Marie Mancini

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Marie Mancini [1] [2] (Anna Maria Mancini; August 28, 1639 – May 8, 1715) was the middle of the five Mancini sisters, nieces to Cardinal Mazarin who were brought to France to marry advantageously.

She was born in Rome, the daughter of Michele Mancini and Geronima Mazarino. "Dark, vivacious and beautiful,"^[1] Marie captured the biggest prize of the French court: the love of Louis XIV. According to Antonia Fraser's biography Love and Louis XIV, Marie's mother, Hieronyma (or Geronima) was told by a horoscope that Marie would cause trouble and demanded on her deathbed that Cardinal Mazarin should "shut Marie up in a convent and keep her there."

Marie did not consummate her relationship with the Sun King. His love for her was a somewhat idealistic one, but he was so besotted that he wanted to marry. Eventually, Cardinal Mazarin and Anne of Austria separated the couple, banishing Marie into exile and arranging Louis' marriage to his cousin, Maria Theresa of Spain. In 1661, Marie was married off to an Italian prince, Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna, who remarked after their wedding night that he was surprised to find her a virgin as one does not normally expect to find 'innocence among the loves of kings'. (from Antonia Fraser's book Love and Louis XIV).

They had three children, all sons: Filippo, born in 1663; Marcantonio, born in 1664; and Carlo, born in 1665.

After the birth of her third child, relations between Marie and her husband deteriorated. On May 29, 1672, fearing that her husband would kill her, Marie left Rome accompanied by her sister Hortense. In 1677, in order to support herself, she wrote her memoirs. She did not return to Italy until her husband's death in 1689.

She died in Pisa and is buried in the church of the Holy Sepulchre there.

The other Mancini sisters were:

• Laura Mancini (1636 - 1657), the eldest, who married Louis II de Bourbon-Vendôme, the duc de Vendôme, heir to Henri IV's legitimized natural son and became the mother of the famous general Louis Joseph of Bourbon-Vendôme,
• Olympe (1638 - 1708), who married Eugène-Maurice of Savoy-Carignano and became the mother of the famous general Prince Eugene of Savoy,
• Hortense Mancini (1646 - 1699), the beauty of the family, escaped her abusive husband, Armand-Charles de la Porte, duc de La Meilleraye, and went to London, where Charles II was her lover.
• Marie Anne Mancini (1649 - 1714) married Maurice Godefroy de la Tour d'Auvergne, duc de Bouillon, a nephew of Turenne.

The Mancinis were not the only female family members that Cardinal Mazarin brought to the French court. The others were Olympia's first cousins, daughters of Mazarin's eldest sister. The elder, Laura Martinozzi, married Alfonso IV d'Este, duke of Modena and was the mother of Mary of Modena, second wife of James II of England. The younger, Anne Marie Martinozzi, married Armand, Prince de Conti. Altogether, the seven girls were referred to as the Mazarinettes.

The Mancini also had three brothers: Paul, Philippe, and Alphonse.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Miller, John (1987). Bourbon and Stuart: Kings and Kingship in France and England in the Seventeenth Century. ISBN 0531150526.