January 1, 1996

This 2-part TV movie traces the life of Françoise d'Aubigné, who became Madame de Maintenon. After a brief introduction to her early life, the story takes shape with her marriage to the satirical poet Paul Scarron, and continues through to her prodigious rise to the court of Louis XIV, whose morganatic wife she became in 1683 at the age of 48. The film focuses in particular on her period as governess to the illegitimate children Madame de Montespan had with the king, and her stormy relationship with the Marquise, who could not bear to see the king become increasingly unreasonably attached to her. The film ends with her death at Saint-Cyr on April 15, 1719.