du grand siècle. Mais elles ne se bornent pas à vivre : elles disent ce qu'elles ont vécu, elles se défendent, elles attaquent parfois, mais toujours dessinent, analysent, font parler et font vivre, en un temps où l'élégance du langage est aussi infaillible que l'orthographe est incertaine. Ces Mémoires sont parmi les plus divertissants et les plus révélateurs de leur époque.

Genres: History, Memoir, 17th Century, Nonfiction

236 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1677

About the author

Anna Maria Mancini was the third of the five Mancini sisters; nieces to Cardinal Mazarin who were brought to France to marry advantageously. Along with two of their female Martinozzi cousins, the Mancini sisters were known at the court of King Louis XIV of France as the Mazarinettes.

She was the first love of Louis XIV of France. In 1661, Marie was sent away to marry an Italian prince, Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna. They had three children, all sons. After the birth of her third child, relations between Marie and her husband deteriorated.

In 1677, in order to support herself, she wrote her memoirs.

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The memoirs of Hortense and Marie Mancini are a fascinating account of the lives of women in the seventeenth-century. Both women made waves throughout Europe, and use the power of the pen to defend themselves from the rumors and scandals that kept them on the move. Both found themselves in unhappy marriages, and their quest for the recognition of their freedom to live autonomously as women is deeply moving. It highlights the successes our modern struggles have already achieved and the importance of continuing to prove that women are infinitely capable of making their own decisions about how, where and with whom they should live.

[Anabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5 étoiles

Les coulisses de la vie des femmes mariées sur l'Ancien Régime
Un mouvement romanesque d'émancipation
Une écriture qui répond à la rumeur publique (d'une manière qui rappelle les Mémoires de la vie d'Henriette-Sylvie de Molière)

[monsieur · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique and enjoyable glimpse into the past with a lot of personality, though Hortense's memoir was more delightful than Marie's.

[Hana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable study about remarkable women.