Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon
Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon | |
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Duchess of Maine | |
Born | Hôtel de Condé, Paris, France | 8 November 1676
Died | 23 January 1753 Hôtel du Maine, Paris, France | (aged 76)
Burial | 26 January 1753 |
Spouse | |
Issue Among others... | |
Father | Henri Jules de Bourbon-Condé |
Mother | Anne Henriette of Bavaria |
Signature |
Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon (8 November 1676 – 23 January 1753) was the daughter of
Biography
Birth
Louise Bénédicte was born on 8 November 1676 at the
She was brought up at the Hôtel de Condé with her many sisters and had to endure slave-like conditions under the madness of her father[
She was very outspoken and witty, and had a terrible temper. As she was very small and paid much attention to her appearance, she was nicknamed poupée du Sang at the French court, literally, "Doll of the Blood", a play on the honorific princesse du sang, princess of the Blood. This nickname is sometimes said to have been made up by her sister-in-law the
Mademoiselle d'Enghien received the typical education given to girls of the nobility in France and was taught reading, writing, dancing, singing and other matters which were considered necessary for a young aristocrat. She spent most of her time in the company of her mother and two older sisters.[citation needed]
Marriage
At first, it was proposed that she marry
In 1692,[5] the 15-year-old Louise Bénédicte married the 22-year-old Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Légitimé de France, Duke of Maine.[6]
The wedding ceremony took place on 19 May 1692 in the chapel of the Palace of Versailles, Madame de Montespan was not invited but all of Maine's siblings attended as well as the princes and princesses of the blood. As both the groom and his wife were physically handicapped, members of the court joked that "look at the union of a one-armed woman and a lame man! What a beautiful couple!".[b] The marriage was not happy. The couple did not like each other, Louise Bénédicte found her husband weak and abhorred his lack of ambition. He could not stand her terrible temper and deliberate attempts to embarrass him at court. Louise Bénédicte's is said to have had several affairs which were known to Maine.[citation needed] To her husband, she was recorded as saying, "Just look at yourself – a lame bastard! – and you'd like to boss me? I am a pure bred royal princess, Monsieur, with no stain on my cradle! What would you be without the sticks at which everyone laughs? One to support your body, and the other, me, to maintain your rank! And this Leggy wants to rule my steps!" (Since Maine limped, his wife called him 'Gambillard', which meant leggy).[c]
In order to escape the dull court of
After extensive renovations, she took up residence in December 1700. There, she began to be called La Reine des Abeilles, or Queen of the Bees. In 1703, to amuse herself, Louise Bénédicte created her own personal
To her small court, Louise Bénédicte attracted a host of literary figures of the day, including the young
In 1710, she helped to plot the marriage of her sister, Marie Anne, Mademoiselle de Monmorency, to the famous general
Both the Maines doted on their children. Their daughter, who would remain close to her mother until her death, was baptised at Versailles on 9 April 1714. Mademoiselle du Maine was given the name of her paternal aunt
The guest of honour at the baptism of Mademoiselle du Maine was the small dauphin, the future
Regency of Philippe d'Orléans
At the death of the king in 1715, however, the
In order to gain more support for a new regent, Louise Bénédicte started a correspondence with
After her release, Louise Bénédicte led a more peaceful life at Sceaux, still surrounded though by her little court of wits and poets.[7] On 27 December 1718, before their exile, she and her husband had purchased an unfinished house in Paris on the rue de Bourbon (now rue de Lille) from her sister Marie Thérèse de Bourbon. It was originally designed by the architect Robert de Cotte, but they had hired a new architect, Armand-Claude Mollet, to enlarge and redesign it. It was completed before their return from exile and became known as the Hôtel du Maine (destroyed 1838).[9]
At the time of her imprisonment, she was trying to arrange the marriage of her eldest son,
Widowhood
After their release from imprisonment in 1720, the Maines seemed to have reconciled and led a more compatible life rather than being hostile to each other. In May 1736, the duke died at the age of sixty-six.[10] Louis XV allowed Louise Bénédicte to keep her apartments at Versailles next to those of her daughter. These apartments overlooked the Orangérie. Both her sons also had apartments at court, but both preferred to stay in the country hunting. Madame du Maine tried on more than one occasion to arrange an advantageous marriage for her daughter. The first was to one Monsieur de Guise, but that marriage never materialised. Later, she tried to convince the widower Jacques I, Prince of Monaco, who was often at Versailles, to wed again. Despite the lure of a large dowry, both men considered Mademoiselle du Maine to be very unattractive. Unwed, she died in 1743. She was buried at the Église at Sceaux. At the time of her death, her library was numbered at having some 3000 books.
In 1736 Louise Bénédicte received the medieval
Issue
- Mademoiselle de Dombes (Palace of Versailles, 11 September 1694 – Palace of Versailles, 15 September 1694), died in infancy.
- Louis Constantin de Bourbon, Prince of Dombes (Palace of Versailles, 17 November 1695 – Palace of Versailles, 28 September 1698), died in childhood.
- Mademoiselle d'Aumale (Palace of Versailles, 21 December 1697 – Palace of Versailles, 4 August 1699), died in childhood.
- Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Prince of Dombes (Palace of Versailles, 4 March 1700 – Palace of Fontainebleau, 1 October 1755), died unwed.
- Louis Charles de Bourbon, Count of Eu (Château de Sceaux, 15 October 1701 – 13 July 1775), died unwed.
- Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Aumale (Palace of Versailles, 31 March 1704 – Château de Sceaux, 2 September 1708), died in childhood.
- Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Mademoiselle du Maine (Palace of Versailles, 4 December 1707 – Château d'Anet, 19 August 1743), died unwed.
Ancestry
Ancestors of Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes
- Charles de Wailly and Marie Joseph Peyre on the grounds of the garden of the hôtel of the prince de Condé, who expected to be rid of the property in expectations of setting up more grandly in the Palais Bourbon.
- ^ Voici l'union d'un boiteux et d'une manchote. Ah, le beau couple!. Prince of Condé site.
- ^ "Regardez-vous un peu! Un bâtard boiteux! Qui me prétend gouverner! Je suis née princesse du sang, Monsieur, sans tache sur mon berceau! Vous, que seriez-vous sans les bâtons (les cannes) dont le monde rit bien haut? Un pour soutenir votre corps, plus moi pour soutenir votre rang! Et ce Gambillard-là réglerait mon pas!" – Prince of Condé site
References
- ^ "Henri-Jules de Bourbon, 5e prince de Condé". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ "Anne-Louise-Bénédicte". Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2008. Doll of the Blood
- ^ Fraser, Antonia (Lady), Love and Louis XIV
- ^ The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of the Louis XIV. and The Regency, Complete, by Élisabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orléans
- ^ Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate & Stevenson 1924, p. 81.
- ISBN 2013512597.
- ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911, p. 432.
- ^ Les Aventures des Condé & Conti
- ISBN 9782840962137, pp. 313. The site of the former Hôtel du Maine is at 84–86 rue de Lille.
- ^ Général de Piépape, La duchesse du Maine (1910).
- ^ "Château de Montrond de Saint-Amand-Montrond", montjoye.net.
- ISBN 9782840962137, p. 208.
Bibliography
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 432.
- de Piépape, Léonce; May, James Lewis (1911). A Princess of Strategy: The Life of Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé, Duchesse Du Maine. University of Michigan: J. Lane.
- Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate; Stevenson, Gertrude Scott (1924). The Letters of Madame: The Correspondence of Elizabeth-Charlotte of Bavaria, Princess Palatine, Duchess of Orleans, Called "Madame" at the Court of King Louis XIV. D. Appleton.
External links
Media related to Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé at Wikimedia Commons