Name: Anne Martine Boucher
Nom de plume: Ninon de l'Enclos
Born: 1605
Traits: Intelligent, Ambitious, Charismatic, Charming, Confident, Creative, Cultured, Daring, Graceful
Romantic History: Unknown
Husband: Nicolas Merlot
Parents: Binet Boucher and Gervaise Boucher
Aspiration: Pleasure
Character Alignment: Neutral
Class: Courtesan
"Feminine virtue is nothing but a convenient masculine invention."
Born Anne Martine Boucher in Charonne, she was nicknamed Ninon by her father at an early age. She grew up in a tug of war between the religiosity of her mother, and the free-wheeling attitudes of her father. It was easy to see which parent would win out, although Martine loved both her parents.
From an early age, Martine was determined to remain independent and unmarried, even if her decision ruined her parents' plans for her future.
When she was 12, Martine declared to her father that she was no longer a girl, but a boy. Amused, her father had his tailor make her an outfit consisting of breeches, doublet, and boots, taking her out riding in the park dressed in her new garb. He also educated her like a boy, teaching her history, philosophy and lute playing.
Despite her mother's best efforts to turn her into a god-fearing pious woman, she was determined to live a life of pleasure, both physically and mentally.
A few years after her mother's death, she had to come at a decision about what she wanted to do with her life: either to marry or enter a convent. To her horror, her father decided for her and she found herself married to an ignorant bourgeois man whom she came to hate after only two years of marriage. Not even the birth of their two children could save Martine's marriage, so, one summer morning, one hour before sunrise, Martine left her family and made her way to Paris, where she arrived one day later.
Fortunately, she went to her older brother's house, where she met with his wife, Alanete. The young woman understood Martine's choice and decided to help her, by introducing her sister-in-law to an old friend whom she knew back from the years spent in Convent.
Only one year later, Anne Martine Boucher, known as Ninon de l'Enclos, became one of Paris' most famous courtesans and patron of the arts.
Children
Gaubert Merlot (1629)
Victor Merlot (1630)