Molière died in 1673 after collapsing in his own play; priests refused him last rites, and Louis XIV allowed a night burial

Molière collapsed during a performance of his play Le Malade imaginaire, first staged on 10 February 1673, and died a few hours later at home, aged 51. He died without receiving the last rites. Two priests declined to visit him, and a third arrived too late. Under French law of the time, actors could not be buried in consecrated ground. His widow, Armande, asked the king for permission for a normal funeral held at night. Louis XIV agreed. The body was buried in the part of the cemetery reserved for unbaptised infants. In 1792 his remains were moved to the Musee national des Monuments Francais, and in 1817 to Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, near the grave of La Fontaine. Historians have doubted that the bones moved in 1792 and 1817 are his^†. The tomb at Pere Lachaise is his official grave.