Gaston was the younger brother of Louis XIII. He was given commands in the French army over the years, but that was not enough for him. He wanted real power, so he spent his days intriguing against his brother and Cardinal Richelieu. His plots never worked out. He was kept under surveillance by spies; whenever one of his schemes seemed close to fruition, he was threatened with arrest. Sometimes he fled, but he usually betrayed his accomplices to get out of trouble. He was always forgiven for his schemes because he was the heir to the throne. When he was thirty, the future Louis XIV was born. No one could have been unhappier about the birth of this baby than Gaston, since the baby bumped him down in the succession, thus revoking his get out of jail free card. After the deaths of Louis XIII and Richelieu, Gaston plotted against Louis XIV, Anne of Austria (the Regent) and Cardinal Mazarin, without success. Gaston had proven himself to be weak, untrustworthy and vacillating, and it became increasingly difficult for him to find co-conspirators.
Gaston was married twice. His first wife was a great heiress, but died after giving birth to a daughter, La Grande Mademoiselle, who inherited her mother’s estates and fortune. Gaston won his daughter’s heart by paying a lot of attention to her, spoiling her rotten, and so forth. Gaston married a second time after fleeing from yet another failed conspiracy. His second wife was a sister of the Duke of Lorraine, who had hosted him during his exile. Gaston came to regret this marriage, since it was an unhappy one, and because their only son died young.
Gaston was La Grande Mademoiselle’s hero, and she was immensely proud of him. During the Fronde, she and Gaston joined the Frondeurs in the belief that doing so would lead to real power for him and a marriage to Louis XIV for her. Gaston betrayed her when the Fronde was over by disavowing her actions and blaming her for everything. Gaston learned that his old tricks couldn’t get him out of trouble, and spent the rest of his life in exile on his estates. Because of her wealth, La Grande Mademoiselle was only exiled to her estates for a few years. During her exile, she discovered that her father had mismanaged her estates and had stolen a lot of money from her.
Gaston was unhappy during his last years because of his exile and because his estates were a royal apanage which would revert to the crown on his death since he had no son to inherit them. This would leave his wife and younger daughters at the mercy of Louis XIV, a fate which horrified Gaston, who was, in his own way, an affectionate father. Gaston made peace with La Grande Mademoiselle and also made her promise to look after his wife and her half-siblings financially. She kept her word. She even took in and cared for one of Gaston’s illegitimate sons, who had been abandoned by their father shortly after his birth.
