Mazarinettes

The Mazarinettes were the seven nieces of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the Chief Minister of France during the youth of King Louis XIV. He brought them, together with three of his nephews, from Italy to France in the years 1647 and 1653. Afterwards, he arranged advantageous marriages for them to powerful and influential French and Italian princes. To overcome aristocratic resistance to the matches, the cardinal generously granted huge dowries to the fiancés.

The girls were daughters of Mazarin's sisters, Laura Margherita and Geronima:

Laura Martinozzi

Laura Mancini

Anne Marie Martinozzi

Marie Mancini

Olympia Mancini

Hortense Mancini

Marie Anne Mancini

Arriving in France at different times, the girls were aged between seven and thirteen years old at the time of their arrival. Their uncle, Cardinal Mazarin, had requested their presence at the French court for several reasons. First, he was tired of being surrounded by French nobles and courtiers he could not trust. He wanted to be able to relax around and confide in members of his own family. Second, he wished to use his nieces and nephews to consolidate his legacy in French society and history. As a cleric, he had no legitimate children with which to do that.

Upon their arrival in Paris, Anne of Austria, the mother of the young king, Louis XIV, took the children under her wing. She even allowed the younger ones to be educated together with the king and his younger brother, Philippe, in the Palais-Royal. With this mark of favour, she placed the young ladies on the same level as the princesses of the blood.

When the girls were first officially presented at court, Marshal Villeroy said to the king's uncle, Gaston, Duke of Orléans:

"Voilà des petites demoiselles qui présentement ne sont point riches, mais qui bientôt auront de beaux châteaux, de bonnes rentes, de belles pierreries, de bonne vaisselle d'argent, et peut-être de grandes dignités […]"

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