Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans

Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans
Duchess of Savoy
Consort 4 March 1663 – 14 January 1664
Spouse Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy
Father Gaston d'Orléans
Mother Marguerite of Lorraine
Born 13 October 1648(1648-10-13)
Saint Germain en Laye, France
Died 14 January 1664(1664-01-14) (aged 15)
Royal Palace of Turin, Savoy
Burial Turin Cathedral

Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans (13 October 1648 – 14 January 1664) was born a Princess of France and was the Duchess of Savoy as the first wife of Charles Emmanuel II.[1] She was a first cousin of Louis XIV as well of her husband. She was the shortest Savoyard consort dying at the age of fifteen, childless.

Contents

Biography

Orléans was born at the Château de Saint Germain en Laye outside Paris in 1664. She was the youngest surviving daughter of Gaston d'Orléans and his second wife Marguerite of Lorraine. From birth, she was styled Mademoiselle de Valois, derived from one of her fathers subsidiary titles. She was the favourite sister of La Grande Mademoiselle, the famous heiress.[2] She grew up in the company of her sisters and Mademoiselle de La Vallière, future mistress of Louis XIV. She resided at the Château de Blois. Her father died in 1660 and her mother remained unmarried.

As French court etiquette dictated, she held the status of a Granddaughter of France as a male line descendant of the late king Henry IV of France. She was styled as a petite-fille de France.

Under the influence of her paternal aunt Christine Marie, Dowager Duchess of Savoy, she was engaged to her first cousin Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy.[1] Christine Marie had chosen her as she had wanted to maintain her power and influence in government having previously been regent for her son since 1637. The match was approved of by Cardinal Mazarin who had previously rejected Marie Jeanne of Savoy, another candidate for Charles Emmanuel II. Orléans proved suitably docile and was chosen over Marie Jeanne.[3]

Orléans married the Duke of Savoy by proxy at the Palais du Louvre on 4 March 1663. The couple met for the first time at Annecy on 3 April 1663 where they were married officially.[4] The couple travelled to Turin, capital of Savoy,where they arrived on 15 June 1664. She was known as Francesca Maddalena d'Orléans in her adopted Savoy.

The homesick princess soon died at the Royal Palace of Turin at the age of 15 leaving a husband without an heir. She was buried at Turin Cathedral where she rests today. Her husband, inconsolable at her death, ordered a lavish funeral. After Orléans' death, Louis XIV tried to engage La Grande Mademoiselle to Charles Emmanuel II who refused the match.[1] He later married again to Marie Jeanne of Savoy by whom he had a son.

Ancestors

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and Styles

Arms

Arms of Savoy and the House of Orléans.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Fraser, Antonia : Love and Louis XIV; The Women in the Life of the Sun King, Anchor Books, London, 2006, p 58
  2. ^ Sackville-West, Vita : Daughter of France:The life of Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier 1627-1693, Micheal Joseph, London, 1959, p 354
  3. ^ Williams. H. Noel: A Rose of Savoy, Marie Adelaide of Savoy, duchesse de Bourgogne, Mother of Louis XV, New York, 1909, p 7
  4. ^ Sackville-West, Vita : Daughter of France:The life of Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier 1627-1693, Micheal Joseph, London, 1959, p 355

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Fran%C3%A7oise_Madeleine_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans] at Wikimedia Commons

See also