Born Julie Justine Marine Leboeuf on June 10, 1838, in Saint-Lambert-des-Levées, Maine-et-Loire, France, Marguerite Bellanger, her stage name, was the daughter of François Leboeuf and Julie Hanot. Marguerite’s family was poor and when she was fifteen, she began working as a laundress. After an affair with a lieutenant from the French army, Marguerite joined a local circus, performing as an acrobat and a trick rider.
Margurite traveled to Paris and made her acting debut at the Théâtre de la Tour d’Auvergne using the stage name Marguerite Bellanger, Bellanger being the surname of an uncle. Her acting career was not successful and Marguerite became a popular courtesan, cocotte in French. Cocette is defined as a woman in France under the Second Empire who was paid for sexual services but who was not or no longer registered as a prostitute by the police. Marguerite was much in demand and lived a very comfortable life.
Napoleon III, Emperor of the French; Credit – Wikipedia
In June 1863, Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, known as Louis-Napoleon, while driving through a park in his carriage, happened to see 25-year-old Marguerite sheltering from the rain under a tree. She soon became his mistress, and, with the knowledge of all those around him, including his wife Empress Eugénie, Marguerite traveled with Louis-Napoleon on his private and official trips. Empress Eugénie had given her husband his heir in 1856 after a two-day labor that endangered both mother and child and required a lengthy recovery. Empress Eugénie found sex with her husband disgusting and it is doubtful that she allowed further approaches by her husband. She accepted her husband’s lovers and mistresses.
The grounds of the Château de Saint-Cloud where Louis-Napoleon gave Marguerite a home; Credit – Wikipedia
Louis-Napoleon gave Marguerite two homes: one at 57 rue des Vignes in the Passy section of Paris and the other on the grounds of the Château de Saint-Cloud, Louis-Napoleon’s preferred residence.
In February 1864, Marguerite gave birth to a son Charles Jules Auguste François Marie Leboeuf, who was in all likelihood, Louis-Napoleon’s son. After the birth of her son, Louis-Napoleon gave Marguerite the Château de Villeneuve-sous-Dammartin, near Meaux, France.
Napoleon III at the Battle of Sedan by Wilhelm Camphausen; Credit – Wikipedia
In July 1870, France entered the Franco-Prussian War. Without significant allied support, and with unprepared and limited forces, the French army was quickly defeated. Louis-Napoleon was captured at the Battle of Sedan and surrendered on September 1, 1870. As word reached Paris, the Third Republic was declared on September 4, 1870, ending, for the last time, the French monarchy. Louis-Napoleon was held by the Prussians in a castle in Wilhelmshöhe, near Kassel until peace was established between France and Germany. He was released in March 1871 and quickly went into exile. Arriving in England on March 20, 1871, Napoleon and his family settled at Camden Place, a large country house in Chislehurst, England where he lived until he died in 1873. With Louis-Napoleon’s exile, his affair with Marguerite ended. In 1872, she married William Kulbach, Baronet, a Captain in the British Army and the couple lived in England and France. When Louis-Napoleon died in 1873, Marguerite went to England to mourn him.
Marguerite Bellanger, aged 48, died on November 23, 1886, at the Château de Villeneuve-sous-Dammartin, near Meaux, France. Her funeral was held at the Church of Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot in Paris and she was buried in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. Her only child Charles Leboeuf had a military career and died in Paris on December 7, 1941. He was buried with his mother.
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.
Works Cited
Mehl, Scott. (2016). Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon III of the French. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-napoleon-bonaparte-emperor-napoleon-iii-of-the-french/
Wikimedia Foundation. (2019). Charles Lebœuf. Wikipedia (French). https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Leb%C5%93uf
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, September 10). Marguerite Bellanger. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Bellanger
Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, August 29). Marguerite Bellanger. Wikipedia (French). https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Bellanger
Favorite: a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, queen, or another royal person
Leonora Dori Galigai and later, her husband Concino Concini, were favorites of Marie de’ Medici, Queen of France, the second wife of Henri IV, King of France. Neither Leonora nor Concino had a happy ending.
Leonora Dori Galigai; Credit – Wikipedia
The daughter of Jacopo di Sebastiano Dori and Caterina Dori, Leonora Dori Galigai was born on May 19, 1568, in Florence, then in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy. Her father was a carpenter and her mother was a wet nurse at the court of the Medicis who were Grand Dukes of Tuscany from 1569 to 1737. Jacopo was able to buy the adoption of his children by the Galigai family, a poor but noble Florentine family from which he was descended in the female line. This gave his children some advantages socially and politically.
Leonora had two brothers and one sister:
Andrea Dori Galigai
Sebastiano Dori Galigai, Archbishop of Tours (? – 1694)
Cassandra Dori Galigai
In 1588, Ferdinando I de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany appointed twenty-year-old Leonora to be the maid to his thirteen-year-old niece Marie de’ Medici. Having lost her mother at the age of five, and her father at the age of twelve, Marie was raised by her uncle Ferdinando, who had succeeded her father as Grand Duke of Tuscany. For nearly thirty years, Leonora remained in service to Marie, becoming her close friend and confidante. In late 1600, when Marie traveled to France to become the second wife of Henri IV, King of France, Leonora was included in her retinue as lady-in-waiting and wardrobe attendant.
Leonora’s husband Concino Concini; Credit – Wikipedia
Also in Marie’s retinue was Concino Concini, whose father was First Secretary to Marie’s uncle. During the journey to France, Concino romanced Leonora and proposed to her. King Henri IV opposed the marriage because he considered Concino too ambitious but he finally gave his approval, and Leonora and Concino were married on July 12, 1601. Marie de’ Medici, now Queen of France, gave Leonora a large dowry. In 1605, Concino became maître d’hôtel (chief steward) of Queen Marie’s household, and in 1608, he received the additional appointment of premier écuyer of the queen, being in charge of her royal stables. These positions allowed Concino to amass a small fortune, which he invested in real estate.
Leonora and Concino had two children, named after King Henri IV and Queen Marie:
Henri Concini (1603 – 1631), died of the plague
Marie Concini (1607 – 1617), died in childhood
In 1610, King Henri IV was assassinated and Queen Marie was appointed Regent for their eldest son, the eight-year-old King Louis XIII of France. Leonora exploited her friendship with Queen Marie, encouraging the rapid rise of her husband’s career. Concino became Queen Marie’s most trusted advisor. He was created Marquis d’Ancre and a Marshal of France. Leonora and Concino successfully plotted to have King Henri IV’s very capable Chief Minister, Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully dismissed. Queen Marie was strongly influenced by Concino and Leonora and many of her policies were in sharp contrast to those of her late husband. Concino and Leonora hoped to influence the suppression of Protestantism in France. However, Queen Marie, as Regent, maintained her late husband’s policy of religious tolerance. As one of her first acts, Marie reconfirmed Henri IV’s Edict of Nantes, which ordered religious tolerance for Protestants in France while asserting the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church.
The behavior and policies of Concino and Leonora caused hatred among the French people. The French nobility had to deal with their power being weakened because Concino and Leonora’s Tuscan followers were given preference in the awarding of positions and privileges. The French common people resented the power of these Tuscans who had become masters of France.
A contemporary depiction of the assassination of Concino Concini; Credit – Wikipedia
Finally, sixteen-year-old King Louis XIII, who detested Leonora and Concino, stepped up and asserted his position as King. In April 1617, he organized a coup d’état with Charles d’Albert, Duke of Luynes, a close advisor and favorite of King Louis XIII from childhood until his death, who held numerous top positions within the French court. Since Concino could not be arrested because he had a personal army of more than 7,000 soldiers, it was planned to have him assassinated. On April 24, 1617, Concino Concini was killed in the courtyard of the Louvre Palace in Paris. He was buried at the Church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois in Paris but an angry crowd of Parisians exhumed his body and dragged it through the streets of Paris. After being stoned and beaten, Concino’s body was hanged by the feet from a gallows, and then dismembered and burned.
17th-century engraving of the execution of Leonora; Credit – Wikipedia
After the death of her husband, the tides also turned against Leonora. She was arrested, accused of witchcraft, and sent to the Bastille. Queen Marie was unable to help her old friend because she had been sent into exile at the Château de Blois in the Loire Valley on the orders of her son King Louis XIII. After a short trial, Leonora was found guilty of having bewitched Queen Marie, Regent of France. On July 8, 1617, at the Place de Grève in Paris, now the Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville, Leonora was beheaded, and then her headless body burned at the stake.
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Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, Dauphine of France; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, Dauphine of France was the first wife of Louis, Dauphin of France, the son of Louis XV, King of France. Neither Maria Teresa Rafaela nor Louis lived long lives. Maria Teresa Rafaela, aged twenty, died due to childbirth complications after giving birth to her only child, a daughter who died before her second birthday. Louis married again, had eight children – five survived childhood and three of the five were Kings of France – but he died from tuberculosis, at the age of thirty-six. Louis, Dauphin of France predeceased his father and so he never became King of France.
Maria Teresa Rafaela’s parents Felipe V, King of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese of Parma; Credit – Wikipedia
Louis, Dauphin of France, Maria Teresa Rafaela’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia
In 1725, the Spanish court had been greatly insulted by the French when the engagement of Louis XV, King of France and Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain, the elder sister of Maria Teresa Rafaela, had been called off. The marriage of Maria Teresa Rafaela and Louis, Dauphin of France marked the reconciliation of Spain and France. The betrothal was announced in August 1739, however, Maria Teresa Rafaela’s mother would not allow her thirteen-year-old daughter to go to France until she was older.
Marriage of Louis, Dauphin of France and Maria Teresa Rafaela, Infanta of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Teresa Rafaela and Louis, Dauphin of France were married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on December 18, 1744. She left Spain to travel to France in January 1745 and arrived at the Palace of Versailles on February 21, 1745. Two days, later Maria Teresa Rafaela and Louis, Dauphin of France were married in person in the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. The marriage was not immediately consummated and this caused great embarrassment to Maria Teresa Rafaela because of the court’s gossip that Louis was impotent. Her shy nature further isolated her from the court. Finally, the marriage was consummated in September 1745, ending court gossip. The couple became very close and devoted to each other spending most of their time together.
Maria Teresa Rafaela soon became pregnant, with the baby due in July 1746. On July 9, 1746, her father, Felipe V, King of Spain, died of a stroke but Maria Teresa Rafaela was not told of his death because of her advanced pregnancy. On July 19, 1746, she gave birth to a daughter, named Marie-Thérèse by her husband in honor of his adored wife. Maria Teresa Rafaela initially recovered from childbirth but then her condition deteriorated quickly and she died on July 22, 1746, aged 20, at the Palace of Versailles. The sorrow of Louis, Dauphin of France was so intense that his father King Louis XV had to physically drag his son away from Maria Teresa Rafaela’s deathbed. Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela’s daughter did not survive to her second birthday, dying on April 27, 1748. Maria Teresa Rafaela was buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, the traditional burial site of the French royal family.
In 1747, nineteen-year-old Louis, Dauphin of France reluctantly married fifteen-year-old Maria Josepha of Saxony. Louis was still grieving for Maria Teresa Rafaela but Maria Josepha was patient and won his heart a little at a time. Louis and Maria Josepha of Saxony had eight children including three Kings of France: Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X. Louis never succeeded to the French throne. He died of tuberculosis at the Château de Fontainebleau in France on December 20, 1765, at the age of 36. According to Louis’ last wishes, he was buried at the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Sens, France, but his heart was buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, near the grave of his first wife Maria Teresa Rafaela.
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.
Works Cited
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Felipe V, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: 29 July 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Louis, Dauphin of France, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-dauphin-of-france/ (Accessed: 29 July 2023).
María Teresa Rafaela of Spain (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Teresa_Rafaela_of_Spain (Accessed: 29 July 2023).
Marie-Thérèse d’Espagne (2023) Wikipedia (French). Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_d%27Espagne (Accessed: 29 July 2023).
María Teresa Rafaela de España (2023) Wikipedia (Spanish). Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Teresa_Rafaela_de_Espa%C3%B1a (Accessed: 29 July 2023).
Louis, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XV, husband of Maria Josepha; Credit – Wikipedia
Louis, Dauphin of France was the elder son and heir apparent of his father Louis XV, King of France. In 1739, King Louis XV negotiated a marriage for his son Louis with Maria Teresa Rafaela, Infanta of Spain, daughter of Felipe V, King of Spain, born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, a grandson of Louis XIV, King of France and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma. The purpose of this marriage was to strengthen the alliance of Bourbon France and Bourbon Spain. Louis, Dauphin of France and Maria Teresa Rafaela, Infanta of Spain were married in 1745.
Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela had one daughter Princess Marie Thérèse of France, born on July 19, 1746. Sadly, Maria Teresa Rafaela died three days later, on July 22, 1746, at the age of twenty. Louis’ sorrow was so intense that his father King Louis XV had to physically drag his son away from Maria Teresa Rafaela’s deathbed. Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela’s daughter did not survive to her second birthday, dying on April 27, 1748.
Even though he grieved for his first wife, Louis knew he had to marry again to provide for the succession to the French throne. His first wife’s brother Fernando VI, King of Spain offered his youngest sister but Louis XV wanted to expand France’s diplomatic connections. France and Saxony had been on opposing sides in the recent War of the Austrian Succession (1740 -1748) and a marriage between a Princess of Saxony and the Dauphin of France would form a new alliance between the two countries. On January 10, 1747, fifteen-year-old Maria Josepha of Saxony was married by proxy to seventeen-year-old Louis, Dauphin of France. A second marriage ceremony took place in person at the Palace of Versailles on February 9, 1747. At the time of this marriage, Louis was still grieving for Maria Teresa Rafaela but Maria Josepha was patient and won his heart a little at a time.
Maria Josepha and her son Louis Joseph, Duke of Burgundy; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Josepha and Louis had eight children including three Kings of France:
Élisabeth of France (1764 – 1794), unmarried, executed during the French Revolution
The couple’s first child, a daughter, was born on the feast day of Saint Zephyrinus and named Marie Zéphyrine. The birth was greeted with much joy by her parents but her grandfather King Louis XV was disappointed the child was not a male. On August 30, 1755, five-year-old Marie Zéphyrine suffered convulsions and died on September 2, 1755. Maria Josepha and Louis’ second child Louis Joseph, Duke of Burgundy fell off a toy horse in 1759. He started limping and a tumor began to grow on his hip. This was operated on in 1760, but he never recovered the use of his legs. Louis Joseph was diagnosed with extrapulmonary tuberculosis of the bone which caused his death in 1761. The couple’s second son, Xavier, Duke of Aquitaine died after an epileptic seizure when he was five months old.
Maria Josepha’s husband Louis was a pious man, faithful to her, and concerned about the welfare and education of his children. Like her husband, Maria Josepha was very devout. Maria Josepha and Louis were a counterbalance to the behavior of King Louis XV, who had many mistresses and many illegitimate children. The couple was not fond of the various entertainments held at the Palace of Versailles every week and preferred to stay in their apartments. Kept away from government affairs by his father, Louis was at the center of the Dévots, a group of religiously-minded men who hoped to gain power when he succeeded to the throne.
Allegory on the Death of the Dauphin by Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, 1765; Credit – Wikipedia
However, Maria Josepha’s husband Louis never succeeded to the throne. He died of tuberculosis at the Château de Fontainebleau in France on December 20, 1765, at the age of 36. According to Louis’ last wishes, he was buried at the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Sens, France, and his heart was buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, near the grave of his first wife. Maria Josepha, who had cared for Louis during his last illness, also contracted tuberculosis. She died at the Palace of Versailles, on March 13, 1767, at the age of 35, and was buried with her husband.
When King Louis XV died of smallpox at the Palace of Versailles on May 10, 1774, he was succeeded by his grandson, King Louis XVI, the third but the eldest surviving son of Maria Josepha and her husband. During the French Revolution (1789 – 1799), King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were beheaded as was Louis XVI’s youngest sister Elisabeth. Louis XVI’s two younger brothers escaped France and survived the French Revolution. Both reigned as Kings of France during the Bourbon Restoration (1814 – 1830).
Louis and Maria Josepha’s restored tomb; Credit – Par Aubry Gérard — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42182840
In March 1794, during the French Revolution, Louis and Maria Josepha’s tomb was desecrated and their remains were thrown into a mass grave. After the Bourbon Restoration, on the orders of Louis and Maria Josepha’s son King Louis XVIII, their remains were found, their tomb was restored, and they were reinterred at the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Sens, France on December 8, 1814.
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.
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Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Josepha_of_Saxony,_Dauphine_of_France (Accessed: 13 June 2023).
Maria Josepha von Sachsen (1731–1767) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Josepha_von_Sachsen_(1731%E2%80%931767) (Accessed: 13 June 2023).
Marie-Josèphe de Saxe (1731-1767) (2023) Wikipedia (French). Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Jos%C3%A8phe_de_Saxe_(1731-1767) (Accessed: 13 June 2023).
Prince Emanuele Filberto of Savoy (born and died 1705), died in infancy
Marie Adélaïde during her early years in France; Credit – Wikipedia
In 1696, when Marie Adélaïde was eleven-year-old, she was betrothed to fourteen-year-old Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin, the eldest of the three sons of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. At the time of his birth, Louis’ grandfather Louis XIV was King of France and his father was the heir apparent to the French throne. After Louis’ birth, his father was called Le Grand Dauphin and his son Louis, who was second in the line of succession, was called Le Petit Dauphin. However, King Louis XIV outlived both his son and his grandson and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV when he died in 1715.
Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin; Credit – Wikipedia
The betrothal was the result of the Treaty of Turin in which Marie Adélaïde’s father agreed to support France in the Nine Years’ War. The treaty also stipulated that eleven-year-old Marie Adélaïde be sent to France to prepare her for her future role. She arrived in France on November 4, 1696, and was welcomed by King Louis XIV who had traveled to Montargis, France to greet her. Because of her young age, the marriage was delayed. Marie Adélaïde attended the Maison royale de Saint-Louis in Saint-Cyr, just west of Versailles, France, the girls’ school Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, the former mistress and morganatic second wife of Louis XIV, had founded in 1684 in Saint-Cyr, in the vicinity of Versailles.
Wedding of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin and Marie-Adélaïde; Credit – Wikipedia
On December 6, 1697, on her twelfth birthday, Marie Adelaïde was formally married to Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin at the Chapel Royal of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. She wore a silver dress strewn with rubies and had an eight-meter-long train. The consummation of the marriage was delayed because of the age of the bride. It would be seven years before Marie Adélaïde and her husband had their first child, a short-lived son.
Marie Adelaïde with her youngest son, the future King Louis XV of France; Credit – Wikipedia
Louis and Marie Adélaïde had three sons but only one survived childhood:
Louis, Duke of Brittany (1704 – 1705), died from convulsions
Marie Adélaïde, described as “a breath of fresh air”, became the favorite of King Louis XIV and his morganatic second wife Madame de Maintenon. Because Madame de Maintenon’s marriage to the king was morganatic and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, the wife of Louis of France, Le Grand Dauphin had died in 1690, the young Maria Adélaïde held the highest female position at court and was given the queen’s apartments at the Palace of Versailles. She attended numerous balls, hunts, games, and banquets, and charmed the court. Marie Adélaïde often participated in political deliberations and was privy to important state secrets and decisions. After her death, when King Louis XIV looked through her letters, it became apparent Marie Adélaïde misused this information by telling her father any information that would be of interest to him. Louis XIV is said to have told Madame de Maintenon that the “little woman” had deceived him.
In the spring of 1711, King Louis XIV’s only surviving legitimate child Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, Marie Adélaïde’s father-in-law, caught smallpox, apparently from a priest who was distributing Holy Communion after he had visited a smallpox victim, and died on April 14, 1711, at the age of 49. His son Louis, Marie Adélaïde’s husband, who had been styled Le Petit Dauphin, became the heir to the French throne but in less than a year, he and Marie Adélaïde would be dead.
Basilica of St. Denis; By Thomas Clouet – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42109690
On February 12, 1712, at the Palace of Versailles, 26-year-old wife Marie Adélaïde died from measles. Her husband Louis dearly loved his wife and stayed by her side throughout her illness. He caught the disease and died six days after her death, on February 18, 1712, aged 29, at the Château de Marly in France. The couple was buried together at the Basilica of St. Denis, the traditional burial site of the Kings of France and the French royal family.
Marie Adélaïde and Louis’ five-year-old elder son, the Duke of Brittany, succeeded as Dauphin but he also developed measles. He died three weeks later on March 8, 1712, apparently from being bled to death by the doctors. His younger brother, the future King Louis XV, also developed measles but survived because of his governess Charlotte de La Motte Houdancourt, Duchess of Ventadour. Deciding that she would not allow her younger charge to be bled by the doctors, Madame de Ventadour locked herself up with three nursery maids and refused to allow the doctors near the boy. The two-year-old survived and became King of France three years later, upon the death of his great-grandfather, King Louis XIV.
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.
Works Cited
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Louis of France, Le Grand Dauphin, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-le-grand-dauphin/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-duke-of-burgundy-le-petit-dauphin/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2021) Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amedeo-ii-king-of-sardinia/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
Fraser, Antonia. (2006). Love and Louis XIV. New York: Nan A. Talese Doubleday
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Maria Anna Victoria, Dauphine of France; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria was the wife of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain. As the heir apparent to the French throne, Louis was styled Dauphin of France and was called Le Grand Dauphin after the birth of his son Louis who was called Le Petit Dauphin. Maria Anna Victoria was known as La Grande Dauphine. However, King Louis XIV outlived both his son and his grandson and when he died in 1715, Louis XIV was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV of France.
Maria Anna Victoria’s parents Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy; Credit – Wikipedia
In 1668, eight-year-old Maria Anna Victoria was betrothed to her second cousin seven-year-old Louis, Dauphin of France, the only child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain to survive childhood. There was a family connection. Christine Marie of France, Maria Anna Victoria’s maternal grandmother was the sister of King Louis XIII of France, the paternal grandfather of Louis, Dauphin of France. That made Maria Anna Victoria’s mother Henriette Adelaide of Savoy and Louis’s father King Louis XIV of France first cousins.
Maria Anna Victoria in 1679 being handed the crown of the Dauphine of France by an angel signifying her coming marriage to the heir to the French throne the next year; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Anna Victoria was carefully educated for her future role and looked forward to being the Dauphine of France. Besides her native language German, she was taught to speak French, Italian, and Latin. Maria Anna Victoria’s mother oversaw her daughter’s artistic and musical education, and Maria Anna Victoria wrote poetry, painted, sang, and played the harpsichord.
Maria Anna Victoria meeting her father-in-law King Louis XIV for the first time in March 1680, presumably, the groom is standing on the right; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Anna Victoria and Louis, Dauphin of France were married in a proxy ceremony in Munich in the Electorate of Bavaria on January 28, 1680. The couple first met on March 7, 1680, the day of their religious wedding at Saint Etienne Cathedral in Châlons-sur-Marne, France. Maria Anna Victoria was the first Dauphine of France since Mary, Queen of Scots married the future King François II of France in 1558.
Louis and Maria Anna Victoria with their three sons: Louis on the right, Philippe in front, and Charles on his mother’s lap; Credit – Wikipedia
After her marriage, Maria Anna Victoria took on the rank of her husband as a Fille de France (Daughter of France) and was entitled to the style Royal Highness and the title Madame la Dauphine. As the wife of the heir to the throne, she was the second most important woman at the French court after her mother-in-law Maria Theresa of Spain. Three years later, Maria Theresa died and Maria Anna Victoria then held the highest female position at court and was given the late queen’s apartments at the Palace of Versailles. King Louis XIV expected her to perform the duties of his late wife but Maria Anna Victoria’s ill health made it very difficult for her to perform these duties. King Louis XIV was completely unsympathetic to his daughter-in-law’s situation and, as it would turn out, falsely accused her of hypochondria.
The French court prized beauty and Maria Anna Victoria suffered from depression because she considered herself ugly, as did others at the French court, which contributed to her depression. Her husband had mistresses and illegitimate children so she began to lead a secluded life, spending time in her apartments. There Maria Anna Victoria spoke German, which her husband could not understand, with her friend, confidant, and Première femme de Chambre (First Chamber Maid, an office at the French court) Barbara Bessola. Maria Anna Victoria was friendly with Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Duchess of Orléans, known as Liselotte, the second wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, King Louis XIV’s only sibling. German was also Liselotte’s first language, and she also never felt comfortable at the French court, that was governed by rigorous etiquette and where all sorts of intrigues flourished.
The catafalque of Maria Anna Victoria for her funeral at the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris; Credit – Wikipedia
The births of her three sons and at least six miscarriages caused Maria Anna Victoria’s health to deteriorate. Her third son’s birth was very difficult, and on her deathbed, Maria Anna Victoria was convinced that her last childbirth had killed her. Maria Anna Victoria, aged twenty-nine, died on April 20, 1690, at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. She was buried at the traditional burial site of the French royal family, the Basilica of St. Denis in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France. An autopsy revealed several internal disorders that completely vindicated her complaints of chronic and severe illness. It is also probable that Maria Anna Victoria had tuberculosis.
In 1694, Maria Anna Victoria’s widower Louis, Le Grand Dauphin secretly married his mistress Marie Émilie de Joly de Choin, a lady-in-waiting at the French court. The marriage was not officially recognized and Marie Émilie did not participate in court life. On April 14, 1711, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France died from smallpox at the age of forty-nine. His eldest son Louis, Le Petit Dauphin, became the heir to the French throne but in less than a year, he too was dead from measles at the age of twenty-nine. Three years later, the five-year-old son of Louis, Le Petit Dauphin became King Louis XV of France upon the death of his great-grandfather King Louis XIV.
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.
Works Cited
Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Maria,_Elector_of_Bavaria (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Louis of France, Le Grand Dauphin, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-le-grand-dauphin/ (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
Fraser, Antonia. (2006). Love and Louis XIV. New York: Nan A. Talese Doubleday.
Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_Victoria_of_Bavaria (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
Maria Anna Victoria von Bayern (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_Victoria_von_Bayern (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
Marie-Anne de Bavière (1660-1690) (2023) Wikipedia (French). Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Anne_de_Bavi%C3%A8re_(1660-1690) (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
Because she was one of six surviving daughters, there was no real hope for a good marriage for Louise Élisabeth. Therefore, she was politically irrelevant, little attention was paid to her, and her upbringing and education were neglected. In her letters, her paternal grandmother Liselotte often wrote about Louise Élisabeth’s cheekiness and bad manners. There were vague plans to marry her to an obscure German or Italian prince.
On September 1, 1715, King Louis XIV died. Because both his son Louis, Le Grand Dauphin and his grandson Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin predeceased him, King Louis XIV was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV, the son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin. King Louis XIV had stipulated in his will that a Regency Council be established until his great-grandson reached his majority. The Regency Council was led by King Louis XIV’s nephew, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the father of Louise Élisabeth, who served as Regent of France.
In 1718, the War of the Quadruple Alliance broke out between France and Spain. Two years later, in 1720, King Felipe V of Spain wanted to make a peace agreement. King Felipe V of Spain was born a French prince, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son and heir apparent of King Louis XIV of France. In 1700, King Carlos II of Spain, from the House of Habsburg, died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the Spanish throne because his mother Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain was the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, King Carlos II of Spain, in his will, named the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, 16-year-old Philippe, Duke of Anjou, as his successor. He reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Bourbon monarch of Spain.
King Felipe V of Spain and Louise Élisabeth’s father Philippe II, Duke of Orléans were first cousins once removed. In the 1720 peace agreement between France and Spain, King Felipe V proposed double marriages: his two-year-old daughter Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain was betrothed to marry ten-year-old King Louis XV of France. King Felipe V’s thirteen-year-old son and heir Luis, Prince of Asturias would marry one of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans’ daughters.
Louise Élisabeth’s husband King Luis I of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia
Princess Louise Élisabeth of Orléans was chosen as the bride for the future King Luis I of Spain who was her second cousin once removed. In November 1721, fourteen-year-old Luis and eleven-year-old Louise Élisabeth were married by proxy, in Paris, France. On January 9, 1722, on the Isle of Pheasants in the Bidassoa River, on the border of France and Spain, the French Louise Élisabeth was exchanged for the Spanish Mariana Victoria. On January 20, 1722, Luis and Louise Élisabeth were married in person at the Ducal Palace of Lerma in Lerma, Burgos, Spain.
The marriage was unsuccessful and resulted in no children due to Louise Élisabeth’s young age and her increasingly erratic and impulsive behavior. She appeared in public dirty and unkempt, refused to use undergarments, and tried to provoke courtiers by showing her intimate parts in public. At meals, Louise Élisabeth would not eat but would hide the food and compulsively eat it later. She would suddenly undress in public to clean the windows and tiles with her clothes. Modern mental health professionals think she had borderline personality disorder. Her husband Luis wrote to his father, “I see no other solution but to lock her down as soon as possible, for her troubles keep increasing.” Luis had his wife confined to a convent. Louise Élisabeth cried and sent her husband letters asking for forgiveness. He later felt sorry for her and released her.
On January 14, 1724, Luis’s father King Felipe V abdicated the Spanish throne in favor of his son Luis for reasons that are still unclear. Perhaps it was because Felipe suffered from mental instability and did not wish to reign due to his increasing mental decline. Another theory is that Felipe was concerned about the succession to the French throne due to several deaths. Although the treaty that ended the War of the Spanish Succession forbade a union of the French and Spanish crowns, perhaps Felipe hoped that by abdicating the Spanish throne, he could succeed to the French throne if necessary. The problems with his wife Louise Élisabeth dominated Luis’s short reign.
Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, Queen of Spain in 1724; Credit – Wikipedia
Luis became ill with smallpox in July 1724. Louise Élisabeth was his only company because his parents, fearful of the illness, left the Palacio del Buen Retiro in Madrid, Spain. Luis’s smallpox was complicated by pneumonia. Fourteen-year-old Louise Élisabeth cared for and remained with her seventeen-year-old husband until his death, on August 31, 1724. She also contracted smallpox but recovered from the illness. Luis’s father Felipe V was again forced to ascend to the Spanish throne because his younger son, the future King Fernando VI, was not yet of legal age. Louise Élisabeth, a widow at the age of fourteen, now of no use to the Spanish court and royal family, lost all support and became totally isolated.
In 1725, seven-year-old Mariana Victoria of Spain, the intended bride of King Louis XV of France, was sent back to Spain. French Prime Minister Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon wanted his sister to be King Louis XV’s bride so he would have more influence. Because the marriage of King Luis I of Spain and Louise Élisabeth had not been consummated, Louise Élisabeth was sent back to France. Mariana Victoria left Versailles on April 5, 1725, and traveled to the Spanish border where she and Louise Élisabeth were once again exchanged. Five months later, 15-year-old Louis XV, King of France married but his bride was 22-year-old Marie Leszczyńska, daughter of Stanislaus I, the deposed King of Poland, not the sister of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon.
The Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris where Louise-Élisabeth was buried; Credit – By Zairon – File:Paris Saint-Sulpice Fassade 4.jpgFile:Paris Saint-Sulpice Fassade 5.jpg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95975368
Sixteen-year-old Louise-Élisabeth discreetly returned to Paris, arriving on May 23, 1725. She lived at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, away from the court of King Louis XV, her first cousin once removed. Lonely and forgotten, Louise Élisabeth died seventeen years later, on June 16, 1742. She was buried in the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris but her tomb was desecrated and destroyed during the French Revolution.
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.
Works Cited
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Felipe V, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Luis I, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/luis-i-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
Louise Elisabeth d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_%C3%89lisabeth_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
Louise-Elisabeth d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise-%C3%89lisabeth_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_II,_Duke_of_Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
French Royal Family in a mythological setting: Henrietta Maria of France, Queen of England; Philippe I, Duke of Orléans; his daughter Marie Louise; his wife Henrietta of England; Anne of Austria, Queen Mother; King Louis XIV: Louis XIV’s children Louis, Marie Thérèse, and Philippe; Marie Teresa of Austria, Queen of France; Anne Marie Louise d’Orleans, la Grande Mademoiselle; Credit – Wikipedia
Marie Louise had two younger siblings. The Jacobite claim to the British throne goes through Marie Louise’s younger sister Anne Marie because their brother had died in childhood and Marie Louise had no children. Through her mother, Anne Marie was a granddaughter of King Charles I of England. When Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) and his brother Cardinal Henry Stuart, both died without legitimate issue, Anne Marie’s descendants inherited the Jacobite claim.
Marie Louise’s siblings:
Philippe Charles d’Orléans, Duke of Valois (1664 – 1666), died in early childhood
Philippe I, Duke of Orléans with his favorite daughter Marie Louise; Credit – Wikipedia
Marie Louise had a happy early childhood, living at the Palais-Royal in Paris and at the Château de Saint-Cloud, overlooking the Seine, just outside Paris. She spent a lot of time with both her paternal grandmother Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain who left most of her fortune to her when she died in 1666, and her maternal grandmother Henrietta Maria of France (died 1669), the widow of the beheaded King Charles I of England, who had returned to her native France after her husband was deposed and executed.
Marie Louise with her mother Henrietta; Credit – Wikipedia
In 1670, when Marie Louise was eight-years-old, her mother Henrietta died at the age of 26. Marie Louise’s uncle King Louis XIV wanted a male heir for her father to continue the Orléans line and looked for a second wife for Philippe himself. King Louis XIV rejected many potential second brides for his brother before settling on the Protestant Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. She was the only daughter of Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine and his first wife Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel. Liselotte’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England and granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots. Liselotte converted to Roman Catholicism and married Philippe on November 19, 1671.
Marie Louise’s stepmother Liselotte with her two surviving children, Marie Louise’s step-siblings; Credit – Wikipedia
Due to the attitude of the court, as well as the homosexual relations of her husband Philippe, which he did not hide, Liselotte devoted much attention to Philippe’s daughters. Liselotte acted as a mother to Marie Louise and her younger sister Anne Marie and maintained correspondence with them throughout their lives. As with his first marriage, Philippe had homosexual affairs but was intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children. Philippe and Liselotte had three children who were the half-siblings of Marie Louise:
Alexandre Louis d’Orléans, Duke of Valois (1673 – 1676), died in childhood
Maria Louise’s husband Carlos II, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia
After the 1678 Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen were signed between France and Spain, a marriage was arranged between 16-year-old Marie Louise and 17-year-old Carlos II, King of Spain. King Louis XIV was married to Carlos II’s half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, who was also his double first cousin. Carlos II was also a first cousin of Louis XIV and Louis XIV wanted to have his brother-in-law/first cousin, weakened by years of inbreeding in the House of Habsburg, under French influence. Having no daughter, King Louis XIV offered his elder niece Marie Louise as a bride for Carlos II, King of Spain. Thinking to the future, Louis XIV knew that if Marie Louise and Carlos II had a child who became the monarch of Spain, then French influence would remain. If Marie Louise and Carlos II did not have children, Louis XIV’s own line could inherit the Spanish throne. Louis XIV’s wife Maria Teresa was the elder surviving of two daughters of King Felipe IV of Spain and had senior succession rights after her half-brother King Carlos II of Spain, also a child of Felipe IV.
The House of Habsburg, which ruled over Austria, Spain, and their many territories, was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and they wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Seven of King Carlos II of Spain’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation.
King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw) which can be seen in this painting; Credit – Wikipedia
Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many members of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. However, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Carlos was educated by the Jesuit priests, however, because of his developmental disability, both physically and mentally, he only received a basic education. Carlos’ conditions showed clear signs of the long-time inbreeding of the House of Habsburg.
Even though the French ambassador to Spain wrote that Carlos “… is so ugly as to cause fear, and looks ill”, Carlos’ appearance and condition were considered irrelevant to the political benefits. Marie Louise was distressed by the arranged marriage and spent most of her time crying. She even confronted her uncle King Louis XIV, who retorted with irony, that it was not worthy that the “Catholic Queen” (nickname of the Spanish Queens) throws herself at the feet of “The Very Christian King” (nickname of the Kings of France). Trying to reason with his niece, King Louis XIV asked Marie Louise if she thought he could have found a better marriage for his own daughter if he had one. Marie Louise replied, “No, but you could have found a better marriage for your niece,” referring to her desire to marry Louis XIV’s only surviving (legitimate) child and her first cousin, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France.
On August 30, 1679, Marie Louise and Carlos II, King of Spain were married via a proxy marriage at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France with Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, a cousin of the bride, standing in for the groom. When Marie Louise left France for Spain, her uncle King Louis XIV, worried that like his first cousin Marguerite-Louise d’Orléans, who married Cosimo III de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Marie Louise would leave her husband to return to France, said to his niece, “Goodbye Madame, and forever.” Marie Louise never returned to France.
On November 19, 1679, Marie Louise married Carlos II in person in Quintanapalla, near Burgos, Spain. She found the Spanish court etiquette even more regulated and restrictive than the French court. Marie Louise did not speak Spanish and Carlos II did not speak French, so they were dependent on an interpreter when they first met. Carlos had fallen in love with Marie Louise the first time he saw her portrait. Despite not feeling passion for her husband, over time Marie Louise became fond of Carlos. Carlos taught her Spanish and Marie Louise taught him French. The Spanish court became increasingly desperate regarding the delay in the arrival of an heir. More likely than not, it was Carlos who was infertile. He did not have any children with his second wife either. The lack of a child and the strict Spanish court caused Marie Louise to show signs of depression. She longed more and more for her happy life in France, developed an enormous appetite, and became overweight.
Marie Louise, Queen of Spain, lying in state in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid by Sebastián Muñoz; Credit – Wikipedia
The childless marriage last ten years. One day after taking a ride on horseback, Marie Louise began to feel strong pain in her stomach. She died the next day, aged 26, on February 12, 1689, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid in Spain. Although many reasons were considered as causes of Marie Louise’s death including poison, it is most likely that she died from appendicitis, a fatal infection until the mid-nineteenth century when the advent of anesthesia and new surgical techniques allowed for successful appendectomies. Marie Louise was interred in Chapel IX of the Pantheon of the Infantes at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. The Pantheon of the Infantes is the burial place for Infantes and Infantas of Spain and for Queen Consorts of Spain who were not mothers of Kings of Spain. Infante and Infanta are Spanish royal titles that basically correspond to Prince and Princess.
In 1690, Carlos II married Maria Anna of Neuberg but that marriage was also childless. Carlos II’s autopsy revealed he had only one atrophied testicle, the cause of infertility in his two marriages. In September 1700, Carlos became ill and was no longer able to eat. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir to the French throne and the only surviving child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, Carlos’ half-sister, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain, just as King Louis XIV of France had thought could happen. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin (the father of King Louis XV who succeeded his great-grandfather King Louis XIV) could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, in his will, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos II’s half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. When Carlos II, King of Spain died on November 1, 1700, five days before his thirty-ninth birthday, he was succeeded by his half-sister’s grandson Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in the Kingdom of Spain today.
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.
Works Cited
Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Carlos II, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlos-ii-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/philippe-i-duke-of-orleans/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
María Luisa de Orleans (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Luisa_de_Orleans (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
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Marie Louise d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Louise_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Marie-Louise d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Louise_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Мария луиза орлеанская (2021) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%9B%D1%83%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0_%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
Maria Francisca’s father Charles Amadeus of Savoy, Duke of Nemours was a French military leader. On July 30, 1652, Charles Amadeus was killed, aged twenty-eight, in a duel by his brother-in-law François de Vendôme, Duke of Beaufort. The two men disagreed about Charles Amadeus’ mistress Élisabeth-Angélique de Coligny, Duchess of Châtillon (link in French). Maria Francisca was only six years old when her father was killed. Her widowed mother devoted herself to the education of her two daughters, supported by her own mother.
Afonso VI, King of Portugal, Maria Francisca’s first husband; Credit – Wikipedia
In 1666, in Portugal, 23-year-old King Afonso VI sat upon the throne. Debilitated mentally and physically due to the effects of a disease he contracted in childhood, he was controlled by his favorite Luís de Vasconcelos e Sousa, 3rd Count of Castelo Melhor who had manipulated himself into a position that gave him the power of a prime minister. The Portuguese government was split between a pro-French faction led by Castelo Melhor, and a pro-English faction led by Afonso’s brother Pedro. In 1662, Afonso’s sister Catherine of Braganza married King Charles II of England. Castelo Melhor and King Louis XIV of France saw a French marriage for Afonso as a way to offset his sister’s English marriage with Marie Françoise of Savoy being chosen as the bride.
Marie Françoise of Savoy arrived in Portugal on August 2, 1666. The wedding took place the same day and Marie Françoise became known as Maria Francisca. Problems with the marriage began to occur immediately after the wedding ceremony. Afonso left the wedding celebrations early and showed no interest in consummating the marriage. Maria Francisca was intelligent and wanted to serve the French interests but she also wanted power. She soon discovered Afonso was controlled by Castelo Melhor who had no intention of sharing power. This caused her to cooperate with her brother-in-law Pedro and his pro-English faction and then she began an affair with him. Maria Francisca persuaded her first cousin once removed King Louis XIV of France that supporting Pedro was a better way to further French interests.
Afonso VI’s brother, the future Pedro II, King of Portugal, and Maria Francisca’s second husband; Credit – Wikipedia
Soon Luís de Vasconcelos e Sousa, 3rd Count of Castelo Melhor and his pro-France faction were losing ground to Pedro, Maria Francisca, and their pro-English faction. After a palace coup led by Pedro and Maria Francisca, Afonso VI was forced to dismiss Castelo Melhor who went into exile and was not permitted to return to Portugal until 1685. Pedro assumed the role of Prince Regent in 1668. While Pedro never formally usurped the throne, Afonso was king in name only for the rest of his life. Maria Francisca retired temporarily to a convent and asked the Roman Catholic Church to annul her marriage on the grounds of non-consummation. This was approved by her uncle Louis de Bourbon, Cardinal Vendôme. Maria Francisca and Pedro were married on April 2, 1668, after receiving a papal bull authorizing the marriage.
Maria Francisca and Pedro II’s daughter Isabel Luísa of Braganza, Princess of Beira; Credit – Wikipedia
Pedro II needed heirs but Maria Francisca was able to produce only one daughter Isabel Luísa. She was the heir presumptive to the throne of Portugal, from her birth in 1669 until 1689 when her half-brother, the future João V, King of Portugal, the son of Pedro II’s second wife Maria Sophia of Neuburg, was born. Although Isabel Luísa had several prospective grooms, no marriage materialized. She died from smallpox at the age of twenty-one.
As for Afonso VI, he was exiled to Terceira Island in the Azores. In 1673, a conspiracy to restore Afonso to the throne was discovered and squelched. A decision was made to return Afonso to Lisbon where he could be better monitored. Afonso arrived in Lisbon on September 14, 1674, and was taken to the Palace of Sintra in Lisbon, where he lived for the rest of his life, under guard and shut up in his quarters. On September 12, 1683, 40-year-old Afonso suffered a stroke and died later the same day.
Maria Francisca as the founder of the Convent of the Francesinhas, by António de Oliveira de Louredo, 1703: Credit – Wikipedia
Afonso’s brother succeeded him as Pedro II, King of Portugal, and Maria Francisca was Queen of Portugal for a second time. However, her second time as Queen of Portugal would be short. Maria Francisca was seriously ill with dropsy, now called edema, the build-up of fluid in the body’s tissue. There are many underlying causes of dropsy including heart failure, kidney problems, low protein levels, liver problems, deep vein thrombosis, and infections. On December 27, 1683, 37-year-old Maria Francisca died at Palhavã Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, just three months after the death of her first husband Afonso. Maria Francisca was initially buried in the Convento das Francesinhas (Convent of the Little French Nuns) in Lisbon, Portugal, which she had founded in 1667. In 1912, her remains were transferred to the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon.
The Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza, the burial site for members of the House of Braganza, at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora. The four tombs against the wall on the right under the window are the tombs of (top, left to right) Pedro II and Afonso VI (bottom, left to right) Maria Sophia of Neuburg and Maria Francisca of Savoy; Credit – Por Alegna13 – Obra do próprio, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16664413
Four years after Maria Francisca’s death, Pedro II, King of Portugal married Maria Sophia of Neuburg. The couple had eight children including Pedro II’s successor João V, King of Portugal. Pedro II survived Maria Francisca by twenty-three years, dying on December 9, 1706, at Palhavã Palace in Lisbon, Portugal at the age of fifty-eight.
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.
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Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Marie-Françoise-Élisabeth de Savoie — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Fran%C3%A7oise-%C3%89lisabeth_de_Savoie> [Accessed 27 May 2022].
Louda, Jiri and Maclagan, Michael, 2002. Lines of Succession. London: Little, Brown.
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In the spring of 1711, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin caught smallpox, apparently from a priest who was distributing Holy Communion after he had visited a smallpox victim, and died on April 14, 1711, at the age of 49. His son Louis, Duke of Burgundy who had been styled Le Petit Dauphin, became Dauphin of France, the heir to the French throne, but in less than a year, he too was dead. On February 12, 1712, the wife of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, 26-year-old wife Marie Adélaïde died from measles. Louis, Duke of Burgundy dearly loved his wife and had stayed by her side throughout her illness. He caught the disease and died six days after her death, on February 18, 1712, aged 29.
The five-year-old elder surviving son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Louis, Duke of Brittany, then became Dauphin but he also developed measles. He died three weeks later on March 8, 1712, apparently from being bled to death by the doctors. Louis, Duke of Burgundy’s younger son, the future King Louis XV, also developed measles but he survived because of his governess Charlotte de La Motte Houdancourt, Duchess of Ventadour. Deciding that she would not allow her younger charge to be bled by the doctors, Madame de Ventadour locked herself up with three nursery maids and refused to allow the doctors near the boy. The two-year-old survived and became King of France upon the death of his great-grandfather, King Louis XIV, three years later.
In 1725, Louis XV married Maria Leszczyńska, the daughter of the deposed King Stanisław I of Poland, and they had ten children. Unfortunately, like several other Dauphins that preceded him, Louis XV’s eldest son Louis, Dauphin of France died prematurely of tuberculosis, and never became King of France. When Louis XV died from smallpox in 1774, he was succeeded by his grandson, the ill-fated King Louis XVI.
King Louis XV had twenty-one paternal first cousins and twelve maternal first cousins.
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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin and his first wife Princess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria
Paternal First Cousins: Children of Felipe V, King of Spain (born Prince Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou) and his first wife Maria Luisa of Savoy
Luis I, King of Spain (1707 – 1724)
In 1722, Luis married Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, a first cousin of Luis’ father. The couple had no children. Two years later, Felipe V, King of Spain abdicated in favor of his seventeen-year-old Luis, for reasons still subject to debate. Luis reigned for only seven months as he died from smallpox. After his son’s death, Felipe V returned to the Spanish throne.
Fernando’s reign was peaceful as he kept Spain out of European conflicts. In1729, he married Infanta Barbara of Portugal, daughter of João V, King of Portugal. The marriage was childless. The last years of Fernando’s reign were marked by mental instability, much like the mental condition of his father Felipe V. Upon his death, Fernando was succeeded by his half-brother Carlos III, King of Spain.
Paternal First Cousins: Children of Felipe V, King of Spain (born Prince Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou) and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese
Carlos III, King of Spain (1716 – 1788)
In 1731, 15-year-old Carlos became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza following the death of his childless great-uncle Antonio Farnese. He also became King of Naples and King of Sicily in 1734. Carlos married Maria Amalia of Saxony in 1738, and they had thirteen children. In 1759, upon the death of his childless half-brother King Ferdinand VI of Spain, Carlos succeeded him as King Carlos III of Spain. Because of treaties, Carlos could not be the sovereign of all three kingdoms. His eldest son Felipe was excluded from the succession because of intellectual disability and his second son Carlos was the heir apparent to the Spanish throne. That left the third son Ferdinando to become King of Naples and King of Sicily.
Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain, Queen of Portugal (1718 – 1781)
Mariana Victoria of Spain was the wife of José I, King of Portugal, and they had four daughters. In 1776, after José I suffered a series of strokes, Mariana Victoria was created Regent of Portugal and remained Regent until José’s death in 1777, when her eldest daughter became the first queen regnant of Portugal, reigning as Maria I. Portugal and Spain were in conflict over territorial possessions in the Americas. Maria Victoria tried to improve relations with Spain, which was ruled by her brother Carlos III, King of Spain. She left Portugal and traveled to Spain, where she stayed for just over a year. With Mariana Victoria’s influence, the Treaty of El Pardo, which resolved many longtime disputes between Portugal and Spain, was signed on October 1, 1778.
Infante Felipe of Spain, Duke of Parma (1720 – 1765)
In 1748, after a period of ten years being in the hands of the House of Habsburg, the Duchy of Parma was ceded back to the Bourbons, and Infante Felipe of Spain became Duke of Parma and was the founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma, a cadet branch of the Spanish House of Bourbon. He married Princess Louise Élisabeth of France and the couple had three children.
Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, Dauphine of France (1726 – 1746)
Maria Teresa Rafaela married her first cousin once removed, Louis, Dauphin of France, the elder son and heir apparent of his father Louis XV, King of France. Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela had one daughter but sadly, Maria Teresa Rafaela died three days later, on July 22, 1746, at the age of twenty. Louis’ sorrow was so intense that his father Louis XV had to physically drag his son away from Maria Teresa Rafaela’s deathbed. Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela’s daughter died three months before her second birthday. Louis, Dauphin of France did marry again and had children but he never succeeded to the throne. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 36.
At the age of eight, Luis was ordained Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain and shortly thereafter was named Cardinal-Priest of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala in Rome. He was the youngest ever Cardinal. When he was twenty-seven, Luis renounced his ecclesiastical titles for lack of vocation and assumed the title 13th Count of Chinchón. Luis married morganatically to Spanish aristocrat María Teresa de Vallabriga. They had four children who did not have royal titles because their parents’ marriage was morganatic.
Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen of Sardinia (1729 – 1785)
Maria Antonia Ferdinanda was the wife of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia with whom she had twelve children. Three of their children died in childhood, and only two of their children had children.
Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Charles of France, Duke of Berry and Marie Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans
Prince Charles of France, Duke of Alençon (born and died 1713)
Charles lived for twenty-one days. He was born on March 26, 1713, and died on April 16, 1713.
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Princess Marie Louise Élisabeth of France (born and died 1714)
Marie Louise Élisabeth was born at the Palace of Versailles on J, and died the next day.
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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and his first wife Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria
Prince Leopold Ferdinand of Bavaria (born and died 1689)
Leopold Ferdinand was born in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria on May 22, 1689, and died three days later.
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Prince Anton of Bavaria (born and died 1690)
Anton was born on November 28, 1690, in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, and died the same day.
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Joseph Ferdinand, Electoral Prince of Bavaria (1692 – 1699)
Besides being the heir to the Electorate of Bavaria, for the last three years of his short life, Joseph Ferdinand was also the heir to the Spanish throne and a footnote in European history. His death would ultimately lead to the War of the Spanish Succession. Joseph Ferdinand’s mother Maria Antonia of Austria, the daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, was the maternal granddaughter of Felipe IV, King of Spain. Felipe IV’s son and heir Carlos II, King of Spain had been married twice but had no children. Unlike many other European thrones, the Spanish succession could go through a female line, and so Carlos II named Joseph Ferdinand as his heir.
On February 3, 1699, six-year-old Joseph Ferdinand died suddenly after suffering seizures, vomiting, and loss of consciousness. He was rumored to have been poisoned, but nothing has been ever been proven. Carlos II, King of Spain then named Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou as his heir. Philippe’s father Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, son of King Louis XV of France, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain because his mother Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Philippe’s father nor his elder brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. When Carlos II, King of Spain died in 1700, Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou became the first King of Spain from the House of Bourbon as Felipe V.
However, many European countries took issue with this. Disputes over the separation of the Spanish and French crowns, division of territories, and commercial rights led to the War of the Spanish Succession (1701 – 1714) between the Bourbons, who now ruled in France and Spain, and the Grand Alliance (Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Habsburg Spain). Peace was finally made in 1714. In return for his confirmation as King of Spain, Felipe V renounced succession rights to the French throne for both himself and his descendants. Any union of the French and Spanish crowns was forbidden.
Maternal First Cousins: Children of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and his second wife Princess Theresa Kunegunda Sobieska of Poland
Princess Maria Anna Karoline of Bavaria (1696 – 1750)
Deeply religious from an early age, Maria Anna Karoline, the only daughter of her parents, decided to become a nun despite the strong objections from her parents. On July 3, 1719, she declared her final decision to enter the Order of Saint Clare. She would be required to live a strict life that would require strict prayer, fasting, weekly flagellations, regular sleep deprivation, and no contact whatsoever outside the monastery walls. On October 28, 1719, the day she entered the convent, Maria Anna Karoline saw her parents for the last time. Her religious name, Sister Theresa Emanuela, came from the first names of her parents. In 1747, Maria Anna Karoline suffered a stroke and remained partially paralyzed for the last three years of her life.
Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria, King of Bohemia (1697 – 1745)
The election of Karl, from the House of Wittelsbach, as Holy Roman Emperor, marked the end of three centuries of uninterrupted Habsburg imperial rule although he was related to the Habsburgs by both blood and marriage. Karl married Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria and they had seven children.
In 1717, Philipp Moritz went with his younger brother Clemens August to study theology in Rome, where he died from measles, aged 20, on March 12, 1719.
Ferdinand Maria served in the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire. His highest rank was Field Marshal. He married Maria Anna Carolina of Neuburg and they had three children.
Prince Clemens August of Bavaria, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (1700 – 1761)
Clemens August’s uncle Joseph Clemens, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne ensured that his nephew received several appointments. He was not considered to have talent or intelligence for any of his positions. Clement August was seen as brainless, incompetent, and not in the least interested in governing anything.
Wilhelm was born on July 12, 1701, in Schlessheim Palace Oberschleißheim, a suburb of Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria. He died on February 12, 1704, in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria
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Prince Alois Johann Adolf of Bavaria (1702 – 1705)
Alois Johann Adolf was born in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, on born June 21, 1702, and died on June 18, 1705, in Munich.
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Prince Johann Theodor of Bavaria, Cardinal, Prince-Bishop of Regensburg, Freising and Liege (1703 – 1763)
In addition to his clerical duties, Johann Theodor loved to hunt, played the cello, and was a patron of music and theater. He had affairs with several women, had at least two illegitimate children, and was liked by the people of his bishopric.
Prince Maximilian Emanuel Thomas of Bavaria (1704 – 1709)
Maximilian Emanuel Thomas was born on December 21, 1704, in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, and died February 18, 1709, in Munich.
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Works Cited
Lundy, D. (2022). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
Unofficial Royalty. (2022). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
Wikipedia. (2022 Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/. (for biographical and genealogy information)
