Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy
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Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy (2 September 1753 - 13 November 1810), titular Queen consort of France, wife of Louis XVIII of France, princess of Sardinia and of Piedmont, was born in Turin and died at Hartwell House, English residence of the exiled French Royal family.
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[edit] Princess of the House of Savoy
Maria Giuseppina Luigia, as she is called in Italian, was the third child and second daughter of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and his Queen consort Maria Antonieta Fernanda of Bourbon, Infanta of Spain.
Her paternal grandparents were Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and his wife Polixena Christina of Hesse-Rotenburg. Polixena was a daughter of Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg.
Her maternal grandparents were Philip V of Spain and his second wife, Elizabeth Farnese.
Her sister, Maria Teresa, married Charles X of France, Marie Josephine's brother-in-law.
She was also a cousin of the ill-fated Princesse de Lamballe who was instrumental in the arrangement of the marriage.
[edit] De jure Queen of France
Marie Josèphe de Savoie, as this princess is known to French history, married Louis Stanislas Xavier de Bourbon, Count of Provence, the future Louis XVIII on 16 April 1771 and went with him into exile in the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1791.
Because of the lethargic nature of Louis[citation needed], there were no children of the marriage, which, according to Lady Antonia Fraser, was probably never consumated.
Louis XVII of France, only surviving son of Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, died while imprisoned in the Temple on 8 June 1795. The Count of Provence was proclaimed King of France as Louis XVIII (16 June 1795) by the exiled French Court. Thus Marie Josèphe became de jure Queen consort of France.
[edit] Death and Burial
Queen Marie-Josèphe died at Hartwell House but was buried at the Cathedral of Cagliari, capital of Sardinia. There her brother, King Charles Felix of Sardinia, had an imposing monument erected over her grave, whereon she is described personally as "sapiens, prudens, pientissima" and as "Galliarum Regina"[citation needed], literally "Queen of the Gauls", i.e. of France.
| Preceded by Marie Antoinette of Austria |
Queen consort of France and of Navarre (de jure) June 16, 1795–November 13, 1810 |
Succeeded by Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France |
[edit] References
Fraser, Lady Antonia: Marie Antoinette: The Journey. New York, Doubleday, 2001.
See also: http://geneweb.inria.fr/roglo?lang=en;
