Scandalous Facts About Hortense Mancini, The Runaway Duchess
Hortense Mancini, The Runaway Duchess
"If the events that I have to recount to you seem like something out of a novel, blame it on my unhappy fate rather than my inclination" —Hortense Mancini
Hortense Mancini was born in Rome in 1646 to Baron Lorenzo Mancini and Girolama Mazzarini.
She was the fourth of five sisters who collectively became known as the Mazarinettes, as well as the niece of the famous Italian Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister to Louis XIV of France.
With connections like these, it's no wonder her life was full of drama, intrigue, and more than a little controversy.
1. A Most Noble Lineage
The Mancini family were one of Italy’s oldest noble families. Dating back thousands of years, the Mancinis had countless titles, including dukes, counts, princes, bishops, and knights. Talk about a lineage!
2. Eclectic Background
Hortense was barely out of diapers when her father Lorenzo died in 1650. Shortly after, her mother shuttled her and her sisters off to France, hoping her brother Cardinal Mazarin could arrange good marriages for them.
3. The Wild One
Hortense’s brother Philippe Jules Mancini arrived in France with the family, and was intended to be Cardinal Mazarin’s heir, but Philippe wasn’t quite as disciplined as Mazarin would have hoped. The Cardinal later described him as "
disapplied, unpredictable, and subject to whim".
4. Game Gone Wrong
Hortense’s other brother, Alphonse Mancini, perished in a terrible accident somewhere between the ages 12-14 after hitting his head on a cobblestone while playing a game.
The tragedy shook the family: After all, they had five girls but only three boys to spare.
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