Dutch.

Monsieur: The court title of the king's brother. Gaston d'Orleans held it until his death in 1660. The title fell to Philip d'Anjou, who also assumed the title of Duc d'Orleans.

Montalais: Nicole-Anne-Constance de Montalais, called Aure by Dumas, was, like La Valliere, a maid of honor at the court of Gaston d'Orleans. In 1661 she entered the service of Henrietta d'Orleans, and shared an apartment with La Valliere. She became La Valliere's confidante, and used the information thus garnered to her own ends. She was known as a notorious schemer, and the historical record does indicate that she was in love, at least for a time, with a man named Malicorne.

Montespan: (1641-1707) Francoise-Athenais de Rochechouart de Mortemart was born at the Chateau de Tonnay-Charente. She was a maid of honor at the marriage of Philip d'Orleans and Henrietta Stuart in March, 1661. In 1663 she married the Duc de Montespan et d'Antin, and replaced La Valliere as the king's mistress in 1667.

Orleans, Gaston d': (1608-60) Gaston-Jean-Baptiste de France, Duc d'Orleans, was the younger brother of Louis XIII. He regularly plotted against Richelieu, thereby indirectly against his brother, the king. He became Lieutenant-Governor of the Kingdom when Anne of Austria assumed the Regency in 1643. He supported Anne during the first Fronde, but turned against her in the second, for which he was exiled to Blois in 1652. He reconciled with the court in 1659. Aramis judged him as a man "void of courage and honesty," a view shared by his contemporaries. The Cardinal de Retz said of him that he had "everything a gentleman should have, except courage." His presence in the novel is entirely fictional; he died in February, 1660.

Orleans, Philippe d': (1640-71) Philippe, called Philip by Dumas, was the second son of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, and Louis XIV's younger brother. He was Duc d'Anjou until 1660 when his uncle, Gaston d'Orleans died, leaving the title of Duc d'Orleans and the court title of "Monsieur" to him. He married Henrietta Stuart of England in 1661, but his homosexuality and jealousy ensured that the marriage was less than ideal, to say the least.

Pellisson: (1640-1701) Paul Pellisson (called Pelisson by Dumas) was part of Fouquet's literary circle and a member of the French Academy. Disfigured by smallpox in his youth, his ugliness brought him a sort of fame. After Fouquet's arrest, Pellisson wrote quite spiritedly in the defense of the former Superintendent of Finances. He was rewarded for his loyalty with five years in the Bastile. He subsequently regained the royal favor, and became the Historiographer Royal.

Richelieu: (1585-1642) Although he does not appear in The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Armand-Jean du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, is mentioned several times. He was an admirer of Machiavelli and, under the reign of Louis XIII, he became the most powerful man in France. He greatly strengthened France both at home and abroad, and named Mazarin as his successor shortly before his death. In The Three Musketeers, it is he who lays the snare for Anne of Austria involving the famous diamond studs given to the Duke of Buckingham. D'Artagnan and his three friends rescue the queen from this embarrassing predicament.

Saint-Aignan: (1610-87) Francois de Beauvillier, the Comte de Saint-
Aignan, was a former governor of the Touraine. He finally realized his
ambition, mentioned by Dumas, of joining the French Academy in 1663.
Before becoming First Gentleman to the King's Bedchamber, he was part of
Gaston d'Orleans's military household. Though quite a few years Louis
XIV's senior, he became the young king's chief purveyor of pleasures.

Saint-Remy: Francoise le Prevot de la Coutelaye became Madame de Saint- Remy following her third marriage. Her first was to a man named Besnard, a councilor of the Parliament at Rennes. Her second marriage was to Laurent de la Baume le Blanc, lord of the manor of La Valliere. He was Louise de la Valliere's father. Laurent died in 1651, and in 1655 she married Jacques Couravel, Marquis de Saint-Remy, First Chamberlain to Gaston d'Orleans. After Gaston's death, they both moved to Paris.

Treville: (1598-1672) Arnaud-Jean du Peyrer, Comte de Troisvilles (written and pronounced Treville) does not appear in The Vicomte de Bragelonne, but he was D'Artagnan's (both the real and fictional) predecessor as Captain of the Musketeers. He was a career soldier and, like D'Artagnan, a Gascon. He was appointed Captain-Lieutenant of the Musketeers in 1634 (the rank of Captain-General was reserved for the king), and was exiled in 1642 for opposing Richelieu. Mazarin disbanded the musketeers in 1646 (an historical fact ignored by Dumas), and Treville retired to Foix as its governor. In The Three Musketeers (which adds about 10 years to the ages of the historical counterparts), it was in Treville's office that the first meeting between D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis occurred.

Vanel: (1644-1703) Anne-Marguerite Vanel was the daughter of Claude Vanel (a magistrate in the Paris Parliament) and became the wife of Jean Coiffer (a member of the Royal Audit Office) in 1654. Contemporaries described her as a "dainty and extremely pretty young woman with a lively and very witty turn of mind." She was Fouquet's mistress during the 1650s, and later transferred her affections to Colbert. Her high spirits annoyed Colbert, and he passed her off to his brother.

Wardes: (1620-88) Francois-Rene Crespin du Bec was the Marquis de Vardes, and a noted schemer and bold liar. Some women, though, including Madame de Motteville, found him charming. Dumas creates two characters out of the historical De Vardes. The father plays a prominent part in The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After, and the son in The Vicomte de Bragelonne, though they were, in reality, the same man. He was named Governor of Aigues-Mortes in 1660 and was banished there a few years later following a court scandal. Although a favorite of Louis XIV, he got entangled in a plot by Olympe Mancini (then the Comtesse de Soissons) to avenge her sister, Marie, whom the king had abandoned in favor of his political marriage to Maria-Theresa of Spain. He remained in Aigues- Mortes for 17 years.

Much of the information for these biographies was taken from the David Coward's editions of the D'Artagnan Romances, published by Oxford World's Classics. Additional material came from the Fireblade Coffeehouse's web page on Alexandre Dumas at www.hoboes.com/html/FireBlade/Dumas/. The quote from Robert Louis Stevenson comes from his A Gossip on a Novel of Dumas's from Memories and Portraits.

End of Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg Dumas Commentary, by John Bursey