11 h 58 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 11 h 58 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can a rich, stubborn princess keep for herself when her cousin the king demands obedience?
In Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle, 1652–1693, Arvède Barine follows a family bond strained by power. Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans takes up arms against the crown during the Fronde. Her cousin Louis XIV learns to rule by bringing proud nobles like her to heel.
For Mademoiselle, resistance leads to years away from court at Saint-Fargeau. Yet the struggle between personal wishes and royal authority reaches beyond rebellion. Her attachment to the Duke of Lauzun, a witty courtier in the king's circle, brings love into a world where even a princess cannot simply choose her own path.
What you’ll discover
- A princess who resists Meet a rich, proud woman whose stubborn choices place her against the crown.
- Cousins divided by revolt Follow the Fronde through a family conflict with consequences far beyond the household.
- Life away from court See what resistance costs Mademoiselle as she spends years in banishment at Saint-Fargeau.
- Love under royal authority Explore her wish to marry Lauzun, where private longing meets the king's power.
- A court drawn inward Watch a great house become a court that depends increasingly on one man.
Who will love it
Readers who love court life, royal intrigue and true love stories will enjoy this book. It suits anyone curious about Louis XIV before Versailles, and about Molière and Racine at court.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Exile turns a rebel princess into a reader
- Her family tries to take her fortune
- Mazarin rules and the King learns to wait
- The King takes power and goes back to school
- Charity, not the Court, saved the starving provinces
- A young Court mixes pleasure, wit and bold plays
- Mistresses, poison and the fall of a favourite woman
- A princess falls for a Gascon dwarf
- Lauzun's dungeon and the price of his freedom
- Absolute rule outlives the woman who fought it
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Luis XIV y la Grande Mademoiselle, 1652–1693
by Arvède Barine · 1905
A proud princess fights to marry the man she loves, but his attacks on Montespan help send him to Pignerol.
Challenging5–10 hours to read2 languages
Aprende un idioma con clásicos de nivel challengingEspañolFrancésAlemánItalianoJaponésPortuguésInglésCómo medimos los niveles
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In short
What happens to a princess who joins a rebellion hoping to marry a king, and then loses? In 1652 the Grande Mademoiselle, first cousin of Louis XIV, rides into exile at a half-ruined castle, her dreams of glory gone.
Luis XIV y la Grande Mademoiselle, 1652–1693 de un vistazo
- Tiempo de lectura
- Unas 6 h 25 min5 h 5 min fast, 7 h 35 min slow
- Duración
- 91.200 palabras
- Nivel en la biblioteca
- Exigente long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- Primera publicación
- 1905by Arvède Barine
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Cuánto se tarda en leer los clásicos · Actualizado
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Exile turns a rebel princess into a reader
The Fronde was a failed revolution, and Barine treats it as a dividing line in French history. After it, a weary nation accepted absolute rule. The Grande Mademoiselle, who had fired the Bastille cannon at the King's troops, pays with exile at Saint-Fargeau in 1652.
The castle is close to a ruin, with missing doors and windows, and it is full of rats. On the night she arrives she weeps in front of her whole household. By the fourth day she is back, camps in a cellar, recovers her good humour and begins to fix the place up.
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¿Qué edición es la adecuada para mí?
- 15-minute summary
- Las ideas clave de todo el libro en unos 13 minutos. Una buena introducción o un repaso.
Detalles
- First published
- 1905
- Language
- Español
- Level
- Challenging
Cita esta edición
Barine, Arvède. Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle, 1652–1693. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/louis-xiv-and-la-grande-mademoiselle-1652-1693.
Barine, A. (2026). Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle, 1652–1693. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/louis-xiv-and-la-grande-mademoiselle-1652-1693 (Original work published 1905)
Barine, Arvède. Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle, 1652–1693. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/louis-xiv-and-la-grande-mademoiselle-1652-1693.
@book{barine2026louis,
author = {Barine, Arvède},
title = {Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle, 1652–1693},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/louis-xiv-and-la-grande-mademoiselle-1652-1693},
note = {First published 1905}
}
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What is Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle about?
It follows the cousin of Louis XIV, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, from her exile after the Fronde in 1652 to her death in 1693. Alongside her life, it shows how the young King built absolute power.
Who was La Grande Mademoiselle?
She was the Duchess of Montpensier, a granddaughter of Henri IV and cousin of Louis XIV. She was one of the richest women in France and took an active part in the Fronde rebellion.
Who was Lauzun and what happened between him and Mademoiselle?
Lauzun was a small, witty Gascon nobleman and favourite of the King. Mademoiselle fell deeply in love with him, and the book follows their near marriage, his imprisonment and their quarrels.
The author
Arvède Barine
1840–1908 · French writer and historian
Arvède Barine was the pen name of a French writer born in Paris in 1840. She lived in France and died in Paris in 1908. She wrote biographies and historical studies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her works include Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle, 1652–1693.
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