Alexandre Bontemps

The Chateau of Marly, Louis's holiday home; one of Bontemps's responsibilities

Alexandre Bontemps (French pronunciation: [alɛksɑ̃dʁ bɔ̃tɑ̃]; 1626–1701) was the valet of King Louis XIV and a powerful figure at the court of Versailles, respected and feared for his exceptional access to the King. He was the second of a sequence of five Bontemps to hold the position of Premier valet de la Chambre du Roi ("First valet of the king's bedchamber"[1]) in uninterrupted succession between 1643 and 1766, when an early death, leaving no successor, broke the line.[2] There were four head or Premier valets de chambre, of whom Bontemps became the most senior in 1665, and thirty-two valets.[3]

  1. ^ The Chambre du Roi, more important than it might sound to a modern ear, was an essential part of the royal household, the Maison du Roi.
  2. ^ "Famille Bontemps" on the French Wikipedia has details
  3. ^ Da Vinha (online):6 and SS Memoirs:III:40 and n.