­L’inscription de ­l’histoire dans les récits de la duchesse ­d’Abrantès Le cas de ­L’Espagnole

The duchesse ­d’Abrantès capitalized on the fashion for historical narratives. Numerous texts turn to the past to recover historical characters and facts. One example which illustrates the rapports between historical fact and literary fiction is the novella ­L’Espagnole, based on a real event recounted by the author in her Mémoires. This article examines the similarities and differences between the two texts, stressing the structural and literary developments introduced into the account.