149 - MAINTENON (Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de), 1635–1719.

MAINTENON (Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de), 1635–1719. Letter signed “Maintenon,” undated [Versailles], January 22, 1715, 1 p., in-4. With her reconstructed red wax seal in the upper left corner (bearing the motto “Recte”). Paper fully lined; tear restored with no loss of material. A fine letter of intercession on behalf of the Abbé de Conflans, whose family was closely connected to the Royal House of Saint-Louis de Saint-Cyr. “I am ashamed, Sir, to dare ask you for a favor, having no merit in your eyes,” writes Madame de Maintenon, before invoking “the birth and misfortune of the Abbé de Conflans.” She seeks her correspondent’s protection in a matter concerning the estate of Rouville, which belonged to the Abbey of Aiguebelle: “I would be infinitely grateful to you, and you would be doing a very good deed, sir.” To lend further weight to her recommendation, she recalls the family’s ties to the institution dearest to her: “Two of his sisters were raised at Saint-Cyr.” Founded by Louis XIV at the initiative of Madame de Maintenon to educate young women from impoverished noble families, the Royal House of Saint-Louis served precisely as a powerful support network for noble families facing financial hardship. It comes with its original certificate of export for cultural property from the Ministry of Culture, which cites its provenance from the Charavay catalog, February 1993, no. 43607.