She was born in the French town of Fromanto, according to some sources, in 1409, according to others, which is more like the truth, in 1422. Under the patronage of relatives, in 1440 or 1441 she received a place of maid of honor at the court of Isabella of Lorraine, wife of King René of Anjou. However, the Duchess Isabella went on a long journey through Italy, leaving the young Agnes under the care of her mother, Queen Yolande, the king's mother-in-law. Charles VII. Yolanda, noticing the mind and extraordinary attractiveness of the girl, most likely, immediately decided to use her for her own purposes. And Agnes, who will soon be considered the most beautiful woman of the 15th century, was presented to the royal court ...
Ash-colored hair, blue eyes, a charming mouth, perfect chest - from all this magnificence, King Charles was delighted. When asked what her name was, the maid of honor answered simply: “I am the daughter of Jean Soret, my name is Agnes Sorel.”
Soon the whole court became aware of the love affair between the king and the beautiful lady from Fromanto. One queen knew nothing. But one evening, Maria of Anjou met the king's favorite, walking along one of the corridors of the palace bare-chested. Maria began to watch her husband and very quickly made very disappointing conclusions: Karl was cheating on her with the maid of honor ...
However, she did not grieve for long. Kind and condescending by nature, the queen resigned herself to her husband's betrayal, began to support friendly relations with his mistress and often gave her gifts. The ladies walked together, listened to music, had small talk and dined, which greatly pleased Charles VII.
For several years, the king, judging by the recall of Pope Pius II, “could not live an hour without his beautiful girlfriend and was clearly more concerned with improving his love skill than with the conduct of state affairs.”
As a result, by 1448, France was suffocating under the burden of excessive taxes, and Agnes Sorel had three children by this time. Her influence on King Charles was limitless. It was she who convinced him to resume hostilities against the British, which ended with the liberation of Normandy. From King Agnes she received the titles of Dame de Beauté-sur-Marne, Issoudun, Vernon and Rouquesezière, but by her first title she was called the Lady of Beauty (“bote” is French for beauty).
They had four daughters, whom the king unconditionally legitimized. They bore the generic name Valois. Agnes is credited with introducing such innovations as the wearing of diamonds by the uncrowned, the invention of a long train, and the introduction of a fashion for very loose outfits that expose one breast. Her direct behavior and open recognition of her connection with the king often aroused the indignation of some courtiers, but much was forgiven her thanks to the protection of the monarch and her perfect beauty, about which even the Pope spoke:
"She had the most beautiful face that can only be seen in this world."
After the last birth in January 1450, Agnes suddenly became ill, she was tormented by endless pains in her stomach. Anticipating her imminent death, she donated considerable funds to the church and all the time repented of her sinful life. She died on February 9, 1450 in agony, and the king did not dare to show her body, so it was disfigured by the disease.
The favorite died so unexpectedly that the people said:
"Agnes Sorel was poisoned." The strange symptoms of her last illness led the king to a similar thought. The Dauphin, the future Louis XI, was accused of this criminal act. They immediately remembered that the heir to the throne always despised Agnes Sorel, whose influence on the king he feared, and that once in Chinon, having lost his temper, he even slapped her in the face, shouting: “By God, from this woman all our misfortunes!”
The chronicler Monstrele noted:
“The hatred of Charles VII for Louis led the prince to repeatedly scold his father and opposed him because of the beautiful Agnes, who was in greater favor with the king than the queen herself. Therefore, the Dauphin hated the favorite and out of anger decided to hasten her death ... "
After the death of the favorite, eighteen months passed when Jeanne de Vendome, the lady of the court, confirmed under oath that Agnes Sorel was poisoned by ... the royal finance minister. Charles VII immediately ordered an inquiry. A week later, Jacques Coeur was arrested and brought to trial. The Minister of Finance, one of the king's most important associates and one of Agnes's closest and most loyal friends, was thrown into prison. True, a few months later he managed to escape, and he went to Rome, where he was sheltered by the Pope himself.
After the death of the favorite, Charles VII, who was "a naturally passionate and gallant gentleman", found a new mistress - Antoinette de Menle, cousin of Dame de Beauté. Having shown prudence, he decided to legitimize the presence of this beauty at his court and married her to Andre de Villequier, one of his close friends, who behaved as he should: turned a blind eye to his wife's infidelity.
December 5, 2016, 18:15Today we will talk about the mistress of Charles VII, King of France, successor and son of Charles the Mad. Her name is Agnes Sorel.
She was called the most beautiful woman of the 15th century, she was wasteful, but helped the poor, dressed defiantly, but looked innocent. And Agnes Sorel went down in history as the first officially recognized mistress of the King of France, who was able to become not only the constant mistress of Charles VII, but also a friend of his wife, Queen Mary of Anjou.
Charles VII easily spoke about the power of a woman over herself, and this recognition, which is impossible, derogatory for any man, and even more so royal dignity, did not cause a scandal for only one reason. The entire male half of the court, from the archbishop to the huntsman, agreed that the graces of the beautiful Agnes, if not superior, are quite comparable in importance to the royal regalia. Her chest is more weighty than a royal bowl, the camp is more majestic than a scepter, her curls are softer and softer than an ermine mantle. And the possession of all this splendor together is capable of filling anyone with sovereign power and greatness. To the credit of the beauty, it should be noted that none of the courtiers was honored to personally verify the validity of their assumptions. Surely only Carl knew. The goose Charles, by the grace of the beautiful Agnes, realized himself as Charles VII the Conqueror.
His mother called him Gosling. Isabella of Bavaria, a woman not stupid, witty, but, alas, completely devoid of maternal instinct. For nothing that she gave birth to 12 children. Karl had a hopeless lot to be born the eleventh child in the family. The Royal Genealogical Book dates this event to February 22, 1403.
The child was born frail, with an exorbitantly long bluish neck and the Valois family nose, which looks rather strange on an infant's face. From weakness, the child could not scream, only made some strange hissing sounds in his throat. “Gosling,” Isabella typed, and this nickname remained with Karl for many, many years.
As for his father, we talked about him in a previous post dedicated to Charles the Mad and his favorite Odette de Chamdiver. In short, he was insane and, in fact, Queen Isabella ruled the state.
Isabella of Bavaria
For this reason, the acquaintance of the father with the son was postponed for quite a considerable period. It took place when the younger Valois was already four years old. And although the doctors gave a conclusion that the king was in a state of enlightenment, the meeting with him scared the kid to hysterics. The gosling was taken away and since then kept away from parental eyes. The frail, ugly, gloomy boy did not amuse his parent's heart, and the king and queen had no other reasons to take care of his development and upbringing. The likelihood that the child would become a dauphin, that is, the heir to the throne, was negligible - here Charles was ahead of his older brothers. In a word, our hero had a difficult childhood and very modest prospects for the future. The title of Duke of Poitiers given to him did not promise either glory or great wealth ...
Unexpectedly for everyone, Iolanta of Aragon showed interest in the boy. The nominal queen of the four kingdoms - Aragon, Sicily, Jerusalem and Naples - the Duchess of Anjou was Charles a distant relative, it seems, the great-niece of his grandfather Charles V. Perhaps this woman, whom the chronicler of the royal house of Bodigny called nothing more than "the wisest and most beautiful of all Christian princesses," indeed, she had extraordinary insight, or maybe she just took pity on the boy. But in 1413, when Charles was only 10 years old, Iolanthe met with Isabella of Bavaria, whom, by the way, she could not stand, and signed an agreement with her, according to which their children, that is, Charles and Mary of Anjou, should marry . Until marriageable age, the boy was placed under the care of Iolanta.
Isabeau was only too glad for this turn of events. By that time, her husband had completely lost his mind, and for Isabella a very difficult, but at the same time unusually fascinating life began. To understand how difficult and to what extent fascinating, you need to have an idea of \u200b\u200bthe political situation of that time. Against the backdrop of a permanent war with England, the origins of which go as far back as the 11th-12th centuries, the French kingdom broke out Civil War: the Bourgognon party against the Art Maniac party. Both sides wanted the same thing - power, that is, real power under a nominal and inactive king. Both were roughly equal in strength. Both were looking for an ally capable of providing them with an advantage. And both found it in the face of the English court. The British meanwhile had their own calculation. England, which at that time had significant possessions in France, dreamed of uniting both states under its crown. Therefore, the British alternately flirted with the Bourgognons, then with the Armagnacs.
Isabella, as the person closest to the reigning king, was interesting to everyone. And she was interested in both those and others, and third. Moreover, she was fond of not only political intrigues, but also love joys. Is it up to the children here!
In a word, Karl moved to Anjou, to Iolanthe. The future mother-in-law, unlike her own mother, paid much attention to the development and upbringing of the boy. Finding in him a tendency to humanities and music, Iolanthe did everything to develop his talents. With the eradication of shortcomings, things were worse. The fact is that Karl was, as they would say this hour, an absolutely unsportsmanlike boy. He was clumsy in the saddle, fenced not gracefully, and even then walked sideways. But Iolanthe did not back down. She seemed to foresee that very soon all this would be useful to him.
Although how could she know that in 1415 the elder brother of Charles would suddenly die, and a year later the second dauphin would follow him - both blooming young men. And now Isabella calls the heir to the court. But a 14-year-old teenager, even by the standards of the Middle Ages, is still not quite a man, he still does not accept independent decisions. Iolanthe made the decision and expressed it directly and simply, ignoring the etiquette that befits the correspondence of two noble persons. “A woman who has so many lovers does not need children. I did not feed and raise the boy for you to now kill him under your care, as you killed his older brothers, or make him an Englishman, as you yourself did, or drive him mad, like his poor father. Try to take him away from me and you will not be in trouble, you shameless person.
Iolanthe of Aragon and little Charles VII
Isabella was even more shameless than Iolanthe could have imagined. So much so that she was not afraid to publicly declare that the Dauphin is not the king's son. Therefore, he has no right to the throne. Few then believed Isabella. It was obvious that she was lying in the interests of the British, who had already finally decided on their sympathies and acted in concert with the Bourguignons. As for Charles, he seemed to be decidedly indifferent to whether he became king or not. But the betrayal of the mother offended, once again reminded that he was unloved, unnecessary.
Aunt Iolanthe, meanwhile, sent the young man to Poitiers and ordered him to declare himself regent. On his behalf, she drew up an ardent appeal to the French people, which said that the ruling king was out of his mind, that Isabella, who had sold out to the British, was leading his hand, and that the mission of the legitimate regent of Valois was to liberate the fatherland from foreigners, restore order in the kingdom and provide his subjects with a decent life. The excesses of the English on French soil were so bloody and ruinous that the conversion had an effect. Armagnacs unanimously went over to the side of Charles.
However, eleven years passed before the legal coronation in Reims. A lot has happened over the years. The enemy king Henry V died, the insane father Charles died, the leader of the Bourguignons died, Mary of Anjou became the wife of Charles, and, finally, most importantly, God sent him Joan of Arc. 
The girl insisted that it was God who sent her, and he did this as if so that she, Jeanne, would help him do justice, that is, defeat the British and lead Charles to Reims for a legal coronation. There is a version according to which this whole performance was directed by mother-in-law Iolanta. It is likely, if only because the nomadic court of Charles and his army were supported by her money. There is also an assumption that the legendary Joan of Arc is Marguerite of Valois, the illegitimate daughter of Charles the Mad and his mistress Odette de Chamdiver.
But this is not the main thing. The main thing is that Jeanne succeeded. On July 17, 1429, Charles was crowned in Reims. And the archbishop publicly called him "the anointed of the Lord", "the son of the Most High", "the shepherd of the nations", "the right hand of the church", "the first of all the kings of the Earth, surpassing in nobility and holiness all the kings of the Old and New Testaments" and so on, etc. And all the nobles and commoners, the princes of the church and the noble people of the kingdom, bowed their knees before him. What must Karl have felt at that moment? A boy betrayed by his mother, who had just ascended the throne with a battle, did he feel triumphant? Or maybe relief? Who knows. But, according to the chroniclers, Karl looked like a person who is uncomfortable. And, according to an indelible childhood habit, every now and then he stretched his neck like a goose. He had a large, foreheady head, but it seemed that the crown was too big for him. In a word, he did not correspond much to the epithets that, according to the ceremonial, “given the archbishop. The goose Charles turned into Charles VII the Victorious, but, it seems, did not realize himself as such.
Ten years later, true love appeared in the life of the monarch. Karl, by the standards of the time, was already an elderly man. He already had five or six children born to Mary of Anjou. The wife was not distinguished by either beauty, or intelligence, or pleasantness of character, and Karl visited her bedroom, presumably, solely out of gratitude to his mother-in-law. Of course, there were many lovely women at court. But Karl, even though he was a king, was awkward in dealing with ladies. It is known that he was very shy of his appearance, not without reason believing that the family features of the Valois in his appearance took on some kind of completely caricature incarnation. At the same time, his aesthetic criteria regarding women were too strict and were determined by the cult of “bel dam san merci”, traditional for medieval chivalry, that is, “a lady who does not know condescension.” The medieval allegorical poem "The Romance of the Rose" gave quite clear instructions on how this very lady should look. The eyes are blue or green, the pupils are excitedly dilated, the forehead is high, the hair is golden, hip-length, the skin is the color of lily petals, the nose is small, straight, the mouth is also small and plump, the figure is thin, the chest is small, but high. For the sake of such a woman, it was worth breaking spears, composing sonnets and doing other crazy things. But there was no such woman in Karl's entourage. At the very least, none of them met the knightly standard exactly. There was something missing from her register of charms.
The beauty ideal of the 15th century. 
The fateful meeting took place under unknown circumstances. But it is known for certain that its organizer was the mother-in-law Iolanta. It is she who is credited with the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a "flying detachment", which was later adopted by other august persons. The idea turned out to be as simple as it is effective. Iolanthe formed a brigade of beautiful, intelligent, and most importantly - undividedly devoted to her benefactress girls, arranged them at court, and sooner or later they all ended up in the beds of noble nobles. The girls thus got the opportunity to arrange their fate, and Iolanta - operational information. The women proved to be excellent spies, even better than the Franciscan friars. Agnes Sorel stood out especially among them. Iolanthe noticed her in the retinue of her daughter-in-law Isabella of Lorraine, under whom Agnes was a maid of honor. The girl's parents had neither a significant position at court nor wealth. His father, Jean Sorel, held a modest position as an adviser at the court of the Count of Clermont, his mother, Catherine de Meignelay, owned a vast but low-income de Verneuil estate. The main capital of the family was the daughter. The lovely Agnes would surely make a decent match, and in view of this prospect, the status of a lady-in-waiting can be seen as a great start for a 15-year-old girl. However, Agnes disposed of the opportunities given to her in her own way. She was in no hurry to get married. The four years spent in Isabella's palace became her universities. Agnes learned to speak expressively, sing, play the lute and harp, inflame the male imagination with graceful poses and gestures. Possessing a naturally developed imagination and good taste, she knew how to dress in such a way that much more noble ladies in their luxurious outfits seemed simple compared to her. In those days, the knights had already brought powder, blush and carmine from the Arab East. But few of the ladies of the world knew how to use it delicately. Agnes knew how and, according to the chronicler Jean Chartier, even gave lessons to her patroness. By the age of twenty, she had taken shape in a perfect beauty with an incredibly thin waist and a high neck, on which, like a cup of a flower on a stem, sat a lovely head with high golden curls, shaved on her forehead and temples in the fashion of that time. Her face, with its childishly rounded cheeks, seemed angelically innocent and at the same time vicious. So the artist Jean Fouquet, who captured Agnes in the form of the Madonna, having managed to convey this characteristic feature of her face, was even accused of dangerously combining religious feelings with erotic ones.
In a word, Agnes was an ideal example of "la belle dames sans merci." And Karl, of course, could not help but pay attention to her. This is what Iolanthe was counting on. She had no need to spy on her son-in-law. But she wanted to influence the king. And her clumsy daughter was decidedly unfit for such a delicate mission.
So, Iolanthe arranged a meeting between the king and Agnes. Karl was so impressed that, contrary to his custom, he immediately went on the attack. But clever Agnes skillfully portrayed fear and, turning her disarmed femininity to Karl in the most spectacular pose, appealed to his knightly honor. I had to retreat. For almost a month, the court discussed the swollen veins on the king's temples - a sign of extraordinary excitement. And then one day the king went out to the morning mass joyful. He smiled all day and all evening. He generously gave jesters. I ordered several new outfits from the royal tailor. In a word, he behaved so unusually that this state of his was recorded by the court chronicler. Perhaps the chronicler thought that Charles had gone mad like his father. And Karl just fell in love. Very soon, this connection became obvious to everyone. Karl, previously indifferent to luxury, suddenly became a real dandy. The royal treasurer, Jacques Coeur, ordered precious Utrecht velvet and purple Venetian silk for him. In those days, men wore short clothes. So - Karl's outfit almost did not cover his hips, which, as contemporaries noted more than once, with thin, crooked legs, definitely did not suit his figure. But with the advent of Agnes Karl seemed to have ceased to experience any complexes about his appearance. And in general, I felt a taste for life and all kinds of entertainment for the soul and body. Every day, a new fun. Either a jousting tournament, or feasts with troubadours and minstrels. And the main decoration, the center of any meeting, was invariably the beautiful Agnes. By the way, Agnes managed to make friends with Queen Mary: Yolande of Anjou advised her daughter to come to terms with the existing state of affairs ...
Maria of Anjou
The kind and condescending queen listened to the advice and tried to establish friendly relations with her mistress. They even walked together, listened to music, and had small talk at dinner, which greatly pleased Charles VII, for whom there was no greater pleasure than to see the complete harmony that reigned around ...
Agnes adored outfits and conceived the styles of her dresses herself. One of them, with an asymmetrical neckline that completely exposed the left breast, went down in history under the name "Agnes' beautiful contrition for her sins."
And although the concept of fashion as such did not exist in the Middle Ages, Agnes, by her example, inspired ladies to imitate, and minstrels to create poetic introductions glorifying new styles:
If a woman is pretty
Her skin is white and soft
Let her say that her tailor
I made a cutout for her like this,
What boldly opens the shoulders,
The chest is bare to the limit.
After all, if the chest is bare,
She's more attractive.
Agnes wore trains six meters long, although the queen herself was content with five. She adorned herself with diamonds, despite the fact that the palace protocol allowed such luxuries only to the queen. But the protocol was revised due to the fact that, by the will of Karl, Agnes Sorel received the official status of a favorite. A favorite is more than a mistress. Vassals are obliged to give her royal honors, she takes part in political life court, has the right to independently apply to the royal treasurer to cover their needs, and children born from her connection with the king receive the family name of the king. Indeed, all three daughters born to Agnes from Karl received the name Valois. And Agnes herself received the royal castle of Bote-sur-Marne (“Beauty on the Marne”) and the title of Dame de Beaute, which is consistent with her captivating appearance, about which the Pope himself said that “this is the most beautiful face that you can imagine” .
However, there were people on whom the spell of the beautiful Agnes did not work. For example, Archbishop Jean Junevel des Orsin. As the spiritual mentor of the king, he repeatedly appealed to him, pointing out the extravagance and extravagance of his favorite and the courtiers who imitated her. The pious des Orsins found that the ladies of the court, although of noble birth, now resemble in their appearance "painted donkeys put up for sale." He severely condemned the “hellish windows through which their breasts look out” and long trains, which take a lot of precious matter, and rightly remarked that “all these excesses, now instituted at court, affect the increase by the lords of taxes and taxes from the poor.” For clarity, the archbishop cited excerpts from the Royal Book of Expenditure, in which any claim to the treasurer ended with a postscript "for the needs of France." A crystal service with golden leaves - for the needs of France, bandages of marten and ermine - for the needs of France, undershirts embroidered with gold - for the needs of France ... "What need does France have for undershirts embroidered with gold?" - Vladyka reasonably asked. In response, Karl, not without a challenge, wrote to his spiritual mentor: “If the Beautiful Lady has dresses embroidered with gold, she will be in a good mood. If she is in a good mood, I will also be in a good mood. If I am in a good mood, the whole of France will be in a good mood. Therefore, France has a direct need for beautiful dresses. Of course, Agnes got dresses with gold, and everything she wanted, but meanwhile France was not in a very good mood.
The British still dominated French soil. Quite extensive, strategically significant territories remained under their control. The people catastrophically impoverished under the yoke of unbearable taxes. And the generous alms distributed by Agnes for the needs of the church and the poor did not diminish the people's hatred for the royal favorite, who seduced the "most Christian king" from the true path. It is unlikely that Agnes was overwhelmed by worries about the future of France, most likely, she acted at the instigation of Iolanthe, but it was Agnes who forced Karl to change the surcoat embroidered with gold to armor and resume the war against the British. To do this, she used some trick, as reported by Brant in his book "The Life of Gallant Ladies": predicted to me that one of the bravest and most courageous kings would fall in love with me. When we met, I thought you were that brave king: But it looks like I was wrong: You are too pampered and hardly attend to the affairs of your poor kingdom. It seems to me that this courageous king is not you, but English king, which creates such strong armies and captures such beautiful cities from you. Farewell! I go to him, apparently, the astrologer told me about him.
The reliability of this legend can be questioned, but it is known for certain that the king nevertheless went to damned Normandy in order to launch an offensive against the British from there. And he did it solely for the sake of the beautiful eyes of Agnes. For a ruler of the Middle Ages, Charles was surprisingly non-belligerent and preferred the harp to the sword. But Agnes had amazing power over him. She could inspire him to any deed, to any feat. And not because she had any special qualities. It was just his woman. For every man in this world there is a woman who is able to elevate his spirit, make him stronger. You just need to find her. Carl was lucky - he found.
Reminds me of Bella Hadid, doesn't it?
Agnes didn't get to celebrate the victorious conclusion of the Hundred Years' War. She died three years before this significant event for France. Death came a few days after Agnes gave birth to her fourth child. The girl was born weak - and did not live a day, but as for her mother, it looked like she did not die a natural death. Perhaps she was poisoned. At least Karl was convinced that this was the case. Why would a healthy, flowering 28-year-old woman, who had successfully given birth three times before, take and die like this. And after all, there is evidence that before her death, the poor thing complained about a terrible fire that devoured her from the inside, and her beautiful golden hair fell off her head like the petals of a disturbed rose ... The royal treasurer Jacques Coeur and the eldest son of the king, the Dauphin Louis, the future Louis XI. The first was considered her friend, the second - the enemy. But their guilt has not been proven.
Agnes Sorel was buried with honors worthy of a royal person. The heart was buried in the Notre Dame Chapel in Jumiège, with a luxurious black marble tombstone and a white marble statue depicting Agnes with her hands folded in prayer, in which her heart is enclosed. The body rested in the collegiate church at the royal castle of Loches.
Shortly after the funeral, Charles brought Agnes' cousin Antoinette de Meunier-lay close to him. She was very similar to his late lover, but could not replace her. According to the chroniclers, very soon another half a dozen beauties appeared, "ready to try for the king, who tried so hard for France." So, little by little, Karl gathered a harem, which the Sultan himself could envy. The maintenance of a crowd of young harlots was costly to the treasury. Charles was condemned for debauchery and extravagance. It is impossible to say for sure, but it seems that Carl was not driven by an irrepressible thirst for pleasure. He vainly hoped that many beautiful women would give him that feeling of strength, that greatness of spirit that Agnes had once bestowed on him.
Computer modeling of the appearance of Agnes Sorel:
Updated on 12/01/20 23:36:
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"She has was the most beautiful face imaginable."
Pope Pius II
Charles VII from childhood was a sickly and frail child and became king by pure chance. He received the nickname the Winner and felt his own power only after meeting with Agnes Sorel, who became the first official favorite of the monarch in the history of France.
“I ascended the throne by the grace of God, but I created myself king by the grace of the beautiful Agnes,” said Charles VII.
Agnes Sorel (fr. Agn?s Sorel) - Dame de Beauté (fr. Dame de Beaut - Lady of Beauty), was considered the most beautiful woman of her era. She was destined to remain in history as the first officially recognized royal favorite, benefactor of the unfortunate and disadvantaged, and, finally, an example of tragic sacrificial love.
It is not known exactly where and when the most beautiful woman XV century. For if the chronicler, out of courtesy, reported that Agnes was born in Fromento (which is why she was called demoiselle from Fromenteau - demoiselle de Fromenteau), then he forgot to specify which of the two cities he was talking about - Fromanto in Picardy or Fromanto in Touraine. Although it is more often attributed to Fromanto in Touraine. Her biological age is determined by
bone remains (research was carried out in 2004) within 23-27 years - the exact date of birth was lost somewhere between 1422 and 1426, and not as previously assumed - 1409.
In the 15th century, astrology was highly developed and astrological forecasts were an integral part of the medieval cultural society of that time, and if we proceed from the version that Agnes was born in 1422 from the Nativity of Christ, then the Sun stood in the constellation Pisces.
“When the Sun enters the sign of Pisces, extraordinary people are born, often bringing with them the gifts of poetry, music and books. Their refined nature is disgusted by everything rough, too earthly ...” wrote the medieval astrologer Tycho de Brahe in his Book of Horoscopes.
The unknown astrologer, who compiled the horoscope for the newborn, assured her parents that the baby would someday win the love of the monarch.
It is not known how Agnes' parents reacted to this prediction - the adviser to the Duke de Clermont Jean Soro and the daughter of the petty baron Catherine de Menele. In any case, they made a lot of efforts to arrange the daughter of a maid of honor at the court of Isabella of Lorraine, the wife of King René of Anjou - in such a high society, the young beauty had more opportunities to attract the attention of worthy gentlemen. However, the Duchess Isabella went on a long journey through Italy, leaving the young Agnes under the care of her mother, Queen Yolanda, mother-in-law of King Charles VII. Yolanda, noticing the mind and extraordinary attractiveness of the girl, most likely, immediately decided to use her for her own purposes. 
Agnes learned to speak expressively, sing, play the lute and harp, inflame the male imagination with graceful poses and gestures. Possessing a naturally developed imagination and good taste, she knew how to dress in such a way that much more noble ladies in their luxurious outfits seemed simple compared to her. In those days, the knights had already brought powder, blush and carmine from the Arab East. But few of the ladies of the world knew how to use it delicately. Agnes knew how and, according to the chronicler Jean Chartier, even gave lessons to her patroness. By the age of twenty, she had taken shape in a perfect beauty with an incredibly thin waist and a high neck, on which, like a cup of a flower on a stem, sat a lovely head with high golden curls, shaved on her forehead and temples in the fashion of that time. Her face, with its childishly rounded cheeks, seemed angelically innocent and at the same time vicious. So the artist Jean Fouquet, who captured Agnes in the form of the Madonna, having managed to convey this characteristic feature of her face, was even accused of dangerously combining religious feelings with erotic ones. In a word, Agnes was an ideal example of "la belle dames sans merci."
And Agnes, who will soon be considered the most beautiful woman of the 15th century, was presented to the royal court ...
History is delicately silent about how many gentlemen the beautiful maid of honor received attention before her most important meeting - with the French king Charles VII, but this is not important. The important thing is that by the age of twenty-two, despite court life She has maintained an impeccable reputation.
She was called the most beautiful woman of the 15th century, she was wasteful, but helped the poor, dressed defiantly, but looked innocent. And Agnes Sorel went down in history as the first officially recognized mistress of the King of France, who was able to become not only the constant mistress of Charles VII, but also a friend of his wife, Queen Mary of Anjou.
The meeting of Agnes Sorel with the king was organized, oddly enough, by his mother-in-law. She often arranged for ladies-in-waiting at court, and when they became mistresses of noble nobles, Iolanthe received the necessary information and kept everything under her control. She did not succeed in influencing the king with the help of her daughter, and she found a more sophisticated way - she found a mistress for this purpose.
Agnes Sorel and Charles VII
Charles VII, seeing the girl, immediately went on the attack, but she ran away from him. The king was carried away in earnest, and his perseverance was soon rewarded. Within a few months, everyone at court was saying that the king was in love.
Mistress of the French King Agnes Sorel
Charles VII lost his head so much that he was ready to fulfill any desire of Agnes Sorel. To prove the seriousness of his feelings, he proclaimed her the official favorite. From now on, the vassals were obliged to render her royal honors, she took part in the political life of the court, the royal treasurer paid her the necessary amounts, and their children with the king received the family titles of Valois. As a gift from the king, Agnes received the castle of Bote-sur-Marne and the title of Dame de Beaute.
Jean Fouquet portrayed Agnes as Madonna and Child
Agnes quickly got used to living in a big way. She allowed herself bold experiments with appearance for those times. The trains of her dresses reached 5 meters, the priests called them "devil's tails". She began to wear diamonds, although until then wearing them by the uncrowned was unacceptable. The courtiers were shocked by her extravagant, figure-hugging dresses with an asymmetrical neckline that completely exposed one breast. The queen was angry, but quickly changed her anger to mercy, deciding to become a friend for her husband's mistress. Maria gave jewelry and outfits to her rival, they walked together and went hunting.
King of France Charles VII
The daring behavior of the favorite and her official status aroused indignation among many. So, the Archbishop des Ursen pointed out to the king the extravagance of his mistress and her frank outfits, he said that the ladies at court began to resemble “painted donkeys put up for sale.” In response, Karl defiantly declared: “If the Beautiful Lady has dresses embroidered with gold, she will be in a good mood. If she is in a good mood, I will also be in a good mood. If I am in a good mood, the whole of France will be in a good mood. Therefore, France has a direct need for beautiful dresses.
The first official mistress of the king in the history of France
Agnes could not help noticing the growing resentment against her. She began to help the sick and crippled, to donate huge sums to the poor. Constant poverty, the British who ruled the French lands and the inaction of the king aroused the indignation of the people. And then Agnes, not without the influence of Iolanthe, persuaded Charles VII to resume the war against the British. The cowardly and weak-willed king, nicknamed “the gosling” by his mother in childhood, the favorite was able to inspire the idea of \u200b\u200bhis courage. So Karl became the Winner. The victorious end of the Hundred Years' War was already celebrated without her - Agnes died 3 years before.
Tomb of Agnes Sorel
Karl was convinced that Agnes had been poisoned, and he was right. An examination carried out today confirmed the high content of mercury in the remains of the favorite. Perhaps it was unintentional poisoning - in those days, mercury was added to cosmetics and medicines.
Tomb of Agnes Sorel
Agnes Sorel, as a model of concern for the interests of the country, was later set as an example to all the influential mistresses of the French kings, including Francoise d'Aubigne, the favorite and secret wife of Louis XIV.
Agnes Sorel (1409–1450)
Beloved of King Charles VII. In 1431 she was maid of honor to Isabella of Lorraine, Duchess of Anjou. She enchanted the king with her beauty. She had three daughters by Charles VII. Her name is associated with the liberation of France from the British.
Charles VII could not pass by this lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Sicily. She was so beautiful "that he longed to excite her and thought that his dreams could only come true in a dream."
Fascinated, he contemplated with delight her ash-colored hair, her blue eyes, her perfect nose, her charming mouth, her bare chest. Finally Karl asked her name. “I am the daughter of Jean Soret, and my name is Agnes Sorel,” answered the maid of honor.
The king silently went up to his quarters. It seemed like he had never been so in love in his life. He would not fall in love, because this woman captivated all the men she met.
“She was the youngest and most beautiful among all the women in the world,” exclaimed Jean Chartier.
“Yes, of course, she was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen,” echoed Olivier de La Marche.
“She, in truth, was the most beautiful among the young women of her day,” the author of the Martinian Chronicle shared their opinion.
Finally, Pius II, too, could not resist saying: "She had the most beautiful face imaginable."
And these words, spoken by the Pope himself, should hardly be regarded only as a compliment...
Almost nothing is known about the origins of Agnes Sorel. And what we know can be summed up in three sentences: her father, Jean Sauret, was an adviser to the Count of Clermont; her mother, Catherine de Menelai, was the owner of the de Verneuil estate. Aunt Agnes, when the girl was fifteen years old, attached her as a maid of honor at the court of Isabella of Lorraine, Queen of Sicily and wife of King Rene.
It is not known exactly where and when the most beautiful woman of the 15th century was born. For if the chronicler, out of courtesy, said that Agnes was born in Fromanto, he forgot to specify which of the two cities he was talking about - Fromanto in Picardy or Fromanto in Touraine ... Historians agree that she was 22 years old when she first saw Charles VII. It can also be said for sure that Agnes was "as beautiful and charming as no other queen ..."
So, with her beauty, she struck Charles VII, and the monarch rose to himself in a state close to ecstasy. He felt like he was in heaven.
However, not only Charles VII was captivated by the beauty of Agnes, as he could soon see for himself.
That same evening, the king tried to express his feelings to Agnes, but the young girl ran away with a frightened look, which only inflamed the desire in the king. For several days, his swollen temple veins were the subject of conversation in the royal court.
But one morning, observant courtiers noticed that the king had a normal look, and everyone understood: the beautiful Agnes no longer spent the night alone.
A few months later, the whole court knew about the love affair between the king and the lady from Fromanto. One queen was in the dark. But one evening, Maria of Anjou met the favorite of the king, walking along one of the corridors of the palace with bare breasts. This gave the Queen food for thought. And Mary of Anjou put the king under surveillance. The king was very careful. The chronicler Jean Chartier reported that "no one has ever seen Agnes kissing the king..." Although no one doubted that there was a secret intimate relationship between them, because in 1445 the beauty felt that she was pregnant...
On the day when the baby was supposed to be born, the queen, noticing the self-satisfied smile on the face of the king, no longer doubted his betrayal. She met with her mother, Yolande of Anjou, and shared her experiences with her. Yolanda was sensible. She understood that her daughter, whose external data and intellectual abilities were very mediocre, could not compete with the smart and beautiful Agnes. In addition, she understood that if Charles VII was required to drive away the favorite, he would still have mistresses. Therefore, Yolande of Anjou advised her daughter to come to terms with the existing state of affairs ...
The kind and condescending queen listened to the advice and tried to establish friendly relations with her mistress. They even walked together, listened to music, and had small talk at dinner, which greatly pleased Charles VII, for whom there was no greater pleasure than to see the complete harmony that reigned around ...
For several years, the king, judging by the recall of Pope Pius II, "could not live an hour without his beautiful girlfriend" and was more concerned with honing his love skills than with the conduct of state affairs.
Was it any wonder that in 1448 France was burdened with excessive taxes, and Agnes Sorel had three children by this time.
Charles VII decided to welcome the mother of his illegitimate children to the nobility. This wonderful idea was the highest gratitude that the king could bestow on a charming favorite. Not far from Paris, on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes, on a hill overlooking the bend of the Marne, Charles had a small castle intended for a library. This area was called Bote-sur-Marne (in translation - "beauty on the Marne"), and the king gave this estate to Agnes. She received the title of Dame de Bote (the title corresponded to her irresistible appearance).
At the same time, they started talking about extravagant outfits invented by the favorite herself. Agnes, abandoning the spacious tunics that hid the forms, began to wear long dresses that tightly fitted the body. In addition, she came up with a neckline that shocked Queen Mary. Bashfully hiding one breast, she gracefully exposed the other. This new fashion outraged most of the ladies of the court, who did not dare to follow the example of Agnes.
Perhaps it was these unfortunate women with not very beautiful breast shapes that made several eminent citizens protest the fantasies of the favorite in the field of clothing. Chancellor Juvenal Desursin, who was among them, wrote indignantly: “How does the king in his own residence endure that they walk in clothes with a deep neckline, because of which you can see women's breasts and nipples. And how in his apartments, as well as in the apartments of the queen and their children, many men and women are tormented, who are in an atmosphere of debauchery, sins and vicious relationships. Wearing such clothes is inappropriate and deserves punishment.”
Juvenal Desursin was not alone in suggesting that Agnes was a woman of easy virtue. Burginin Chastelin left the following memories of her: “Her ingenuity was aimed at bringing into fashion new forms of clothing in the conditions of debauchery and decay.”
Considering that Juvenal Desursin and Chastelin, fearing for their position in society, tried to speak very softly about Agnes, one can imagine how the common people spoke of the favorite of Charles VII.
However, these reproaches and even insults, reaching the ears of Agnes, did not anger her, but only greatly saddened her. The favorite wanted to understand why the people, whose opinion she usually ignored, despised and hated her. And she suddenly found out in what deep poverty ordinary French people live, while the court was bathed in luxury. Agnes decided to remind the king of his duty and duties. To this end, she used a certain trick, as reported by Brant in his book "The Life of Gallant Ladies": the astrologer predicted to me that one of the bravest and most courageous kings would fall in love with me. When we met, I thought that you were the very brave king... But it seems that I was mistaken: you are too pampered and hardly take care of the affairs of your poor kingdom. It seems to me that this courageous king is not you, but the English king, who creates such strong armies and captures such beautiful cities from you. Farewell! I go to him, apparently, the astrologer told me about him.
And these words pierced the king in the very heart, he even cried. Charles VII abandoned hunting, gardens, forgot about entertainment, gathered all his strength and courage, which allowed him to quickly expel the British from his kingdom.
Indeed, some time after this conversation, Charles VII, with the help of his famous decrees, reorganized the troops and in 1449, violating the truce with England, began hostilities again. By that time, many important positions remained in the hands of the enemy, but the king, driven by love for Dame de Bota, put an end to the Hundred Years War in a few months, returning all the occupied lands of France. Agnes, who used to call him derisively Charles the Indifferent, began to call him Charles the Conqueror.
Alas! Fate decreed that the favorite did not have a chance to see the crown of her efforts. While the battles were going on, she died suddenly under very mysterious circumstances.
It happened in 1449. For several weeks the king was in the abbey de Jumiège. He carefully prepared for the siege of Harfleur, which was still in the hands of the enemy, and held military councils, which specified the details of the upcoming assault. In his rare free moments, he strolled through the garden with a gloomy look, and one might have thought that the king was not sure of the successful outcome of the battle. In fact, he was thinking about Agnes Sorel, who was in Loches and who was about to give birth ... Charles VII, having conquered the Duchy of Normandy, was looking forward to the birth of his fourth illegitimate child. Maybe this time she will give me a son, he thought. “I would love to have a son from her.”
This desire did not pursue any political goals, for Charles, who had five legitimate children from his marriage to Mary of Anjou, already had an heir, the Dauphin Louis, and the future of the dynasty did not bother him. It was the desire of a man madly in love.
On one of the January days, when he was slowly walking, thinking about Agnes and the child who was soon to be born, he saw a monk of the abbey running towards him: “Sire Mademoiselle Sorel was brought there in a very serious condition.”
Charles VII turned pale and, forgetting about royal gravity, rushed to the carriage. He hardly recognized Dame de Beaute - the hardships of travel had so strongly affected her features and pregnancy had disfigured her figure so much. Seeing the king, she stood up and smiled.
"It's madness," exclaimed Charles VII, "to come here in such a state!"
“I needed to see you urgently,” Agnes answered quietly, “no one but me could tell you what you should know.”
The king was very surprised at her words. He escorted Agnes into the bedroom, and she sank exhausted onto the bed. Karl, without giving her a minute to rest, stood at the head of her bed. And Agnes told him that "some of his subjects wanted to betray him and hand him over to the British ..."
The monarch did not believe her. Despite her fatigue, Agnes continued to speak with difficulty. She told the king everything down to the smallest detail about the conspiracy that was being prepared and about the conspirators, whose intentions she accidentally became aware of.
“I came to save you,” she said.
Was there a conspiracy? Maybe. But the enemies of the king, having learned that Agnes had penetrated into their secret, considered it reasonable not to take any action ...
Reassured by the fact that she managed to inform the king about the danger that threatened him, the favorite fell asleep. Her sleep was short-lived: her first labor pains began, and she, moaning, began to toss and turn in bed. Charles VII moved her to a manor in Mesnil-sous-Jumièges, a country house built for the rest of the abbots. Here, the next day, a girl was born, who was destined to die in six months. The chronicler Jean Chartier narrates: “After giving birth, Agnes was troubled by indigestion, which continued for a long time. During this illness, she constantly repented of her sins. She often remembered Mary Magdalene, who committed the highest carnal sin, but repented of it and asked for mercy from the Almighty and the Virgin Mary. And, like a true Catholic, Agnes spent whole hours reading prayers. She expressed all her desires and made a will, where she named the people whom she would like to help, leaving the sum of sixty thousand ecu, due for all their labors. Agnes got worse and worse, she regretted that her life was so short.
Finally, she asked her confessor Father Denis to forgive her sins, and on February 9, 1450, at six o'clock in the evening, Agnes Sorel, the beauty of beauties, died.