Rochechouart (Mortemart), Marie Madelaine Gabrielle De

Rochechouart (Mortemart), Marie Madelaine Gabrielle De, abbess of Fontevrault, was born in 1645. The daughter of the duke of Mortemart, she was possessed of a great degree of the beauty which rendered her sister, Madame de Montespan, so famous. At the age of twenty she took the veil at Bois, and in 1670 became abbess and superior of the Order of Fontevrault. She was well read, and conversant with the literature of the Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Latin languages, as well as of her own. After her death, which occurred Aug. 15, 1704, there were found among her papers several dissertations on piety, morals, and criticism. One is entitled Question sur la Politesse, which may be found in the Recueil de Divers Ecrits, by Saint-Hyacilthe (Brussels, 1736). See Gallia Christiana.