The Downfall of Madame de Prie

Madame de Prie, or la Marquise de Prie as she would come to be known, was one of the most influential women in the 18th century France. In her prime, she had nearly all of France in the palm of her hand. But by a fatal mistake, she fell from power and thus, laid the groundwork for her own demise. Well, how did this woman come to hold so much power and then lose it all in the blink of an eye? Let's take a look at the story of how Madame de Prie flew too close to the sun.

Born Jeanne-Agnes Berthelot de Pleneuf, in 1698, she was the daughter of a notorious financier, Étienne Berthelot. As for her mother, she was a woman known for her beauty and for having many admirers. Jeanne-Agnes inherited that trait from her mother, becoming a mesmerizing young woman. So much so that it is even rumoured her own mother was jealous of her. At the age of 15, Jeanne-Agnes was married off to the Marquess de Prie, who was also the ambassador of the court of Savoy and resided in Turin. Therefore, Jeanne-Agnes had to move to Turin and live there for six years. (Savoy belonged to Italy at the time.) Thus, she also earned her title as la Marquise de Prie.

At 21, Madame de Prie returned to France. Once she was back, the whole French court's attention was immediately drawn to her. During the time she was away, Madame de Prie had become an enchantingly beautiful young woman. Despite her arrogance, it wasn't much later that she had charmed the French court both with her looks and her wit. But Madame de Prie was much more than just a pretty woman. She was extremely clever and had big ambitions, such as gaining power in order to have political influence. In fact, she wanted to have a say in the governance of France. And she knew exactly how to achieve this. So, she set her eyes on Louis Henri de Bourbon-Condé who was the Duke of Bourbon, and would later become the Prime Minister of France and after that, the Prince of Condé.

After successfully becoming the mistress of Louis Henri, Madame de Prie was now closer to achieving her goal. But in order to have some actual power in political matters, she needed someone in a position of power whom she could control. And as luck would have it, the young King Louis XV was now old enough to marry and so, in need of an eligible wife. Well, actually, Louis XV was already betrothed to the Infanta of Spain, who was raised in Versailles for the sole reason of being married off to the king when the time came. But that didn't matter to Madame de Prie in the least bit! She came up with her grand scheme of being the one to find the young king her future wife. And in the end, she did. The Infanta of Spain got sent right back to Spain! Madame de Prie had a list of eligible bachelorettes made, and out of the 100 girls on that list, she chose Maria Leczyńska. Now, this was no random choice, of course. Madame de Prie knew she needed someone she could easily manipulate. That is why she ended up choosing the daughter of the dethroned king of Poland, who was now living in France with no power or wealth left. So when she learned that Madame de Prie had chosen her to marry the king, Maria Leczyńska became eternally grateful to Madame de Prie. Now that Madame de Prie had successfully set King Louis XV up to marry a woman who viewed her as her fairy godmother, she finally had a person she could use as a pawn in her game of power.

Everything seemed to go according to plan. Madame de Prie was now able to manipulate even the king himself, using her influence on Maria Leczyńska, who could then influence the king. She was the person closest to the Queen and also had the authority to write certain letters involving state affairs, such as when someone was being brought to a position of power or being removed from it. Sources even describe her as the real ruler of France during her time, with all the influence she had. All was going well. That is, until Madame de Prie made her first wrong move, which would also be her last.

Louis XV had a tutor during his childhood, André-Hercule de Fleury, whom he made his chief minister during his reign. Unfortunately, Fleury also happened to be Louis Henri's, and thus also Madame de Prie's, rival. So in order to get rid of him, Madame de Prie and Louis Henri attempted to have Fleury exiled. But the problem was Louis XV loved and respected Fleury as his mentor. Naturally, he got furious when he found out what Madame de Prie and Louis Henri had done. He used his authority as the king to recall Fleury. And then, Louis XV went on to send Louis Henri and Madame de Prie in exile, to seperate places, instead.

Thus, Madame de Prie was sent to exile, to her manor in Courbépine. Courbépine was a countryside, much different from Versailles, which Madame de Prie was used to. Life in Courbépine became suffocating for her in time, with no parties or court intrigues to keep her entertained. And she was lonely, though she would never admit that to anyone else. During her time there, she did everything in her power not to reveal the fact that she had actually been exiled. She told everyone that she had only come to Courbépine to have a much needed vacation, to rest and relax. But in reality, she was getting bored out of her mind and craving the constant attention and admiration she had gotten used to in Versailles. She was getting depressed. Time passed, but no one ever wrote to her or asked of her. The fact that she was starting to be forgotten back at court bothered Madame de Prie immensely. She had to show everyone that she was still that charming and powerful woman she once was, even though the truth couldn't have been further from that. So, her ambition struck again. She sent word to Versailles that she was going to throw a party at her manor in Courbépine. Now this was quite exciting news for the court, since they were curious what Madame de Prie had been up to ever since her sudden disappearance. Many attended her party and were surprised to see that Madame de Prie seemed to be doing better than ever! Her plan had served its purpose. After that, Madame de Prie couldn't get enough of the exhilaration of parties and the crowds doting on her. So, she continued throwing countless grand parties which lasted day and night, each more luxurious than the last. She spent most of her fortune on these parties.

Despite all her efforts, Madame de Prie knew deep inside that no amount of parties could get her her old life back. Her place in court, the power she once held, all of it was gone for good. Though the parties offered consolation and distraction for some while, it did not last very long. Her depression got worse with her desperation. And eventually, she decided that life was not worth living if she couldn't get her old one back. So at the age of 29, after one year in exile, she took her own life by drinking poison.

Madame de Prie's story is certainly a very interesting one. Despite her short life, she managed to accomplish a great deal. But in the end, her downfall was just as grand. If you're interested in reading more about Madame de Prie, I would strongly suggest reading Stefan Zweig's short novel "Twilight" (Bir Çöküşün Öyküsü), in which Zweig tells about the Courbépine times of Madame de Prie in such an intriguing way that the effect lingers on you even after finishing the book.