La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)

While in the service of Anne of Austria, Queen of France, La Rochefoucauld was involved in several political intrigues that got him short jail terms or exile to his estates. Then he became involved in the French civil war known as the Fronde through his affair with the beautiful Anne Geneviève de Bourbon, duchesse de Longueville. He was seriously wounded in battle several times, and his vision was impaired. However, he was able to return to court life after the Fronde ended. He was recognized in his own time as a leading man of letters and an exemplar of the accomplished nobleman, although he published the Maximes anonymously in 1665. He was the center of a small intellectual elite, including Madame de Sablé, Madame de Sévigné, and his great friend Madame de La Fayatte.