Its inception is recounted in a note at the end of the manuscript.
In July 1764 Sade set out from Paris for Dijon, to see documents from the time of Charles VI of France at the Carthusian convent (including the Duke of Burgundy's will and the confession of Boisbourdon, Isabelle's favourite), which he alleges were destroyed later at the time of the French Revolution.
Its central character is Isabelle herself (Isabeau of Bavaria, d. 1435), wife of Charles VI, used by Sade to create a woman who is beautiful, evil and cruel.
She has similarities to Juliette and possibly acts as a prototype of Sade's later, most perverted characters.
This article about an erotic novel of the 18th century is a stub.