Among the Sun King's four First Valets de Chambre, Alexandre Bontemps remained in the history of France for having been the most famous, the most courteous, the most loved by the king, but the most feared of ministers. Saint Simon, who was not tender, had these words:"a rare man of his kind, a man of domestic secrecy, who knows everything about the King, his habits, his private life, and is extremely rare, neither slander nor peddle no gossip”.
Alexandre Bontemps, a life in the service of Louis XIV
Alexandre Bontemps was born in June 1626 in Paris. Baptized in July 1628 in the Hotel de Vendôme, dependent on the parish of Saint Roch, his godfather and godmother were César de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1594-1665) father of François de Vendôme Duke of Beaufort and Elisabeth de Bourbon (1614- 1664). His father, Jean Baptiste Bontemps from Aix en Provence, is a surgeon and enters the service of Louis XIII. A barber surgeon, Jean Baptiste bled Louis XIII so well that he was appointed First Surgeon to the King by Cardinal Richelieu. The king therefore kept it carefully with him.
At the age of sixteen, Alexandre had been appointed commendatory abbot of Hyverneaux having received a very good education in letters. He remained at the head of this abbey only until 1655, but his descendants succeeded one another there until 1702. Thanks to his father, he received the survival of the office of First Valet de Chambre from 1652 and in was titular in 1659. On March 6, 1667, Alexandre married Claude Marguerite Bosc. They had four children, including Louis Alexandre in March 1669. He remarried in March 1674 (following the death of his wife) with the half-sister of his first wife, but secretly. Saint Simon will say:“it is the Maintenon of Bontemps…Like master, like valet! »
After fifty years of service to the monarchy, the King's accomplice will die on January 17, 1701, in Versailles, he was 74 years old. Buried on January 19, 1701 in Paris in the church of Saint Louis on the island, his heart is in the convent of the Feuillants on rue Saint Honoré. His entrails are transported to the church of Marly. At his death, the inventory of his property in 1701 amounted to 368,152 pounds which will be shared between his two sons. He earned £28,245 a year, plus miscellaneous bonuses, making a total of £61,245 a year.
The various functions of Bontemps
Being present at the wedding of the King and Françoise d'Aubigné is enough to make him go down in history as the sole representative of the King's Valets de Chambre. Having become a sort of model, only his name is remembered among the servants of Louis XIV, although there were 4 of them to share the work, each of the Valets serving 3 months a year. A good man and devoted body and soul to his King, he was sometimes feared by ministers and public figures. A man of the king's confidence, he witnessed his marriage to Madame de Maintenon. Qualified as the King's "forehand", Bontemps was the King's confidant, the executor of his most intimate orders, the holder of his secrets, the organizer of his private life.
It had the functions of:
- First valet de chambre du Roi from 1659 to 1701 (surviving his father)
- King's Advisor
- Governor of Rennes whose government he resold in 1698, remaining hereditary.
- Intendant (Governor) of the lands, parks and Palace of Versailles from 1665 to 1701
- Intendant (Governor) of the lands, parks and castle of Marly from 1665 to 1701
- Superintendent of the Maison de la Dauphine in 1679
- Secretary General of the Swiss and Graubünden (it was he who actually commanded the Swiss and Graubünden, this position being normal given his position as Governor of Versailles, he had to guarantee the safety of the castle as well as that of the king)
- Knight of the Order of Saint Lazarus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- Vicar of the Order of Saint-Lazare and Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Among the prerogatives of Bontemps, this First Valet de Chambre ensured the movements of the King and ordered the entire stay. He drew up the list of authorized guests at Marly, was responsible for the organization and smooth running of the Apartments evenings which he attended whenever he wished. He was also in charge of allocating apartments at Versailles (not an easy task). Colbert gave sums in person to Bontemps, to be distributed according to the wishes of the King. The First Valet de Chambre had so much power that Colbert sometimes came after him, and he wrote then in his Memoirs:"to do the works requested by Mr. Bontemps, in the chapel and the sacristy".
Bontemps often begged the king …to satisfy others, never for himself or his family. So loved by the king, that Louis XIV offered him one day for his son what he asked for the others! In return for his office and the confidence that the king placed in him, he received certain advantages. Bontemps had 2 apartments in the Palace of Versailles, one of which was located in the Princes' wing, a five-room apartment in the continuity of that of Madame de Montespan. Later, this apartment will house the Cabinet of Curiosities of Louis XIV, then the Salon des Jeux of Louis XVI. He also had an apartment in the Château de Saint Germain, an apartment in the Tuileries, he was able to acquire in 1687 the strongholds of Saulloy and Champmorin (county of Sancerre), a hotel in rue Saint Louis en l'Ile, a house in Fontainebleau and a other in Saint Germain.
Among the other privileges, there are those concerning the baptism of Louis Alexandre (his first son) which was done with great pomp:the godfather being Louis XIV himself and the godmother La Grande Mademoiselle. During the marriage of Louis Alexandre, the king was a witness and participated financially in the reception. Louis Alexandre received a cross from the king and his wife a diamond ring. Louis XIV having ennobled his favorite Valet de Chambre, the general armorial of Bontemps registered in the Versailles register was composed "of gold with a tree of Vert, and a chief of mouth charged with a Lyon passer of gold, joined of azure has a golden face accompanied by three eagles testes set in silver, two in chief and one in point” in 1696.
Tributes to Bontemps
His death left a great void at Court, with no valet equal to him. Tributes poured in like that of Dangeau "he is a blessed man at court, who has never hurt anyone and who has done a lot of good". Sourches mentions:"in the evening, Bontemps died universally regretted by adults and children, and the King gave him this praise so beautiful and so rare that he had never spoken ill of anyone and that he had never passed a day without speaking well of someone". De Bellocq, the poet even made a poem.
The newspaper Mercure ran a 7-page article praising his character:"The Court has just lost a man of such rare kindness that barely a century in does it produce a similar one, and I don't even know if one has ever seen one like it. He spent his life doing service. He caused good to be done to some and averted the harm that could be done to others… He never spoke ill of anyone and only opened his mouth to speak well of those he heard about. It is impossible to serve the king more accurately than he did. He was only diligent about it, and had the same ardor for the smallest things when it came to his service as for the most important. Finally, he was born less for himself than for his master and for all those who implored his help and even who needed it without their imploring...Mr. Bontemps died at the age of seventy-seven, regretted, esteemed, cherished by the whole court and even by those who had heard of him without knowing him”.
A contemporary author, Olivier Seigneur, also paid homage to him, in his four detective novels.
Sources
"Louis XIV's servants" by Mathieu Da Vinha. Tempus, 2009.
Olivier Seigneur “The Assassinated Unicorn, The Outraged Gods, The Blood of the Trianon, The Vestibule of Crime”.