Category Archives: French Royals

First Cousins: Louis XIV, King of France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Louis XIV, King of France (1638 – 1715)

(All media credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Louis XIV, King of France was the longest-reigning French monarch, reigning for 72 years from 1643 until his death in 1715. He was born on September 5, 1638, at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, the elder of the two sons of Louis XIII, King of France and Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain. His paternal grandparents were Henri IV, the first King of France from the House of Bourbon, and his second wife Marie de’ Medici. Louis XIV’s maternal grandparents were Felipe III, King of Spain and Margaret of Austria. In 1660, Louis XIV married his double first cousin Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, daughter of King Felipe IV of Spain and Elisabeth of France. The couple had six children but only the eldest, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, survived infancy or childhood, but he predeceased his father. Louis XIV had at least thirteen illegitimate children with his mistresses. Many of his children by his mistresses were legitimized and given titles.

Louis XIV was a firm believer in the divine right of kings. He became one of France’s most powerful sovereigns and established France as one of the leading powers in Europe. After the death of his wife in 1683, King Louis XIV married his mistress Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon. Because the marriage was morganatic, she was never publicly acknowledged as his wife or as Queen.

After reigning for 72 years and 100 days, King Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715. He had outlived most of his immediate legitimate family. His only legitimate son to survive infancy, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, had died in 1711. Barely a year later, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin, the eldest of Le Grand Dauphin’s three sons and then heir to Louis XIV, followed his father in death. The Duke of Burgundy’s elder surviving son Louis, Duke of Brittany joined them a few weeks later. Thus, on his deathbed, Louis XIV’s heir was his five-year-old great-grandson, Louis, Duke of Anjou, the Duke of Burgundy’s younger son, who succeeded his great-grandfather as King Louis XV.

Louis XIV, King of France had 30 paternal first cousins and 19 maternal first cousins which he shared with his only sibling Philippe I, Duke of Orléans.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Henri IV, King of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici

Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Felipe III, King of Spain and Archduke Margaret of Austria

Note: Felipe III’s children were known as “of Austria” because the Spanish monarchs at the time were members of the House of Habsburg

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Paternal First Cousins

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Elisabeth of France and Felipe IV, King of Spain

Maria Margarita of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1621)

Maria Margarita was born on August 14, 1621, and died the next day.

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Margarita Maria Caterina of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1623)

Margarita Maria Caterina was born on November 25,  1623, and died on December 22, 1623.

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Maria Eugenia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1625 – 1627)

Maria Eugenia was born on November 21, 1625, and died on August 21, 1627.

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Isabella Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1627)

Isabella Maria Theresa was born on October 31, 1627, and died the next day.

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Balthasar Carlos of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1629 – 1646)

Balthasar Carlos was the heir apparent to the Spanish throne until his death. He died from smallpox at the age of sixteen on October  9, 1646.

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Francisco Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (born and died 1634)

Francisco Fernando died on the day of his birth, March 12, 1634.

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Maria Anna Antonia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1636)

Maria Anna Antonia was born on January 17, 1636, and died on December 5, 1636.

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Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, Queen of France (1638 – 1683)

Maria Theresa married her double first cousin, Louis XIV, King of France. The youngest of eight children, she was the only one of her siblings to reach adulthood. Maria Theresa and Louis XIV had six children but only the eldest, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, survived to adulthood, but he predeceased his father. Maria Theresa was very devout, often inviting members of the King’s court to come and pray with her. Intensely private, she was humiliated by her husband’s numerous, and very public, affairs and his man illegitimate children.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Christine Marie of France and Vittorio Amedeo I, Duke of Savoy

Prince Luigi Amadeo of Savoy (1622 – 1628)

Luigi Amedeo died in childhood.

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Princess Luisa Cristina of Savoy (1629 – 1692)

Upon the death of her father in 1637 a dispute arose between Luisa Cristina’s mother Christine Maria and paternal uncles Prince Tommaso of Savoy and Cardinal-Prince Maurizio of Savoy over the appointment of a regent and the inheritance of the duchy. The two brothers conspired against Christine Marie as regent, claiming the regency between the two of them. Eventually, with the help of her brother King Louis XIII of France,  Luisa Cristina’s mother Christine Marie became Regent for her five-year-old son Francesco Giacinto, Duke of Savoy and when he died in 1638, she became Regent for her other son Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy. Luisa Cristina was soon engaged to Maurice as part of a reconciliation with Christine Marie. To appease her 49-year-old uncle Maurizio, 13-year-old Luisa Cristina was married to him in 1642. Maurizio had left the clergy earlier that year. Luisa Cristina and Maurizio had no children. Maurizio died in 1657 from a stroke leaving Luisa Cristina a widow at the age of twenty-seven.

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Francesco Giacinto, Duke of Savoy (1632 – 1638)

Upon the death of his father, Francesco Giacinto was Duke of Savoy from 1637 to 1638 under the regency of his mother Christine Marie. On October 4, 1638, six-year-old Francesco Giacinto died from a fever.

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Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy (1634 – 1675)

In 1638 at the death of his older brother six-year-old brother Francesco Giacinto, Duke of Savoy, four-year-old Carlo Emanuele became the Duke of Savoy under the regency of his mother Christine Marie. Even after he reached the age of majority, he allowed his mother to continue ruling for him. Carlo Emanuele preferred a life of pleasure. Only upon the death of his mother in 1663, did Carlo Emanuele, at the age of 29, assume power. He wanted to marry Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours but his mother disagreed and encouraged him to marry his cousin Françoise Madeleine d’Orléans, daughter of his maternal uncle Gaston, Duke of Orléans.  He did so in 1663. Later that year, Christine Marie died and then Françoise Madeleine died in 1664. In 1665, Carlo Emanuele married Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours, and they had one son, Vittorio Amedeo II, who became the first King of Sardinia.

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Princess Margherita Yolande of Savoy, Duchess of Parma (1635 – 1663)

Margherita Yolande’s mother Christine Marie began a correspondence with the French court to secure a marriage between Margherita Yolande and her first cousin King Louis XIV of France. However, Cardinal Mazarin, the chief minister to Louis XIII and Louis XIV, convinced Louis XIV to marry another first cousin Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, for political reasons. Instead, Margherita Yolande married Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma in 1660. The couple had two children who both died: the first was a stillborn daughter and the second was a son who live only one day. Sadly, Margherita Yolande died while giving birth to her second child.

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Princess Enrichetta Adelaide of Savoy, Electress of Bavaria (1636 – 1676)

Enrichetta Adelaide and her sister Caterina Beatrice were twins but Caterina Beatrice died when she was nine months old. In 1650, fourteen-year-old Enrichetta Adelaide married fourteen-year-old Ferdinand Maria, Hereditary Prince of the Electorate of Bavaria. The following year, Ferdinand Maria became Elector of Bavaria upon the death of his father. Enrichetta Adelaide and Ferdinand Maria had seven children including Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria who married her second cousin Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France, the only surviving child of Louis XIV, King of France and Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain.

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Princess Caterina Beatrice of Savoy (1636 – 1637)

Caterina Beatrice was the twin of Enrichetta Adelaide. She was born on November 6, 1636, and died on August 26, 1637.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Gaston of France, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Marie de Bourbon, Duchess de Montpensier

Princess Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (1627 – 1693)

In 1626, Prince Gaston of France, Duke of Orléans was married against his will to the immensely wealthy Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier in her own right. On May 29, 1627, Marie gave birth to a daughter and then died a few days later due to childbirth complications. Her infant daughter Anne Marie Louise inherited her mother’s fortune and titles. Known as the Grande Mademoiselle, Anne Marie Louise never married and when she died in 1693, she left her fortune to her first cousin Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, King Louis XIV’s only sibling.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Gaston of France, Duke of Orléans and his second wife Marguerite of Lorraine

Princess Marguerite Louise d’Orléans, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1645 – 1721)

In 1661, Marguerite Louise married Cosimo III de’ Medici, the future Grand Duke of Tuscany. The couple had three children but the marriage was not a happy one. In June 1675, Marguerite Louise and her husband separated and she retired with a pension to a convent on the outskirts of Paris that housed noble ladies separated from their husbands. She died in 1721 without ever again seeing her husband, who died two years later.

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Princess Élisabeth Marguerite d’Orléans, Duchess of Guise (1646 – 1696)

In 1667, Élisabeth Marguerite married Louis Joseph de Lorraine, Duke of Guise and the couple had one son who died at the age of four. In 1671, returning from a visit to the court of Charles II, King of England, Louis Joseph fell ill with smallpox and died. Élisabeth Marguerite never remarried.

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Princess Françoise Madeleine d’Orléans, Duchess of Savoy (1648 – 1664)

In 1663, influenced by her paternal aunt Christine Marie, Dowager Duchess of Savoy, Françoise Madeleine was married to her first cousin Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy. Françoise Madeleine died unexpectedly on  January 14, 1664, aged fifteen.

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Prince Jean Gaston d’Orléans, Duke of Valois (1650 – 1652)

The only son in the family, Jean Gaston had very frail health and was never able to walk or speak. He died from diarrhea a week short of his second birthday.

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Princess Marie Anne d’Orléans (1652 – 1656)

Born on November 9, 1652, Marie Anne died at the age of three on August 17, 1656.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Henrietta Maria of France and Charles I, King of England

Prince Charles James of England, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay (born and died 1629)

Charles James was born prematurely on May 13, 1629, after his mother had been frightened by a large dog jumping at her. He died the same day as his birth.

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Charles II, King of England (1630 – 1685)

Charles II was still young when the English Civil War broke out between his father King Charles I and the Parliamentarian and Puritan forces. The execution of King Charles I on January 30, 1649, made Charles the de jure King. Charles lived in exile until 1660, when Parliament formally invited him as King Charles II, to be the English monarch in what has become known as the Restoration. In 1662, Charles married Catherine of Braganza, the daughter of King João IV of Portugal. Despite fathering many illegitimate children with his mistresses, Charles had no children with Catherine. It is thought that Catherine did have at least three miscarriages.

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Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange (1631 – 1660)

Mary was the first Princess Royal. Her mother Queen Henrietta Maria, daughter of King Henri IV of France, wanted to imitate the way the eldest daughter of the King of France was styled Madame Royale. In 1641, nine-year-old Mary married Willem, Hereditary Prince of Orange, who would have his 15th birthday in a couple of weeks. In 1647, Mary’s husband became Willem II, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, upon the death of his father. In 1650, Mary was pregnant with her first child when her husband Willem II died at the age of 24. Eight days later, on November 14, 1650, Mary gave birth to her only child Willem who was Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands at birth. In 1660, on a visit to England, 29-year-old Mary fell ill with smallpox. Her son Willem was just ten years old and had lost both parents to smallpox. Willem would later marry his first cousin Mary, the daughter of King James II of England. After James II was deposed in 1688, Willem and Mary would jointly reign in England as King William III and Queen Mary II. Sadly, Mary would also die of smallpox at the age of 32.

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James II, King of England (1633 – 1701)

James’ first wife was Lady Anne Hyde, the daughter of one of his brother’s strongest supporters, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. James and Anne had eight children, but only two survived childhood, and both were Queen Regnants: Queen Mary II and Queen Anne. Anne and James secretly converted to Roman Catholicism. King Charles II insisted that James’ surviving daughters Mary and Anne be raised in the Church of England. In 1671, Anne died of breast cancer at the age of 34. King Charles II allowed his brother James to make a second marriage with the fifteen-year-old Catholic Mary Beatrice of Modena in 1673. Mary Beatrice had several miscarriages and stillbirths and had seven live births, but only two of these children survived childhood. King Charles II died in 1685, and having no legitimate children, he was succeeded by his brother James. King James II set on a course of restoring Catholicism to England. This ultimately resulted in James II being removed from the throne during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. James, his second wife, and their son settled at the Palace of St. Germain-en-Laye near Paris, France where a court in exile was established. James spent the rest of his life in France.

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Princess Elizabeth of England (1635 – 1650)

Elizabeth was only seven-years-old when the English Civil War broke out. From that time until her death in 1650, Elizabeth and her brother Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester were basically held as prisoners of the English Parliament. Over the coming years, Parliament assigned their guardianships to several nobles. Elizabeth spent her time studying languages and theology. On  January 29, 1649, Elizabeth and Henry met with their father for the last time. King Charles I was beheaded the next day. Elizabeth wrote a moving account of her last meeting with her father. In 1650, Elizabeth’s eldest brother, the titular King Charles II, traveled to Scotland to be crowned. In response, Parliament moved Elizabeth to the Isle of Wight despite Elizabeth complaining that she was not well enough to travel. During the move to the Isle of Wight, Elizabeth caught a cold that quickly developed into pneumonia, causing her death at the age of fifteen.

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Princess Anne of England (1637 – 1640)

From her birth, Anne was not healthy. It is likely that she developed tuberculosis, causing her death when she was only three years old. Apparently, Anne was a precocious child. As she lay dying, her nurse told her to say her prayers. Anne replied that she could not say her long prayer, meaning the Lord’s Prayer, but that she could say her short prayer, “Lighten mine eyes, O Lord, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”

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Princess Catherine of England (born and died 1639)

Catherine was born on June 29, 1639, and died the same day, an hour after her christening.

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Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1640 – 1660)

Henry was only two years old when the English Civil War broke out. Along with his elder sister Elizabeth, he was basically held as a prisoner of the English Parliament. Over the coming years, Parliament assigned their guardianships to several nobles. On  January 29, 1649, Elizabeth and Henry met with their father for the last time. King Charles I was beheaded the next day. In 1652, two years after the death of his sister Elizabeth, Henry was released and sent to his sister Mary in the Dutch Republic. Following the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, Henry accompanied his brother Charles II to England. However, in September 1660, Henry contracted smallpox during a London epidemic and died before Charles II’s coronation.

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Princess Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans (1644 – 1670)

About a month after Henrietta’s birth, her mother Henrietta Maria went to France to ask her nephew, King Louis XIV, for assistance for the Royalist side in the English Civil War. Henrietta was left in the care of Lady Dalkeith (born Anne Villiers, the daughter of Sir Edward Villiers). In 1646, Lady Dalkeith disguised herself and Henrietta as peasants and fled to France, reuniting Henrietta with her mother. Henrietta was brought up at the French court. In 1661, she married her first cousin Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XVI of France. Philippe had homosexual affairs, but apparently, he was intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children, and the couple had three children.

On June 29, 1670, Henriette-Anne drank a glass of iced chicory water and immediately felt severe pain in her side. She thought she had been poisoned and asked to be given an antidote. Henrietta died the next day at the age of twenty-six. There were rumors that her husband’s lover Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine had poisoned her. An autopsy showed that she died from “cholera morbus caused by heated bile” which was a medical diagnosis at the time for acute gastroenteritis occurring in summer and autumn with severe cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. Many of the autopsy observers disagreed with this diagnosis.

Henrietta is an ancestor of the royal families of Belgium, Luxembourg, and Spain. When the line of her brother King James II of England died out, the Jacobite claims to the British throne descended from her daughter Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia. The Orléanist pretenders to the French throne and the Savoy pretenders to the Italian throne descend from Henrietta.

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Maternal First Cousins

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Felipe IV, King of Spain and his first wife Princess Elisabeth of France

See above – Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Elisabeth of France and Felipe IV, King of Spain

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Felipe IV, King of Spain and his second wife Archduchess Mariana of Austria

Margarita Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, Holy Roman Empress (1651 – 1673)

Margarita Teresa was the first child of Felipe IV, King of Spain from his second marriage with his niece Archduchess Mariana of Austria, the daughter of his sister Maria Anna of Spain and Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1666, fifteen-year-old Margarita Teresa married Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor who was her maternal uncle and paternal cousin. During her six years of marriage, Margarita Teresa gave birth to four children but only one survived infancy. Weakened by six pregnancies in six years (four living births and two miscarriages), 21-year-old Margarita Teresa died four months into her seventh pregnancy.

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Maria Ambrosia de la Concepción of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1655)

Maria Ambrosia lived for only two weeks. She was born on December 7, 1655, and died on December 21, 1655.

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Felipe Prospero of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1657 – 1661)

Felipe Prospero’s father Felipe IV, King of Spain, had no male heir since the death of Balthasar Charles, his son by his first wife, Elisabeth of France, eleven years earlier, and so the birth of Felipe Prospero was a joyous event. However, it soon became evident that Felipe Prospero had health issues and was frequently ill, possibly from a defective immune system from generations of inbreeding.  On November 1, 1661, he died following a severe epileptic attack, four weeks before his fourth birthday.

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Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (1658 – 1659)

Fernando was born on December 23, 1658, and died ten months later on October 22, 1659.

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Carlos II, King of Spain (1661 – 1700)

With the birth of Carlos, his father Felipe IV, King of Spain, had a male heir. However, due to inbreeding, Carlos had many problems. Of eleven marriages made by Spanish monarchs between 1450 and 1661, the vast majority were between close relatives. Carlos had the “Habsburg jaw”, and this was so pronounced in Carlos that he swallowed his food nearly whole because he could not thoroughly chew it. In 1665, the not-quite four-year-old Carlos became King of Spain upon the death of his father. His mother Archduchess Mariana of Austria served as regent.

Carlos was educated by priests, but because of his poor health, it was expected that he would not live long and so his education in government tasks was neglected. When Carlos was twenty, the papal nuncio described him: “He can’t straighten his body except when he walks, unless he leans against a wall, a table or something else. His body is as weak as his mind. From time to time he shows signs of intelligence, memory, and a certain liveliness, but usually, he has a slow and indifferent look, clumsy and indolent, seeming dumbstruck.” Carlos II married twice but both marriages were childless.

Carlos lived to be thirty-eight years old, the last King of Spain from the House of Habsburg. King Louis XIV of France’s son Louis, Le Grand Dauphin 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 Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his eldest son Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, Carlos II, King of Spain, in his will, named Louis, Le Grand Dauphin’s second son, 16-year-old Philippe, Duke of Anjou, as his successor. He reigned as Felipe V, the first of the Bourbon kings of Spain.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Maria Anna of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans (1633 – 1654)

In 1653, Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor had his eldest son Ferdinand crowned as King of the Romans as the de facto heir to the Holy Roman Empire, despite Holy Roman Emperor being an elected position.  A year later, the younger Ferdinand died from smallpox.

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Archduchess Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain (1634 – 1696)

In 1649, 14-year-old Mariana married her 44-year-old uncle Felipe IV, King of Spain as his second wife in hopes of producing a male heir. Their children (listed above under Maternal First Cousins: Children of Felipe IV, King of Spain and his second wife Archduchess Mariana of Austria) were also first cousins of King Louis XIV through their father. Felipe IV was succeeded by his nearly four-year-old son Carlos II (see above). Because of Carlos II’s mental and physical condition, Mariana was regent for the rest of her life except for 1677 – 1679.

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Archduke Philipp August of Austria (1637 – 1639)

Philipp August was born on July 15, 1637, and died nearly two years later, on June 22, 1639.

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Archduke Maximilian Thomas of Austria (1638 – 1639)

Maximilian Thomas was born on December 21, 1638, and died six months later on June 29, 1639.

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Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 – 1705)

Leopold I was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. Elected in 1658, Leopold ruled the Holy Roman Empire until his death in 1705, becoming the longest-ruling Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor (46 years and 9 months). He married three times and had a total of sixteen children including Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and Archduchess Maria of Austria who married her first cousin of João V, King of Portugal.

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Archduchess Maria of Austria (born and died 1646)

Maria was born and died on May 13, 1646.

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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)

Notre-Dame de Reims in Reims, France (Reims Cathedral)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Reims Cathedral; Credit – Par Tim Hodson — https://www.flickr.com/photos/informationtakesover/6593926237/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18031986

Notre-Dame de Reims, also called Reims Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Reims, France dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was the coronation cathedral and most Kings of France from 1027 – 1825 were crowned there. Reims Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Reims. The construction of the present Reims Cathedral began in the 13th century and was completed in the 15th century but there were three other cathedrals on the site.

Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims baptizing Clovis I, King of the Franks; Credit – Wikipedia

The first Christian church in Reims was founded between 250 and 300. In the 5th century, a new church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary was built on the site. About 496, Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims baptized Clovis I, the first King of the Franks to be baptized. Although there had been some Christians in the Kingdom of the Franks, Clovis’ baptism led to the conversion of the entire population of the Kingdom of the Franks to Christianity.

In 816, Louis I the Pious, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor was crowned in Reims Cathedral by Pope Stephen IV. The coronation revealed the poor condition and inadequate size of the first cathedral. Beginning in 818, a much larger cathedral was built on the site using stone from the old city ramparts. The interior of the new cathedral was decorated with mosaics, paintings, sculptures, and tapestries. The cathedral was consecrated in 862 and, in 976, it began to be enlarged.

Seal of Reims Cathedral, showing how it appeared in the 12th century; Credit – CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32910537

By the 12th century, the second cathedral was considered too small. The existing nave and transept were preserved but the two ends of the cathedral were enlarged. The west front and its adjoining tower were demolished and replaced by two matching flanking towers. The major additions to the third cathedral were in the Gothic style but much of the original Carolingian style of the second cathedral remained.

On May 6, 1210, the third Carolingian/Gothic cathedral was destroyed by fire. Construction on the fourth and current cathedral in the High Gothic style began exactly a year later and was completed in 1275, which was exceptionally quick.

On July 24, 1481, during a renovation of the roof, two workers in charge of the lead for the roof, forgot to turn off a furnace, located in the attic of the cathedral. In a short time, the frame of the cathedral was on fire. The fire destroyed the roof, the central bell tower and its ten bells, and part of the transept. Molten lead from the roof destroyed several stained glass windows. King Charles VIII and then King Louis XII provided funds for the necessary renovations.

Interior of Reims Cathedral after World War I bombing; Credit – Wikipedia

Reims Cathedral was near the front lines of World War I and was hit by more than three hundred artillery shells. A major restoration project began in 1919 and was completed in 1938.

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The High Altar

The nave looking east toward the high altar; Credit – By Johan Bakker – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28038332

The high altar, made of French and Italian marble, is a copy of the 1747 altar which was destroyed by bombing during World War I.

The High Altar; Credit – By Zairon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65334623

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The Gallery of Kings

 

On the west facade, above the entrance to the cathedral and the central rose window and continuing on the sides of the cathedral is the Gallery of Kings, statues of French monarchs, each fifteen feet/4.5 meters high. The Gallery of Kings was constructed from 1300 – 1350. At the center is Clovis I, the first King of the Franks to be baptized, with his wife Saint Clotilde on the left and Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims who baptized him, on the right (see photo below). Saint Clotilde was raised as a Christian and played a role in her husband’s conversion to Christianity and the spreading of Christianity throughout western Europe.

Clovis I, King of the Franks in the center with his wife Saint Clotilde on the left and Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims on the right; Credit – Wikipedia

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Coronation of Charles VII, King of France and the Impact of Joan of Arc

Coronation of King Charles VII of France at Reims Cathedral. Joan of Arc is standing behind him holding her battle standard. This painting is at the Pantheon in Paris, France; Credit – Wikipedia

Perhaps the most historically symbolic coronation of a French king was the coronation of King Charles VII (reigned 1422 – 1461). He inherited the French throne in desperate times. France was fighting England in the Hundred Years’ War, caused by disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagenet and the French House of Valois. English forces occupied northern France including Paris and Reims. In 1420, King Charles VI of France had disinherited his son and recognized his son-in-law King Henry V of England and his heirs as the legitimate successors to the French crown. Meanwhile, a civil war was occurring in France between the Armagnacs, supporters of the House of Valois, and the Burgundians, supporters of the House of Valois-Burgundy and allies of the English.

Charles VII’s political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a military and spiritual leader. The teenage Joan of Arc said she had visions of Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Margaret of Antioch, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII in his efforts to purge the English from France.

Joan of Arc led French troops to victories at the Siege of Orléans and the Battle of Patay. With the English troops dispersed, the population of Reims switched their allegiance to King Charles VII and opened the city’s gates. This allowed for the coronation of King Charles VII on July 17, 1429, at Reims Cathedral with Joan of Arc standing nearby holding her battle standard. After the coronation, Joan knelt before Charles VII and joyously called him king for the first time.

On May 23, 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundian faction and handed over to the English. She was tried on several charges including heresy by the pro-English Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, declared guilty, and then burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. In 1456, the Catholic Church ordered a second trial. The first trial and its conclusions were declared “null, void, without value or effect” and Joan and her family were fully rehabilitated.

By the time of her second trial in 1456, Joan of Arc had already become a symbol of France and she remains an important symbol of French identity and unity. On May 16, 1920, Pope Benedict XV canonized Joan of Arc as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She is remembered at Reims Cathedral with two statues: an equestrian statue outside the cathedral and another statue in the cathedral.

Statue of Joan of Arc in Reims Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

French sculptor Prosper d’Epinay created a polychrome statue of Joan of Arc which he exhibited at the Salon des artistes français of 1902, an art exhibition held every year in early February in Paris. Seven years later, one of his patrons offered the statue to Reims Cathedral, at the time of Joan of Arc’s beatification as Blessed Joan of Arc. It stands in the place where Joan of Arc stood during the coronation of King Charles VII. The helmet and the armor were made from silvered bronze, the face was carved in ivory, and the tunic is yellow marble dotted with fleur-de-lis in lapis lazuli.

The original placement of the equestrian statue of Joan of Arc; Credit – Wikipedia

The bronze equestrian statue of Joan of Arc holding a sword in front of Reims Cathedral was designed by French sculptor Paul Dubois and was inaugurated by French President Félix Faure on Bastille Day, July 14, 1896. Originally the statue stood in front of Reims Cathedral with its back toward the cathedral depicting Joan of Arc riding away after Charles VII’s coronation. Today the statue faces the cathedral on the far end of Place du Cardinal-Luçon, the plaza in front of Reims Cathedral, as shown in the photo below.

 

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Coronations

Coronation of Louis XIII, King of France; Credit – CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35561924

The fact that Clovis I had been baptized at Reims Cathedral and the political power of the Archbishop of Reims led to the cathedral becoming the coronation site of Kings of France. After King Henri I was crowned at Reims Cathedral in 1027, the tradition of holding coronations there was firmly established. Since 987, when the House of Capet began its reign, and continuing through the House of Valois and the House of Bourbon, all but seven of France’s kings were crowned at Reims Cathedral. Hugh Capet, Robert II, Louis VI, and Henri IV were crowned elsewhere, Jean I reigned as the posthumous son and successor of Louis X for the five days he lived, and Louis XVIII and Louis Philippe I chose not to have coronations.

In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Napoleon I, Emperor of France at Notre Dame de Paris. With the Bourbon Restoration in 1814 after the downfall of Napoleon I, the practice of royal coronations at Reims Cathedral was resumed, but only once. The Bourbon Restoration saw two brothers of the beheaded King Louis XVI on the French throne. King Louis XVIII decided not to have a coronation. However, in 1825, his younger brother King Charles X was the last King of France to be crowned and his coronation was at Reims Cathedral. King Charles X was overthrown in the Revolution of 1830 and replaced by a constitutional monarch, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans I, who reigned as Louis Philippe, King of the French and was sworn in at the Parliament in Paris rather than crowned in Reims.

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, became President of France after Louis Philippe, King of the French was deposed in the Revolution of 1848. Not content with being simply President, he arranged for a referendum to decide if he should be declared Emperor. On December 2, 1852, following an overwhelming vote in his favor, the Second French Republic ended and the Second French Empire was declared. Louis-Napoleon took the throne as Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. However, Napoleon III chose not to have a coronation ceremony. In 1870, after France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the Third French Republic was declared, ending, for the last time, the French monarchy.

Coronation of Philippe V and his wife Joan of Burgundy at Reims Cathedral in 1317; Credit – Wikipedia

Several queen consorts were crowned with their husbands at Reims Cathedral. A queen’s coronation could take place years after her marriage or her husband’s accession to the throne. Queen consorts were crowned either together with their husband at Reims Cathedral, alone at Sainte-Chapelle in Paris or the Basilica of Saint-Denis, or not at all.

Coronations at Reims Cathedral

Coronation of King Charles X in 1825 by François Gérard, the last coronation held at Reims Cathedral; Credit – By François Gérard – Web Gallery of Art:   Image  Info about artwork, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15883911

When Saint Louis IX, King of France was crowned in 1226, the current cathedral was still under construction. The coronation of kings before Louis IX took place at the earlier cathedrals in Reims.

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

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Kathedrale von Reims – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathedrale_von_Reims> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Reims Cathedral – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims_Cathedral> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath%C3%A9drale_Notre-Dame_de_Reims> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Incendie de Notre-Dame de Reims (1481) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incendie_de_Notre-Dame_de_Reims_(1481)> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Sacre des rois de France — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacre_des_rois_de_France> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Statue équestre de Jeanne d’Arc (Paul Dubois) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_%C3%A9questre_de_Jeanne_d%27Arc_(Paul_Dubois)> [Accessed 3 February 2022].
  • Jenkins, Simon, 2021. Europe’s 100 Best Cathedral. London: Penguin Random House UK.

Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Interior of the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles; Credit – By Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66026550

In 1623, King Louis XIII of France (reigned 1610 – 1643) built a hunting lodge in Versailles, France, about 12 miles/19 km west of Paris. From 1631 – 1634, the hunting lodge was replaced by a small château. King Louis XIV (reigned 1643 – 1715) expanded the château into the magnificent Palace of Versailles, which this writer has visited, in several phases from 1661 – 1715. He eventually moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France, and this was continued during the reigns of Louis XIV’s successors, his great-grandson King Louis XV and then Louis XV’s grandson King Louis XVI.

The Palace of Versailles; Credit – By ToucanWings – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28505340

The Chapel Royal that we see today at the Palace of Versailles is the fifth chapel royal at Versailles. It was built from 1699 to 1710, at the end of the 72-year reign of King Louis XIV who died in 1715. Therefore, Louis XIV used the fifth chapel royal for only the last five years of his life but his successors Louis XV and Louis XVI used the fifth chapel royal during their entire reigns. The Chapel Royal, originally a Roman Catholic church, is no longer a church. It was deconsecrated in the 19th century and since then has served as a venue for government and private events and musical concerts.

Aerial view of the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles; Credit – By ToucanWings – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36855710

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The Previous Chapels

First Chapel Royal

The first chapel royal dates from the reign of Louis XIII (reigned 1610 – 1643). It was a detached building located near the château that had replaced the original hunting lodge. This chapel royal was demolished during the construction of the Grotto of Téthys (link in French), an artificial grotto constructed in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles in 1666 during the reign of Louis XIV.

Second Chapel Royal

The second chapel was constructed during Louis XIV’s second building campaign (1669–1672) When this new part of the Palace of Versailles was completed, the chapel royal was located in the Queen’s Grand Apartment The second chapel royal was used by the royal family and court until 1678 when a new chapel royal was built

Third Chapel Royal

The third chapel royal, used from 1678 – 1682, was located next to the site of the second royal chapel which had become the Queen’s Guard Room. In 1682, Louis XIV officially moved the French court from Paris to the Palace of Versailles, and the third chapel royal became inconvenient and did not meet the needs of either Louis XIV or the court.

Fourth Chapel Royal

King Louis XIV at prayer in the fourth chapel; Credit – Wikipedia

When the north wing of the Palace of Versailles was constructed, a new chapel royal was built in 1682. When the fourth chapel was constructed, a balcony-like, upper level, was built where the king and select members of the royal family and the court heard daily Mass. The fourth chapel royal remained in use until 1710 and it was here that many important religious events of the court and royal family during the reign of Louis XIV occurred.

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The Fifth Chapel Royal

Credit – Par Nono vlf — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76828541

The Chapel Royal that is seen today at the Palace of Versailles was created by King’s Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. From 1677 until his death in 1708, Hardouin-Mansart worked on the expansion of the Palace of Versailles, including the famous Hall of Mirrors. He was also responsible for other major projects during Louis XIV’s reign including Les Invalides in Paris, and the Place des Victoires and Place Vendôme, squares in Paris.

The current Chapel Royal was built near the corner formed by the wing of the King’s Grand Apartment and the north wing of the Palace of Versailles. Construction started in 1689 but was soon stopped due to the Nine Years’ War (1688 – 1697) between France and a European coalition. In 1699, construction resumed and Hardouin-Mansart continued working on the chapel until his death in 1708. His brother-in-law Robert de Cotte finished the construction. On June 5, 1710, the Royal Chapel was consecrated by Cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris. The Royal Chapel was dedicated to Saint Louis IX, King of France (reigned 1226 – 1270), the patron saint of the House of Bourbon and the ancestor of King Louis XIV. Until the French Revolution, the Chapel Royal was the religious center of the French court.

The Chapel Royal is a traditional two-story palace church. The upper level, the royal tribune, a balcony lined with Corinthian columns, overlooks the nave of the chapel. This was where the King and his family sat. The royal tribune can be entered directly from the north wing of the palace through a vestibule known as the Chapel Hall. Originally, the Chapel Royal contained stalls, a pulpit, confessionals, and furniture for the use of the King and his family. Today, only the altars and the organ remain.

The Floor

The floor of the nave; Credit – Par Lionel Allorge — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15557485

The floor of the nave is paved with multi-colored marble. At the foot of the steps to the altar is a crowned monogram of two intertwined letter Ls for Saint Louis IX, the patron of the Chapel Royal, and King Louis XIV, the builder of the Royal Chapel. This can be seen in the photo above, at the bottom, although it is upside down.

The Paintings

God the Father in His Glory Bringing to the World the Promise of Redemption, painted by Antoine Coypel: Credit – Par Jebulon — Travail personnel, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20081779

Above, the painting on the ceiling of the nave is entitled God the Father in His Glory Bringing to the World the Promise of Redemption, painted by Antoine Coypel.

Charles de la Fosse’s The Resurrection of Christ; Credit – Par Brian Jeffery Beggerly — originally posted to Flickr as IMG_5327, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11700443

Above, the half-dome of the apse is decorated with Charles de la Fosse‘s The Resurrection of Christ.

Jean Jouvenet’s The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles; Credit – Par Lionel Allorge — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15557787

Above, over the royal tribune is Jean Jouvenet‘s The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles.

Altars

The High Altar; Credit – By Zairon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70191334

The altarpiece over the high altar is a gilt bronze bas-relief of The Lamentation of the Dead Christ by French sculptor Corneille Van Clève (link in French).

One of the side altars; Credit – By Lionel Allorge – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15557313

The nine other altars in the Chapel Royal were consecrated to the Blessed Sacrament, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to the main patron saints of the royal family: Saint Louis of France, Saint Anne, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Philip the Apostle, Saint Charles Borromeo, Saint Victoire, and Saint Adelaide of Burgundy.

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Royal Events

The view from the royal tribune where the King and the royal family heard daily Mass

At 10:00 every morning, the King’s Mass was said in the Chapel Royal and attended by the court. The King and his family sat in the royal tribune, a balcony that overlooked the nave of the chapel. The ladies of the court sat in the side tribunes, the side balconies. Seated below in the nave were other members of the court.

Te Deums, short religious services of blessing or thanks, were sung to celebrate military victories and the births of children. Ceremonies of the Order of the Holy Spirit, a French order of chivalry founded by King Henri III in 1578, and baptisms and weddings of princes and princesses were held in the Chapel Royal.

Among the baptisms held at the Chapel Royal were those of five future Kings of France: Louis XV, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis-Philippe I, and two future titular Kings of France: Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France (Louis XVII, son of Louis XVI) and Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (Louis XIX, son of Charles X). In addition, Felipe V, the first Bourbon King of Spain, born Philippe, Duke of Anjou was baptized at the Chapel Royal. He was the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son and heir of Louis XIV who predeceased his father. Among the funerals held at the Chapel Royal were those of Louis XIV and Louis XV.

Wedding of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin & Marie Adélaïde of Savoy in the 4th Chapel Royal. King Louis XIV, the grandfather of the groom, can be prominently seen in the middle; Credit – Wikipedia

Note: The Princes of Condé (below) were from the French Princely House of Bourbon-Condé which was a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. From 1589 – 1709, the Princes of Condé held the rank of premier prince du sang royal (First Prince of the Blood Royal). The Princes of Conti (below) were a cadet branch of the Princely House of Bourbon-Condé.

Among the weddings at the Chapel Royal were:

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

  • Château du Versailles. 2022. Restoration of the Royal Chapel. [online] Available at: <https://en.chateauversailles.fr/news/life-estate/restoration-royal-chapel/royal-chapel> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • Château du Versailles. 2022. The Royal Chapel – The Palace of Versailles. [online] Available at: <https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/palace/royal-chapel> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Schlosskapelle (Versailles) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlosskapelle_(Versailles)> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Chapels of Versailles – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapels_of_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Palace of Versailles – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Chapelle royale de Versailles — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelle_royale_de_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Château de Versailles — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].

Basilica of Saint-Denis in Saint-Denis, France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Basilica of Saint-Denis; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Basilica of Saint-Denis, which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France. The current Gothic cathedral was built in the 12th century. The Kings of France and their families were buried for centuries at the Basilica of Saint-Denis and it is often referred to as the “royal necropolis of France.” The remains of all but three monarchs of France from the 10th century until 1789 are interred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The basilica is named after Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, who became the first Bishop of Paris in the third century. He was decapitated on the hill of Montmartre and is said to have carried his head to the site of the current church, indicating where he wanted to be buried.

Saint Denis holding his head – Notre Dame de Paris; Credit – Wikipedia

A shrine-mausoleum was erected on the site of Saint Denis’ grave in about 313 AD. It was enlarged into a basilica with the addition of tombs and monuments and became a place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. Dagobert, King of the Franks (reigned 628 to 637) re-founded the church as the Abbey of Saint-Denis, a Benedictine monastery, and commissioned a new shrine to house Saint Denis’ remains. Abbot Suger (lived c. 1081 – 1151), a confidant of French kings and Abbot of Saint-Denis from 1122, began work around 1135 to rebuild and enlarge the Abbey of Saint-Denis into the Gothic cathedral we see today.

The interior of the Basilica of St. Denis; Credit – By Rita1234 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8784509

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Coronations of the Queen of France

The Coronation in Saint-Denis of Marie de Medici by Peter Paul Rubens; Credit – Wikipedia

Not all Queens of France, wives of the Kings of France, were crowned. A queen’s coronation could take place years after her marriage or her husband’s accession to the throne. Queens of France were crowned either together with their husband at Notre-Dame de Reims, or alone at Sainte-Chapelle or the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Marie de Medici, the wife of King Henri IV, was the last of Queen of France to be crowned. She was crowned ten years after her marriage and her husband was assassinated the day after her coronation.

The Queens of France who were crowned at the Basilica of Saint-Denis include the following:

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Destruction and Restoration

Violation of the royal tombs of Saint-Denis by Hubert Robert (Musée Carnavalet, Paris); Credit – https://uk.tourisme93.com/basilica/desecration-of-the-royal-tombs.html

During the French Revolution, the remains of French royals were desecrated and some tombs and effigies were destroyed. By the decree on August 1, 1793, the National Convention ordered: “The tombs and mausoleums of the former kings, mounted in the Church of Saint-Denis, in temples and in other places, across the entire Republic, will be destroyed.”  This occurred systematically from August 1793 – October 1793. The remains of 46 kings, 32 queens, and 63 other royals were thrown into two large pits in the monks’ cemetery adjacent to the Basilica of  Saint-Denis and covered in quicklime and soil. A combination of seventy effigies and tombs were saved because of the efforts of archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir who claimed them as artworks for his Museum of French Monuments.

Crypt where Louis VII, Louis de Lorraine, Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and Louis XVIII are buried at Saint-Denis; Credit – By Fbrandao.1963 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64407677

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French reopened the Basilica of Saint-Denis in 1806 but left the royal remains in their mass graves. One of the first things King Louis XVIII, a younger brother of the guillotined King Louis XVI, did after the Bourbon Restoration in 1814 was to order a search for the remains of his brother and sister-in-law, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. They had been originally been buried in the cemetery at the Madeleine Church and covered with quicklime. The few remains that were found were reburied at the Basilica of Saint-Denis on January 21, 1815, the twenty-second anniversary of King Louis XVI’s execution.

Door leading to the crypt where the desecrated royal remains were re-interred at Saint-Denis. The large plaques on either side of the door are engraved with the names of those who were re-interred; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 1817, King Louis XVIII ordered the mass graves adjacent to the Basilica of Saint-Denis to be opened but due to the damage from the quicklime, identification of the remains was impossible. The remains were collected into an ossuary, a site serving as the final resting place of human skeletal remains, in the crypt of the basilica. Large marble plates on either side of the gated door leading to the crypt are engraved with the names of those whose remains are buried in the crypt. The seventy effigies and tombs that Alexandre Lenoir saved were returned to the Basilica of Saint-Denis and are now mostly in their original places.

Some of the effigies rescued and preserved by archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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The Heart of Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XVI

Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, and sometimes called King Louis XVII, died from tuberculosis on June 8, 1795, at the age of ten while imprisoned at the Temple, the remains of a medieval fortress in Paris. He was buried at the Cimetière Sainte-Marguerite in Paris in a grave without any marker. However, before Louis-Charles was buried, an autopsy was performed. Following the tradition of preserving royal hearts, Louis-Charles’s heart was removed and smuggled out during the autopsy by Dr. Philippe-Jean Pelletan, a royalist, who then preserved the heart in alcohol. After the Bourbon Restoration in 1815, Dr. Pellatan offered the heart to Louis-Charles’ paternal uncle King Louis XVIII but he refused because he could not bring himself to believe that it was the heart of his nephew. Following the July Revolution in 1830, Dr. Pelletan’s son found the heart in the remnants of a looted palace and placed it in the crystal urn where it still resides. After the death of Dr. Pelletan’s son in 1879, Eduard Dumont, a relative of Dr. Pelletan’s wife, took possession of the heart.

Louis-Charles’ heart in the crystal urn; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 1895, Carlos, Duke of Madrid, the Legitimist claimant to the French throne, accepted the heart from Eduard Dumont. The heart was kept at Schloss Frohsdorf near Vienna, Austria. Upon the death of his father Carlos, Duke of Madrid in 1909, Jaime, Duke of Madrid, the next Legitimist claimant to the French throne, inherited the heart and gave it to his sister Beatriz.

During World War II, Schloss Frohsdorf suffered damage and the heart was rescued by descendants of Carlos, Duke of Madrid and ultimately came into the possession of his granddaughter Princess Marie des Neiges Massimo. In 1975, the princess offered the heart to the Memorial of Saint-Denis in Paris, the organization that oversees the royal graves at the Basilica of St. Denis. The heart was placed in an underground crypt at the basilica where the remains of French royals that were desecrated during the French Revolution were subsequently interred.

In 2004, DNA tests using mitochondrial DNA proved the heart really did belong to Louis-Charles. Comparison samples were taken from descendants of Marie Antoinette’s sisters, members of the Bourbon-Parma family including Queen Anne of Romania who was born a Princess of Bourbon-Parma, and a strand of Marie Antoinette’s hair. With the approval of the French government, the Legitimists organized a ceremony at the Basilica of St. Denis on June 8, 2004, the 209th anniversary of Louis-Charles’ death. His heart was placed in a niche near the graves of his parents Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette whose remains were transferred to the basilica in 1815.

The resting place of Louis-Charles’ heart; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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Royal Burials

*Unofficial Royalty article

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_personnes_enterr%C3%A9es_dans_la_basilique_Saint-Denis

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

  • Basilique cathédrale de Saint-Denis. 2022. Basilique cathédrale de Saint-Denis. [online] Available at: <http://www.saint-denis-basilique.fr/en/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Basilica of Saint-Denis – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint-Denis> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2018. French Royal Burial Sites – House of Bourbon, House of Bonaparte, House of Orléans. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/current-monarchies-article-index/french-royal-index/french-burial-sites-house-of-bourbon-house-of-bonaparte-house-of-orleans/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. French Royal Burial Sites – House of Valois. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/french-royal-burial-sites-house-of-valois/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Basilique Saint-Denis — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilique_Saint-Denis> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Liste des personnes enterrées dans la basilique Saint-Denis — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_personnes_enterr%C3%A9es_dans_la_basilique_Saint-Denis> [Accessed 14 March 2022].

Louise Marie Thérèse of France, Duchess of Parma, Regent of Parma

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Duchy of Parma was in today’s northwest Italy and came into existence in 1545 when Pope Paul III made his illegitimate son Pier Luigi Farnese the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, territories that previously were a part of the Papal States. The House of Farnese reigned until 1731 when the male line went extinct. The duchy passed to Felipe V, King of Spain from the Spanish House of Bourbon whose second wife Elizabeth Farnese was the Farnese heiress. Felipe V made Carlos, his only son with Elizabeth Farnese, the Duke of Parma. However, in 1738, Felipe V traded the Duchy of Parma to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine for the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily and Carlos became King of Naples and Sicily.

In 1748, the Duchy of Parma was ceded back to the Bourbons. 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.  In 1796, the Duchy of Parma was occupied by French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte. It remained in French hands until the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 when the duchy was given to Napoleon’s second wife, Marie-Louise of Habsburg-Lorraine. She reigned until her death in 1847 when the Duchy of Parma was restored to the House of Bourbon-Parma. In 1859, the Duchy of Parma was abolished during the Italian unification movement. It was merged with the Kingdom of Sardinia as part of the unification of Italy. In 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy.

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Louise Marie Thérèse of France, Duchess of Parma, Regent of Parma; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise Marie Thérèse of France was the wife of Carlos III, Duke of Parma and Regent for their son Roberto I, Duke of Parma until the Duchy of Parma was abolished during the Italian unification movement. Louise Marie Thérèse was born on September 21, 1819, at the Élysée Palace in Paris, France. She was the third of the four children and the second of the two daughters of Prince Charles Ferdinand of France, Duke of Berry and Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Louise Marie Thérèse’s paternal grandparents were King Charles X of France (grandson of King Louis XV and brother of King Louis XVI) and Princess Maria Theresa of Savoy. Her maternal grandparents were King Francesco I of the Two Sicilies and his first wife Maria Clementina of Austria.

Louise Marie Thérèse with her brother younger brother Henri and her mother Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise Marie Thérèse had three siblings but her two eldest siblings died soon after birth:

The House of Bourbon was restored to the French throne in the aftermath of Napoléon I’s defeat and final exile and reigned from 1815 – 1830. The two kings who reigned during the Bourbon Restoration, Louis XVIII and Charles X, were younger brothers of the guillotined King Louis XVI.

Maria Carolina, Duchess of Berry in mourning for her husband with her two children, Louise Marie Thérèse’ and Henri; Credit – Wikipedia

Five months after her birth, on February 13, 1820, Louise Marie Thérèse’s father Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry was stabbed while leaving the opera house in Paris with his wife and died the next day. The assassin was a saddlemaker named Louis Pierre Louvel, a Bonapartist who wanted to end the House of Bourbon. At the time of his death, Charles Ferdinand’s childless uncle Louis XVIII was the King of France, and his father, the future King Charles X was the heir to the throne. Charles Ferdinand was third in the Bourbon line of succession to the French throne after his childless elder brother Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême. Louise Marie Therese’s mother was pregnant and gave birth to a son seven months later who became the third in the line of succession.

Louise Marie Thérèse in 1830; Credit – Wikipedia

As a child, Louise Marie Thérèse lived at her birthplace, the Elysée Palace in Paris. and Château de Rosny-sur-Seine, her mother’s main residence, just a short distance from Paris. Marie-Joséphine Louise de Montaut-Navailles, Marquise de Gontaut Saint-Blacard, a former lady-in-waiting to Louise Marie Thérèse’s mother was appointed the governess to Louise Marie Thérèse and her brother Henri and was responsible for their education.

The French Royal Family in 1823 – left to right: Marie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême; Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême; Prince Henri; Charles-Philippe, Count of Artois (future King Charles X); King Louis XVIII of France; Princess Louise Marie Thérèse; Marie-Caroline, Duchess of Berry; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise Marie Thérèse’s grandfather King Charles X of France succeeded to the throne upon the death of his brother King Louis XVIII of France in 1824. He would prove to be very unpopular with the French people, and would not remain on the throne for very long. When he issued very restrictive ordinances, in July 1830, there were quick calls for revolution, now called the July Revolution of 1830. When rioting began, Charles X’s government ministers pleaded with him to revoke the ordinances but he refused. By the end of the night, the members of the Chamber of Deputies had decided that Charles X must go and that Louis-Philippe III, Duke of Orléans, a descendant of Philippe I, Duke Orléans, the brother of King Louis XIV of France, would become Louis-Philippe, King of the French.

Maria Caroline, Duchess of Berry and her two children Louise Marie Thérèse and Henri joined the rest of the French Bourbons in exile in the United Kingdom. Initially, Maria Carolina and her children lived in Bath but then they moved to Edinburgh, Scotland to be closer to the former king, Charles X, who was living at Holyrood Palace. Maria Carolina did not like living in Edinburgh agreeable, nor did she like the exclusion of her son Henri from the French throne by Louis Philippe, King of the French. She declared her son Henri to be the legitimate king, and herself to be regent. In 1831, she left Edinburgh and returned to her family in Naples.

Louise Marie Thérèse’s guardian Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Duchess of Angoulême; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 14, 1831, Maria Carolina secretly married an Italian nobleman, Ettore Carlo Lucchesi-Palli, 8th Duca della Grazia. After the scandal of her secret morganatic marriage, the subsequent birth of a child in 1833, and an abortive insurrection to put her son on the French throne, Maria Carolina lost all her prestige. Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Duchess of Angoulême, the only surviving child of the guillotined King Louis XVI of France, who had married her first cousin and Louise Marie Thérèse’s paternal uncle, Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême became the guardian of Louise Marie Thérèse and her brother Henri:

Louise Marie Thérèse had six half-siblings from her mother’s second marriage to Ettore Carlo Lucchesi-Palli, 8th Duca della Grazia:

  • Anna Maria Rosalia Lucchesi-Palli (born and died 1833)
  • Maria Bianca Lucchesi Palli (born and died 1834)
  • Clementina Lucchesi-Palli (1835 – 1925), married Count Camillo Zileri dal Verme degli Obbizi;
  • Francesca di Paola Lucchesi-Palli (1836 – 1923) married Camillo Massimo, Prince of Arsoli
  • Maria Isabella Lucchesi-Palli (1838 – 1873), married (1) Massimiliano dei Marquis Cavriani (2) Count Giovanni Battista de Conti
  • Adinolfo Lucchesi-Palli, Duke of Grace (1840 – 1911), married Lucrezia Nicoletta Ruffo di Bagnara

Carlos III, Duke of Parma, Louise Marie Thérèse’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia

When it came time to arrange a marriage for Louise Marie Thérèse, her guardian and aunt Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Duchess of Angoulême rejected several marriage proposals and was adamant that Louise Marie Thérèse should marry a Bourbon. There were few Bourbon princes to choose from and by the time she reached the age of twenty-five Louise Marie Thérèse was still unmarried. Finally, in 1845, a marriage was arranged. The groom was the future Carlo III, Duke of Parma from the House of Bourbon-Parma, a cadet branch of the Spanish House of Bourbon which was originally a branch of the French House of Bourbon. His father Carlo II Ludovico, Duke of Parma was in financial difficulty and so he decided to marry his son to a princess with a large dowry. Carlo was four years younger than Louise Marie Thérèse and they had first met as children. They were married on November 10, 1845, at Schloss Frohsdorf in Lanzenkirchen in Austria, the home in exile of the bride’s aunt by marriage and guardian Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Duchess of Angoulême.

Louise Marie Thérèse and her four children in 1860. Left to right: Roberto, Louise Marie Thérèse, Margherita, Enrico, and Alice: Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo and Louise Marie Thérèse had four children:

In December 1847, Napoleon’s second wife Marie-Louise of Austria, reigning Duchess of Parma died. As stipulated by the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the Duchy of Parma was restored to the House of Bourbon-Parma and Carlo’s father became Carlo II Ludovico, Duke of Parma. However, the reign of Carlo II Ludovico, Duke of Parma was short. He was very unpopular with the citizens of Parma, and within a few months, he was ousted by a revolution. Carlo II Ludovico regained control of Parma with the help of Austrian troops but finally abdicated in favor of his son Carlo III, Duke of Parma on March 14, 1849.

The authoritarian policies of Carlo III, Duke of Parma made him unpopular. He placed Parma under martial law, inflicted heavy penalties on the members of the former provisional government, closed the university, and instituted persecution policies. Plots to remove Carlo III from power began to circulate in 1853. His personal life was also in trouble. Carlo had separated from Louise Marie Thérèse who had become obese. He began an open affair with Countess Emma Guadagni. The marriage of Carlo and Louise Marie Thérèse became completely irreconcilable when Carlo took his mistress on a semi-official visit to Queen Isabella II of Spain in December 1853.

On March 26, 1854, while taking his usual afternoon walk through the streets of Parma, Carlo III was attacked by two men who stabbed him in the stomach. After much suffering, which he endured bravely, thirty-one-year-old Carlo III, Duke of Parma died the following evening, March 27, 1854. Ireneo Bochi and Antonio Carra, Carlo’s murderers, escaped prosecution. They were briefly arrested but since they looked similar, witnesses were confused and deemed unreliable. Bochi and Carra did not act for political reasons but were hired killers. However, exactly who paid them remains unknown.

Louise Marie Therese, Regent of Parma with her son Roberto I, Duke of Parma; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo III’s six-year-old son Roberto became Duke of Parma with Louise Marie Thérèse as regent but had a short reign. In 1859, the Duchy of Parma was abolished during the Italian unification movement. It was merged with the Kingdom of Sardinia as part of the unification of Italy. In 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy.

The crypt with the tombs of King Charles X of France and other members of the former French royal family; Credit – By Viator slovenicus – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7164631

Louise Marie Thérèse took her children to Venice, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, now in Italy where she spent the rest of her life in exile. She survived her husband by ten years, dying on February 1, 1864, at the age of 44, at the Palazzo Giustinian in Venice. She was buried in the crypt of her grandfather, King Charles X of France, at the Kostanjevica Monastery in what is now Pristava, Slovenia. Other members of the former French royal family buried there include her brother Henri, Count of Chambord, and her uncle and aunt Louis Antoine and Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Duke and Duchess of Angoulême.

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

  • Almanachdegotha.org. 2021. Duchy of Parma – House of Bourbon-Parma. [online] Available at: <http://www.almanachdegotha.org/id29.html> [Accessed 11 October 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Marie-Caroline of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Berry – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Marie_Caroline_of_Naples_and_Sicily> [Accessed 16 October 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Princess Louise d’Artois – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Louise_d%27Artois> [Accessed 16 October 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo III, Duke of Parma. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-iii-duke-of-parma/> [Accessed 16 October 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Luisa Maria di Borbone-Francia (1819-1864) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luisa_Maria_di_Borbone-Francia_(1819-1864)> [Accessed 16 October 2021].
  • Louda, Jiri and MacLagan, Michael, 2002. Lines of Succession. New York: Barnes and Noble.
  • Mehl, Scott, 2016. King Charles X of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-x-of-france/> [Accessed 16 October 2021].

Marie Clotilde of France, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Marie Clotilde of France, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Clotilde of France was the wife of Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia. Given the names Marie Adélaïde Clotilde Xavière, she was born at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France on September 23, 1759. She was the second but the eldest surviving of the three daughters and the seventh of the eight children of Louis, Dauphin of France and his second wife Maria Josepha of Saxony. Louis XV, King of France and Marie Leszczyńska of Poland were her paternal grandparents. Her maternal grandparents were Augustus III, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and Maria Josepha of Austria.

Marie Clotilde and her brother Charles; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Clotilde had seven siblings including three Kings of France:

Marie Clotilde’s father Louis, Dauphin of France was the heir to the throne of France but he never became king. He died of tuberculosis in 1765 at the age of 36. Maria Josepha, who had cared for her husband during his last illness, also contracted tuberculosis. She died on March 13, 1767, at the age of 35. By the time, Marie Clotilde was eight years old, she had lost both her parents. Upon the death of her grandfather King Louis XV in 1774, Marie Clotilde’s brother succeeded him as Louis XVI, King of France.

Marie Clotilde was raised with her younger sister Élisabeth by Marie Louise de Rohan, also known as Madame de Marsan, who held the title Governess of the Children of France. Because she tended to be overweight, Marie Clotilde was nicknamed Gros-Madame. From an early age, Marie Clotilde was very religious. She wanted to become a nun like her paternal aunt Louise-Marie of France and join the Order of the Carmelites. However, for political reasons, her brother Louis XVI arranged for her to marry Carlo Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont, the eldest son and heir of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. There had already been two marriages between France and Sardinia. Carlo Emanuele’s sister Maria Giuseppina had married Marie Clotilde’s older brother Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, the future King Louis XVIII of France, and another sister Maria Teresa had married her brother Charles, Count of Artois, the future King Charles X of France.

Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia, Marie Clotilde’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia

The proxy marriage took place at the Palace of Versailles in France on August 21, 1775, with Marie Clotilde’s brother Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, standing in for the groom. Carlo Emanuele and Marie Clotilde were married in person on September 6, 1775, at the House of Savoy’s Château de Chambéry now in France. Carlo Emanuele and Marie Clotilde were devoted to each other. They shared a strong faith in Roman Catholicism and studied religious texts together. Marie Clotilde played the guitar while Carlo Emanuele sang. However, their marriage remained childless. Concerns were raised that her difficulty to conceive was due to her weight and she was subjected to several fertility treatments of the time. In 1783, after eight years of attempting to have children, Marie Clotilde asked Carlo Emanuele to end sexual relations and live in chastity as brother and sister, and he willingly agreed. Marie Clotilde lived a very pious life. She avoided the customary pleasures at court, was reluctant to wear expensive clothing and jewelry, practiced charitable and pious works, and was the patron of charitable associations.

Marie Clotilde playing the guitar; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Clotilde was deeply affected by the effects of the French Revolution. At the start of the French Revolution, her father-in-law Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia allowed his two daughters who had married Marie Clotilde’s brothers and their families to stay in the Kingdom of Sardinia under his protection. This act most likely saved their lives. However, Marie Clotilde’s brother King Louis XVI of France, sister-in-law Marie Antoinette and sister Élisabeth were beheaded via the guillotine. Her nephew Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, son and heir of Louis XVI, died at the age of ten from tuberculosis while imprisoned.

Carlo Emanuele IV succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father Vittorio Amedeo III in 1796 and Marie Clotilde became Queen of Sardinia. In 1798, the French occupied Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, where Marie Clotilde and Carlo Emanuele lived. This forced Carlo Emanuele to give up all his territories on the Italian mainland and withdraw to the island of Sardinia in 1799. The couple attempted to return to Turin but were unable to because of the French military. Marie Clotilde and Carlo Emanuele lived in Florence, Rome, and finally Naples. In Naples, Marie Clotilde gave self-sacrificing support to her husband, attended church, and helped the needy and sick.

Tomb of Marie Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Di Miguel Hermoso Cuesta – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27091078

Marie Clotilde died from typhoid fever on March 7, 1802, aged 42, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. She was buried at the Church of Santa Caterina a Chiaia in Naples. Pope Pius VII, who had personally known Marie Clotilde, declared her The Venerable Marie Clotilde of France in 1808. In the Catholic Church, after a deceased Catholic has been declared a Servant of God by a bishop and proposed for beatification by the Pope, they may next be declared Venerable (“heroic in virtue”) during the investigation and process leading to possible canonization as a saint.

Carlo Emanuele praying as a Jesuit novice; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele was so upset by Marie Clotilde’s death that he decided to abdicate. He left the throne of Sardinia to his brother who reigned as Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia. However, Carlo Emanuele IV retained the Duchy of Savoy and settled in Rome and the nearby town of Frascati, both now in Italy. Like his wife, Carlo Emanuele was very pious and devout. In 1815, he took simple vows in the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). He was never ordained as a priest but lived as a novice until his death on October 6, 1819, at the age of 68. Carlo Emanuele was buried in the Church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome, built for the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill.

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

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Marie Clothilde von Frankreich – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Clothilde_von_Frankreich> [Accessed 27 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Clotilde of France – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotilde_of_France> [Accessed 27 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iv-king-of-sardinia-and-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 27 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. Louis, Dauphin of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-dauphin-of-france/> [Accessed 27 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Clotilde di Borbone-Francia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Clotilde_di_Borbone-Francia> [Accessed 27 June 2021].

​Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine was the third of the three wives, all of whom died young, of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. She was born on October 15, 1711, at the Château de Lunéville in the Duchy of Lorraine, now in France. Elisabeth Therese was the eleventh of fourteen children and the seventh of the nine daughters of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans. Her paternal grandparents were Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, and Eleonora of Austria. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France, and Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatine, known as Liselotte, were her maternal grandparents.

Elisabeth Therese had thirteen siblings but ten of her siblings did not survive to adulthood. Three of her siblings died from smallpox in 1711, within a week. Her father Leopold, Duke of Lorraine is the direct male ancestor of all rulers of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, including all Emperors of Austria.

  • Léopold, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (1699 – 1700) died in infancy
  • Élisabeth Charlotte of Lorraine (1700 – 1711) died in childhood from smallpox
  • Louise Christine of Lorraine (born and died 1701), died in infancy
  • Marie Gabrièle Charlotte of Lorraine (1702 – 1711) died in childhood from smallpox.
  • Louis, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (1704 – 1711) died in childhood from smallpox
  • Joséphine Gabrièle of Lorraine (1705 – 1708) died in childhood
  • Gabrièle Louise of Lorraine (1706 – 1710), died in childhood
  • Léopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (1707 – 1723), died in his teens
  • Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (1708 – 1765), married Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right, had sixteen children including Archduchess Maria Antonia who married King Louis XVI of France, became Queen Marie Antoinette of France
  • Eléonore of Lorraine (born and 1710 – 1710), died in infancy
  • Charles Alexander of Lorraine (1712 – 1780), married Maria Anna of Austria, no children
  • Anne Charlotte of Lorraine (1714 – 1773), Abbess of Remiremont Abbey in Remiremont, Vosges, France
  • Marie Louise of Lorraine (1716 – 1723), died in childhood

Elisabeth Therese’s mother first attempted to marry her to the 15-year-old King Louis XV of France. Louis XV had been engaged to marry 7-year-old Mariana Victoria of Spain, but she was sent back to Spain because she was too young to have children. A marriage with Elisabeth Therese was opposed by Louis XV’s chief minister Louis Henri I, Prince of Condé, Duke of Bourbon who said that the House of Lorraine was too closely related to the House of Habsburg and marriage with Elisabeth Therese cause conflict with the French nobility. In 1729, marriage negotiations with Elisabeth Therese’s recently widowed first cousin Louis d’Orléans, Duke of Orléans fell apart when her father died.

Elisabeth Therese’s husband Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1736, Elisabeth Therese’s brother Francis, who had succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine, married the Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter and heiress apparent of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor’s territories of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. This marriage between the House of Lorraine and the House of Habsburg allowed a more prestigious marriage for Elisabeth Therese. In late 1736, the twice-widowed 35-year-old Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia asked to marry the 25-year-old Elisabeth Therese. Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese were half-first cousins as their mothers were half-sisters. After a proxy marriage on March 5, 1737, at the Château de Lunéville in the Duchy of Lorraine, now in France, Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese married in person on April 1, 1737, in Lyon, France.

Carlo Emanuele’s four surviving children from his second marriage to Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg were Elisabeth Therese’s stepchildren:

Elisabeth Therese with her eldest son Carlo Francesco: Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Therese and Carlo Emanuele III had three children but only the third child Benedetto survived childhood. Sadly, Elisabeth Therese died at the Palace of Venaria in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, on July 3, 1741, aged 29, from puerperal fever (childbed fever), thirteen days after giving birth to Benedetto.

Basilica of Superga; Credit – By Bruce The Deus at Italian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75926656

Elisabeth Therese was first buried in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. In 1786, her remains were moved to the Basilica of Superga in Turin by her stepson Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia.

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

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Therese_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 20 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold,_Duke_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 20 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 19 June 2021].

Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Credit – Wikipedia

Anne Marie d’Orléans was the first wife of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia. She was born on August 27, 1669, at the Château de Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, France, near Paris, France. Anne Marie had an impeccable royal genealogy. Her parents were first cousins. Her father was Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger of the two sons of Louis XIII, King of France and Anne of Austria, and the only sibling of Louis XIV, King of France. Her mother was Princess Henrietta of England, the youngest child of Charles I, King of England and Henrietta Maria of France. Philippe’s father Louis XIII and Henrietta’s mother Henrietta Maria were siblings, the children of Henri IV, King of France and Marie de Medici from the famous House of Medici. As the granddaughter of Louis XIII, King of France, Anne Marie was entitled to the style and title Her Royal Highness Petite-fille de France (Granddaughter of France).

Anne Marie had two siblings:

On June 30, 1670, when Anne Marie was only ten months old, her mother died at the age of 26. King Louis XIV wanted a male heir to continue the Orléans line and looked for a second wife for his brother Philippe himself. King Louis XIV rejected many potential second brides for his brother before settling on the Protestant Princess Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. She was the only daughter of Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine and 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.

Anne Marie’s father Philippe I, Duke of Orléans; 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 Anne Marie and her elder sister Marie Louise 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 Anne Marie:

Anne Marie’s husband Vittorio Amdedeo II, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Always eager to maintain his influence in the Duchy of Savoy which bordered France, King Louis XIV of France offered his niece Anne Marie as a bride to Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy, the future King of Sardinia, and he agreed to the match. The proxy marriage of Vittorio Amedeus and Anne Marie took place at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France on April 10, 1684. Anne Marie’s cousin Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine stood in for the groom and King Louis XIV gave Anne Marie a huge dowry of 900,000 livres. Philippe, Duke of Orléans accompanied his daughter as far as Juvisy-sur-Orge, 18 kilometers south of Paris, and then Christine d’Estrées, Comtesse de Lillebonne accompanied Anne Marie to Savoy. Anne Marie and Vittorio Amedeo met at the House of Savoy’s Château de Chambéry where the marriage ceremony was performed by Étienne Le Camus, Archbishop of Grenoble on May 6, 1684. Two days later, the newlyweds made their “Joyous Entry” into Turin.

Anne Marie and Vittoria Amedeo had six children:

Upon arrival at the court of Savoy, Anne Marie fell under the influence of her pro-French mother-in-law Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours who had been born at the Hôtel de Nemours in Paris and was a half-first cousin once removed of King Louis XIV of France. The close relationship between his wife and mother was not appreciated by Vittorio Amadeus. When Vittorio Amedus severed ties with France in 1690, Anne Marie and her children along with her mother-in-law left Turin, the capital of Savoy, for a period of time in protest. Vittorio Amedeo had extramarital affairs which Anne Marie quietly accepted. His longest affair, eleven years, was with Jeanne Baptiste d’Albert de Luynes with whom he had two children.

Vittorio Amadeo II and Anne Marie, King and Queen of Sardinia, circa 1723-1728; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 26, 1728, the day before her 59th birthday, at the Villa della Regina in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, Anne Marie died after a series of heart attacks. She was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

Anne Marie is an important link in the Jacobite succession to the thrones of England and Scotland, and now to the United Kingdom.  In 1688, Anne Marie’s maternal uncle James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots was deposed. After James II lost his throne, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his Roman Catholic heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland.

When the line of the deposed King James II of England died out the Jacobite claims to the British throne descended from the line of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, James II’s sister and Anne Marie’s mother. Since Anne Marie’s elder sister had died and had no children and her brother died in childhood, the Jacobite claims descended through Anne Marie. Her great-grandson Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia was the first Jacobite heir from the House of Savoy. All subsequent Jacobite heirs have been descendants of Anne Marie. Although no Jacobite heirs after James II’s son and grandsons made a claim on the British throne, the Jacobite line of succession has proceeded over the years from the House of Savoy to the House of Austria-Este, and to the House of Wittelsbach (Bavaria). It appears in the future, that it will proceed to the House of Liechtenstein.

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Kingdom of Sardinia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anne Marie d’Orléans – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Marie_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/philippe-i-duke-of-orleans/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amedeo-ii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anna Maria di Borbone-Orléans – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Maria_di_Borbone-Orl%C3%A9ans> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • Jacobite.ca. 2021. The Jacobite Heritage. [online] Available at: <http://www.jacobite.ca/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2021. Анна Мария Орлеанская — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F> [Accessed 17 June 2021].

Cardinal Jules Mazarin, Favorite of King Louis XIV of France

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Cardinal Mazarin was a favorite of King Louis XIV of France, and perhaps the most influential person in the French court at the time. Having served prominently in the court for several years during the reign of King Louis XIII, he was formally appointed Chief Minister by Queen Anne when she assumed the Regency for her young son, King Louis XIV, and remained in that position until his own death in 1661.

source: Wikipedia

Cardinal Jules Mazarin was born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino on July 14, 1602 in Pescina, Italy, the second of seven children of Pietro Mazzarino and Ortensia Bufalini. His father served as Chamberlain for Filippo I Colonna, the Grand Constable of Naples, and his mother came from a prominent noble family in Rome. His siblings were:

  • Geronima (1601) – died in infancy
  • Michele Alessandro (1605) – later Cardinal Michel Mazzarino, unmarried
  • Anna-Maria (1607) – unmarried
  • Laura Margherita (1608) – married Geronimo Martinozzi, had issue. They were the grandparents of Mary of Modena, consort of King James II of England
  • Cléria (1609) – married Pietro Muti, no issue
  • Girolama – 1614 – married Baron Michele Lorenzo Mancini, had issue

After attending the Jesuit College in Rome, he traveled to Spain and studied law at the Complutense University in Madrid. After completing his degree in Rome, and serving in a Papal army regiment, he came to the attention of Pope Urban VIII who appointed him to serve as a secretary to a papal diplomat. Quickly developing a keen sense for diplomacy, he traveled extensively between Italy, Spain and France, hoping to establish peace between the Spanish and French before an impending war. It was during these travels that he also came to the attention of Cardinal Richelieu, under whom he would later serve in the French court.

His diplomatic skills brought about his first success, resulting in the Treaty of Cherasco in 1631, and the following year, had his first meeting with King Louis XIII and Queen Anne of France. Having proven himself a valuable asset to the Pope, he was given the title of prelate, and papal vice-legate, and by 1634 was appointed nuncio extraordinary to Paris. Over the next few years, he became close to the King and Queen of France, and began to gain the trust of Cardinal Richelieu. And in 1641, he was formally created a Cardinal, despite never having become a priest.

Following Richelieu’s death in 1642, Mazarin was one of three primary advisors to King Louis XIII. Upon the King’s death in 1643, he had instructed in his will that Queen Anne not serve as regent for their young son, the new King Louis XIV. However, the Queen had the will annulled, was declared Regent, and named Mazarin as Chief Minister of France.

His tenure as Chief Minister saw the end of the Thirty Years War, thanks primarily to his diplomatic skills in establishing the Peace of Westphalia (1646-1648), and the expansion of France with the addition of the Alsace region.  After skillfully negotiating a peaceful agreement following several years of rebellion within France – known as The Fronde – Mazarin continued with numerous diplomatic victories. These included establishing a military alliance with England, and the creation of the League of the Rhine in 1658. He carefully negotiated the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, which resulted in the addition of several new provinces in France, and led to the successful arrangement of a marriage for King Louis XIV to Maria Theresa of Spain.

In addition to his diplomatic skill, Mazarin was a prominent patron of the arts in France. He established the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648, and is credited with introducing Italian opera to France. He amassed a large collection of art and jewels, most of which he later bequeathed to the King and the nation.

Cardinal Mazarin died on March 9, 1661 at the Château de Vincennes, just outside of Paris. Several days before his death, in an attempt to silence false rumors that he was taking money from the King, Mazarin published a will in which he left his entire fortune to The King. Louis XIV quickly declined this, and a second will was drafted, in which he left the majority of his fortune to his niece, Hortense Mancini.

The Sancy (center), displayed in the Louvre. photo: By Pavel Rudanovsky – Louvre, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63677557

An avid jewel collector, Mazarin amassed a large collection of priceless gems during his lifetime. Upon his death, he left several to the King – including the famed Sancy and a collection of diamonds known as the ‘Mazarins’.

The Bibliothèque Mazarine. photo: By Marie-Lan Nguyen – Own work, CC BY 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10312236

Mazarin also bequeathed a large amount of money for the establishment of the Collège des Quatre-Nations. The college – now the Institut de France – was built just across the Seine River from the Louvre Palace, and his wish was to be entombed in the chapel of the college once it was completed. In addition, he left his extensive library to the new college. Containing nearly 40,000 books, the collection formed the basis for the Bibliothèque Mazarine which still exists today, and was the first public library in France.

Cenotaph of Cardinal Mazarin. photo: Par NonOmnisMoriar — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22344978

Following his death, Mazarin’s were temporarily placed in a vault in the chapel at the Château de Vincennes. In 1684, his remains were moved to the vault beneath the college chapel, and finally to a large marble tomb in the chapel in 1693. The tomb was destroyed during the French Revolution and his remains were thrown into the street. The monument was rebuilt years later, and after being displayed at several museums, returned to the college chapel in 1964.

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Axel von Fersen the Younger, Favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette of France

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

A prominent member of Swedish aristocracy, Count Axel von Fersen the Younger rose to the highest ranks of the Swedish royal court, serving as Marshal of the Realm for several years. He’d previously served as an aide-de-camp and interpreter to Rochambeau during the American Revolutionary War, and became a close friend and favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette of France.

source: Wikipedia

Von Fersen was born in Stockholm on September 4, 1755, the elder son of Field Marshal Axel von Fersen (the Elder) and Countess Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie. He had three siblings:

Von Fersen was raised in one of the most prominent and influential families within the Swedish aristocracy. His mother had inherited Löfstad Castle and its large estates, and his father had extensive land holdings and was one of the largest shareholders in Sweden’s East India Company. In addition to Löfstad, the family also owned Steninge Palace, Ljung Castle and Mälsåker Castle.

Queen Marie Antoinette. source: Wikipedia

Extensively educated, von Fersen became fluent in numerous languages, which would serve him very well in his adulthood. He later continued his education in the military. In 1770, he began a grand tour, traveling throughout Europe and continuing his military training at several academies in Germany, France, and Italy. During this tour, he paid visits to the royal courts of Sardinia, France, and the United Kingdom. It was while visiting France in 1774 that von Fersen first met the future Queen Marie Antoinette.

Returning to Sweden the following year, he served in the Swedish military, but continued to visit France and began developing a friendship with the future Queen. In 1780, became an aide-de-camp to General Rochambeau during the American Revolutionary War, serving until the war’s end in 1783. Upon his return, King Gustav III of Sweden made him Captain of the Guard, hoping to have von Fersen by his side as he traveled throughout Europe to garner support for his plans to invade Denmark. The French king also gave von Fersen several honorary military appointments. As tensions began to rise in France, the Swedish King appointed von Fersen as his secret envoy to the French King and Queen – subverting the usual diplomatic channels and providing a direct contact between the sovereigns.

He remained at court through the beginning of the French Revolution, and was involved with the failed plans for the French Royal Family to escape – the Flight to Varennes. A warrant was issued for his arrest for his role in the plot, but he avoided capture. He traveled to Vienna to enlist the support of the Queen’s brother – Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, resulting in the Declaration of Pillnitz which declared Prussia’s and the Holy Roman Empire’s support for the French King and monarchy.

His further efforts to protect and save the Queen and her family proved unsuccessful. He saw them for the last time in December 1791 but continued a correspondence with the Queen until her execution in October 1793. Having returned to Sweden, von Fersen later became one of the closest advisors to the new King Gustav IV Adolf, rising to the position of Earl Marshal, and by 1801, Marshal of the Realm.

A depiction of the murder of Axel von Fersen. source: Wikipedia

When King Gustav IV Adolf was deposed in 1809, the throne did not pass to his son and heir, but instead to his uncle, King Carl XIII who had no legitimate heirs. Von Fersen led the support for the former King’s son, unsuccessfully. The new King adopted a Danish prince, Carl August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg to be his heir. However, the new Crown Prince died suddenly after falling from his horse in May 1810. Rumors quickly spread that he had been poisoned by the former King’s supporters – more specifically, at the hands of von Fersen.

On June 20, 1810, the public funeral was held for the Crown Prince. As Marshal of the Realm, von Fersen was one of the leaders of the procession through Stockholm. Despite a heavy presence of guards, several people broke free from the crowd in attempts to get to von Fersen, while the guards mostly just looked on with disinterest. Fleeing the crowds, he tried to find safety in a nearby house but was quickly pursued and overtaken. He was dragged back into the street where he was quickly attacked and killed by the angry mob who blamed him for the Crown Prince’s death.

Ljungs Church. photo: Av Håkan Svensson – Eget arbete, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1455830

Several months later, he was cleared of having any part in the Crown Prince’s death, and received a state burial in Stockholm with full ceremonial honors. He is buried at the small church near his family’s Ljung Castle.

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