Cousin, Victor
"The youth of Madame de Longueville, or new revelations of court and convent in…" by Victor Cousin is a historical biography written in the mid-19th century. Drawing on unpublished letters and contemporary memoirs, it reconstructs the early life and character of Anne Geneviève de Bourbon, Duchess de Longueville, set against the courts and convents of 17th‑century France, foreshadowing her part in the Fronde and her later turn to penitence.The opening of the work declares its aim to go beyond earlier lives by unveiling the private Madame de Longueville through newly unearthed correspondence—especially around the Carmelites of the Rue Saint‑Jacques, the Rambouillet circle, her friendships, and her brother Condé—while defending the broader 17th century beyond the reign of Louis XIV. It sketches a three‑part arc: youthful innocence, a brief but intense political phase driven by love for La Rochefoucauld, and a long, austere repentance. A detailed introductory portrait assembles testimonies and portraits to evoke her celebrated beauty, languid grace, quick wit, and superior conversation, noting that, unlike polished contemporaries, her writing lacked formal training. The author argues she entered politics out of devotion rather than ambition, closely tracing early Fronde episodes (her stance at the Hôtel de Ville, the Normandy and Guyenne ventures) and criticizing La Rochefoucauld’s self‑interest and later calumnies. At the start of Chapter I, the narrative turns to her birth duri…
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