Castle of GrignanMarquise de Sévigné (Marie de Rabutin-Chantal)

Born in Paris in 1626 the Marquise de Sévigné is one France's most renowned woman of letters, thanks to the letter she wrote to her daughter Françoise. Born Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, she became Marquise de Sévigné when at the age of 18 in the year 1644 she married Henri de Sévigné, three times her age.

Marquise de Sévigné suffered great loss early in her life, losing her mother (1627) first then her father (1633) follower by three of her four grandparents along with two uncles.

Marquise de Sévigné had her first child, Françoise-Marguerite in 1646 followed by a boy in 1648. Her husband died in a dual in 1651. A widow at 25, Marquise de Sévigné chose not to remarry and instead devoted her time and energy to the education of her children.

On January 27, 1669 Françoise-Marguerite married Count of Grignan, who shortly after became Lieutenant-General of Provence.

This forced Françoise-Marguerite to move with her husband to the Castle of Grignan and thus started one of the most celebrated letter writing sequences in French history. Between the years 1671-1696 Marquise de Sévigné wrote no less than 1000 letters, now considered classics and works of art today.

Marquise de Sévigné's letters focus on the grander and pageantry of the 17th century and offer are rare look into the life of woman from that time period. The letters are personal and throughout their pages one can read the life that Marquise de Sévigné lived.

Marquise de Sévigné died at the Castle of Grignan on April 17th 1696.

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