Louise de la Valliére was the first official mistress of Louis XIV( or “mistresse en titre”). Their affair began when she was 17.  Louise was very kind and very pious.  The Abbé de Choise reported that Louise “had an exquisite complexion, blond hair, blue eyes, a sweet smile . . . [and] an expression [at] once tender and modest.”

Louise had five children by Louis XIV, of whom only the last two survived infancy.

She longed for a nunnery.

Her wish was finally granted and was admitted to a Carmelite convent in 1664. The day she left Versailles, she threw herself at the feet of the Queen, begging forgiveness: “My crimes were public, my repentance must be public, too.”