Princess Joséphine of Lorraine

Joséphine of Lorraine (Marie Joséphine Thérèse; 26 August 1753 – 8 February 1797) was a French princess of the House of Lorraine and by marriage the Princess of Carignan. She was the paternal grandmother of Charles Albert of Sardinia, from whom the present House of Savoy descends.

Biography

Marie Joséphine Thérèse de Lorraine was the second of four children born to the Prince and Princess of Brionne. Her father was a member of the ducal House of Guise, a cadet branch of the royal House of Lorraine which had been absorbed into the House of Habsburg, the last male marrying Maria Theresa of Austria. Her father Louis was a great-grandson of Henri de Lorraine, Count of Harcourt.^[1] As a member of the House of Guise, she was addressed with the style of Highness. Her mother was a member of the House of Rohan, one of the most powerful families in France. Her siblings were:

• Charles Eugène de Lorraine, Prince of Lambesc (25 September 1751 – 11 November 1825), Austrian Ambassador, accompanied Marie Antoinette to France in 1770; married twice, no issue;
• Anne Charlotte de Lorraine, Mademoiselle de Brionne (11 November 1755 – 22 May 1786), never married;
• Joseph de Lorraine (23 June 1759 – 29 March 1812).

On 18 October 1768 she married Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy, the son and heir of Louis Victor, Prince of Carignan and his German wife Christine of Hesse-Rotenburg. Amadeus was also the brother of the recently married^[2] princesse de Lamballe.

The couple had their only child almost exactly two years later. Prince Charles Emmanuel of Savoy was born in Turin on 24 October 1770. Joséphine was the only one of her siblings to have a child.

She died aged 43 in Turin at the Palazzo Carignano, the Turin residence of the Princes of Carignan. She was buried at Turin Cathedral until 1816, when she was moved to the Royal Basilica of Superga during the reign of Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia.

In 1831, Charles Felix of Sardinia died without issue and the throne of Sardinia was assumed by Prince Charles Albert of Savoy as Charles Albert of Sardinia. The present Savoyard pretender descends from her and her husband.

Issue

• Prince Charles Emmanuel of Savoy (24 October 1770 – 16 August 1800), Prince of Carignan, married Princess Maria Christina of Saxony and had issue.

Ancestry

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 26 August, 1753 – 18 October, 1768 Her Highness Princess Joséphine of Lorraine
• 18 October, 1768 – 16 December, 1778 Her Highness Princess Louis Victor of Savoy
• 16 December, 1778 – 8 February, 1797 Her Highness the Princess of Carignan

References and notes

See also