Catherine-Henriette d'Angennes, comtesse d'Olonne, (baptized 18 June 1634, La Loupe - 13 June 1714, Paris), notorious beauty of the court of Louis XIV. The youngest of the three daughters of Charles d'Angennes, a Norman gentleman who had a fine estate in La Loupe and numerous properties around Caen, she and her sister Madeleine each made brilliant matches to wealthy noblemen and were among the leaders of Paris society for several years. In 1652, Catherine-Henriette had married Louis de la Trémoille, comte d'Olonne; the couple had no children. But the comtesse's affairs were legion, and she and her husband were legally separated, in person as well as property, after about ten years. In his celebrated
mémoires Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon mentions the comtesse:
« Madame d'Olonne était veuve d'un cadet de la maison de La Trémoille qui tint toute sa vie chez lui tripot de jeu et de débauche. Les deux sœurs étaient d'Angennes, d'une branche cadette éteinte en elles. Leur beauté et le débordement de leur vie firent grand bruit. Aucune femme, même les plus décriées pour la galanterie, n'osait les voir ni paraître nulle part avec elles. On en était là alors ; la mode a bien changé depuis. Quand elles furent vieilles et que personne n'en voulut plus, elles tâchèrent de devenir dévotes. »
“Madame d'Olonne was the widow of a younger son of the house of La Trémoille who spent all her days in her gambling den and at her debauchery. The two sisters were from Angennes, from a younger branch that became extinct with them. Their beauty and the excessiveness of their lives caused a great stir. No woman, even those most disparaged for their own affairs, dared to see them or appear anywhere with them. Thus we were, then; fashion has changed a lot since then. When they were old and no one wanted them any more, they tried to become devout."
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Jean Petitot (12 July 1607, Geneva - 3 April 1691, Vevey), Swiss enamel painter, who spent most of his career working for the courts of France and England.
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