Like Mother, Like Daughter: Hortense Mancini, Duchesse de Mazarin, and Marie-Charlotte de La Porte-Mazarin, Marquise de Richelieu

Abstract

This article analyses a quintet of letters in the Albemarle Papers and the Vernon Papers from the collections at the British Library to explore the relationship between Hortense Mancini, Duchesse de Mazarin, and her daughter Marie-Charlotte de La Porte-Mazarin, Marquise de Richelieu. In 1668, Mancini left her abusive marriage and her children, eventually seeking sanctuary in London. Decades later, her daughter also fled an oppressive marriage and swiftly made her way to the English capital. Both mother and daughter, married in high-profile ceremonies, followed by equally high-profile separations, found themselves together in the same city. Yet, despite this seemingly fortuitous reunion, the five letters at the center of this essay reveal arrangements for the deportation of the Marquise de Richelieu from England in 1698 on royal orders. Penned a mere seven months before the suicide of Mancini, these letters draw out the connection between this extradition and Mancini’s death.