Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours
Marie Jeanne Baptiste | |||||
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Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia | |||||
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House | Savoy | ||||
Father | Charles Amadeus, Duke of Nemours | ||||
Mother | Élisabeth de Bourbon |
Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours (French pronunciation:
Family and childhood
Marie Jeanne Baptiste de Savoie was born at the Hôtel de Nemours in Paris, and was the eldest of five children born to
Her father died in 1652, killed in a duel with his brother-in-law
Marriage negotiations
Her family wanted a match with
Having returned to France, Mademoiselle de Nemours caught the attention of the dashing
In Turin, Christine Marie died on 27 Dec 1663, and her daughter-in-law Françoise Madeleine died 14 Jan 1664.
Duchess of Savoy
In Savoy her name was Italianised to Maria Giovanna Battista di Savoia and she was known as Madama Reale. This name was a reference to the style
Her husband also had various mistresses and illegitimate children, who Marie Jeanne Baptiste was obliged to ignore. In 1672 Hortense Mancini, on the run from her husband, sought and received the protection of Charles Emmanuel II.[25] Much to Marie Jeanne Baptiste's annoyance, she became a regular mistress and was given the Château de Chambéry. Marie Jeanne Baptiste was unable to remove her from there until Charles Emmanuel died.[26] On 12 June 1675 Charles Emmanuel suddenly died in Turin at the age of forty after a series of convulsive fevers.[27] On his death bed he pronounced his wife as Regent of Savoy over his son and heir.[2]
Regent of Savoy
Declared Regent of her eleven-year-old son's dominions, she took her new charge with great interest and ambition. She carried on her husband's work on the properties of Savoy, supporting construction projects, artistic organizations, and educational institutions.[28] She supported the work of Alessandro Stradella, protecting him when he fled to Turin from Venice.[29] She continued to fund and support the work of Guarino Guarini, who completed the chapel for the Shroud of Turin and a Jesuit college under her rule.[28] She also worked to expand the city of Turin down to the Po river.[30] She attempted to start a university in Chambéry, but was not successful.[31]
She did much to maintain links with her powerful neighbour France, which was both ally and family. She was criticised for wanting to maintain power too much, and for being a puppet of Louis XIV.[3] However, she also worked to maintain and develop relationships with the royal courts of Spain, England, and the Empire.[32] The people of Mondovì resisted her authority for many years, and it was only under her son that they finally relented.[33]
Her relationship with her only son was always strained. This tension has been blamed on her ambition to keep power to herself.[34] Marie Jeanne Baptiste spent most of her time working on state business, which she enjoyed, and had little time for her only child.[26] She kept him under close scrutiny in order to make sure he would not try to assume power from her.[34] Despite the bad relationship with her son, she openly kept lovers at court. At the age of thirty three, she was in a relationship with the Count of Saint Maurice, some ten years her junior. Marie Jeanne Baptiste and Saint Maurice's relationship lasted some four years before his whole family left in disgrace due to his father failing on a string of diplomatic relations.[34][35]
By 1677 Marie Jeanne Baptiste was looking to organise a marriage for her son who would reach his majority in May 1680. Popular candidates were the
Marie Jeanne Baptiste then looked to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany which offered Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici as a bride.[40] Negotiations were kept secret from France. This match was popular as it would give a powerful ally in Italy and was even favoured by Victor Amadeus II. The secret correspondence between Savoy and Tuscany has since been lost and the match never materialised.[41]
Even though Marie Jeanne Baptiste's regency officially ended in 1680 she did not hand over power until 1684 when forced to do so by her son.
Retirement and later life
Victor Amadeus took full control of the Duchy at the start of 1684. He decided to banish his mother from all direct influence at court.[34] She retired to the Palazzo Madama in the city of Turin opposite the Ducal Palace of Turin where the court resided most of the year.[44] This building had been the home of Christine Marie in her dowager years and under Marie Jeanne Baptiste was extended under the direction of Filippo Juvarra who was a favourite of her son.[45]
In 1686 she sold the
Her son's marriage would produce some eight children four of whom would have further issue. Marie Jeanne Baptiste acted as godmother to her eldest grandchild
Thanks to the
Months after, the Savoyard court the family found out the death of Maria Luisa who had died in February 1714 which was followed a year later by the Prince of Piedmont who died of
Marie Jeanne Baptiste died at the Palazzo Madama in March 1724 at age 79.[56]
Issue
- Anna Canalis di Cumania.[58]
Ancestry
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References
- ^ a b c d Oresko 2004, p. 17.
- ^ a b c Symcox 1983, p. 69.
- ^ a b Oresko 2004, p. 32.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 44.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 18.
- ^ Tome 2009, p. 431.
- ^ Fraser 2006, p. 293.
- ^ Ragnhild 1997, p. 334.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 31-32.
- ^ a b c Pitts 2000, p. 172.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 19.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 19-20.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 20.
- ^ Williams 1909, p. 7.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 22.
- ^ Hahn 1971, p. 105.
- ^ a b c Oresko 2004, p. 21.
- ^ Ragnhild 1997, p. 332.
- ^ Ragnhild 1997, p. 333.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 21-22.
- ^ a b Oresko 2004, p. 23.
- ^ Vitelleschi 1905, p. 66.
- ^ Hahn 1971, p. 101.
- ^ Frézet 1827, p. 579.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 25.
- ^ a b Oresko 2004, p. 26.
- ^ Frézet 1827, p. 594.
- ^ a b Oresko 2004, p. 28-31.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 24.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 29.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 31.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 33.
- ^ Storrs 1999, p. 21.
- ^ a b c d Symcox 1983, p. 70.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 33-34.
- ^ Williams 1909, p. 13.
- ^ Symcox 1983, p. 81.
- ^ Williams 1909, p. 9.
- ^ Symcox 1983, p. 82.
- ^ Williams 1909, p. 12.
- ^ Williams 1909, p. 23.
- ^ Storrs 1999, p. 11.
- ^ a b Williams 1909, p. 17.
- ^ a b c Oresko 2004, p. 41.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 28,41-44.
- ^ Frézet 1827, p. 546.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 39.
- ^ Williams 1909, p. 35.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 39-40.
- ^ Kamen 2001, p. 11.
- ^ Fraser 2006, p. 363.
- ^ Storrs 1999, p. 97.
- ^ Storrs 1999, p. 275.
- ^ Storrs 1999, p. 160.
- ^ Oresko 2004, p. 40.
- ^ Symcox 1983, p. 227.
- ^ Fraser 2006, p. 294.
- ^ Symcox 1983, p. 229.
Sources
- Fraser, Antonia (2006). Love and Louis XIV; The Women in the Life of the Sun King. London: Anchor Books. ISBN 0-7538-2293-8.
- Frézet, Jean (1827). Histoire de la Maison de Savoie. Vol. 2. Alliana et Paravia.
- Hahn, Emily (1971). Love conquers nothing: a glandular history of civilization. Ayer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8369-8062-2.
- Kamen, Henry (2001). Philip V of Spain: The King who Reigned Twice. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08718-7.
- Oresko, Robert (2004). "Maria Giovanna Battista of Savoy-Nemours (1644–1724): daughter, consort, and Regent of Savoy". In Campbell Orr, Clarissa (ed.). Queenship in Europe 1660-1815: The Role of the Consort. Cambridge University Press. pp. 16–55. ISBN 0-521-81422-7.
- Pitts, Vincent Joseph (2000). La Grande Mademoiselle at the Court of France. The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-6466-6.
- Ragnhild, Marie Hatton (1997). Royal and republican sovereignty in early modern Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-41910-7.
- Storrs, Christopher (1999). War, diplomacy and the rise of Savoy, 1690-1720. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-55146-3.
- Symcox, Geoffrey (1983). Victor Amadeus II: absolutism in the Savoyard State, 1675-1730. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-04974-1.
- Tome, Quatri (2009). Les Anciennes Maisons de Paris Sous Napoléon III. Paris: BiblioBazaar LLC. ISBN 978-1-115-27908-6.
- Vitelleschi, Marchese (1905). The romance of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II and his Stuart bride. Vol. I. New York: Harvard College Library.
- Williams, H. Noel (1909). A Rose of Savoy, Marie Adelaide of Savoy, duchesse de Bourgogne, Mother of Louis XV. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
External links
Media related to Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours at Wikimedia Commons