WHO WAS AGNÈS Sorel? Historians and history buffs with an interest in Old Regime France are likely to reply that she was the first “official French royal mistress.” By this they seem to mean that she received an official designation, an acknowledged appointment (“élection officielle de la favorite,” writes one), as royal mistress. “Of course, Charles VII was far from the first king of France to have an extramarital lover,” explains a popular historian, “but he did formalize his mistress's place at court in unprecedented ways that eclipsed the role even of the queen.” She is also frequently referred to as the first “maîtresse-en-titre.” Another popular historian of mistresses sums it up: “The first of the great French royal mistresses was Agnès Sorel, lady-in-waiting to Isabelle of Lorraine, who attracted King Charles VII. It was for her that the title maîtresse en titre was created to denote the official mistress of the King of France, who rewarded and honoured her in every way he could.”

And yet, the expression “maîtresse-en-titre” was not invented for Agnès Sorel. No contemporary document refers to her in that way. In fact, the word “maistresse” to designate a beloved woman begins to appear only in the sixteenth century. Neither the Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) nor Godefroy's Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française, et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe sièle records this definition, restricting the meaning to a woman holding authority or property. In contrast, the first (1694) edition of the Dictionnaire de l’académie française defines the word as “girls and women sought after for marriage” and adds that it can also be applied “to someone who is loved by another.” But the definition articulates a trend visible earlier. Henri IV routinely addresses his favourite, Gabrielle d’Estrées, as “ma maistresse,” in letters of the last years of the sixteenth century. Brantôme, writing during the same period, refers to the Duchess of Étampes as François I's “principal lady and mistress” (“sa principalle dame et maistresse”). For him, however, Agnès is only “la belle Agnez” with whom the king was in love (“ennamourché”).

As for the later addition, “en titre,” it normally means incumbent, as in “champion du monde en titre,” the current world champion, although it can sometimes mean “official,” as in “comptable en titre,” a qualified or official accountant.