Marie Louise Gonzaga

Marie Louise Gonzaga
Queen consort of Poland Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania
Tenure	5 November 1645 – 20 May 1648 30 May 1649 – 10 May 1667
Coronation	15 July 1646
Spouse	Władysław IV Vasa John II Casimir Vasa
Issue
John Sigismund, Crown Prince of Poland Maria Anna Vasa
House	House of Vasa House of Gonzaga
Father	Charles I, Duke of Mantua
Mother	Catherine of Guise
Born	18 August 1611 Nevers, France
Died	10 May 1667(1667-05-10) (aged 55) Warsaw, Poland
Burial	Wawel Castle, Kraków, Poland

Marie Louise Gonzaga (known in Poland as Ludwika Maria; 18 August 1611 – 10 May 1667) was queen consort to two Polish kings: Władysław IV Vasa, and John II Casimir Vasa. She was born in Paris (or Nevers) to Charles I, Duke of Mantua, and Catherine of Guise.

Biography

After having spent her childhood with her mother, she was to have married Gaston, Duke of Orléans, in 1627, but King Louis XIII of France opposed the marriage and subsequently imprisoned her in the Vincennes fortress and later in a convent.

The first proposal that she marry the King of Poland, Władysław IV Vasa, was made in 1634, but Władysław eventually married Cecilia Renata of Austria.

In 1640, Marie Louise met Władysław's brother, John Casimir, and started her literary salon in Paris.

Cecilia Renata died in 1644, and on 5 November 1645 Marie Louise married Władysław IV by proxy, John Casimir representing his brother. She had to change her name from Marie Louise to Ludwika Maria in order for the marriage to take place, as in Poland the name Maria was at that time considered reserved only for Mary, mother of Jesus.

Marie Louise married Wladyslaw by proxy 4 November 1645. The proper wedding of Marie Louise and Władysław IV took place in Warsaw on 10 March 1646. Two years later, on 20 May 1648, Marie Louise was widowed by the death of Władysław IV. John Casimir was eventually elected the next King of Poland, and married her on 30 May 1649.

Marie Louise was an active and energetic woman, with ambitious economic and political plans. The Polish nobility were scandalized at the Queen's meddling into politics, nevertheless she played an instrumental role leading the Polish troops in repulsing the Swedish forces during the Deluge. She wished to change the voting system of the Polish senate and grant the monarch more power.

She also founded the first Polish newspaper, Merkuriusz Polski (The Polish Mercury, 1652), and the first Polish convent of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (1654). She supported Tito Livio Burattini, an Italian polymath (one of the first Egyptologists), who also designed "flying machines". He lived in Poland since the early 1650s.^[1] As a former salonist in France, she opened a literary salon in Poland, the first in the country. Rumours pointed her out as the mother of her successor as queen, Marysienka, through adultery, but there are no confirmation to these rumours.

She died in Warsaw on 10 May 1667 and was buried in Kraków at Wawel Cathedral. Joh Casimir abdicated the Polish throne a year later.

Ancestry

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ludovica Maria Gonzaga.

• Holy Cross Church
• Kazimierzowski Palace
• Ujazdów Castle
• Visitationist Church

References

This article incorporates information from the revision as of 23 August 2006 of the equivalent article on the Polish Wikipedia.

Further reading

• Frost, R. I. (2013). "The Ethiopian and the Elephant? Queen Louise Marie Gonzaga and Queenship in an Elective Monarchy, 1645–1667". The Slavonic and East European Review 91 (4): 787–817. doi:10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.91.4.0787.