Book Description

Jeanne Becu, Comtesse du Barry (Marie-Jeanne, Comtesse du Barry) (1743-1793) was a French courtesan who became the mistress of Louis XV of France and is one of the most famous victims of the Reign of Terror. She first served as courtesan to Louis Francois Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu. Marie-Jeanne, however, could not qualify as an official royal mistress unless she had a title; this was solved by her marriage to Du Barry's brother, Comte Guillaume du Barry, in 1769. She was presented to the King's family and the court on April 2, 1769. At the King's request before his death in May 1774, she was banished from the court, as her amoral presence would have prevented the king from receiving absolution. In 1792 she was suspected of giving financial aid to emigres from the French Revolution. After a trial, she was executed by guillotine on the Place de la Concorde on December 8, 1793. Her Memoirs were written by the French Baron, Etienne Leon Lamothe-Langon (1786-1864) and were first published in English in 1903.