Long before Age of Enlightenment royal mistresses like Madame de Pompadour and Jeanne du Barry dominated the royal court of France, there was the medieval Agnes Sorel, the first famous French royal mistress. As seen below, she was a controversial figure in her day, not least because of her shocking fashion sense.
The Lady of Beauty’s Bare Boob Fashion
Agnes Sorel (1422 – 1450) was the first officially recognized French royal mistress – yes, the kings of France were that open about their extramarital affairs. Born into minor nobility, she became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie d’Anjou, but soon caught the eye of her husband, King Charles VII. The French monarch became besotted with Sorel, a stunner who deserved her epithet “The Lady of Beauty”. He showered her with jewels, fine clothes, and other expensive gifts, and she bore him four daughters, of whom three survived infancy. He acknowledged all three, and furnished each with a generous dowry for her marriage.
Sorel throve in the limelight as the king’s official mistress, and liked to be the center of attention. Like modern celebrity or social media influencer, she made sure she was a constant subject of gossip. One way she did that was through her risqué fashion sense, and love of low cut and open-fronted dresses. When that got old, she recaptured attention by pioneering an even more controversial style that became a temporary fad. She started to walk around with one naked boob hanging out. Her sense of style was widely imitated.
The Controversial Royal Mistress
A prominent bishop denounced the new fad of “front openings through which ones sees the teats, nipples, and breasts of women”. Many contemporaries who praised Sorel’s beauty also denounced her as a “bad example to modest and honest women”. She could afford to ignore them. The only person who mattered, King Charles, was head over heels in love with her. However, Sorel was more than just an attention-seeking bimbo. She used her influence over the otherwise weak Charles VII to encourage him to resist English invaders who were rampaging through France at the time.
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Some Sources & Further Reading
Adams, Tracy – Agnes Sorel and the French Monarchy: History, Gallantry, and National Identity (2022)
History Halls – Bad Fads: The 1939 Goldfish Swallowing Craze That Swept American Colleges
National Geographic – 4 French Royal Mistresses Who Made Their Mark on History
