Athénaïs de Montespan

Madame de Montespan
Contemporary portrait of Françoise by an unknown artist
Full name Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart
Born	(1640-10-05)5 October 1640 Lussac-les-Châteaux, France
Baptised	5 October 1640 Lussac-les-Châteaux, France
Died	27 May 1707(1707-05-27) (aged 66) Bourbon-l'Archambault, France
Noble family	House of Pardaillan de Gondrin House of Rochechouart
Spouse(s)	Louis Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin
Detail Issue Louis Antoine, Duke of Antin Marie Christine de Pardaillan de Gondrin Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine Louis César, Count of Vexin Louise Françoise, Duchess of Bourbon Louise Marie Anne, Mademoiselle de Tours Françoise Marie, Duchess of Orléans Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse
Father	Gabriel de Rochechouart de Mortemart
Mother	Diane de Grandseigne
Occupation	Maîtresse en titre of Louis XIV

Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan (5 October 1640 – 27 May 1707), better known as Madame de Montespan (French: [madam də mɔ̃tɛspɑ̃]), was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children.

Born into one of the oldest noble families of France, the House of Rochechouart, Madame de Montespan was called by some the "true Queen of France"' during her romantic relationship with Louis XIV due to the pervasiveness of her influence at court during that time.

Her so-called "reign" lasted from around 1667, when she first danced with Louis XIV at a ball hosted by the king's younger brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, at the Louvre Palace, until her alleged involvement in the notorious Affaire des Poisons in the late 1670s to 1680s. Her immediate contemporary was Barbara Villiers, mistress of King Charles II of England.

She is an ancestress of several royal houses in Europe, including those of Spain, Italy, Bulgaria and Portugal.

Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart was born on 5 October 1640 and baptised the same day at the Château of Lussac-les-Châteaux in today's Vienne department, in the Poitou-Charentes region in France. Françoise (as a précieuse, she later adopted the name "Athénaïs"), or more formally, Mlle de Tonnay-Charente, possessed the blood of two of the oldest noble families of France through her parents, Gabriel de Rochechouart, Duke of Mortemart, Prince of Tonnay-Charente, and Diane de Grandseigne, a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Austria, Queen consort of France.