Françoise-Marie de Bourbon

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Françoise-Marie de Bourbon

Françoise-Marie as duchesse d'Orléans
Born May 25, 1677(1677-05-25)
Château de Maintenon, Maintenon, France
Died February 1, 1749 (aged 71)
Château de Saint-Cloud, Saint-Cloud, France
Spouse Philippe II d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans
Children 1 Mademoiselle de Valois

2 Marie Louise Elisabeth d'Orléans
3 Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans
4 Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans
5 Louis d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans
6 Louise Elisabeth d'Orléans
7 Philippine Elisabeth d'Orléans

8 Louise Diane d'Orléans.
Parents Louis XIV,
Françoise-Athénaïs de Montespan

Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, duchesse d'Orléans (May 25, 1677 – February 1, 1749) was the sixth illegitimate child and last daughter of Louis XIV of France and his most famous mistress, Madame de Montespan. Along with her older sister and younger brother, she is an ancestor of Philippe Égalité and his son, Louis Philippe, King of the French and also Juan Carlos I of Spain.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Françoise-Marie was born on May 25, 1677, at the Château de Maintenon, the home of Madame de Maintenon, the official governess of Madame de Montespan's illegitimate children with the king.

Unlike her older siblings, she was not raised by Madame de Maintenon on the Rue de Vaugirard in Paris. By the time of her birth in 1677, Mme. de Maintenon had become more fully integrated into the French Court and had other duties to address. Instead, along with her younger brother, Louis-Alexandre, she was raised by Madame de Monchevreuil, Madame de Colbert and Madame de Jussac. As a child, she was allowed to occasionally visit Versailles to see her parents.

Like her older sister, Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, she inherited her mother's beauty. Madame de Caylus said Françoise-Marie was naturally timid and glorious and was a little beauty with a beautiful face and beautiful hands; completely in proportion.[1]

She was very proud of her ancestry. From her father, she inherited pride and the royal blood of the House of Bourbon. From her mother, she inherited beauty and the ésprit of the House of Rochechouart.

[edit] Mademoiselle de Blois

In 1681 at the age of four, Françoise-Marie was legitmised by Louis XIV. After being legitimised, Françoise-Marie was given the courtesy title of Mademoiselle de Blois, just like her older half-sister, Marie Anne de Bourbon, had been at the same age. Her mother was surprised by such a distinction as she had recently fallen out of favour with the king due to the discovery of her involvement in the nefarious Affaire des Poisons.

Subsequently, Louis XIV also legitimised Françoise-Marie's younger brother, Louis Alexandre, who was given the title of comte de Toulouse.

Although the king's trust in Madame de Montespan quickly diminished after the Affaire des Poisons, he continued to shower his former mistress with gifts, one of which was to secure for their youngest daughter, Françoise-Marie, an advantageous and profitable marriage.

[edit] Marriage

The marriage that the king arranged for Françoise-Marie was to her first cousin, Philippe Charles, duc de Chartres, the only son of Louis' younger brother, Monsieur.

This came as a shock to Philippe Charles's mother, the second Madame, whose prejudice against her brother-in-law's bastards was well-known. Upon learning of her son's marriage plans, she slapped him in front of the court. In order to gain his brother's acquiescence to the marriage, the king gave Monsieur, a well-known homosexual, various titles for himself and his male favourites.

Upon being informed of her future husband, Françoise-Marie knew the marriage was destined not to be happy. She remarked,

I dont care if he loves me; just as long as he marries me.

[2]

[edit] Dowry

From her father, Françoise-Marie received a dowry of over two million livres, twice as much as her older sister, Louise-Françoise, had earlier received on her marriage to the duc de Bourbon. This difference led to a great deal of animosity between the sisters. The main gift of the king to his youngest daughter was the Palais Royal. The king deeded the palace, which had been the grace-and-favour city residence of the duc's parents for years, over to the new couple as a wedding present. The palace became the main residence of the duc de Chartres and his wife. His parents preferred to spend most of their time at their lavish country estate, the Château de Saint-Cloud.

Mademoiselle de Blois I her older half sister who held her title first
Mademoiselle de Blois I her older half sister who held her title first

As her new husband was a grandson of King Louis XIII, Françoise-Marie became a petite-fille de France. As such, she took precedence over her illegitimate siblings at all court gatherings. After her marriage in 1692, Françoise-Marie was next in precedence behind only the duchesse de Bourgogne, and her own mother-in-law, the second Madame.

After the death of her uncle and father-in-law, Monsieur, in 1701, she assumed precedence over her mother-in-law and became the most hightly ranked female in France after the duchesse de Bourgogne, the wife of the king's eldest legitimate grandson.

[edit] Children

Wedded on January 9, 1692 in the Chapel of the Palace of Versailles, Françoise-Marie's marriage was as she had earlier predicted not successful . Some time after the wedding, her frustrated husband openly ridiculed her bad temper by calling her Madame Lucifer[3]. Their union, however, even if rather badly mismatched, did eventually produce eight children. Many of them were to marry into various prominent families in Europe under the Regency of her Husband for the young Louis XV. The couples first child, Mademsoielle de Valois was born at the Château de Marly in 1695; the couples last child, Louise Diane was born in 1716;

Later on, as her mother-in-law (after 1701, the dowager duchesse d'Orléans) was reminising of the court, she wrote the following on her daughter-in-law:

all the femmes de chambre have made her believe that she did my son honour in marrying him; and she is so vain of her own birth and that of her brothers and sisters that she will not hear a word said against them; she will not see any difference between legitimate and illegitimate children[4]

[edit] Gallery

The duchesse de Berry

Abbesse de Chelles

The duchesse de Modène et Reggio

The duc d'Orléans

The Queen of Spain

The princesse de Conti

Her husband

Louis XIV

[edit] Later years

While her husband occupied himself with his various mistresses, she lived a quiet life without scandal unlike her amorous sisters, the princesse de Conti and the duchesse de Bourbon, and dramatic older brother, the duc du Maine.

In 1701, her husband became the duc d'Orléans when his father died. He was now the head of the House of Orléans. The new duc and duchesse lived a lavish lifestyle. In Paris, the couple resided in her father's wedding gift, the Palais Royal. In the country, they took up residence in the Château de Saint-Cloud on the outskirts of the city, which the duc had inherited from his father.

In 1703, the duchesse gave birth to the couple's only son, who became the heir to the House of Orléans. Two days after her birthday in 1707, Françoise-Marie lost her mother who had been in severe very severe penance since she left court in 1691. Her father had refused the duchesse d'Orléans, duchesse de Bourbon and comte de Toulouse to let them wear mourning; they all refused to go to any court gatherings as a mark of respect for the death of their beloved mother. However, her eldest brother, the duc de Maine, was hardly able to conceal his joy at the death of his mother.

[edit] Madame la Princesse

Upon the death of Henri III Jules de Bourbon-Condé in 1709, the rank of Premier Prince du Sang was transfered from the House of Condé to the House of Orléans. As a result, Françoise-Marie's husband became entitled to use the style of Monsieur le Prince at court, and his wife became entitled to use the style of Madame la Princesse.

This transfer in rank from the Condé to the Orléans greatly aggravated the rivalry between Françoise-Marie and her older sister, Louise-Françoise, who was now the princesse de Condé.

In competition with her older sister for wealth and status, Françoise-Marie was very eager to make sure that her children made better marriages than the children of her sister did. By 1710 the kings youngest grandson was still unmarried; it had been suggested that he marry Louise-Élisabeth de Bourbon-Condé - the niece of Françoise-Marie. As a result Françoise-Marie tried to cement a closer relationship to the throne. On July 6, that year she secured the marriage of her eldest daughter, Marie Louise Elisabeth, to the duc de Berry. This occured much to the annoyance of her sister.

After hearing about an affair between her favourite daughter, Charlotte Aglaé, and the promiscuous duc de Richelieu, she set about to find a suitable royal husband for that daughter as well. Charlotte Aglaé was later married to an Italian prince, the Duke of Modena and Reggio.

[edit] La Régence

Her (L) with her older sister Louise-Françoise de Bourbon.
Her (L) with her older sister Louise-Françoise de Bourbon.

At the death of her father Louis XIV in 1715, the five year old Louis XV became the king of France. There was tension about who should rule for the new king during his youth. Françoise-Marie's older brother, the duc du Maine, vied with her husband, Philippe II, duc d'Orléans, for the role. Her husband quickly won out. As a result, Françoise-Marie was now the wife of the de facto ruler of France and became one of the most important women in the kingdom.

During the period of her husband's regency, she was one of the most important women at court. Althought occupied with his many mistresses, her husband increased her annual allowance, to 400,000 livres, as she had inherited her parents' notorious passion for free-spending. During this time, Françoise-Marie acquired the Château de Bagnolet in Paris, which she later gave to her son.

In 1721, two of her daughters were scheduled to marry into the Spanish royal family. Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, known at court as Mademoiselle de Montpensier, was to marry Infante Luis Felipe de Bórbon, the heir to throne of Spain. Her other daughter, Philippine Elisabeth d'Orléans, known at court as Mademoiselle de Beaujolais, was to marry Infante Luis Felipe's younger half-brother, Infante Carlos de Bórbon. Both marriages occurred but the latter marriage was later annulled and Philippine Elisabeth returned to France and died at her mother's Château de Bagnolet in 1734.

After her husband's regency ended upon his death in 1723, she retired to Saint-Cloud. It was at the Château de Saint-Cloud that she died on February 1, 1749. She was the last of her siblings to die and had outlived her husband by twenty-six years. She was survived by one daughter and one son, Charlotte Aglaé and Louis, duc d'Orléans.

[edit] Siblings

Françoise-Marie was the youngest daughter of Louis XIV and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. She and her siblings were very well known, partially because of their illegitimacy and partially due to their active social life in Paris.

While Françoise-Marie reigned supreme at the Palais Royal in Paris, her older sister, Louise-Françoise, held court at the nearby Palais Bourbon. Their younger brother, Louis-Alexandre, meanwhile lived in the Hôtel de Toulouse opposite the Palais Royal.

In all, Françoise-Marie had six full siblings. Only three, however, lived to maturity:

Françoise-Athénaïs de Montespan her mother
Françoise-Athénaïs de Montespan her mother

[edit] Paternal legitimate half-siblings

[edit] Paternal illegitimate half-siblings

[edit] Maternal legitimate half-siblings

  • Marie-Christine de Pardaillan de Gondrin (1663 - 1675)
    • Died while in the country with her father the marquis de Montespan
  • Louis Antoine de Pardaillan de Gondrin, marquis d'Antin (1665 - 1736)
    • Louis Antoine later was given the title of duc d'Antin.

[edit] Ancestry

[edit] References

  1. ^ Memoirs of Madame de Caylus
  2. ^ Love and Louis XIV by Lady Antonia Fraser
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Translated memoirs of the Duchess of Orléans

[edit] Sources

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Titles

Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
Born: May 25 1677 Died: February 1 1749
French nobility
Preceded by
Marie Anne de Bourbon		 Mademoiselle de Blois II
1681–1692		 Succeeded by
Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans
French royalty
Preceded by
N/A		 duchesse de Chartres
1692–1701		 Succeeded by
Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti
Preceded by
La Princesse Palatine		 duchesse d'Orléans
1701–1749		 Succeeded by
Auguste Marie Johanna of Baden-Baden
Royal titles
Preceded by
Claire Clémence de Maillé Brézé		 Madame la Princesse
1709–1749		 Succeeded by
Auguste Marie Johanna of Baden-Baden