Louise-Marie-Madeleine Guillaume de Fontaine (after marriage known as Madame Dupin; 28 October 1706 – 20 November 1799) was a French saloniste. A woman of spirit and famous for her beauty, between 1733 and 1782 she hosted a famous literary salon in Paris and owned the Château de Chenonceau, which was known as a center of the most famous French philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment.

Life

Youth

Louise de Fontaine was born in Paris, in the parish of Saint-Roch, on 28 October 1706.The historian Gustave Desnoiresterres noted the entire several parish acts of the Fontaine family before the fire that destroyed the Paris City Hall on 24 May 1871, which disappears the collection of parish registers and civil status. Louise de Fontaine was born on 28 October 1706, in the parish of Saint-Roch. But her baptism was recorded in the following year in 1707, following the directions of Gustave Desnoiresterres: "Registre des baptêmes, mariages et sépultures de la paroisse Saint-Roch, de l'année 1707, page 155". Hence the confusion between 1706 and 1707. Thus, in the act of death of Louise de Fontaine in Chenonceaux on 20 November 1799, date of birth mentioned: "vingt huit octobre mille sept cent sept " is erroneous. Acts identified in the parish registers of Paris before the Commune, consult the work of Gustave Desnoiresterres, Épicuriens et lettrés : XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, Paris, ed. Georges Charpentier 1879, p. 459 (Record BNF nº FRBNF30333532) Her baptism act was as follows:

Louise-Marie-Madeleine, daughter of Jean-Louis-Guillaume, ecuyer, Seigneur de Fontaine, councillor of the King, commissioner of the Navy and galleys de France and Marie-Anne-Armande Dancourt his wife born on the twenty-eight of October in the Sourdière street on this parish where was baptized, was the godfather the very high and very powerful Lord Louis d'Aumont de Roche baron duc d'Aumont, peer of France, first gentleman of the King's bedchamber and Governor of the town and castle of Bolougne and Bolougnese country, the godmother was Madeleine Clerjaut, wife of Samuel Bernard, Knight of the King's Order.

Signatures: Louis d'Aumont duc d'Aumont - Madeleine Clergeau Bernard - Jean Louis Guillaume de Fontaine - Goy.

Actually, Louise was the oldest of three illegitimate daughters of banker Samuel Bernard and Marie-Anne-Armande Carton Dancourt, nicknamed Manon, a daughter of actor Florent Carton Dancourt. Marie Dancourt was already married since 4 November 1702 at ParisSource: marriage register of the parish of Saint-Sulpice in 1702, page 90. This register was destroyed in the fire of the City Hall of Paris on 24 May 1871. in the parish of Saint-Sulpice with Jean-Louis-Guillaume de Fontaine, commissioner and controller of the Navy and War departments in Flanders and Picardy.

Manon's husband recognized Louise as his own with complacency, as well the two other children born from the affair with Bernard: Marie-Louise (born 25 August 1710) and Françoise-Thérèse (born 12 March 1712), both also baptized in the parish of Saint-Roch. During her marriage, Manon gave birth two other children, this time sired by her husband: Jeanne-Marie-Thérèse (born in 1705)The historian Gustave Desnoiresterres didn't find any trace of the birth record in the parish registers in Paris of the eldest of the Fontaine children. and Jules-Armand (born on 3 April 1709), both also baptized in Saint-Roch.

The illegitimate daughters of Samuel Bernard are mentioned by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his Confessions:Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Confessions, book nº VII.

The three sisters must be called the Three Graces: Madame de la Touche, who escaped to England with the Duke of Kingston; Madame d'Arty, the mistress and even more, the friend, the unique and sincere love of the Prince of Conti, an adorable woman as much for her kindness, her charming character and the unalterable gaiety of her humor; and finally Madame Dupin, the most beautiful of the three and the only one who can't be criticized by her conduct.

Gaston de Villeneuve-Guibert describes the childhood of Louise:Gaston de Villeneuve-Guibert: Le portefeuille de madame Dupin: Dame de Chenonceaux, Calmann-Lévy ed., 20 January 1884, 606 p., "Madame Dupin", p. 3. online [retrieved 15 May 2015].

Her parents, who owned a considerable fortune, made everything to develop the happy dispositions and natural qualities which she was endowed. The most seductive charm and figure, joined with a sharp mind, a high character, a precocious intelligence and great memory; she like much by her softness and by the grace and distinction of her person. Her mother put her in a convent, and soon she became in the idol of the community: students and mistresses were delighted with her cheerfulness, her talents, her projections; the upper cited as a marvel that everyone spoiled and that we were delighted.

Claude Dupin

Samuel Bernard decided to engage his daughter Louise to Claude Dupin, a modest collector of Taille at Châteauroux. According to the columnist Barthélémy Mouffle d'Angerville in 1721 Claude Dupin helped the eldest daughter of the family, Jeanne-Marie-Thérèse de Fontaine, when she passed through Berry. She married with François II de Barbançois, Seigneur de Celon on 21 August 1720 Jeanne-Marie-Thérèse de Fontaine gave birth a son, called François-Armand de Barbançois on 17 September 1723 in the parish of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-de-Passy, but she died in childbirth. and, returning from the baths of Bourbon-l'Archambault and in considerable pain, she received the hospitality of Claude Dupin. Once his guest was recovered, Dupin was persuaded to accompanied her to Paris,Barthélémy Mouffle d'Angerville: Vie Privée de Louis XV : ou principaux événements, particularités et anecdotes de son règne, vol. 1, London, ed. John Peter Lyton, 1 December 1780 (repr.1796 under the title Siècle de Louis XV) (1st ed. 1781), 398 p. online, chap. XXXIII, pp. 288-290. The book is published in the Kingdom of Great Britain for fear of censorship and lawsuits. Gaston de Villeneuve-Guibert in his book of 1884, Le portefeuille de madame Dupin, mentions that Jeanne-Marie-Thérèse de Fontaine was accompanied by her mother and doesn't reported the return to Paris with Claude Dupin. where he met Samuel Bernard, who impressed by his kindness, offered him the hand of Louise, aged only sixteen. In his forties, a widower and father of a six-year-old son Louis-Claude (who became in the grandfather of the novelist George Sand), this move was unexpected and he readily agreed, because with this proposal came the appointment of Receiver General of finances in Metz and Alsace.Julie Ladant: Le fermier général Claude Dupin (1686-1769) in: theses.enc.sorbonne.fr [retrieved 17 May 2015].

On 29 November 1722 was signed the marriage contract and the religious ceremony was celebrated on 1 DecemberSource: marriage register of the parish of Saint-Roch in 1722, page 14. This register was destroyed in the fire of the City Hall of Paris on 24 May 1871. in the Church of Saint-Roch. Thanks to the support of his father-in-law, Claude Dupin became part of the Ferme générale on 1 October 1726, after he sold his office in Châteauroux. Samuel Bernard obtained this new post for his protégé, for a total of 500,000 livres.Robert Ranjard: Le secret de Chenonceau, Tours, ed. Gibert-Clarey, 8 June 1976 (1st. ed. 1950), 256 p., "Monsieur et madame Dupin", pp. 177-210. The banker abandoned the debt a few years later, and providing the couple with the cancellation of any acknowledgment of debt.Jean-Pierre Le Bouler: Claude DUPIN (1686-1769) in: Dictionnaire des journalistes (1600-1789) online [retrieved 17 May 2015]. On 24 December 1728 Dupin bought the post of Councillor-Secretary of the King, House and Crown of France and finances. This acquisition allows him to be accepted as part of the nobility in the first degree, with his offspring.

Louise gives birth to a son, Jacques-Armand on 3 March 1727 in Paris.Paris Archives: Parish of St. Paul. Marital Status - Birth certificate reconstituted. Document: V3E/N 812. Paris Archives 18 boulevard Sérurier 75019.

Thanks to the generosity of Samuel Bernard and his income of the Ferme générale, Claude Dupin could obtain a considerable fortune, mainly in lands. Monsieur and Madame Dupin occupied a privileged position and had a lavish lifestyle. On 12 April 1732 Claude Dupin, jointly with his mother-in-law Manon Dancourt, bought the prestigious Hôtel Lambert in the Île Saint-Louis for the sum of 140,000 livres.Jean Buon (preface by Michelle Perrot): Madame Dupin - Une féministe à Chenonceau au siècle des Lumières, Joué-lès-Tours, ed. La Simarre, December 2013, 224 p. On 9 June 1733 he acquired the magnificent Château de Chenonceau from the Duke of Bourbon for 130,000 livres. Each year, the Dupins spent the autumn in the Touraine. Starting in April 1741, Louise, with her husband, son and stepson, remained in the Hôtel de Vins, located in the Parisian Plâtrière streetThe Hôtel de Vins bore its name from his former owner, the Marquis de Vins d'Agoult de Montauban. Now called the Hôtel Dupin, was located in the nº 68 of Jean-Jacques-Rousseau street in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. and from 1752 they also owned a house in Clichy-sur-Seine where they spent the summer months. On 24 April 1738 with the acquisition of the Marquisate of Blanc and the Castellany of Cors, located at the limits of Berry and Poitou,Departmental Archives of Indre - nº 1 Jeanne d'Arc street 36000 Châteauroux. Document E158 - nº 65. they completed their patrimony. The Marquisate of Blanc included the Château-Naillac, the château de Roche, the Château de Rochefort, Château de Cors, Château de Forges, with his respectives properties, farms, ponds and lands,See the website of Amis de la bibliothèque municipale du Blanc: La famille Dupin et Le Blanc online [retrieved 17 May 2015]. who produced a total of 555,000 livres, four times the prize of Chenonceau. But soon difficulties arose with the Countess of Parabère,The Countess of Parabère was a former mistress of the Regent. Ruined by the lavish lifestyle that she led at court, was forced to sell in 1738 her lands of Blanc. the former owner, who caused the sequestration of Blanc lands and only after a decree of the Parlement of Paris dated 2 September 1739, confirmed by a judgment of 11 December, confirmed Claude Dupin as the legitimate owner of this lands and could recovered them.Chantal de la Véronne: Histoire du Blanc - des origines à la Révolution de 1789, vol. VI, Poitiers, ed. Mémoires de la société des antiquaires de l'Ouest (nº 4), 1962 (reprint. 2012 by ed. Alice Lyner), 234 p., pp. 40-42.

Samuel Bernard died on 18 January 1739 and according to the succession of his estate, Claude Dupin was forced to abandon the Hôtel Lambert the following 31 March.

On 16 April 1741 Monsieur and Madame Dupin officially take possession of the city of Blanc, according to the feudal tradition:Lucienne Chaubin: Le Blanc - vingt siècles d'histoire, Le Blanc, ed. de l'Office municipal de la culture, des arts et des loisirs, 1 January 1983, 206 p., "Les Dupin au Blanc", pp. 171-173.

The official procession was formed. The new feudal lord, armed and helmeted with his entourage advanced. Near him stood the pretty Marchioness of 34 years, and their children. All the noble citizens of Blanc, officers of court and administrators followed them. The people of the city, placed on the passage, looked them. The Reverend Father received them with a high mass. After the service, they visited the local monastery. The Reverend Father then walked with the beautiful Marchioness and gently asked not accompany her husband to visit their home, because this was against the customes.

Madame Dupin said with all her grace: the most valuable use we can make of our rights is to make them acceptable to those upon whom we have these rights. Since it didn't suit her that she not enter into her house, she didn't get in.

Madame Dupin