Madame de Villars was born into a noble family in Normandy in 1624. Her father was the Marquis Bernardin Gigault de
Bellefonds, Governor of
Valognes and her mother was Jeanne Aux-Épaules (circa 1590–1652). She was married in 1651 to
Pierre de Villars, Marquis de Villars (1623–1698) who was named an ambassador for King
Louis XIV and assigned to Spain in 1679. Through their marriage, Marie Gigault became the Marquise de Villars. They had two sons, Armand (died 1712) and Claude-Louis-Hector (1653–1734) who inherited his father's title, Marquis de Villars.
Writings Also known as
Marie Gigault de Bellefonds de Villars, Madame de Villars has been called an "ambassadress" to Spain because of her unparalleled access between 1679 and 1681 to the new French-born wife of
Charles II, King of Spain. According to Borgognoni, As soon as the Marie Louise d'Orléans arrived in Spain, she became fast friends with Madame de Villars and her husband, the French ambassador, who translated for the couple during their wedding ceremonies as neither the King nor his new wife spoke the language of the other.
Noble ancestry On her father's side, Madame de Villars was the daughter of a governor of
Valognes and
Caen in
Normandy, and she was descended on her mother's side from Jeanne aux Épaules to Madeleine de Dreux and the
counts of Dreux, the European royal house of the
Capetian dynasty in France. == Works ==