Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione, Mistress of Emperor Napoleon III of France

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione was the mistress of Emperor Napoleon III of France from 1856-1857.

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione; source: Wikipedia

Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoïni was born on March 22, 1837 in Florence. She was the only daughter of Marquis Filippo Oldoïni – later the Italian Ambassador to Portugal – and Isabella Lamporecchi. At the age of 17, she married Francesco Verasis, Count of Castiglione on January 9, 1854. A year later she gave birth to her only child, a son Georgio.

Elsewhere in Europe at the time, an effort was made to establish a unified and independent Kingdom of Italy. Virginia’s cousin Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who served as a minister to King Vittorio Emanuele II of Sardinia (and later as the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy), saw the young beautiful Virginia as a way to gain the attention and support of the French Emperor Napoleon III. At her cousin’s request, Virginia and her husband traveled to Paris on Christmas Day in 1855. Just a few weeks later, she was presented to Emperor Napoleon III at a ball held at the home of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, and within a few months, she had become his mistress. While such relationships were usually maintained with some level of discretion, Virginia and the Emperor made no secret of theirs. The scandal and humiliation led to a formal separation between Virginia and her husband.

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione; source: Wikipedia

Virginia’s affair with Emperor Napoleon III ended in 1857, and she returned to Italy. Four years later, the Kingdom of Italy was established, and Virginia maintained that her influence had, in part, contributed to the unification. By 1861, she had moved to France where she settled in Passy before returning to Paris. By then a very wealthy woman, she devoted much of her time and fortune to her newfound passion – photography.

La Dame de Coeurs. source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1856, Virginia began posing for Pierre-Louis Pierson, a photographer favored by the Imperial Court. Many of the photographs depicted specific moments from her life, while others were recreations of historical figures. One, shown above, titled La Dame de Coeurs (The Lady of Hearts), was displayed in the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867. Over the next forty years, Virginia sat for more than 700 photographs, all very carefully choreographed by Virginia herself. After her death, Robert de Montesquiou, a noted poet and art collector, amassed over 400 of these photographs, many of which are now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Countess of Castiglione, photographed in 1893. source: Wikipedia

In her later years, following the death of her estranged husband in 1867 and her son in 1879, Virginia became a virtual recluse, rarely leaving her apartments in Paris. No longer having the immense beauty of her youth, she had all her mirrors covered and refused to go out in public until after dark, always draping herself in scarves to avoid anyone seeing her face. In the mid-1890s, perhaps in an attempt to recapture her youth, she collaborated with Pierson once again for a series of photographs, many of them in the same costumes and outfits from years earlier.

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione died on November 28, 1899, at the age of 62. She is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky, Lover of Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky; Credit – Wikipedia

Patronymics

  • In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

Born on March 28, 1709, Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky began his life on a farm near Chernihiv, now in Ukraine, the son of a Ukrainian Cossack farmer Grigory Yakovlev Rozum and his wife Natalya Demyanovna Demeshko. Alexei had five siblings: three sisters Agafyu, Anna, and Vera, an elder brother Danilo, and a younger brother Kirill, known as Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky, who benefited from his brother’s relationship with Empress Elizabeth. Kirill was a Field Marshal of the Russian Imperial Army and President of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences. However, Alexei and Kirill’s childhood was spent in poverty on their drunken father’s farm, working to keep the family from starvation.

Alexei was taught to read and write by a local priest. Because his father hated his love of learning, Alexei fled to the neighboring village of Chemer, where he lived with a clerk as his apprentice and sang in the village church choir. In 1731, Colonel Vishnevsky, a courtier of Anna, Empress of All Russia (reigned 1730 – 1740), who was passing through Chemer, returning to St. Petersburg after a diplomatic trip to Hungary, was impressed with Alexei’s vocal abilities and took him to Saint Petersburg where he joined the Court Choir under the name Alexei Grigoriev.

Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexei’s beautiful singing and good looks earned him the interest of Tsesarevna Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia (reigned 1682 – 1725), the future Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia (reigned 1741 – 1762). In 1732, Elizabeth made Alexei a member of the choir in her private chapel. Soon, he had a room near her apartments. Alexei’s personality qualities made him a good choice to be Elizabeth’s favorite and lover. He was a simple and decent person and well-liked for his kindness, good nature, and tact. He had no ambition and never interfered in politics. Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia (reigned 1762 – 1796), who in 1745 as Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, married Empress Elizabeth’s nephew and heir, the future Peter III, Emperor of All Russia (reigned 1762), later wrote about Alexei and his brother Kirill that she “knew no other family enjoying the sovereign’s favor to a degree, who were so much loved by so many people as the two brothers.”

Peter III and Catherine; in 1756; Credit – Wikipedia

In October 1740, the infant Ivan VI (reigned 1740 – 1741) became Emperor of All Russia. A conspiracy soon arose intending to obtain the Russian throne for Elizabeth Petrovna, the only surviving child of Peter the Great. A coup occurred during the night of December 5-6, 1741, with financial support from France and military support from the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Elizabeth Petrovna arrived at the regiment’s headquarters wearing armor over her dress and asked, “Who do you want to serve, me, your natural sovereign, or those who have stolen my inheritance?” The Preobrazhensky Regiment marched to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and arrested the infant Emperor Ivan VI and his parents. It was a daring coup and succeeded without bloodshed. The new 32-year-old Empress of All Russia, Elizabeth Petrovna, vowed that she would not sign a single death sentence, a promise she kept throughout her twenty-year reign.

Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky had played an important role in the coup, and like others who had helped the new Empress gain her position, he was rewarded. He was created chamberlain with the rank of Lieutenant-General. On the day of Elizabeth’s coronation, Alexei was made the Court Chamberlain, the administrative official in charge of the court. At the same time, he received the Order of Saint Andrew and the Order of Alexander Nevsky and several estates. In 1744, Alexei was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire by Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII, and then Elizabeth made him a Count of Russia. There are several stories about children allegedly born to Alexei and Elizabeth, but not one is documented.

In 1742, rumors began circulating that Empress Elizabeth and Alexei had been secretly married in the village of Perovo near Moscow. After this time, Alexei settled in apartments adjoining Elizabeth’s apartments. He had constant access to her, and his nickname became the Night Emperor. During the reign of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, Catherine searched for a precedent to marry her lover Grigory Orlov. Catherine sent her chancellor to Alexei, asking for proof of his marriage to Elizabeth. Alexei was told that as the widower of an empress, he would have a position in the Imperial Family and a large pension. Alexei told Catherine’s chancellor that he was already one of the richest men in Russia and that he needed neither honors nor money. He then unlocked a cabinet and took out a scrolled parchment tied with a pink ribbon. He made the sign of the cross, kissed the parchment, and threw it into the fireplace. Alexei said, “Tell Her Imperial Majesty that I was never anything more than the humble slave of the late Elizabeth Petrovna.” Was that parchment proof of the marriage of Alexei and Elizabeth?

Despite becoming one of the richest people in Russia, Alexei remained modest and tried not to interfere in court intrigues. He did not forget his Ukrainian relatives or his native Ukraine. It was due to Alexei that during the reign of Elizabeth, Ukrainians managed to be granted some privileges.

On January 3, 1762, Empress Elizabeth had a massive stroke, and the doctors agreed she would not recover. Alexei was one of the people who gathered at her bedside at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, along with Elizabeth’s nephew Peter, his wife Catherine, and others close to Elizabeth. Elizabeth made her successor, her nephew Peter, promise to protect Alexei. On January 5, 1762, Elizabeth asked her priest to read the Orthodox prayer for the dying. She blessed everyone in the room and asked each one for forgiveness. At about 4 PM, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia died at the age of 52.

Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg; Credit – By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21480614

Shortly after Elizabeth’s death, Alexei submitted his resignation from his various positions. He moved from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to the nearby Anichkov Palace, which Empress Elizabeth had built for Alexei. Following their marriage in 1866, the future Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and his wife Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, made the Anichkov Palace their St. Petersburg residence. Their children, including Nicholas II, the last Emperor of All Russia, spent their childhood there.

The new emperor, Peter III, often visited Alexei at Anichkov Palace. However, the reign of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia lasted only six months. He was deposed by his wife, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who reigned as Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia. Alexei did not take part in the coup that overthrew Peter III, and when Catherine became Empress, Alexei swore allegiance to her and carried the crown during her coronation. Catherine offered Alexei the style of “Highness” but Alexei refused.

Alexei became quite ill in 1770, and during the last months of that year, he became bedridden. Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky, aged 62, died on July 17, 1771, at Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was buried in the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, together with the wife of his brother Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky, Ekaterina Ivanovna Razumovskaya, who died just two weeks after Alexei. Over their graves, Kirill erected a magnificent marble monument in the form of triumphal gates.

Tomb of Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky and his sister-in-law Ekaterina Ivanovna Razumovskaya; Credit – Wikipedia

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Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Alexei Razumovsky. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Razumovsky> [Accessed 3 June 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2020). Elizabeth of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Russia [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
  • Massie, Robert. (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Разумовский, Алексей Григорьевич. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87> [Accessed 3 June 2020]. (Russian Wikipedia article on Alexei Razumovsky)
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Разумовская, Наталья Демьяновна. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F,_%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F_%D0%94%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 3 June 2020]. (Russian Wikipedia article on Natalya Demyanovna Razumovskaya, Alexei’s mother)

Countess Maria Walewska, Mistress of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Maria Walewska was a member of the Polish nobility, and became the mistress of the French Emperor Napoleon I, with whom she had one son.

Countess Maria Walewska; Photo: By François Gérard Own work image taken by Mathiasrex, Maciej Szczepańczyk, 30 November 2013, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29934370

Countess Maria Łączyńska was born in Kiernozia, Poland on December 7, 1786, one of seven children of Count Mateusz Łączyński and Eva Zaborowska. She was privately educated for several years by Nicolas Chopin, the father of famed composer Frederic Chopin. Later, she attended the Our Lady of the Assumption convent in Warsaw, to complete her education in the manner expected of those from the aristocracy.

In 1804, Marie married Athenasius Count Colonna-Walewski, a former chamberlain to the last King of Poland. She was just 17, while her husband was in his late 60s. Later Marie would say that her family pushed her into the marriage against her will. The couple had one son, Antoni Colonna-Walewski, born in 1805.

Emperor Napoleon I. source: Wikipedia

Marie first met Napoleon on January 1, 1807, when the Emperor passed through Blonie on his way to Warsaw. According to her memoirs, Marie and a cousin rushed to join the crowds, hoping to get a glimpse of his carriage. A French officer saw her trying to get closer and brought her to Napoleon’s carriage to greet him personally. The Emperor gave her a bouquet which was sitting in his carriage, and said he hoped they would meet again soon, perhaps in Warsaw.

Shortly after that first meeting, Marie was invited to attend a ball held in Warsaw, where she again met the Emperor who was quickly smitten with her. The next day, the grand marshal of the palace arrived at her home with a large bouquet of flowers and a sealed letter from Napoleon. Several more letters followed before Marie agreed, with the consent of her family and her husband, to become the Emperor’s mistress. This was also encouraged by the members of the Polish aristocracy who hoped that this relationship might help them in their quest for Poland to regain its independence. Marie states in her memoirs that she agreed to the affair for this reason alone.

Their affair was very well known although an effort was made to keep it a secret. Marie would only come to see Napoleon at night, secretly entering and leaving the palace in darkness. She later took up apartments adjoining his apartments at Finckenstein Palace in East Prussia which Napoleon used as his field headquarters. She refused to leave the palace for fear of being seen and having their relationship discovered. When Napoleon moved to Vienna, she moved into a house adjacent to Schönbrunn Palace where the Emperor was living. During this time, she became pregnant and on May 4, 1810, she gave birth to Alexandre Joseph, her only child with the Emperor. Although Napoleon’s son, he was recognized as husband’s son and was titled Count Alexandre Joseph Colonna-Walewski.

The following year, Marie followed the Emperor back to Paris. There, she was given a large residence on the Rue de Montmorency and a very generous allowance. However, around the same time, her romance with Napoleon ended. He was planning to divorce his wife Josephine and marry Marie Louise of Austria. The end was very amicable, and Napoleon ensured that Marie and their son were very well provided for financially.

Philippe Antoine, Count d’Ornano. source: Wikipedia

In 1812, Marie divorced her husband and received half of his estates, which in addition to the money provided by the Emperor, made Marie a very wealthy woman. Four years later, in September 1816, she married for a second time to Philippe Antoine, Count d’Ornano, a prominent military leader and a second cousin of Napoleon. They settled in Liege, and Marie became pregnant right away. In January 1817, while on a visit to Poland, she was diagnosed with a kidney disease, which became worse due to her pregnancy. The couple’s only child Rudolph Augustus d’Ornano was born in Liege on June 9, 1817. However, Marie’s health continued to deteriorate. Over the next several months, she dictated her memoirs to her secretary. The Countess d’Ornano died in Paris on December 11, 1817, at just 31 years old. Per her wishes, her heart was interred in the Ornano family crypt at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and her body was returned to Poland and buried with her family in Kiernozia.

Marie’s coffin in the family crypt in Kiernozia, Poland. photo: By Jolanta Dyr – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25352176

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Jeanne Bécu, Countess du Barry, Mistress of King Louis XV of France

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Jeanne Bécu, Countess du Barry was the last official mistress of King Louis XV of France, from 1768 until the King died in 1774.

Jeanne Bécu, Countess du Barry – source: Wikipedia

Jeanne Bécu was born August 19, 1743, in Vaucouleurs, France, the illegitimate daughter of Anne Bécu. Her father was probably Jean Jacques Gomard, a local friar. As a child, the family moved to Paris under the care of a friend – and possible lover – of her mother. She was soon sent to the Convent of Saint-Aure for her education. After finishing her schooling, she returned home to her mother and her mother’s husband. With limited income and resources, Jeanne took several jobs to earn a living. She worked as a companion to an elderly woman, and as an assistant in a haberdashery shop, among other things.

A remarkably beautiful woman, Jeanne found that her looks were the way to provide herself with a very good living. In 1763, she met Jean-Baptiste du Barry, a casino owner who also worked as a pimp. Soon, she was living with du Barry and became his mistress. Du Barry brought Jeanne into the highest circles of society and she soon became a well-respected courtesan – entertaining numerous men from the highest levels of society as well as the French court. These included the Duke de Richelieu, one of the courtiers of King Louis XV. She would eventually catch King Louis XV’s attention in 1768 while visiting Versailles and quickly became his mistress. In order to allow her to be present at court, a marriage was arranged to du Barry’s brother Count Guillaume du Barry, on September 1, 1768.

Jeanne took rooms above those of King Louis XV, but could not be seen publicly with him as she had not yet been formally presented at court. This eventually happened on April 22, 1769, and Jeanne became the King’s official mistress (maîtresse-en-titre).

King Louis XV lavished Jeanne with gifts of jewelry and fine gowns, and rarely refused any of her requests. Her influence over Louis was very strong, and she often used it to help others. Despite the King’s devotion, Jeanne was disliked by many at court, including several who did everything possible to get rid of her. But the King would have no part of that and refused to hear any bad words about her.

During her tenure, Jeanne obtained a title for her mother and financial security for her family. It would be her financial extravagance that began to make her more unpopular. Despite receiving a very generous monthly income from the King, she was perpetually in debt. Despite that, Jeanne would remain the King’s closest confidante and lover until his death.

By Château de Breteuil – Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76856531

In 1772, King Louis XV commissioned a diamond necklace to be made for Madame du Barry, requesting that it be of greater splendor than anything else made.  Sadly, he died before the necklace was completed or paid for, and Jeanne never received it.  This necklace was the central element of the Diamond Necklace Affair, in which Queen Marie Antoinette was accused of bribing a cardinal to purchase the necklace for herself.  These accusations were contributing factors to the beginning of the French Revolution.

Following  King Louis XV’s death in 1774, Jeanne was banished from court and sent to the Abbey du Pont-aux-Dames. After a year, she was permitted to leave the abbey but banned from coming within 10 miles of Versailles. She eventually purchased property in Louveciennes where she moved in 1778.

During her time as the King Louis V’s mistress, Jeanne had been gifted with a slave  Zamor who remained in her household. Zamor later joined the Jacobin club, and upon discovering hearing this, Jeanne dismissed him. In retaliation, Zamor gave testimony implying that Jeanne had assisted numerous aristocrats who had fled the French Revolution. Due to this testimony, Jeanne was arrested and charged with treason. A swift trial took place and she was found guilty and sentenced to death by guillotine.

Madame du Barry was beheaded on December 8, 1793 on the Place de la Révolution (now the Place de la Concorde). Her remains were interred in the Madeleine Cemetery in Paris.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

The de Mailly Sisters, Mistresses of King Louis XV of France

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The de Mailly sisters – Louise, Pauline, Diane and Marie Anne – were all mistresses of King Louis XV of France at various times between 1732 and 1745.

King Louis XV of France. source: Wikipedia

The de Mailly sisters were the daughters of Louis de Mailly, Marquis de Nesle et de Mailly, Prince d’Orange, and Armande Félice de La Porte Mazarin. Closely connected to the French court, their mother was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie (Marie Leszczyńska), the wife of King Louis XV. They also had another sister, Hortense (1715-1799), and a half-sister, Henriette de Bourbon (1725-1780) from their mother’s affair with the Duke de Bourbon.

Because of their family’s close connection to the French court, all of the de Mailly sisters were often in the company of the King. The first to become his mistress was Louise Julie.

Louise Julie de Mailly

Louise Julie de Mailly. source: Wikipedia

Louise Julie was the eldest of the de Mailly sisters, born in 1710. She married her father’s cousin, Louis-Alexandre, Comte de Mailly in 1726. Upon her mother’s death in 1729, she replaced her mother as Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Marie.

Promoted as a mistress by Cardinal Fleury, Louise was presented to the King and she soon fell in love with him. By 1732, she became his mistress. Preferring to keep their relationship a secret, she was not named as his official mistress for another 6 years. During that time, she was known simply as “The Fair Unknown”, visiting the King’s apartments under the cover of darkness and covering her face so as not to be recognized. It wasn’t until 1738 that her identity was discovered, and the King quickly acknowledged her as his chief mistress and established her in apartments next to his own. Soon accepted at court, Louise did not like the attention that her position brought her. She much preferred to remain in the background, devoted to Louis. She would fall out of favor in 1739 when her younger sister Pauline came to court and quickly supplanted Louise as the King’s mistress. Following Pauline’s death in 1741, the King returned to Louise once again. But this would also be short-lived, as a third de Mailly sister – Marie Anne – would soon arrive and capture the King’s attention. Marie Anne quickly worked to have Louise removed from court, and she was soon dismissed. Despite pleas to the King, Louise left Versailles at the end of 1742 and retired to a convent in Paris. Louise de Mailly died there in March 1751, at the age of 41.

Pauline Félicité de Mailly

Pauline Félicité de Mailly, Countess de Vintimille. source: Wikipedia

Pauline Félicité was the second de Mailly daughter, and the second to become the King’s mistress. Intent on seducing the King, she persuaded her elder sister Louise to invite her to court in 1738. She soon caught the King’s attention and he reportedly fell madly in love with her. Although Louise retained her position as maîtresse en titre (chief mistress), it was Pauline who received more of his attention. The King arranged a marriage to Jean Baptiste de Vintimille, Marquis de Vintimille and Count de Luc in 1739, which provided her the status and rank necessary to remain at court.

While Louise was quiet and remained in the background, Pauline sought both attention and recognition of her position. This led to much distrust and hatred both within the court and from the public. She soon became pregnant by the King, and gave birth to a son – Charles de Vintimille – on September 2, 1741. Sadly, she died of convulsions just seven days later, on September 9, 1741. King Louis was devastated and soon returned his affections to Louise… until the arrival of a third de Mailly sister.

Marie Anne de Mailly

Marie Anne de Mailly, Duchess of Châteauroux. source: Wikipedia

Marie Anne was the youngest of the de Mailly sisters, born in 1717. She was married to Jan Baptiste Louis, Marquis de La Tournelle in 1734 and had no children. Following the death of her sister Pauline in 1741, Marie Anne joined their eldest sister Louise and soon established herself within the French court. She also set her eyes on becoming the King’s mistress. She was formally introduced to the King by the Duke de Richelieu at a masked ball in 1742. Richelieu felt he could use Marie Anne to influence the king in political matters, and encouraged the relationship. At first she resisted the King’s advances, but soon found herself working toward replacing her eldest sister. Much more outspoken and ambitious than Louise, Marie Anne – with the help of Richelieu and Cardinal Fleury – quickly pushed her way ahead of her sister, becoming the King’s primary mistress.

By December 1742, Marie Anne had managed to have her sister Louise removed from court and formally became his new mistress. Much more demanding than any of his previous mistresses, Marie Anne provided him a list of conditions and demands, to which he quickly acquiesced. These included her demand that Louise be banished from Court, her own elevation to the rank of Duchess (she was created Duchess de Châteauroux in October 1743), and arranging a marriage for her sister Diane to the Duke of Lauraguais so she could be present at court. Marie Anne, unlike her sisters, sought to influence the King in political matters, often with the disagreement of his advisors.

Soon rumors spread that Marie Anne and her sister Diane would often “entertain” the King together, leading to great scandal and loathing for the two de Mailly sisters. Following a grave illness in 1744, the King renounced his mistresses and sought the forgiveness of his wife, vowing to pursue no other woman. But that didn’t last long – within several months, he secretly visited Marie Anne and had her brought back to Versailles and restored to his position as his chief mistress. However, just weeks later, she fell ill and died on December 8, 1744, convinced that she had been poisoned.

Diane Adélaïde de Mailly

Diane Adélaïde de Mailly, Duchess de Lauraguais. source: Wikipedia

Diane Adélaïde was the third born of the de Mailly sisters, born in 1714, but the last one to become the King’s mistress. As seemed to be the tradition with the sisters, Diane came to court at the invitation of her younger sister, Marie Anne, who had established herself as the King’s primary mistress. Marie Anne arranged a marriage for Diane to Louise de Brancas, Duke de Lauraguais, in January 1743. This allowed Diane to be present at court, and before long she caught the attention of the King himself. Diane often accompanied her sister to visit the King while he was traveling with his forces. Rumors soon spread that the sisters would “entertain” the king together, which caused quite a scandal throughout the country.

In 1744, Diane and Marie Anne were visiting the King in Metz when he fell gravely ill. The King, fearing he was going to die, renounced his mistresses and asked the Queen’s forgiveness for his adulterous ways. The sisters were quickly dispatched back to Paris. The King recovered and eventually returned to Paris as well. Once there, he returned to his old ways, visiting Marie Anne and restoring her to her position as his official royal mistress. However, she soon died – in December 1744 – and the King turned to Diane for comfort and affection. The relationship would not last very long though. Within a few months, the King turned his attention to a new mistress – Madame de Pompadour.

Diane left court and remained quietly in Paris until her death in November 1769 at the age of 55.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour, Royal Mistress and Confidante of King Louis XV of France

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Madame de Pompadour was the official mistress of King Louis XV of France from 1745 until 1750, and continued to serve as one of the King’s closest confidantes until she died in 1764.

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour source: Wikipedia

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was born to François Poisson and Madeleine de la Motte on December 29, 1721. However, it is possible that her biological father was either financier Jean Pâris de Monmartel or tax collector Charles François Paul Le Normant de Tournehem. Tournehem became her guardian in 1725 after François Poisson was forced to leave France because of unpaid debts, punishable by death. Poisson was cleared eight years later and allowed to return to France.

Tournehem arranged for Jeanne to receive the best possible education at a convent in Poissy, but due to her ill health – believed to be whooping cough – she returned to Paris just four years later, where she continued her education at home. According to rumor, her mother consulted a fortune teller who foretold that Jeanne would “reign over the heart of a King”. This led to her the nickname “Reinette” (little queen).

In 1741, Tournehem arranged for Jeanne to marry his nephew Charles Guillaume Le Normant d’Étoiles. As part of the alliance, he made d’Étoiles his sole heir, and gifted Jeanne with a large estate at Étoiles, adjacent to one of the royal hunting grounds. The couple had two children:

  • Charles Guillaume Louis d’Étoiles (1741) – died in infancy
  • Alexandrine Le Normant d’Étoiles (1744) – died in childhood

Jeanne’s marriage gained her access to Parisian high society and soon she was one of the prominent hostesses at her home at Étoiles. By 1742, King Louis XV had been made aware of her, and soon she began to pursue him. After crossing paths several times, Jeanne was invited to a masked ball in February 1745. At the ball, King Louis XV publicly declared his affection for her, and by the following month, she was his mistress. Jeanne was given apartments directly about the King’s at the Palace of Versailles and was officially separated from her husband two months later. To allow her to be present at court, King Louis XV purchased the Marquisate of Pompadour and gifted the estate and a coat of arms to Jeanne. She was now the Marquise de Pompadour. Later that year, she made her formal entry to court and quickly ingratiated herself with Queen Marie, determined to establish good relationships with the royal family.

King Louis XV of France. source: Wikipedia

Perhaps closer to King Louis XV than anyone else, Jeanne exerted significant influence on him in both personal and political matters. Louis relied greatly on her advice and support, and in turn, was immensely generous in his gifts to her.

Most prominent among King Louis XV’s gifts were the properties and estates that Jeanne received. In 1746, the King purchased the estate of Crécy, and that same year gave her a large area within the Park of Versailles where a beautiful house and gardens were built for her. In 1748, the King gave her a large estate in Meudon where she had the Château de Bellevue built over the next two years. During this time, the nearby Château de La Celle was added to her growing list of properties, providing her with someplace nearby to live while overseeing the construction of Bellevue.

By 1750, her physical relationship with King Louis XV ended. However, unlike other mistresses who were cast off, Jeanne remained at his side, continuing to be his closest advisor and confidante. She exposed King Louis XV to the arts and culture, promoting festivals and theatrical performances, and consistently inviting new artists and artisans to the French court. Despite their romantic relationship being over, the King’s gifts continued to show his deep affection and respect for Jeanne.

At the end of 1753, King Louis XV purchased the Hotel d’Evreux in Paris to provide Jeanne with a residence in the city. The property would become known as the Elysée Palace and now serves as the official residence of the President of France. However, Jeanne spent most of her time at the Palace of Versailles or visiting her daughter, and avoided Paris as much as possible. Public sentiment in the city was never in her favor, as most French people resented that she was a commoner enjoying the company of their King.

In 1756, Jeanne was appointed Lady of the Palace to the Queen, the highest possible position at the French court, and in 1760, King Louis XV purchased the Marquisate of Menars and Jeanne was created Marquise de Menars. Three years later, King Louis XV elevated Menars to a duchy, making Jeanne the Duchess de Menars.

Madame de Pompadour.source: Wikipedia

After having been at the French court for twenty years, Jeanne’s constant ill health began to take its toll on her. She contracted tuberculosis and became gravely ill. During this time, King Louis XV personally cared for her but with no success. On April 15, 1764, in her apartments at the Palace of Versailles, Madame de Pompadour died at the age of 42. Per her wishes, she was buried in the chapel of the Convent of the Capuchins in Paris, alongside her mother and daughter. Jeanne left many of her properties to King Louis XV, with some inherited by her brother.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Lover of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Philip Christoph von Königsmarck; Credit – Wikipedia

Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, the lover of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover (the wife of the future King George I of Great Britain and the mother of King George II of Great Britain) disappeared from the Leineschloss in the Electorate of Hanover, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, and was never seen again. Born on March 4, 1665, in Stade, then part of the Swedish province of Bremen-Verden-Wildeshausen, now in Lower Saxony, Germany, Philip Christoph was the second of the two sons and the youngest of the four children of Count Kurt Christoph von Königsmarck and Maria Christina von Wrangel. Despite their German name and coming from an old Brandenburg noble family, the family considered themselves Swedish.

Philip Christoph had three siblings:

Philip Christoph’s father Count Kurt Christoph von Königsmarck was a Major General in the Swedish Army and served as Deputy Governor of the Swedish possessions in Germany. In 1671, he left the Swedish Army to serve in the army of Willem III, Prince of Orange (the future King William III of England), participating in the Dutch campaign against the French. On October 10, 1673, when Philip Christoph was eight years old, his father was killed at the age of 39 at the Siege of Bonn by friendly fire from an accidental cannon shot.

Philip Christoph von Königsmarck at an early age; Credit – Wikipedia

During his childhood, Philip Christoph served as a page at the court of Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Celle. Celle was a small principality, now in Lower Saxony, Germany. There he became friends with Princess Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Georg Wilhelm’s only child, who was a year younger than Philip Christoph. At the age of 16, Sophia Dorothea married her first cousin, 22-year-old Georg Ludwig, Electoral Prince of Hanover and Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the eldest son of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Sophia of the Palatinate, commonly referred to as Electress Sophia of Hanover. Electress Sophia of Hanover’s mother was Elizabeth Stuart, the second child and eldest daughter of King James VI of Scotland/King James I of England. It was through this descent and the exclusion of Catholics from the British throne, that Sophia Dorothea’s husband Georg Ludwig became King George I of Great Britain when Queen Anne, the last ruler of the House of Stuart, died. However, Sophia Dorothea of Celle was never Queen of Great Britain but she is an ancestor of the British Royal family (and other European royal families) through her son King George II of Great Britain.

After spending some time wandering through Europe, Philip Christoph found himself a wealthy man as the heir of his uncle and elder brother who had both died in battle. In 1688, Philip Christoph went to Hanover where he entered into the service of Sophia Dorothea’s father-in-law Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He participated in a campaign against France and became colonel of Ernst August’s bodyguard. Philip Christoph was regularly present at social events at the court of Hanover.

Sophia Dorothea, Electoral Princess of Hanover in 1686; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage of Sophia Dorothea and Georg Ludwig (called George hereafter) was happy at first, but soon both George and Sophia Dorothea found affection elsewhere. George fell in love with one of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting, Melusine von der Schulenburg, and Sophia Dorothea fell in love with her childhood friend Philip Christoph von Königsmarck. Their affair started around March 1692. Despite warnings, from her mother and friends, Sophia Dorothea and Philip Christoph wrote letters to each other, met secretly, and planned to escape Hanover together. In 1694, Countess Clara Elisabeth von Platen, the mistress of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, tried to marry her daughter to Philip Christoph Königsmark but he declined. Because of this insult by Königsmark, Clara Elisabeth revealed his affair with Sophia Dorothea to Elector Ernst August.

On the morning of July 2, 1694, after a meeting with Sophia Dorothea, 29-year-old Philip Christoph von Königsmarck disappeared from the Leineschloss in Hanover and was never seen again. It was widely believed he was secretly murdered that same day. Officially, Philip Christoph von Königsmarck is still a missing person. His disappearance became a state affair and news of his disappearance spread throughout the royal courts of Europe and the general public. Bones were found at Leineschloss Castle during a 2016 renovation project, however, tests proved that some of the bones were from animals and the human bones came from at least five different skeletons. None of the remains have been proven to belong to Philip Christoph von Königsmarck.

Sophia Dorothea with her two children; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 28, 1694, a tribunal of judges and Lutheran Church officials declared the marriage of George and Sophia Dorothea dissolved on the grounds of Sophia Dorothea’s desertion. Meanwhile, 28-year-old Sophia Dorothea had been moved to the Castle of Ahlden in her father’s Principality of Celle. She did not know that Königsmarck had disappeared and hoped to be reunited with him. Finally, Sophia Dorothea was told about the terms of the marriage dissolution. Because she was considered the guilty party, she was not allowed to remarry, would never again see her two children (the 11-year-old future King George II of Great Britain and the 7-year-old future Queen Sophia Dorothea in Prussia, wife of King Friedrich Wilhelm I in Prussia), and would be kept as a prisoner at the Castle of Ahlden for the remainder of her life. The Castle of Ahlden had a guard unit of 40 soldiers with five to ten soldiers guarding the castle around the clock. Sophia Dorothea had a household consisting of two maids of honor, several maids, and other staff for the household and kitchen, who were all chosen for their loyalty to Hanover.

Castle of Ahlden; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Sophia Dorothea spent 32 years in captivity, she received an income that allowed her to live in the style of a princess and she was able to go for drives in her coach with an escort. Her father refused to visit her, but her mother did make visits, and unsuccessfully tried to obtain her release by asking Queen Anne of Great Britain for help. Sophia Dorothea apparently drowned her sorrows in the pleasure of eating, and became quite obese, increasingly suffering from fevers and indigestion. She suffered a stroke in August 1726 and never again left her bed. Sophia Dorothea refused medical attention and food, and died on November 13, 1726, at the age of 60. Her former husband, now King George I of Great Britain, would not allow mourning at the British court and was furious when he learned that his daughter had ordered court mourning in Prussia.

Because the guards at the Castle of Ahlden had no funeral or burial instructions, Sophia Dorothea’s remains were placed in a lead coffin and stored in the castle cellar. In January 1727, orders came from London to bury the remains without any ceremony in the cemetery of Ahlden. However, this was impossible because of weeks of heavy rains and the coffin remained in the castle cellar. Finally, in May 1727, Sophia Dorothea was buried in the middle of the night beside her parents at the Stadtkirche St. Marien (link in German) in Celle. Her former husband King George I died four weeks later after receiving a deathbed letter from Sophia Dorothea cursing him, and their son acceded to the British throne as King George II.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Kurt Christoph Von Königsmarck. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Christoph_von_K%C3%B6nigsmarck> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Philipp Christoph Von Königsmarck. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_Christoph_von_K%C3%B6nigsmarck> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Philip Christoph Von Königsmarck. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Christoph_von_K%C3%B6nigsmarck> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2015. Sophia Dorothea Of Celle, Electoral Princess Of Hanover. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/sophia-dorothea-of-celle-electoral-princess-of-hanover/> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2020. Philip Christoph Königsmarck. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Christoph_K%C3%B6nigsmarck> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • Van der Kiste, John, 2013. The Georgian Princesses. New York: History Press.

Louise of Lorraine-Vaudémont, Queen of France

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Louise of Lorraine-Vaudémont, Queen of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise of Lorraine-Vaudémont was the wife of Henri III, King of France. Born on April 30, 1553, at the Château de Nomeny in Nomeny, Duchy of Bar, now in France, Louise was the third of the three daughters and the youngest of the four children of Nicolas of Lorraine, Count of Vaudémont and Duke of Mercœur and his first wife Marguerite d’Egmont. Louise’s father was the second son of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine and Renée de Bourbon. Her mother was the daughter of daughter of Count Jean IV of Egmont and Françoise of Luxembourg.

Louise had three elder siblings who all died in infancy:

  • Marguerite (born 1550)
  • Catherine (born 1551)
  • Henri, Count of Chaligny (born 1552)

Shortly before Louise’s first birthday, her mother died on March 10, 1554. In 1555, Louise’s father made a second marriage to Jeanne of Savoy-Nemours, daughter of Philippe, Duke of Nemours and Charlotte d’Orléans-Longueville.

From her father’s second marriage to Jeanne of Savoy-Nemours, Louise had six half-siblings:

Louise’s stepmother Jeanne of Savoy-Nemours was attentive to her and ensured she received a solid classical education. However, Jeanne did not live long enough to see her stepdaughter become Queen of France as she died at the Château de Nomeny in 1568. In 1569, Louise’s father made a third marriage to Catherine of Lorraine-Aumale, daughter of Claude II of Lorraine, Duke of d’Aumale and Louise de Brézé.

From her father’s third marriage to Catherine of Lorraine-Aumale, Louise had five half-siblings:

Catherine of Lorraine-Aumale, Louise’s second stepmother, was nineteen years old, only three years older than Louise, when she married Louise’s 45-year-old father. Catherine may have been frustrated that she had to marry a man twenty-six years older than her and leave the French court for the small town of Nomeny. She acted cruelly toward Louise and the children of her husband’s second marriage which may have been the result of her frustration.

Louise’s husband Henri III, King of France; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1573, Polish nobles chose Henri, Duke of Anjou, the son of Henri II, King of France and Catherine de’Medici, as the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Henri, Duke of Anjou’s father had died as a result of a jousting accident, and his brother François II, King of France, had died from an abscess. At this time, Henri, Duke of Anjou’s brother Charles IX sat upon the throne of France and his only child was a daughter who could not succeed her father. Therefore, Henri, Duke of Anjou was the heir presumptive to the French throne.

On his way to Krakow, the capital of his new kingdom, Henri was welcomed in Nancy in the Duchy of Lorraine by his brother-in-law and his sister, Charles III, Duke of Lorraine and Claude of Valois, Duchess of Lorraine. All members of the House of Lorraine were invited to welcome Henri and participate in the celebrations and so Louise and her family attended the celebrations. A beautiful, tall, blonde 20-year-old young woman, Louise of Lorraine, caught Henri’s attention and she stayed in his mind.

In 1574, 23-year-old Charles IX, King of France died from tuberculosis without a male heir and so his brother Henri, Duke of Anjou succeeded him as Henri III, King of France. In mid-June 1574, upon learning of the death of his brother, Henri secretly left Poland and headed back to France. Because he did not return to Poland, the Polish Parliament declared the throne vacant. Henri did not regret this because as King of France, he would have more power.

Once in France, 23-year-old Henri III knew he must provide an heir to the throne. Henri III had an unrequited love for Marie of Cleves, the wife of Henri of Bourbon, Prince of Condé. He planned to obtain an annulment of Marie’s marriage and then marry her himself but Marie died before he could implement his plan. Catherine de Medici wanted her son to marry a foreign princess and Henri III wanted to cut short the matrimonial machinations of his mother. He remembered Louise of Lorriane-Vaudémont, the girl he met passing through Lorraine who resembled his lost love Marie of Cleves, and decided to marry her.

Queen Louise of France; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1575, Henri III sent emissaries to Louise’s father to ask for her hand in marriage. At that time, Louise was away on a pilgrimage and her father agreed to the marriage without consulting her. Upon her return from the pilgrimage, Louise was in disbelief when told she was to marry the King of France. Henri’s choice of a bride from a relatively modest noble family also surprised the French court and many people in the Kingdom of France, including Henri’s mother. Henri decided to combine his coronation and his wedding. Henri was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Reims on February 13, 1575. Two days later Louise and Henri were married at the Cathedral of Reims by Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon.

Louise suffered a miscarriage with complications in May 1575 and she never had children. However, Louise and Henri did not give up on ​​having children. They went on many pilgrimages and took thermal cures hoping to have an heir. Despite Henri’s affairs, Louise and Henri both loved each other and Louise did an admirable job with her duties as Queen of France.

Seated, left to right: Henri III, his mother Catherine de Medici, and his wife Louise; Credit – Wikipedia

During the reigns of his brothers, Henri had been a Catholic military leader in the French Wars of Religion – Catholics against the Protestant Huguenots – and helped plot the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of August 23-24, 1572 in which 5,000 to 30,000 Protestant Huguenots were killed. The reigns of Henri and his two brothers saw France in constant turmoil over religion.

In 1584, Henri’s youngest brother and heir presumptive Hercule François, Duke of Anjou died. The Protestant Huguenot King Henri III of Navarre, who was married to King Henri III of France’s sister Margeurite, was the most senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, and therefore the rightful heir to the French throne. This led to what was known as the War of the Three Henris – King Henri III of Navarre, King Henri III of France, and Henri I, Duke of Guise. The Duke of Guise was a staunch opponent of the Huguenots and had founded the Catholic League to fight against the possibility of Henri of Navarre succeeding to the French throne.

In 1588, Henri III of France had Henri I, Duke of Guise assassinated by “the Forty-Five,” the king’s bodyguard, as Henri III of France looked on. The day after, the Duke of Guise’s brother Louis of Lorraine, Cardinal of Guise was assassinated on Henri III’s orders. Henri III hoped that getting rid of the Guises would restore his authority with the French people. Instead, it caused an outrage among the relatives and allies of the Guises and much of France that Henri III of France was forced to take refuge with Henri of Navarre. The two Henris were joined in their desire to defeat the Catholic League which had taken control of much of the country.

Jacques Clément assassinating Henri III; Credit – Wikipedia

Jacques Clément was a fanatic Dominican monk who sided with the Catholic League. He planned to kill King Henri III of France who he believed to be the enemy of Catholicism since the Duke of Guise’s assassination. On August 1, 1589, Henri III of France was with his army at Saint-Cloud, preparing to attack Paris. Jacques Clément, carrying false papers, was granted access to deliver important documents to Henri III. After giving Henri III some documents, Clément told Henri that he had a secret message for him. Henri III asked his attendants to step back to give him privacy. Clément whispered in Henri’s ear while stabbing him in the abdomen. Henri’s guards immediately killed Clément. After a day of agony, 37-year-old King Henri III of France died on August 2, 1589, at the Château de Saint-Cloud near Paris. Henri III of Navarre succeeded him as King Henri IV of France, the first of the kings of the House of Bourbon. Ironically, Henri IV was also assassinated by a Catholic zealot in 1610.

After the assassination of Henri III in 1589, Louise became permanently depressed, always dressed in white, the traditional mourning color of French queens, and was nicknamed the “White Queen.” She lived in the Loire Valley of France at the Château de Chenonceau which she received as an inheritance from her mother-in-law Catherine de’Medici. The walls of her bed-chamber were all black and the décor were all symbols of mourning. She worked to rehabilitate the memory of her husband, who had been excommunicated after the assassination of the Cardinal of Guise. On January 29, 1601, Louise died at the Château de Moulins at the age of 47.

Rediscovery of the coffin of Queen Louise at the Capuchin Poor Clares convent, Paris in 1806; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise’s remains have rested in several places. The order of Capuchin Poor Clares was introduced in France by Louise. In her will, she left instructions and funds for her half-brother Philippe Emmanuel of Lorraine to build a convent in Bourges in the French Loire Valley that would be her burial site but he died soon after Louise. Eventually, a Capuchin Poor Clares convent was built with the funds but in Paris, instead of in Bourges, and Louise’s remains were buried there in 1605. The Capuchin Poor Clares convent then occupied half of the current Place Vendôme. During the French Revolution, the nuns of the convent were driven out. In the early 1800s, the Rue de la Paix was constructed in the area of the convent, requiring its destruction. In 1806, Louise’s tomb was discovered during the destruction of the convent and her remains were buried at the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. On January 16, 1817, her remains were transferred to her final resting place, in the crypt at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, the traditional burial place of the French royal family.

Louise’s tomb at the Basilica of Saint-Denis; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

France Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2020). Henry III of France. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_III_of_France [Accessed 20 Jun. 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Louise Of Lorraine. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 21 June 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Nicolas, Duke Of Mercœur. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas,_Duke_of_Merc%C5%93ur> [Accessed 21 June 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2020. King Henri III Of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-henri-iii-of-france/> [Accessed 21 June 2020].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2020). Assassinat d’Henri III. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassinat_d%27Henri_III [Accessed 20 Jun. 2020].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2020). Henri III (roi de France). [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_III_(roi_de_France) [Accessed 20 Jun. 2020].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2020. Louise De Lorraine-Vaudémont. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_de_Lorraine-Vaud%C3%A9mont> [Accessed 21 June 2020].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2020. Rue De La Paix (Paris). [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_de_la_Paix_(Paris)#Couvent_des_Capucines> [Accessed 21 June 2020].
  • Mehl, Scott. (2016). King Henri IV of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-henri-iv-of-france/ [Accessed 20 Jun. 2020].

Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth, Archduchess of Austria was the wife of Charles IX, King of France. She was born in Vienna, Austria on July 5, 1554, the second of the six daughters and the fifth of the fifteen children of first cousins Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain. Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary (younger brother of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain) and Princess Anne of Bohemia and Hungary. Her maternal grandparents were Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, and Isabella of Portugal. King Philip II of Spain was Elisabeth’s maternal uncle.

Elisabeth had four older siblings and ten younger siblings but only seven survived to adulthood:

Elisabeth lived with her older sister Anna and her younger brother Matthias in the newly built Stallburg, part of the Hofburg Palace complex in Vienna, Austria. Elisabeth’s brothers were educated by the Flemish writer and diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq.  The intelligent Elisabeth joined her brothers in their studies and was an excellent student. Elisabeth’s mother supervised her religious education.

In 1559, when Elisabeth was five years old, a marriage with Charles, Duke of Orléans, the second surviving son of Henri II, King of France and Catherine de’Medici, was suggested. By 1562, when a French delegation came to Austria to suggest the marriage again, the potential bridegroom had become Charles IX, King of France. His father Henri II, King of France had died as a result of a jousting accident, and his brother François II, King of France, had died from an abscess. The French delegation was not entitled to make an offer but Elisabeth’s grandfather Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I appeared interested. Despite the possibility of a French marriage, Elisabeth was taught German, Spanish, Latin, and Italian – but not French. In 1569, when marriage plans for Elisabeth with King Frederik II of Denmark and King Sebastian of Portugal failed, Elisabeth’s father, now Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Catherine de Medici, the mother of Charles IX, King of France, agreed to a marriage between their children.

Charles IX, King of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Nineteen-year-old Charles and fifteen-year-old Elisabeth were married in a proxy marriage on October 22, 1569, at the Speyer Cathedral in Speyer, now in Germany, then an important city in the Holy Roman Empire. Elisabeth’s uncle, Archduke Ferdinand of Further Austria-Tyrol, stood in as a proxy for Charles. On November 4, 1569, Elisabeth and her entourage left for France. However, because of the constant rain making the roads impassable, it was decided to have the formal marriage celebrated in Mézières, a town in Champagne located on the French border with the Spanish Netherlands. Charles’ two younger brothers Henri, Duke of Anjou (the future King Henri III) and Hercule François, Duke of Alençon (later Duke of Anjou) met Elisabeth on her journey and escorted her to Mézières. Charles IX was curious about his bride and disguised himself as a soldier. He then mixed in with a group of courtiers while his brother Henri discussed the local architecture with Elisabeth. Charles was reportedly delighted with Elisabeth.

King Charles IX of France and Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria were formally married on November 26, 1570, in Mézières with Cardinal Charles de Bourbon, Archbishop of Rouen performing the ceremony. On March 25, 1571, Elisabeth was crowned Queen of France by Cardinal Charles de Lorraine, Archbishop of Reims at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, the traditional coronation site of the Queen Consorts of France. After a brief infatuation with his new wife, Charles returned to his mistress Marie Touchet with whom he had an illegitimate son born in 1573, Charles, Duke of Angoulême. However, Charles and Elisabeth had a positive relationship.

Elisabeth as Queen of France, circa 1574; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth had difficulties learning French and adapting to the more risqué French court so she devoted herself to embroidery, reading, and charitable and pious works. Her dame d’atour (lady of honor), Marguerite de La Marck-Arenberg, Countess of Arenberg often served as her translator. Elisabeth’s mother-in-law Catherine de’Medici was the power behind the throne, and was eager to keep Elisabeth out of politics so she entrusted her with as few duties and tasks as possible. One of Elisabeth’s few friends was her sister-in-law Marguerite of Valois. Elisabeth and Marguerite corresponded with each other for the rest of their lives. Elisabeth’s former teacher Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq had accompanied her to France and became the lord chamberlain of her household.

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite her strong opposition to the Protestant French Huguenots, Elisabeth was horrified when she received news of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre that began during the night of August 23-24, 1572. When Elisabeth asked if her husband knew about the massacre, she was told that he was the initiator, although on the advice of his mother, Catherine de Medici. Elisabeth exclaimed, “Oh, my God! What is this? Who are these counselors who gave him such advice? My God, I ask of you to forgive him.” Then she asked for her book of hours and began to pray.

Princess Marie Elisabeth of Valois; Credit – Wikipedia

Two months after the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Elisabeth gave birth to her only child, a daughter Princess Marie Elisabeth, on October 27, 1572, at the Louvre Palace in Paris. There was disappointment that Marie Elisabeth was not the much-needed male heir.

Although King Charles IX publicly approved of the results of the St. Bartholomew Day’s Massacre, it left him with a psychological trauma that lasted for the remaining two years of his life. He became increasingly depressed and his already weak constitution could no longer resist the tuberculosis that ravaged his body. Elisabeth quietly supported him and prayed for his recovery. On May 30, 1574, Charles IX, King of France died at the age of 23, without his wife being present, at his mother’s insistence. Charles IX was buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis and his brother succeeded him as King Henri III. Elisabeth’s father Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II suggested that she marry her deceased husband’s brother and successor Henri III, but both Elisabeth and Henri refused.

Funeral of Charles IX; Credit – Wikipedia

Widowed at the age of 20, Elisabeth was determined to return to Vienna. Having provided no male heirs to the French throne, her future life at the French court alongside her mother-in-law Catherine de Medici was a dismal prospect. Henri III gave Elisabeth the County of La Marche as her dower lands and the title Duchess of Berry. In addition, she received the Duchies of Auvergne and Bourbon. Her former teacher and lord chamberlain Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq stayed in France to manage her properties.

Elisabeth was unable to take her daughter with her to Vienna. As a Fille de France (Daughter of France), Marie Elisabeth had to be raised in France. On August 28, 1575, Elisabeth visited her daughter for the last time at the Château d’Amboise in the Loire Valley where Marie Elisabeth was being raised, and on December 5, 1575, Elisabeth left Paris for Vienna.

Elisabeth in widow’s clothes, circa 1580; Credit – Wikipedia

In Vienna, Elisabeth first lived at her childhood home, the Stallburg, part of the Hofburg Palace complex in Vienna, Austria. On October 12, 1576, her father died and her brother Rudolf II succeeded him as Holy Roman Emperor. Her greatest tragedy came on April 2, 1578, when her five-and-half-year-old daughter Marie Elisabeth died. Marie Elisabeth was buried in a vault of the Basilica of Saint-Denis, next to her father. After her sister Anna, the fourth wife of King Philip II of Spain, died in 1580, Philip II proposed marriage to Elisabeth. She replied to his offer with the famous phrase: “The Queens of France do not remarry” (Les Reines de France ne se remarient point.), once said by Blanche of Navarre, widow of King Philippe VI of France.

The convent Elisabeth founded; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1580, Elisabeth bought some land near the Stallburg in Vienna and founded the Convent of Poor Clares Mary, Queen of Angels, also known as the Queen’s Monastery, and retired there. Elisabeth devoted the rest of her life to the practice of piety, caring for the poor, and nursing the sick.

On January 22, 1592, Elisabeth died of pleurisy at the age of 37. She was buried under a simple marble slab in the choir of the church of the convent she founded. In 1782, the convent was dissolved by Holy Emperor Joseph II under his reform policies and converted to the Lutheran City Church, the first Evangelical Lutheran church in Vienna. By order of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, Elisabeth’s remains were transferred to the Ducal Crypt at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

Ducal Crypt at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Elisabeth’s final resting place; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66345452

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

France Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

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  • Goldstone, Nancy, 2015. The Rival Queens: Catherine De’medici And Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, And The Betrayal That Ignited A Kingdom. New York: Back Bay Books.

Charles IX, King of France

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Charles IX, King of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles IX, King of France was born at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, France on June 27, 1550. Styled as the Duke of Angoulême at birth, he was the third of the five sons and the fifth of the ten children of Henri II, King of France and Catherine de’Medici. Four months after Charles’ birth, his elder brother Louis died and Charles became second in the line of succession to the French throne after his brother François and was created Duke of Orléans.

Catherine de’Medici with her four youngest surviving children (left to right) Hercule François, Charles IX, Marguerite, and Henri III; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles had nine siblings but only six survived childhood:

When Charles was nine years old, his father King Henri II died from wounds suffered at a tournament. On June 30, 1559, a great celebration and tournament were held in Paris at the Hôtel des Tournelles (now the site of the Place des Vosges) in honor of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis and the two royal marriages that occurred as a result of the Peace. During a joust, an opponent’s lance struck King Henri II’s helmet, splintered, and went through the visor, into the king’s right eye, and his temple into the brain. Henri II survived for more than a week, dying on July 10, 1559, at the age of 40, probably from a subdural hematoma and sepsis. Charles’ fifteen-year-old eldest brother succeeded as King François II of France and now Charles was the heir to the throne.

Charles IX, circa 1561; Credit- Wikipedia

After only a 17-month reign, François II, King of France, aged 16, died in great pain on December 5, 1560, possibly from mastoiditis, meningitis, or otitis which turned into an abscess Although François II had married Mary, Queen of Scots, the marriage was childless and so his ten-year-old younger brother succeeded him as Charles IX, King of France. On May 5, 1561, Charles was crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral. Charles’ mother Catherine de’Medici served as Regent of France until 1563 when Charles IX was declared of age. Charles IX was never able to rule on his own adequately and showed little interest in government. His mother Catherine remained the power behind the throne throughout his reign.

Charles inherited a kingdom divided between Roman Catholics and Protestant French Huguenots. Charles needed a make a strong Catholic marriage to help combat the Protestant French Huguenots and cement an alliance between the House of Habsburg and the House of Valois. Originally, Catherine de Medici wanted Charles to marry Archduchess Anna of Austria, the eldest daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and his first cousin Maria of Austria, daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, and Isabella of Portugal. However, after the death of his third wife Elisabeth of Valois (Catherine’s daughter and Charles’ sister), King Philip II of Spain married Archduchess Anna of Austria, his niece (her mother was his sister). So, Catherine de’Medici settled for Maximilian II’s second daughter Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria.

Charles’ wife Elisabeth of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Nineteen-year-old Charles and sixteen-year-old Elisabeth were married in a proxy marriage on October 22, 1569, at the Speyer Cathedral in Speyer, now in Germany, then an important city in the Holy Roman Empire. Elisabeth’s uncle, Archduke Ferdinand of Further Austria-Tyrol, stood in as proxy for Charles. On November 4, 1569, Elisabeth and her entourage left for the journey to France. However, because of the constant rain making the roads impassable, it was decided to have the formal marriage celebrated in Mézières, a town in Champagne located on the French border with the Spanish Netherlands. Charles’ two younger brothers Henri, Duke of Anjou (the future King Henri III) and Hercule François, Duke of Alençon (later Duke of Anjou) met Elisabeth on her journey and escorted her to Mézières. Charles IX was curious about his bride and disguised himself as a soldier. He then mixed in with a group of courtiers while his brother Henri discussed the local architecture with Elisabeth. Charles was reportedly delighted with Elisabeth.

King Charles IX of France and Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria were formally married on November 26, 1570, in Mézières with Cardinal Charles de Bourbon, Archbishop of Rouen performing the ceremony. On March 25, 1571, Elisabeth was crowned Queen of France by Cardinal Charles de Lorraine, Archbishop of Reims at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, the traditional coronation site of the Queen Consorts of France.

After a brief infatuation with his new wife, Charles returned to his mistress Marie Touchet with whom he had an illegitimate son born in 1573, Charles, Duke of Angoulême. However, Charles and Elisabeth had a positive relationship. Although Elisabeth was fluent in German, Spanish, Latin, and Italian, she had difficulties learning French and adapting to the more risqué French court.

Princess Marie Elisabeth of Valois; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles and Elisabeth had one daughter Princess Marie Elisabeth who was born on October 27, 1572, at the Louvre Palace in Paris. There was disappointment that Marie Elisabeth was not the much-needed male heir. She died on April 2, 1578, at the age of five, and was buried in a vault of the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

The legacy of the reign of King Charles IX was the French Wars of Religion and the notorious massacre of the French Protestant Huguenots in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. During the reign of Charles’ elder brother François II, the Catholic François I, Duke of Guise dominated French politics. The Duke of Guise was the maternal uncle of François II’s wife, Mary, Queen of Scots. Once Charles IX became King of France, to limit the power of the Guises, his mother Catherine de’Medici, Regent of France strengthened the power of the Protestant branch of the French royal family, the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. The House of Bourbon was in line to succeed to the French throne should the House of Valois fail to produce a male heir. The heir of the House of Bourbon was Henri of Navarre, son of Jeanne III, Queen Regnant of Navarre and Prince Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme.

Massacre of Vassy; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1562, Catherine issued the tolerant Edict of Saint-Germain that provided limited tolerance to the Protestant Huguenots. On March 1, 1562, in an incident known as the Massacre of Vassy, François II, Duke of Guise killed Huguenots worshipping in a barn at Vassy. Guise, who called the massacre “a regrettable accident”, was cheered as a hero in the streets of Paris while the Huguenots called for revenge. The massacre sparked the French Wars of Religion. For the next thirty years, France found itself in a state of either civil war or armed truce. The continued unrest throughout France led to Catherine taking, in frustration and anger, hard-line policies against Protestant Huguenots.

On August 18, 1572, Charles IX’s sister Marguerite of Valois was married to Henri of Navarre, now King Henri III of Navarre (the future Henri IV, the first Bourbon King of France), at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The marriage was arranged in the hopes that by bringing together the Bourbon and Valois dynasties, the tensions between the Catholics and the Protestant Huguenots would be eased. Ironically, King Henri III of Navarre, a Protestant Huguenot, was not permitted in the Catholic cathedral and had to stay outside for the ceremony.

Five days after the wedding, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre took place. Before the massacre, on August 21, 1572, Gaspard II de Coligny, a French nobleman and an Admiral of France, a disciplined Huguenot leader and a close friend and advisor to King Charles IX, was walking back to his rooms from the Louvre Palace when a shot rang out from a house, wounding him in the hand and arm. Coligny was carried to his rooms, where a surgeon removed a bullet from his elbow and amputated a damaged finger. Catherine de’Medici was said to have received the news without emotion. She then made a tearful visit to Coligny and promised to punish his attacker. Exactly who was behind the attack on Coligny is unknown. Various historians have suggested it was Catherine, the Guise family, or a Spanish-papal plot and that the goal was to end Coligny’s influence on Charles IX. Whatever the truth, the massacre that followed was soon beyond the control of Catherine or any other leader.

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre; Credit – Wikipedia

The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre began two days later, on August 23, 1572, and certainly, Catherine de’Medici played a role in the decision-making when her son King Charles IX is said to have ordered, “Then kill them all! Kill them all!” Historians have suggested that Catherine and her advisers expected a Huguenot uprising to avenge the attack on Coligny. Therefore, they chose to strike first and wipe out many Huguenots while they were still in Paris after the wedding of Marguerite of Valois and King Henri III of Navarre. The Protestant Henri III narrowly escaped death, mostly thanks to his new Catholic wife, and his promise to convert to Catholicism. On August 24, Gaspard de Coligny, recovering from his previous injury, was attacked and killed in his rooms by a group led by Henri I, Duke of Guise.

The massacre in Paris lasted for almost a week and spread to many parts of France, where it lasted into the autumn. Modern estimates for the number of dead across France range from 5,000 to 30,000. The killings did not significantly weaken the Huguenots. Instead, the old hatred between Catholics and Protestants was revived and new hostilities were triggered.

Although King Charles IX publicly approved of the results of the St. Bartholomew Day’s Massacre, it left him with a psychological trauma that lasted for the remaining two years of his life. He became increasingly depressed and his already weak constitution could no longer resist the tuberculosis that ravaged his body. On May 30, 1574, Charles IX, King of France died at the age of 23, at the Château de Vincennes near Paris and was buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. On October 18, 1793, during the French Revolution, his tomb was desecrated and has not survived.

Funeral of Charles IX; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

France Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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