Marie Louise Gonzaga
Marie Louise Gonzaga | |
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Catherine of Guise |
Marie Louise Gonzaga (
Born in
While her role is regarded as crucial in repulsing the foreign forces out of Poland-Lithuania during the Swedish Deluge (1655–1660), she became increasingly unpopular for her absolutist policies and her intention of nominating her niece's husband, Henri Jules, the future Prince of Condé, the heir apparent to the Polish throne. That resulted in a military conflict with the internal opposition, which ended with the defeat of the royal army in 1666, during the Lubomirski rebellion. After Marie Louise's death, John Casimir hesitatingly renounced the crown, and the Commonwealth government officially curtailed the prerogatives of the royal consort.
Early life and marriage proposal
Marie Louise Gonzaga was born on 18 August 1611 in the town of
The first proposal for her to marry the newly elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania,
In 1637, the Abbot of
In 1640, Marie Louise met Władysław's brother, John Casimir with whom she had an early affair. She later invited Prince John Casimir to France for her annual literary salon organised in Paris.
Queen of Poland, politics and conflict with nobility
Following the death of Cecilia Renata in 1644,
Under the pressure of the French government and other Western nations Marie Louise Gonzaga finally married Władysław by proxy on 5 November 1645.[2] The proper wedding of Marie Louise and Władysław IV took place in Warsaw on 10 March 1646. She was forced by the Polish parliament (Sejm) and the strongly-zealous nobility to change her name from Marie Louise to Ludwika Maria for the marriage to take place, as the given name Maria was then considered in Poland reserved only for Mary, mother of Jesus.[3]
Two years later, on 20 May 1648, Marie Louise was widowed by the sudden death of Władysław IV. John Casimir was eventually elected the next King of Poland by the parliament, and married her on 30 May 1649.[2] During an 18-year marriage with John Casimir, she gave birth to two children, Maria Anna Teresa and John Sigismund, who died in infancy. She also suffered several miscarriages.
Once she officially became queen once more, Marie Louise immediately focused on influencing the political views of her new husband. Marie Louise believed that she was more able to control John Casimir rather than his deceased brother Władysław, who was described as extremely stubborn, self-centered and overwhelmingly supporting the nobility. Marie Louise opposed it and sought to decrease the power of the nobles in Parliament. Intelligent, tenacious and with a strong personality, she not only supported John Casimir at many times but also guided him throughout entire political and several military campaigns. That was noticed by a Brandenburgian diplomat, Hoverberk, who stated in his diaries that "by incessant insistence, molestation, complaints and other tricks she controlled the poor king and therefore the entire ill-fated country itself." In contrast to her husband, Marie Louise was reportedly not sympathetic towards the servants, peasants and lower classes but sought to achieve the set goals and was determined to strengthen the Polish nation in case of war against the powerful and dangerous eastern empires: the Ottoman Empire, the Swedish Empire and the Russian Empire.[3]
Marie Louise was an active and energetic woman, with ambitious economic and political plans for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The
Marie Louise made use of bribery and false promises to the aristocracy. She brought many noble ladies to the Polish court from France who would be obliged to marry voivodes, princes and wealthy landowners and eventually serve as a defensive shield if the higher classes decided to rebel against the government, one of the most well-known examples being her relative and favourite Klara Izabella Pacowa. Marie Louise also strongly followed French cultural patterns and introduced new French customs to the Commonwealth. She was known to wear only French clothing and to collect small memorabilia like coins, jewelry and perfume bottles, which was a common practice during the reign of Louis XIII and subsequently Louis XIV.[3]
Swedish invasion and hope for victory
Marie Louise's features, persistence and determination, combined with her great diligence and courage, were particularly highlighted during the Swedish invasion. Reportedly she risked her life on the front lines and after the defeat, forced to leave
During the invasion, the queen reached the peak of her popularity, but that quickly passed after the presentation of the draft reform; the strengthening of royal power and election .
At first, success was certain, because the majority of senators supported her plans and opposed
In the aftermath of the battle, elite regiments of the royal Polish Army were executed by the rebels (in total, the army had lost almost 4,000 of its most experienced men). On 31 July, at the village of Legowice, the King and Lubomirski have signed an agreement. John II Casimir and Marie Louise were forced to give up their plans of reform and were obliged to declare amnesty for the rebels, while Lubomirski signed a letter of apology.
Death and legacy
The great effort put into the stabilization of the economy and the subsequent political disaster rapidly affected the health of the queen, who was suffering from fever, severe weight loss, constant coughing and a permanently bleeding nose. She was dying and knew towards the end, she would be unable to fulfill at least a few of her ambitious but nearly impossible plans. Lying on her deathbed, she forbade the servants and guards to call for her husband, who was then busy taking part in an important Parliament session. Marie Louise died unexpectedly in Warsaw on 10 May 1667 and was buried in Kraków at Wawel Cathedral. John II Casimir, shocked by the sudden death of his wife and in deep grief, abdicated the Polish throne a year later as he was not able by himself to cope with the heavy burden of responsibility of a Polish ruler.[3]
Marie Louise founded the first Polish
Rumours pointed her out as the mother of her successor as queen,
The long reign of Marie Louise Gonzaga is poorly assessed by both contemporaries and historians. Together with Bona Sforza, she was without a doubt the most energetic and the most important Polish queen of the modern age andplayed an instrumental role in repulsing the Swedish armies during the Deluge,[8][self-published source] but it was her stubborn nature and ambitious plans for reform that led to her demise.[3]
Gallery
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Marie Louise Gonzaga by Daniel Dumonstier, 1627
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Portrait by Ferdinand Bol
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Portrait by Daniel Schultz
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King Władysław and Prince John Casimir with Marie Louise
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Entry of Queen Marie into Gdańsk
See also
- Holy Cross Church
- Kazimierzowski Palace
- Ujazdów Castle
- Visitationist Church
References
- ^ Early 17th Century French Tarot (according to the Abbé de Marolles, 1637) at pagat.com. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ a b Parrott 1997, p. 22.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ludwika Maria Gonzaga – ambitna żona dwóch Wazów". Retrieved 9 April 2017.
- ^ Tito Livio Burattini (1617-1682)
- ISBN 9781135924140.
- ^ Rain, Pierre (1928). Chronicles of the chateaux of the Loire. Roger. p. 217.
- ^ Bain, Robert Nisbet (1908). Slavonic Europe a Political History of Poland and Russia from 1447 to 1796. CUP Archive. p. 242.
- ISBN 9781450081443.
Sources
- Parrott, David (1997). "The Mantuan Succession, 1627–31: A Sovereignty Dispute in Early Modern Europe". The English Historical Review. CXII, Issue 445, February (445). Oxford Academic: 20–65. .
Further reading
- Frost, R. I. (2013). "The Ethiopian and the Elephant? Queen Louise Marie Gonzaga and Queenship in an Elective Semi-Monarchy, 1645–1667". S2CID 148034854.
External links
Media related to Ludovica Maria Gonzaga at Wikimedia Commons