140 - LA VALLIÈRE (Louise de), 1644–1710.

LA VALLIÈRE (Louise de), 1644–1710. Letter from the sender (L.A.S.) addressed to “Sr. Louise de la Miséricorde,” undated, March 15 (c. 1699–1701), 2½ pages, to M. de Verneuil, Commissioner General of the Navy at Rochefort. Collection seal of Charles de L'Escalopier. An interesting letter of recommendation attesting to the networks of influence that Louise de La Vallière maintained, under the name Sister Louise de la Miséricorde, long after she entered the Carmelite Order. She intercedes with Verneuil, Commissioner of the Navy, on behalf of a certain Souvant [?], a royal clerk in Rochefort, recalling that Seignelay had once placed him “under our consideration.” Since the minister’s death in 1690, her protégé, now deprived of support, had reportedly seen several men with less seniority pass him by. The nun therefore requests his promotion and cites, as further support, the recommendation of her “good […] friend,” Abbé Eusèbe Renaudot (1646–1720). The letter thus reveals the enduring nature—behind the Carmelite nun who had withdrawn from the world in 1674—of the connections and patronage forged by Louis XIV’s former favorite. Includes its original certificate of export for cultural property issued by the Ministry of Culture.