| Maria Teresa Felicitas d'Este | |
|---|---|
| Spouse(s) | Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre |
| Noble family | House of Bourbon-Penthièvre |
| Father | Francesco III, Duke of Modena and Reggio |
| Mother | Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans |
| Born | 6 October 1726 Modena |
| Died | 30 April 1754 (aged 27) Château de Rambouillet |
Maria Teresa Felicitas d'Este (October 6, 1726 – April 30, 1754) was born a Princess of Modena and was by marriage the Duchess of Penthièvre. She was the mother-in-law of Philippe Égalité and thus the grandmother to the future Louis-Philippe of France.
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Born in Emilia-Romagna[1], a region of her native Modena, she was the daughter of Francesco III, Duke of Modena and Reggio and his wife, the French princess Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans. Her mother was a granddaughter of Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan.
One of nine children, she was the first daughter of the family. Her parents' marriage was not happy, and her mother eventually returned to France to live. The duchess took up residence in the Luxembourg Palace in Paris with the permission of Louis XV. It was while her mother was in France that a marriage was arranged between Maria Teresa and her cousin, Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre. Her mother also helped arrange the marriage of Maria Teresa's younger sister, Maria Fortunata d'Este, to Louis François II de Bourbon, prince de Conti.
The duc de Penthièvre was Maria Teresa's mother's first cousin. Charlotte Aglaé's mother was the sister of the duke's father, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse. The young duke had inherited a vast fortune when his father died in 1737.
A proxy wedding ceremony took place in Modena. It was followed on December 29 1744 by another ceremony at the Palace of Versailles. In France, her name was rendered as Marie Thérèse Félicité. According to contemporaries, the marriage between the duke and his wife, now known officially as S.A.S., the duchesse de Penthièvre[2], was a very happy one. It produced many children:
Due to the high mortality rate of the era, only two of the Penthièvre children survived into adulthood. Marie Thérèse died at the Château de Rambouillet after giving birth to Louis Marie Félicité de Bourbon, who died soon afterwards. Originally buried in the chapel at Rambouillet, after the Bourbon Restauration in the early 19th centry, she was later moved to the Chapelle royale de Dreux by her daughter.
Her husband was very affected by her death. Another of her sons, Jean Marie, died the next year.