Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont was the wife of Louis I, Prince of Monaco, and had many affairs at the French court including one with King Louis XIV. In 1641, during the reign of Louis’ grandfather Honoré II, Monaco became a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families, and Louis I, Prince of Monaco was no exception.

Born in 1639, Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco was the second of the four children and the elder of the two daughters of Antoine de Gramont, Duke of Gramont, a French military commander, diplomat, and a Marshal of France (1604 – 1678), and Françoise Marguerite du Plessis (1608 – 1689), a niece of the powerful late Cardinal Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu), who served as the First Minister of State to King Louis XIII of France from 1624 until his death in 1642. Both Catherine-Charlotte’s parents came from French noble families.

Catherine-Charlotte had three siblings:

Like many other aristocratic girls, Catherine-Charlotte was educated at the Convent of the Visitation of Faubourg-Saint Jacques in Paris. When Catherine-Charlotte and her cousin Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem, later Duke of Lauzun, fell in love and her father refused his permission for them to marry, they became lovers.

Catherine-Charlotte’s cousin and lover, Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1651, when Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux, the only child and heir of Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, was killed in a firearms accident, Hercule’s only son, nine-year-old Louis, became the heir to his grandfather’s throne. Louis’ godparents were King Louis XIII of France, after whom he was named, and Louis XIII’s wife Anne of Austria. The current King of France, Louis XIV, was four years older than Louis and was his contemporary. When Louis reached a marriageable age, his grandfather Honoré II set out to find him a wife who was the daughter of a high noble at the French court.

Via a marriage to a member of the French nobility, Louis’ grandfather Honoré II, Prince of Monaco hoped to strengthen the alliance between Monaco and France against Spain and obtain valuable connections to the French court. However, such a marriage would also benefit the family of Louis’ bride. Seven foreign princes, of which the Prince of Monaco was one, were recognized by the French Crown to owe a special loyalty to France. Called ducs et pairs étrangers (foreign dukes and peers), they were given extra privileges and took precedence over the French nobility. These foreign princes walked behind the princes of the blood royal in processions. Their wives also had privileges such as sitting on tabourets (stools) in the presence of the Queen. By marrying Louis, a future Prince of Monaco, the daughter of a French noble would be assured of social, economic, and court preeminence.

Louis I, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Honoré II and his advisers went through a list of French nobles with marriageable daughters, and Catherine-Charlotte was chosen. Catherine-Charlotte was twenty, three years older than her prospective groom, but it was understood that she was unmarried because her father had refused to allow her to marry her cousin. Honoré II was assured that the affair between the cousins was over and that Catherine-Charlotte’s father would agree to the marriage. Only one of those statements turned out to be true.

The Chateau de Pau where Catherine-Charlotte and Louis were married; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 30, 1660, 21-year-old Catherine-Charlotte married 18-year-old Louis at the Gramont family’s Chateau de Pau in the Pyrenees Mountains in Pau, France. The newlyweds spent the month of April at the Chateau de Pau. They then traveled to Paris where they lived on the second floor of the Gramonts’ magnificent townhouse on the Rue de l’Autriche and regularly attended the French court. Despite being married and Honoré II being assured the affair was over, Catherine-Charlotte continued her affair with her cousin Antoine Nompar de Caumont.

Antonio I, Prince of Monaco, Catherine-Charlotte and Louis’ eldest child and Louis’ successor; Credit – Wikipedia

Louis and Catherine-Charlotte had six children. In 1663, they founded a convent of the Order of the Visitation of the Holy Mary (also known as the Visitandines) in Monaco. Their twin daughters became nuns at the convent.

  • Antonio I, Prince of Monaco (1661 – 1731), married Marie of Lorraine, had six daughters including his successor Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco
  • Maria Teresa Carlotta Grimaldi (1662 – 1738), twin of Jeanne Maria, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Visitandine convent in Monaco
  • Jeanne Maria Grimaldi (1662 – 1741) twin of Maria Teresa, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Abbey of Royallieu near Compiègne, France
  • Teresa Maria Aurelia Grimaldi (1663 – 1675), died in childhood
  • Anna Hippolyte Grimaldi (1664 – 1700), married Jacques de Crussol, Duc d’Uzès, no children
  • François Honoré Grimaldi, Archbishop of Besançon (1669 – 1748 – link in French)

After a reign of fifty-eight years, Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, Louis’ grandfather, died in 1662, and 20-year-old Louis became Prince of Monaco. Louis needed to return to Monaco and Catherine-Charlotte was forced to accompany him against her will. In 1665, Catherine-Charlotte left her husband and children in Monaco and returned to the French court because she found life at the Monaco court boring. Upon returning to the French court, Catherine-Charlotte was appointed a lady-in-waiting to Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, the first wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV. Catherine-Charlotte resumed her affair with her cousin Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem.

King Louis XIV of France; Credit – Wikipedia

King Louis XIV, who was beginning to lose interest in his mistress Louise de la Vallière, began a relationship with Catherine-Charlotte in 1665. This was actually a plot by Henrietta, Duchess of Orléans to distract the king from Louise in the hopes that he would return her. King Louis XIV ordered Catherine-Charlotte’s cousin and lover, the Marquis de Puyguilhem, to leave Paris. When Puyguilhem refused to obey, he was sent to the Bastille for six months. When Puyguilhem was released from the Bastille, Catherine-Charlotte’s affair with King Louis XIV was already over. One night Louis XIV did not find the key to Catherine-Charlotte’s room in its usual place because it had been taken by another. Louis XIV did not return to Henrietta but began his long-time affair with Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, also known as Madame de Montespan.

Because of all the rumors swirling around his wife regarding her affairs, Louis I, Prince of Monaco decided to join his brother-in-law Armand de Gramont, Count of Guiche in the Anglo-Dutch Wars fighting for the Dutch. While Louis was at war, Catherine-Charlotte remained at court and her affairs were scandalous. Among her affairs was one with Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine, the lover of King Louis XIV’s brother, and Henrietta’s husband, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans.

In 1672, Louis and Catherine-Charlotte separated. Catherine-Charlotte obtained a position as a lady-in-waiting to Louis XIV’s mistress Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, but the position lasted only one year. In the following years, she became seriously ill, probably with cancer. Catherine-Charlotte died at the Palais Royal in Paris, France on June 4, 1678, at the age of 39. She was buried at the now-destroyed Convent of the Capuchins in Paris, France. Catherine-Charlotte had not seen her husband Louis I, Prince of Monaco during the last six years of her life, and Louis showed no grief over her death. Louis survived Catherine-Charlotte by twenty-three years, dying from a stroke on January 3, 1701, aged 58, in Rome, then part of the Papal States, where he was serving as King Louis XIV’s ambassador to the Holy See in Rome.

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

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Antoine III de Gramont – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_III_de_Gramont> [Accessed 25 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Catherine Charlotte de Gramont – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Charlotte_de_Gramont> [Accessed 25 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, S., 2022. Louis I, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-i-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 25 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Catherine Charlotte de Gramont — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Charlotte_de_Gramont> [Accessed 25 January 2022].
  • Historyandwomen.com. 2011. Catherine Charlotte de Gramont. [online] Available at: <https://www.historyandwomen.com/2011/11/catherine-charlotte-de-gramont.html> [Accessed 15 January 2022].

Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Interior of the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles; Credit – By Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66026550

In 1623, King Louis XIII of France (reigned 1610 – 1643) built a hunting lodge in Versailles, France, about 12 miles/19 km west of Paris. From 1631 – 1634, the hunting lodge was replaced by a small château. King Louis XIV (reigned 1643 – 1715) expanded the château into the magnificent Palace of Versailles, which this writer has visited, in several phases from 1661 – 1715. He eventually moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France, and this was continued during the reigns of Louis XIV’s successors, his great-grandson King Louis XV and then Louis XV’s grandson King Louis XVI.

The Palace of Versailles; Credit – By ToucanWings – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28505340

The Chapel Royal that we see today at the Palace of Versailles is the fifth chapel royal at Versailles. It was built from 1699 to 1710, at the end of the 72-year reign of King Louis XIV who died in 1715. Therefore, Louis XIV used the fifth chapel royal for only the last five years of his life but his successors Louis XV and Louis XVI used the fifth chapel royal during their entire reigns. The Chapel Royal, originally a Roman Catholic church, is no longer a church. It was deconsecrated in the 19th century and since then has served as a venue for government and private events and musical concerts.

Aerial view of the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles; Credit – By ToucanWings – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36855710

********************

The Previous Chapels

First Chapel Royal

The first chapel royal dates from the reign of Louis XIII (reigned 1610 – 1643). It was a detached building located near the château that had replaced the original hunting lodge. This chapel royal was demolished during the construction of the Grotto of Téthys (link in French), an artificial grotto constructed in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles in 1666 during the reign of Louis XIV.

Second Chapel Royal

The second chapel was constructed during Louis XIV’s second building campaign (1669–1672) When this new part of the Palace of Versailles was completed, the chapel royal was located in the Queen’s Grand Apartment The second chapel royal was used by the royal family and court until 1678 when a new chapel royal was built

Third Chapel Royal

The third chapel royal, used from 1678 – 1682, was located next to the site of the second royal chapel which had become the Queen’s Guard Room. In 1682, Louis XIV officially moved the French court from Paris to the Palace of Versailles, and the third chapel royal became inconvenient and did not meet the needs of either Louis XIV or the court.

Fourth Chapel Royal

King Louis XIV at prayer in the fourth chapel; Credit – Wikipedia

When the north wing of the Palace of Versailles was constructed, a new chapel royal was built in 1682. When the fourth chapel was constructed, a balcony-like, upper level, was built where the king and select members of the royal family and the court heard daily Mass. The fourth chapel royal remained in use until 1710 and it was here that many important religious events of the court and royal family during the reign of Louis XIV occurred.

********************

The Fifth Chapel Royal

Credit – Par Nono vlf — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76828541

The Chapel Royal that is seen today at the Palace of Versailles was created by King’s Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. From 1677 until his death in 1708, Hardouin-Mansart worked on the expansion of the Palace of Versailles, including the famous Hall of Mirrors. He was also responsible for other major projects during Louis XIV’s reign including Les Invalides in Paris, and the Place des Victoires and Place Vendôme, squares in Paris.

The current Chapel Royal was built near the corner formed by the wing of the King’s Grand Apartment and the north wing of the Palace of Versailles. Construction started in 1689 but was soon stopped due to the Nine Years’ War (1688 – 1697) between France and a European coalition. In 1699, construction resumed and Hardouin-Mansart continued working on the chapel until his death in 1708. His brother-in-law Robert de Cotte finished the construction. On June 5, 1710, the Royal Chapel was consecrated by Cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris. The Royal Chapel was dedicated to Saint Louis IX, King of France (reigned 1226 – 1270), the patron saint of the House of Bourbon and the ancestor of King Louis XIV. Until the French Revolution, the Chapel Royal was the religious center of the French court.

The Chapel Royal is a traditional two-story palace church. The upper level, the royal tribune, a balcony lined with Corinthian columns, overlooks the nave of the chapel. This was where the King and his family sat. The royal tribune can be entered directly from the north wing of the palace through a vestibule known as the Chapel Hall. Originally, the Chapel Royal contained stalls, a pulpit, confessionals, and furniture for the use of the King and his family. Today, only the altars and the organ remain.

The Floor

The floor of the nave; Credit – Par Lionel Allorge — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15557485

The floor of the nave is paved with multi-colored marble. At the foot of the steps to the altar is a crowned monogram of two intertwined letter Ls for Saint Louis IX, the patron of the Chapel Royal, and King Louis XIV, the builder of the Royal Chapel. This can be seen in the photo above, at the bottom, although it is upside down.

The Paintings

God the Father in His Glory Bringing to the World the Promise of Redemption, painted by Antoine Coypel: Credit – Par Jebulon — Travail personnel, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20081779

Above, the painting on the ceiling of the nave is entitled God the Father in His Glory Bringing to the World the Promise of Redemption, painted by Antoine Coypel.

Charles de la Fosse’s The Resurrection of Christ; Credit – Par Brian Jeffery Beggerly — originally posted to Flickr as IMG_5327, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11700443

Above, the half-dome of the apse is decorated with Charles de la Fosse‘s The Resurrection of Christ.

Jean Jouvenet’s The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles; Credit – Par Lionel Allorge — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15557787

Above, over the royal tribune is Jean Jouvenet‘s The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles.

Altars

The High Altar; Credit – By Zairon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70191334

The altarpiece over the high altar is a gilt bronze bas-relief of The Lamentation of the Dead Christ by French sculptor Corneille Van Clève (link in French).

One of the side altars; Credit – By Lionel Allorge – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15557313

The nine other altars in the Chapel Royal were consecrated to the Blessed Sacrament, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to the main patron saints of the royal family: Saint Louis of France, Saint Anne, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Philip the Apostle, Saint Charles Borromeo, Saint Victoire, and Saint Adelaide of Burgundy.

********************

Royal Events

The view from the royal tribune where the King and the royal family heard daily Mass

At 10:00 every morning, the King’s Mass was said in the Chapel Royal and attended by the court. The King and his family sat in the royal tribune, a balcony that overlooked the nave of the chapel. The ladies of the court sat in the side tribunes, the side balconies. Seated below in the nave were other members of the court.

Te Deums, short religious services of blessing or thanks, were sung to celebrate military victories and the births of children. Ceremonies of the Order of the Holy Spirit, a French order of chivalry founded by King Henri III in 1578, and baptisms and weddings of princes and princesses were held in the Chapel Royal.

Among the baptisms held at the Chapel Royal were those of five future Kings of France: Louis XV, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis-Philippe I, and two future titular Kings of France: Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France (Louis XVII, son of Louis XVI) and Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (Louis XIX, son of Charles X). In addition, Felipe V, the first Bourbon King of Spain, born Philippe, Duke of Anjou was baptized at the Chapel Royal. He was the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son and heir of Louis XIV who predeceased his father. Among the funerals held at the Chapel Royal were those of Louis XIV and Louis XV.

Wedding of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin & Marie Adélaïde of Savoy in the 4th Chapel Royal. King Louis XIV, the grandfather of the groom, can be prominently seen in the middle; Credit – Wikipedia

Note: The Princes of Condé (below) were from the French Princely House of Bourbon-Condé which was a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. From 1589 – 1709, the Princes of Condé held the rank of premier prince du sang royal (First Prince of the Blood Royal). The Princes of Conti (below) were a cadet branch of the Princely House of Bourbon-Condé.

Among the weddings at the Chapel Royal were:

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

  • Château du Versailles. 2022. Restoration of the Royal Chapel. [online] Available at: <https://en.chateauversailles.fr/news/life-estate/restoration-royal-chapel/royal-chapel> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • Château du Versailles. 2022. The Royal Chapel – The Palace of Versailles. [online] Available at: <https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/palace/royal-chapel> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Schlosskapelle (Versailles) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlosskapelle_(Versailles)> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Chapels of Versailles – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapels_of_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Palace of Versailles – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Chapelle royale de Versailles — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelle_royale_de_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Château de Versailles — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Versailles> [Accessed 22 January 2022].

Louis I, Prince of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Louis I, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Born at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco on July 25, 1642, Louis I, Prince of Monaco was the eldest of the four children and the only son of Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux and Maria Aurelia Spinola. Louis’ paternal grandparents were Honoré II, Prince of Monaco and Ippolita Trivulzio who came from a noble Italian family. His maternal grandparents were Luca Spinola, Prince of Molfetta and Pellina Spinola who were both members of the House of Spinola, a powerful and influential family from the Republic of Genoa. Louis’ godparents were King Louis XIII of France, after whom he was named, and Louis XIII’s wife Anne of Austria.

Louis had three younger sisters:

  • Maria Ippolita Grimaldi (1644 – 1694), married Carlo Emaneule Filiberto de Simiane, 3rd Marchese di Pianezzo, Prince de Montafia, had one daughter
  • Giovanna Maria Grimaldi (1645 – ?), married Andrea Imperiali, 2nd Principe di Francavilla, had three children
  • Teresa Maria Grimaldi (1648 – 1723), married Sigismondo III d’Este, 4th Marchese di San Martino, had seven children

On August 1, 1651, Louis’ father, twenty-seven-year-old Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux, the only child and the heir of Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, went on a visit to the Convent of Carnoles in Mentone, then in Monaco but now in France. After the visit, he engaged in recreational shooting with some guards in the convent’s garden. Hercule was interested in how the gun worked and asked one of the guards to show him. The guard mishandled the gun and accidentally shot it toward Hercule and two other guards. All three were wounded. Fatally wounded in the spine, Hercule died the next day, and nine-year-old Louis became heir apparent to the throne of Monaco and would succeed his grandfather Honoré II in 1662.

Louis’ grandfather Honoré II, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1641, during the reign of Louis’ grandfather Honoré II, Monaco became a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families, including Louis. King Louis XIV of France was four years older than Louis and was his contemporary.

When Louis reached a marriageable age, his grandfather Honoré II set out to find him a wife who was the daughter of a high noble at the French court. Via a marriage to a member of the French nobility, Louis’ grandfather hoped to strengthen the alliance between Monaco and France against Spain and obtain valuable connections to the French court. However, such a marriage would also benefit the family of Louis’ bride. Seven foreign princes, of which the Prince of Monaco was one, were recognized by the French Crown to owe a special loyalty to France. Called ducs et pairs étrangers (foreign dukes and peers), they were given extra privileges and took precedence over the French ducs et pairs. These foreign princes walked behind the princes of the blood royal in processions. Their wives also had privileges such as sitting on tabourets (stools) in the presence of the Queen. By marrying Louis, a future Prince of Monaco, the daughter of French noble would be assured of social, economic, and court preeminence.

Honoré II and his advisers went through a list of French nobles with marriageable daughters, and Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont was chosen. Catherine-Charlotte was the daughter of Antoine III de Gramont, Duke of Gramont, a French military commander, diplomat, and a Marshal of France, and Françoise Marguerite du Plessis, a niece of the late powerful Cardinal Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu), who served as the First Minister of State to King Louis XIII of France from 1624 until he died in 1642. Catherine-Charlotte and her cousin Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem,  later Duke of Lauzun, fell in love, and her father refused his permission for them to marry, they became lovers. Catherine-Charlotte was twenty, three years older than her prospective groom, but it was understood that she was unmarried because her father had refused to allow her to marry her cousin. Honoré II was assured that the affair between the cousins was over and that Catherine-Charlotte’s father would agree to the marriage. Only one of those statements turned out to be true.

Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 30, 1660, 18-year-old Louis married 21-year-old Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont at the Gramont family’s Chateau de Pau in the Pyrenees Mountains in Pau, France. The newlyweds spent the month of April at the Chateau de Pau. They then traveled to Paris where they lived on the second floor of the Gramonts’ townhouse on the Rue de l’Autriche and regularly attended the French court. Despite being married and Honoré II being assured the affair was over, Catherine-Charlotte continued her affair with her cousin Antoine Nompar de Caumont. Louis had difficulty adjusting to the change in his social position and life at the French court.

Louis and Catherine-Charlotte had six children. In 1663, they founded a convent of the Order of the Visitation of the Holy Mary (also known as the Visitandines) in Monaco. Their twin daughters became nuns at the convent.

  • Antonio I, Prince of Monaco (1661 – 1731), married Marie of Lorraine, had six daughters including his successor Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco
  • Maria Teresa Carlotta Grimaldi (1662 – 1738), twin of Jeanne Maria, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Visitandine convent in Monaco
  • Jeanne Maria Grimaldi (1662 – 1741) twin of Maria Teresa, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Abbey of Royallieu near Compiègne, France
  • Teresa Maria Aurelia Grimaldi (1663 – 1675), died in childhood
  • Anna Hippolyte Grimaldi (1664 – 1700), married Jacques de Crussol, Duc d’Uzès, no children
  • François Honoré Grimaldi, Archbishop of Besançon (1669 – 1748 – link in French)

After a reign of fifty-eight years, Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, Louis’ grandfather, died in 1662, and 20-year-old Louis became Prince of Monaco. Louis needed to return to Monaco and Catherine-Charlotte was forced to accompany him against her will. In 1665, Catherine-Charlotte left her husband and children in Monaco and returned to the French court because she found life at the Monaco court boring.

Upon returning to the French court, Catherine-Charlotte was appointed a lady-in-waiting to Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, the first wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV. Catherine-Charlotte resumed her affair with her cousin and had affairs with many others including a brief affair with King Louis XIV. Because of all the rumors swirling around his wife regarding her affairs, Louis I decided to join his brother-in-law Armand de Gramont, Count of Guiche in the Anglo-Dutch Wars fighting for the Dutch. Louis distinguished himself at the 1666 Four Days’ Battle between the English and Dutch fleets.

In 1672, Louis and Catherine-Charlotte separated. Catherine-Charlotte obtained a position as a lady-in-waiting to Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, mistress of King Louis XIV, but the position lasted only one year. In the following years, she became seriously ill, probably with cancer. Catherine-Charlotte died at the Palais Royal in Paris, France on June 4, 1678, at the age of 39. She was buried at the now-destroyed Convent of the Capuchins in Paris, France. Catherine-Charlotte had not seen her husband Louis during the last six years of her life and Louis showed no grief over her death.

In 1674, Louis commanded the military campaign that led to the reconquest from Spain of the Franche-Comté, a cultural and historical region of eastern France. Following the example of King Louis XIV’s legal codification efforts in France, Louis I issued the Principality of Monaco’s first legal code, known as the Code Louis, in 1678. In 1699, King Louis XIV of France named Louis the ambassador of the King of France to the Holy See in Rome.

Entrance to the common vault where the Grimaldi family members originally buried at the Church of St. Nicholas are buried; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Louis I, Prince of Monaco, aged 58, died on January 3, 1701, in Rome, then part of the Papal States, from apoplexy, the term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. He was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco.

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

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louis I, Prince of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_I,_Prince_of_Monaco> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Honoré II, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/honore-ii-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 14 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louis Ier (prince de Monaco) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Ier_(prince_de_Monaco)> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • Genealogics.org. 2022. Ercole II de Monaco, Marquis des Baux : Genealogics. [online] Available at: <https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00047483&tree=LEO> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • geni_family_tree. 2022. Louis I Grimaldi, II. prince de Monaco. [online] Available at: <https://www.geni.com/people/Louis-I-Grimaldi-II-prince-de-Monaco/5294756233670132138> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • Historyandwomen.com. 2011. Catherine Charlotte de Gramont. [online] Available at: <https://www.historyandwomen.com/2011/11/catherine-charlotte-de-gramont.html> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2022. Luigi I di Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_I_di_Monaco> [Accessed 15 January 2022].

Basilica of Saint-Denis in Saint-Denis, France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Basilica of Saint-Denis; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Basilica of Saint-Denis, which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France. The current Gothic cathedral was built in the 12th century. The Kings of France and their families were buried for centuries at the Basilica of Saint-Denis and it is often referred to as the “royal necropolis of France.” The remains of all but three monarchs of France from the 10th century until 1789 are interred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The basilica is named after Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, who became the first Bishop of Paris in the third century. He was decapitated on the hill of Montmartre and is said to have carried his head to the site of the current church, indicating where he wanted to be buried.

Saint Denis holding his head – Notre Dame de Paris; Credit – Wikipedia

A shrine-mausoleum was erected on the site of Saint Denis’ grave in about 313 AD. It was enlarged into a basilica with the addition of tombs and monuments and became a place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. Dagobert, King of the Franks (reigned 628 to 637) re-founded the church as the Abbey of Saint-Denis, a Benedictine monastery, and commissioned a new shrine to house Saint Denis’ remains. Abbot Suger (lived c. 1081 – 1151), a confidant of French kings and Abbot of Saint-Denis from 1122, began work around 1135 to rebuild and enlarge the Abbey of Saint-Denis into the Gothic cathedral we see today.

The interior of the Basilica of St. Denis; Credit – By Rita1234 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8784509

********************

Coronations of the Queen of France

The Coronation in Saint-Denis of Marie de Medici by Peter Paul Rubens; Credit – Wikipedia

Not all Queens of France, wives of the Kings of France, were crowned. A queen’s coronation could take place years after her marriage or her husband’s accession to the throne. Queens of France were crowned either together with their husband at Notre-Dame de Reims, or alone at Sainte-Chapelle or the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Marie de Medici, the wife of King Henri IV, was the last of Queen of France to be crowned. She was crowned ten years after her marriage and her husband was assassinated the day after her coronation.

The Queens of France who were crowned at the Basilica of Saint-Denis include the following:

********************

Destruction and Restoration

Violation of the royal tombs of Saint-Denis by Hubert Robert (Musée Carnavalet, Paris); Credit – https://uk.tourisme93.com/basilica/desecration-of-the-royal-tombs.html

During the French Revolution, the remains of French royals were desecrated and some tombs and effigies were destroyed. By the decree on August 1, 1793, the National Convention ordered: “The tombs and mausoleums of the former kings, mounted in the Church of Saint-Denis, in temples and in other places, across the entire Republic, will be destroyed.”  This occurred systematically from August 1793 – October 1793. The remains of 46 kings, 32 queens, and 63 other royals were thrown into two large pits in the monks’ cemetery adjacent to the Basilica of  Saint-Denis and covered in quicklime and soil. A combination of seventy effigies and tombs were saved because of the efforts of archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir who claimed them as artworks for his Museum of French Monuments.

Crypt where Louis VII, Louis de Lorraine, Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and Louis XVIII are buried at Saint-Denis; Credit – By Fbrandao.1963 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64407677

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French reopened the Basilica of Saint-Denis in 1806 but left the royal remains in their mass graves. One of the first things King Louis XVIII, a younger brother of the guillotined King Louis XVI, did after the Bourbon Restoration in 1814 was to order a search for the remains of his brother and sister-in-law, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. They had been originally been buried in the cemetery at the Madeleine Church and covered with quicklime. The few remains that were found were reburied at the Basilica of Saint-Denis on January 21, 1815, the twenty-second anniversary of King Louis XVI’s execution.

Door leading to the crypt where the desecrated royal remains were re-interred at Saint-Denis. The large plaques on either side of the door are engraved with the names of those who were re-interred; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 1817, King Louis XVIII ordered the mass graves adjacent to the Basilica of Saint-Denis to be opened but due to the damage from the quicklime, identification of the remains was impossible. The remains were collected into an ossuary, a site serving as the final resting place of human skeletal remains, in the crypt of the basilica. Large marble plates on either side of the gated door leading to the crypt are engraved with the names of those whose remains are buried in the crypt. The seventy effigies and tombs that Alexandre Lenoir saved were returned to the Basilica of Saint-Denis and are now mostly in their original places.

Some of the effigies rescued and preserved by archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

********************

The Heart of Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XVI

Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, and sometimes called King Louis XVII, died from tuberculosis on June 8, 1795, at the age of ten while imprisoned at the Temple, the remains of a medieval fortress in Paris. He was buried at the Cimetière Sainte-Marguerite in Paris in a grave without any marker. However, before Louis-Charles was buried, an autopsy was performed. Following the tradition of preserving royal hearts, Louis-Charles’s heart was removed and smuggled out during the autopsy by Dr. Philippe-Jean Pelletan, a royalist, who then preserved the heart in alcohol. After the Bourbon Restoration in 1815, Dr. Pellatan offered the heart to Louis-Charles’ paternal uncle King Louis XVIII but he refused because he could not bring himself to believe that it was the heart of his nephew. Following the July Revolution in 1830, Dr. Pelletan’s son found the heart in the remnants of a looted palace and placed it in the crystal urn where it still resides. After the death of Dr. Pelletan’s son in 1879, Eduard Dumont, a relative of Dr. Pelletan’s wife, took possession of the heart.

Louis-Charles’ heart in the crystal urn; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 1895, Carlos, Duke of Madrid, the Legitimist claimant to the French throne, accepted the heart from Eduard Dumont. The heart was kept at Schloss Frohsdorf near Vienna, Austria. Upon the death of his father Carlos, Duke of Madrid in 1909, Jaime, Duke of Madrid, the next Legitimist claimant to the French throne, inherited the heart and gave it to his sister Beatriz.

During World War II, Schloss Frohsdorf suffered damage and the heart was rescued by descendants of Carlos, Duke of Madrid and ultimately came into the possession of his granddaughter Princess Marie des Neiges Massimo. In 1975, the princess offered the heart to the Memorial of Saint-Denis in Paris, the organization that oversees the royal graves at the Basilica of St. Denis. The heart was placed in an underground crypt at the basilica where the remains of French royals that were desecrated during the French Revolution were subsequently interred.

In 2004, DNA tests using mitochondrial DNA proved the heart really did belong to Louis-Charles. Comparison samples were taken from descendants of Marie Antoinette’s sisters, members of the Bourbon-Parma family including Queen Anne of Romania who was born a Princess of Bourbon-Parma, and a strand of Marie Antoinette’s hair. With the approval of the French government, the Legitimists organized a ceremony at the Basilica of St. Denis on June 8, 2004, the 209th anniversary of Louis-Charles’ death. His heart was placed in a niche near the graves of his parents Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette whose remains were transferred to the basilica in 1815.

The resting place of Louis-Charles’ heart; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

********************

Royal Burials

*Unofficial Royalty article

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_personnes_enterr%C3%A9es_dans_la_basilique_Saint-Denis

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

  • Basilique cathédrale de Saint-Denis. 2022. Basilique cathédrale de Saint-Denis. [online] Available at: <http://www.saint-denis-basilique.fr/en/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Basilica of Saint-Denis – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint-Denis> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2018. French Royal Burial Sites – House of Bourbon, House of Bonaparte, House of Orléans. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/current-monarchies-article-index/french-royal-index/french-burial-sites-house-of-bourbon-house-of-bonaparte-house-of-orleans/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. French Royal Burial Sites – House of Valois. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/french-royal-burial-sites-house-of-valois/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Basilique Saint-Denis — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilique_Saint-Denis> [Accessed 14 March 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Liste des personnes enterrées dans la basilique Saint-Denis — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_personnes_enterr%C3%A9es_dans_la_basilique_Saint-Denis> [Accessed 14 March 2022].

Ippolita Trivulzio, Princess of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Ippolita Trivulzio, Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Ippolita Trivulzio was the wife of Honoré II, the first Prince of Monaco, and therefore she was the first Princess Consort of Monaco. From 1331 – 1612, the rulers of Monaco were styled Lord of Monaco. In 1612, Honoré II began to style himself as Prince of Monaco. Born circa 1600 in the Duchy of Milan, now in Italy, Ippolita was the only daughter and the third of the four children of Carlo Emanuele Teodoro Trivulzio, Count of Melzo (1565 – 1605) and Caterina Gonzaga (1574 – 1615).

Ippolita had three brothers:

  • Gian Giacomo Teodoro Trivulzio, 1st Prince of Musocco (1597 – 1656), married Jeanne Marie Grimaldi (sister of Honoré II) had two children, after the death of his wife in 1620, he became a priest and was created a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 1629
  • Girolamo Trivulzio (died young)
  • Alfonso Trivulzio (1600 – 1621), unmarried

Ippolita’s father Carlo Emanuele Teodoro Trivulzio was in the service of the Spanish army and fought in the Eighty Years’ War (1568 – 1648), initially a revolt of the Seventeen Provinces, today’s Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, against King Felipe II of Spain, who was also the sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands. Carlo Emanuele died in battle in 1605 when his children were very young. The education and upbringing of Ippolita and her siblings depended solely on their widowed mother and Ippolita, the only daughter, received her education from nuns in a convent.

Ippolita’s husband Honoré II, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

When Honoré II, Prince of Monaco reached the age of majority, a marriage to provide an heir was one of the first issues to be solved. Honore’s sister Jeanne Marie was married to Ippolita’s brother and marriage to Ippolita was a simple and suitable solution. Fifteen-year-old Ippolita and nineteen-year-old Honoré were married on February 13, 1616.

Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux; Credit – Wikipedia

Ippolita and Honoré’s marriage was happy and they had one son:

Honoré II spent much time extending, rebuilding, and transforming what was originally the 1191 fortress of his Grimaldi ancestors into what is today’s Prince’s Palace of Monaco. Court customs and religious ceremonies were devised to create a connection between the monarchy and the people of Monaco. Ippolita was given a bigger role than her predecessors and participated in the decision-making.

Ippolita died on June 20, 1638, at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco at the age of thirty-seven. She was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco.

Entrance to the common vault where the Grimaldi family members originally buried at the Church of St. Nicholas are buried; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Sadly, Ippolita’s son Hercule had an early death. On August 1, 1651, twenty-seven-year-old Hercule went on a visit to the Convent of Carnoles in Mentone, then in Monaco but now in France. After the visit, he engaged in some recreational shooting with some guards in the garden of the convent. Hercule was interested in how the gun worked and asked one of the guards to show him. The guard mishandled the gun and accidentally shot it towards Hercule and two other guards. All three were wounded. Fatally wounded in the spine, Hercule died the next day. He was buried at the Church of St. Nicholas.

Honoré survived his wife Ippolita by twenty-four years, dying on January 10, 1662, after a reign of fifty-eight years, at the age of 64, and was buried with his wife at the Church of St. Nicholas. He was succeeded by his twenty-year-old grandson Louis I, Prince of Monaco.

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

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Ippolita Trivulzio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ippolita_Trivulzio> [Accessed 5 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Honoré II, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/honore-ii-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 5 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Deaths from Firearms Accidents. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-deaths-from-firearms-accidents/> [Accessed 5 January 2022].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2022. Carlo Emanuele Teodoro Trivulzio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Emanuele_Teodoro_Trivulzio> [Accessed 5 January 2022].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2022. Ippolita Trivulzio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ippolita_Trivulzio> [Accessed 5 January 2022].

Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St. Cajetan) in Munich, Germany

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Theatinekirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St. Cajetan), which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church located in Munich in the German state of Bavaria. The church was founded by Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (reigned 1651 to 1679) and his wife Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, in gratitude for the birth of a long-awaited male heir. Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide had married in 1650. Henriette Adelaide had a daughter in 1660, a stillbirth in 1661, and finally gave birth to a male heir, the future Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, in 1662, twelve years after her marriage.

The Theatinekirche has two patron saints. Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene (1480 – 1547), known as Saint Cajetan, was an Italian Catholic priest and co-founder of the Theatine Order and was canonized as a saint in 1671. Saint Adelaide (Adelheid) of Italy (931 – 999) (also known as Saint Adelaide of Burgundy) was the wife of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. Adelaide was devoted to charitable work and supported the founding of monasteries. Because of her charity, Adelaide was widely revered after her death and was canonized in 1097.

Italian architect Agostino Barelli introduced Italian Baroque architecture to Bavaria with his design for the Theatinekirche. The design was modeled after the mother church of the Theatine Order, Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome. Construction began in 1663. Barelli completed the shell of the church and left Munich in 1674 because of arguments with the site manager Antonio Spinelli and Henriette Adelaide’s confessor. The incomplete church was consecrated in 1675. Barelli’s successor as the chief architect of the Bavarian court, Enrico Zuccalli, actually Johann Heinrich Zuccalli, a Swiss architect, added the two towers which were not in the original plans, from 1684 -1692. The interior was completed in 1688 and the dome in 1690. For a long time, the outer facade of the Theatinerkirche remained unfinished. Despite many discussions, no agreement was reached. Finally, in 1765, the Bavarian court architect François de Cuvilliés the Elder designed a facade in the Rococo style which his son François de Cuvilliés the Younger completed.

During World War II, the Theatinekirche was bombed four times by the Allied Forces and suffered great damage. An altarpiece by Italian painter Antonio Zanchi was destroyed, along with the choir (the area between the nave and the sanctuary), the altar, and the south chapel. Reconstruction began in 1946 and was completed enough by 1955 to allow church services to resume.

********************

Interior of the Theatinekirche

Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Stucco Decorations

Stucco decorations; Credit – By marsupium photography – https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagdorned/10382855675/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57528584

The interior of the Theatinekirche is richly decorated with stucco in the Baroque and Rococo styles with Corinthian columns decorated with acanthus leaves, ornaments, and religious figures.

The Pulpit

The pulpit; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62189862

The 1686 black oak pulpit is the work of Austrian sculptor Andreas Faistenberger (link in German).

The High Altar

The high altar; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62189854

Before the World War II bombing, over the high altar hung a 1675 painting (below) by Italian painter Antonio Zanchi that depicted the patron saints of the church St. Cajetan and St. Adelaide, the founders of the church Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and his wife Henriette Adelaide of Savoy with their children, and two pages holding a model of the Theatinekirche. Sadly, the painting was destroyed during a bombing in 1944.

A draft of Antonio Zanchi’s destroyed painting: Credit – Wikipedia

The high altar now contains a 1646 painting (below) by Flemish painter Gaspar de Crayer showing an enthroned Mary holding the infant Jesus surrounded by saints.

Gaspar de Crayer’s painting; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62189858

Statues of the Four Evangelists

The statues of the four evangelists on the high altar can be seen in this photo; Credit – Von © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62189657

In 1722, Bavarian sculptor Balthasar Ableithner (link in German) created the larger-than-life statues of the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which were placed around the high altar. Only the statues of Mark and John survived the World War II bombing intact. The statue of Luke was able to be reconstructed. A new statue of Matthew was created by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ducrot and placed on the altar in 2017.

*********************

July 11, 2011: Requiem Mass for Otto von Habsburg

 

Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria and later in his long life, a member of the European Parliament, was the eldest and the longest surviving of the eight children of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria and his wife Zita of Bourbon-Parma. Otto and his wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen lived at Villa Austria in Pöcking, Bavaria, Germany, and Otto died there on July 4, 2011, aged 98. Multiple requiem masses were celebrated for Otto von Habsburg including one at the Theatinekirche in Munich, in Bavaria, Germany.

On July 11, 2011, a requiem mass was celebrated in the Theatinekirche by Cardinal Reinhard Marx and his predecessor Cardinal Friedrich Wetter. Munich’s Chief Rabbi Steven Langnas recited a Jewish funeral prayer. At the end of the requiem mass, the “Kaiserhymne” (Emperor’s Hymn), the old Austrian imperial anthem, was sung.

The requiem mass was screened on big screens at the Odeonsplatz, the large square in front of the Theatine Church, and was broadcast by Bavarian Television. Following the requiem mass, the Prime Minister of Bavaria Horst Seehofer hosted a reception for 700 invited guests in the Kaisersaal of the Munich Residenz, the former royal palace of the Wittelsbachs. Among the royalty and nobility attending the requiem mass and reception were Otto von Habsburg’s seven children: Andrea von Habsburg (born 1953), Monika von Habsburg (born 1954, twin of Michaela), Michaela von Habsburg (born 1954, twin of Monika), Gabriela von Habsburg (born 1956), Walburga von Habsburg (born 1958), Karl von Habsburg (born 1961), and Georg von Habsburg (born 1964). Also attending were members of the House of Wittelsbach – Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria and his wife Princess Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria – and Gloria, Princess Dowager of Thurn and Taxis.

On July 16, 2011, following a requiem mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria, Otto was interred in the Crypt Chapel of the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the traditional burial site of the House of Habsburg. His mother Zita of Bourbon-Parma was interred in the Crypt Chapel in 1989. At the time of his burial, Otto’s wife Regina who died in 2010, was also interred in the Crypt Chapel.

********************

Royal Burials

Coffins in the Princely Crypt of the Theatinekirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Besides the Theatinerkirche, rulers of the House of Wittelsbach have been interred at the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Munich, Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church in Munich, and Andechs Abbey in Andechs. In 1977, Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne from 1955 until his death in 1996, set up a Wittelsbach private family cemetery near Andechs Abbey due to the lack of space in the other Wittelsbach burial sites. The cemetery complex is now the main burial place of the Wittelsbach family.

The Theatine Church has two burial areas.

The side chapel with the tombs of Maximilian II, King of Bavaria (on left) and Marie Friederike of Prussia, Queen of Bavaria (on right); Credit – By User:Mattes – Self-photographed, CC BY 2.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40079208

Interred in stone sarcophagi in a side chapel of the main nave:

Sign for the Princely Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

When I visited the Theatinekirche, my husband did not want to pay the two euros admission to the Princely Crypt, and so I went into the crypt alone – just me and 47 coffins of members of the House of Wittelsbach – no one else was there. Being alone was a fairly creepy experience. I looked around, took photos, and exited quickly!

A view of the dark and creepy (if you are alone!) Princely Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Interred in the Princely Crypt:

  • Luise Margarete Antonie of Bavaria (1663 – 1665) – daughter of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Ludwig Amadeus Viktor of Bavaria (born and died 1665) – son of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Stillborn son (1666) – son of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Kajetan Maria Franz of Bavaria (born and died 1670) – son of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, Electress of Bavaria (1636 – 1676) – wife of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
  • Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (1636 – 1679)
  • Leopold Ferdinand of Bavaria (born and died 1689) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Anton of Bavaria (born and died 1690) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Wilhelm of Bavaria (1701 – 1704) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Alois of Bavaria (1702 – 1705) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maximilian Emanuel Thomas (1704 – 1709) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maximiliana Maria of Bavaria (born and died 1723) – daughter of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (1662 – 1726)
  • Therese Kunigunde of Poland, Electress of Bavaria (1676 – 1730) – 2nd wife of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Josef Ludwig of Bavaria (1728 – 1733) – son of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maximilian Joseph Franz of Bavaria (1720 – 1738) – son of Ferdinand Maria Innocenz of Bavaria and grandson of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Ferdinand Maria Innozenz of Bavaria (1699 – 1738) – son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria (1697 – 1745)
  • Maria of Bavaria (born and died 1748)
  • Unnamed prince (born and died 1753)
  • Maria Anna of Bavaria (born and died 1754)
  • Unnamed prince (born and died 1755)
  • Maria Amalia of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (1701 – 1756) – wife of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor
  • Clemens Franz de Paula of Bavaria (1722 – 1770) – son of Ferdinand Maria Innocenz of Bavaria and grandson of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
  • Maria Anna of Bavaria, Margravine of Baden-Baden (1734 – 1776) – daughter of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, wife of Ludwig Georg, Margrave of Baden-Baden
  • Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria (1727 – 1777)
  • Maria Anna of Pfalz-Sulzbach, Princess of Bavaria (1722 – 1790), wife of Clemens Franz de Paula of Bavaria
  • Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony, Electress of Bavaria (1728 – 1797) – wife of Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria
  • Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria (1724 – 1799)
  • Maximilian Joseph Karl Friedrich of Bavaria (1800 – 1803) – son of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria
  • Maximiliana Josephe Karoline of Bavaria (1810 – 1821) – daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria

Tombs of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria and his 2nd wife Caroline of Baden, Queen of Bavaria; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

*********************

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. 2022. Theatinerkirche (München) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatinerkirche_(M%C3%BCnchen)> [Accessed 6 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Death and Funeral of Otto von Habsburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_and_funeral_of_Otto_von_Habsburg> [Accessed 6 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Theatine Church, Munich – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatine_Church,_Munich> [Accessed 6 January 2022].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2012. Royal Burial Sites of the Kingdom of Bavaria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/german-royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-kingdom-of-bavaria/> [Accessed 6 January 2022].
  • Theatinerkirche.de. 2022. Theatinerkirche München. [online] Available at: <http://www.theatinerkirche.de/> [Accessed 6 January 2022].

Honoré II, Prince of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Honoré II, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1331 – 1612, the rulers of Monaco were styled Lord of Monaco. Honoré II was the first Prince of Monaco. Born in Monaco on December 24, 1597, Honoré II, Prince of Monaco was the only son and the second of the three children of Hercule, Lord of Monaco (1562 – 1604) and Maria Landi (? – 1599), a member of a noble family from Piacenza, now in northern Italy. Honoré II’s paternal grandparents were Honoré I, Lord of Monaco (1522 – 1581) and Isabella Grimaldi (? – 1583). His maternal grandparents were Italian noble Claudio Landi, 3rd Prince of Val di Taro (? – 1589) and Juana Fernández de Córdoba y Milá de Aragón, a descendant of the Royal House of Aragon through her mother.

Honoré had two sisters:

Honoré lost both his parents in childhood. When he was two years old, his mother died on January 19, 1599, due to childbirth complications after the birth of her third child. On November 29, 1604, Honoré’s father Hercule, Lord of Monaco was stabbed to death while walking through the streets of Monaco at night. His body was dumped into the sea by the murderer(s) and was later found washed up on the shore. The cause of his murder remains unclear. A month short of his seventh birthday, Honoré succeeded his father as Lord of Monaco. For their protection, Honoré and his two sisters were hidden until their maternal uncle Feredico Landi, 4th Prince of Val di Taro (? – 1630), arrived to rule as regent, a position he held until 1616. Feredico Landi was a loyal ally of Spain and he allowed the occupation of Monaco by Spanish troops in 1605.

In 1612, Honoré II started using the title of Prince, becoming the first Prince of Monaco. Monaco was recognized as a sovereign principality by King Felipe IV of Spain in 1633 and by King Louis XIII of France in the Treaty of Péronne of 1641. Under the Treaty of Péronne, the Principality of Monaco became a French protectorate and the Spanish troops in Monaco were finally removed. The Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families.

Because of the treaty with France, Honoré lost his Spanish lands and their income. To make up for the loss, King Louis XIII gave Honoré the Duchy of Valentinois, the Marquisate of Baux, the County of Carladès, the City of Chabeuil, the Baronies of Calvinet, Buis, and the Lordship of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Although the lands connected to these titles eventually reverted to France, some of these titles have been bestowed upon members of the Princely Family of Monaco over the years. The Marquis of Baux has become the traditional title of the heir apparent to the throne of Monaco. Albert I, Prince of Monaco gave his granddaughter Charlotte the title Duchess of Valentinois in 1919. In 2014, upon the birth of his twins Princess Gabriella and Hereditary Prince Jacques, Albert II, Prince of Monaco created them the Countess of Carladès and the Marquis of Baux. Albert II had also held the title Marquis of Baux while he was the heir apparent.

Honoré’s wife Ippolita Trivulzio, Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

On February 13, 1616, Honoré married Ippolita Trivulzio, the daughter of the Italian nobles Carlo Emanuele Teodoro Trivulzio, Count of Melzo and Caterina Gonzaga. Ippolita’s brother Gian Giacomo Teodoro Trivulzio had married Honoré’s sister Jeanne Marie in 1615. Ippolita predeceased her husband, dying on June 20, 1638, at the age of 37.

Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux; Credit – Wikipedia

Honoré and Ippolita had one son:

On August 1, 1651, Honoré’s son and heir, twenty-seven-year-old Hercule, Marquis of Baux, went on a visit to the Convent of Carnoles in Mentone, then in Monaco but now in France. After the visit, he engaged in some recreational shooting with some guards in the garden of the convent. Hercule was interested in how the gun worked and asked one of the guards to show him. The guard mishandled the gun and accidentally shot it towards Hercule and two other guards. All three were wounded. Fatally wounded in the spine, Hercule died the next day. Hercule’s nine-year-old son Louis became heir apparent and succeeded his grandfather Honoré II as Louis I, Prince of Monaco.

The palace of Honoré I, Lord of Monaco, the grandfather of Honoré II (on the left) and the palace of Honoré II with some additions by Louis I, Honoré II’s grandson and successor (on the right)

During his reign, Honoré II did much to extend, rebuild, and transform what was originally the  1191 fortress of his Grimaldi ancestors into what is today’s Prince’s Palace of Monaco. Honoré I, Lord of Monaco, the grandfather of Honoré II, had done some renovations but his palace still had a grim, fortress-like appearance. Over a 30-year period, Honoré II transformed his grandfather’s palace into a palace suitable for a prince. Well-educated and a patron of the arts, Honoré II began collecting artworks by Albrecht Dürer, Michelangelo, Raphael, Peter Paul Rubens, and Titian which formed the basis of the art collection at the palace.

Today’s Prince’s Palace in the right foreground; Credit – By Nathanaël Martel – nat.fam-martel.eu, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6296088

After a reign of fifty-eight years, Honoré II, Prince of Monaco died in Monaco on January 10, 1662, at the age of 64. He was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco.

Entrance to the common vault where the Grimaldi family members originally buried at the Church of St. Nicholas are buried; Credit – www.findagrave.com

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. 2022. Honoré II. (Monaco) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_II._(Monaco)> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Honoré II, Prince of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_II,_Prince_of_Monaco> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Prince’s Palace of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince%27s_Palace_of_Monaco> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Deaths from Firearms Accidents. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-deaths-from-firearms-accidents/> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
  • Hello Monaco. 2021. Hercule I, Doctor of Law and Father of The First Prince of Monaco. [online] Available at: <https://www.hellomonaco.com/sightseeing/grimaldi-family/hercule-i-doctor-of-law-and-father-of-the-first-prince-of-monaco-en/> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
  • Palais.mc. 2022. Prince’s Palace of Monaco. [online] Available at: <https://www.palais.mc/en/the-institution/the-prince-s-palace-of-monaco-1-16.html> [Accessed 3 January 2022].

Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church) in Munich, Germany

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Michaelskirche in Munich; Credit – By Andrew Bossi – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2918246

Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church), which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church located in Munich in the German state of Bavaria. The patron of the church is Saint Michael the Archangel. In 1556, Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria granted the Jesuit Order permission to establish a school in Munich which is still in existence and known as the Wilhelmsgymnasium. A church was to be built in conjunction with the founding of the Jesuit school. However, the school and the church did not get beyond the planning stage during Albrecht V’s lifetime.

Neuhauser Street and Michaelskirche, 1830s; Credit – Wikipedia

Eventually, the school and church were built during the reign of Albrecht V’s son and successor Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria, hence the name of the school, Wilhelmsgymnasium. Wilhelm V had received a Jesuit education and was a strong supporter of the Counter-Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church’s reaction to the Protestant Reformation. The Michaelskirche, built in the Renaissance architectural style, and the school built from 1583 – 1597 were spiritual centers of the Counter-Reformation. With the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773, Michaelskirche and Wilhelmsgymnasium came into the possession of the House of Wittelsbach. After the end of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1918, the church passed into the possession of the State of Bavaria. In 1921, the pastoral care of Michaelskirche returned to the Jesuit Order.

After the severe damage caused by bombings during World War II, Michaelskirche was renovated and then rededicated at Pentecost in 1953. Most recently, the interior was renovated from 1980 – 1983 for the 400th anniversary. From 2009 to 2013, the facade including the statues was renovated.

*********************

The Facade of Michaelskirche

The facade of Michaelskirche; Credit – Credit – By Luidger – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=718322

The large, impressive facade of Michaelskirche has bronze statues of Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and earlier rulers of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach in the form of a family tree. A large bronze statue between the two entrances shows Saint Michael the Archangel battling Lucifer. The statue was made by Dutch sculptor Hubert Gerhard.

Saint Michael the Archangel vanquishing Lucifer; Credit – By pingnews.com – Sculpture in Munich, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97462767

*********************

The Interior of Michaelkirche

The interior of Michaelskirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The main altarpiece has a painting of Saint Michael the Archangel fighting Lucifer by Bavarian painter Christoph Schwarz.

The main altar; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The church contains the 1830 monument by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen to Eugène de Beauharnais who is interred in the crypt. Eugène was the son of Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon Bonaparte’s first wife, and her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais, who was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution. Eugène de Beauharnais marrried Princess Auguste of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, and was created Duke of Leuchtenberg.

The monument by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen to Eugène de Beauharnais; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

*********************

The Princely Crypt

Sign with a photo of King Ludwig II at the entrance to the Princely Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The House of Wittelsbach ruled as Dukes, Electors, and Kings of Bavaria from 1180 until 1918. A princely crypt was in the original plans of Michaelskirche. Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria was buried in the crypt at his request, as was his son Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria.

Stairs down to the Princely Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The best-known Bavarian ruler interred at Michaelskirche is Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, the builder of Neuschwanstein Castle who died in 1886 under mysterious circumstances. Ludwig’s brother Otto, King of Bavaria is also interred at Michaelskirche.

Tomb of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Besides Michaelskirche, rulers of the House of Wittelsbach have been interred at the Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St. Cajetan) in Munich, the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Munich, and the Andechs Abbey in Andechs. In 1977, Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne from 1955 until his death in 1996, set up a Wittelsbach private family cemetery near Andechs Abbey due to the lack of space in the other Wittelsbach burial sites. The cemetery complex is now the main burial place of the Wittelsbach family.

The following members of the House of Wittelsbach are interred in the crypt:

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. 2022. St. Michael (München) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael_(M%C3%BCnchen)> [Accessed 28 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. St. Michael’s Church, Munich – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Church,_Munich> [Accessed 28 February 2022].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2012. Royal Burial Sites of the Kingdom of Bavaria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/german-royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-kingdom-of-bavaria/> [Accessed 28 February 2022].
  • St-michael-muenchen.de. 2022. St. Michael – die Jesuitenkirche in der Münchner Innenstadt. [online] Available at: <https://www.st-michael-muenchen.de/index.php> [Accessed 28 February 2022].

Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau, Princess of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau, Princess of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau was the wife of Alois II, Prince of Liectenstein who reigned from 1836 – 1858. Born Franziska de Paula Barbara Romana Bernharda on August 8, 1813, in Vienna, Austria, she was the second of the two daugters and the third of the five children of Count Franz de Paula Kinsky of Wchinitz und Tettau (1784 – 1823) and Countess Therese of Wrbna and Freudenthal (1789 – 1874).

Franziska had four siblings:

  • Countess Maria Anna Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau (1809 – 1892), married Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels, had seven children
  • Count Dominik Kinsky of Wchinitz und Tettau (1810 – 1875), unmarried
  • Count Rudolf Kinsky of Wchinitz und Tettau, (1815 – 1889), unmarried
  • Count Eugene Kinsky of Wchinitz und Tettau, married Maria Zauner (1818 – 1885), had eight children

The Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau family was a prominent noble family from the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austria Empire, now part of the Czech Republic. The family served the Habsburgs during the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian Empire. Like many of the aristocratic families, the Kinskys were great landowners and patrons of the arts. They resided in the Palais Kinsky in Vienna, Austria, the Kinsky Palace in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, the Karlova Koruna Chateau in the Kingdom of Bohemia, and the Burg Heidenreichstein in Lower Austria, Austrian Empire. Franziska’s paternal uncle Ferdinand, 5th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau was an important patron of composer Ludwig van Beethoven and provided him with an annual salary until Beethoven’s death.

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 8, 1831, in Vienna, Austria, 18-year-old Franziska married 35-year-old Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein. Upon the death of his father Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein on April 20, 1836, Alois became the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein and Franziska became the Princess Consort.

Franziska and Alois had eleven children:

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein, aged 62, died on November 12, 1858, and was succeeded by his 18-year-old son Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein. From 1859 – 1860, Johann’s mother Franziska served as regent while her son traveled through Europe, expanding the Liechtenstein art collection and learning about botany, archeology, and geography. Johann, Prince II of Liechtenstein is one of the world’s longest-reigning monarchs – he reigned for 70 years, 91 days. He never married and was succeeded by his brother Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein.

Haus Gutenberg, the school founded by Franziska is still in existence; Credit – Von HausGutenberg – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72672336

Franziska founded the first charitable fund for orphans in Liechtenstein and also founded a secondary school for girls, the Haus Gutenberg (link in German) in Balzers, Liechtenstein, which is still in existence. In 1870, she bought the Wartenstein Castle in Raach am Hochgebirge, Austria, and renovated it in the Romantic style. The castle remained in the family until 1957.

The New Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic; Credit – Wikipedia

Franziska survived her husband by twenty-three years, dying on February 5, 1881, aged 67, in Vienna, Austria. She was buried with her husband in the New Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic.

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. 2021. Franziska Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franziska_Kinsky_von_Wchinitz_und_Tettau> [Accessed 17 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countess_Franziska_Kinsky_of_Wchinitz_and_Tettau> [Accessed 17 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kinsky – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsky> [Accessed 17 December 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau, Princess of Liechtenstein. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/alois-ii-prince-of-liechtenstein/> [Accessed 17 December 2021].
  • geni_family_tree. 2021. Franz de Paula Joseph Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau. [online] Available at: <https://www.geni.com/people/Franz-de-Paula-Joseph-Kinsky-von-Wchinitz-und-Tettau/6000000013492930469> [Accessed 17 December 2021].

Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Munich, Germany

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Frauenkirche in Munich, Bavaria, Germany; By Diliff – CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5825439

The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) also called Münchner Dom (Munich Cathedral), which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church and the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Munich located in Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria.

Frauenkirche in 1870 looking toward the main altar; Credit – Wikipedia

In the 12th century, a Romanesque church was built on the site replacing an earlier church. This new church served as a second parish in Munich following the older Alter Peter Church. A new late Gothic cathedral commissioned by Sigismund, Archduke of Austria and the people of Munich, was erected in the 15th century. The cathedral was built from 1468 – 1488 by bricklayer and architect Jörg von Halsbach. Red brick was chosen as the building material for financial reasons and because there was no nearby rock quarry. The cathedral was consecrated In 1494 but the towers were not completed until 1525.

Frauenkirche in ruins after World War II. The steps led to the main altar; Credit – https://www.muenchner-dom.de/die-kathedrale/geschichte/baugeschichte/

The Frauenkirche was severely damaged by the Allied Forces’ bombing raids during World War II. The roof collapsed, one of the towers was damaged, and much of the interior was destroyed. A major restoration was required and continued until 1994.

Interior of the restored Frauenkirche looking towards the main altar; Credit – By Chabe01 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64107752

From 1971 – 1972 the main altar area was redesigned according to the reforms and specifications of the Second Vatican Council. From 1989 – 1994, the interior decorations of the original architect Jörg von Halsbach and the oak choir stalls with the sculptures of the original sculptor Erasmus Grasser were reconstructed and new altarpieces were created. Artwork from notable 14th to 18th-century artists like Peter Candid, Erasmus Grasser, Jan Polack, Hans Leinberger, Hans Krumpper, and Ignaz Günther replaced the artwork destroyed in the World War II bombing raids.

The main altar; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62161379

********************

Cenotaph of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor

The Cenotaph of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

A cenotaph, an empty tomb erected in honor of a person whose remains are elsewhere, for Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor who died in 1347, stands in the south aisle. The remains of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor are interred in the Frauenkirche crypt. The cenotaph was the work of sculptor Hans Krumpper (circa 1570 – 1634) who was the chief sculptor to the Bavarian court during the reigns of Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria.  During the World War II-related restoration of the Frauenkirche in the 1980s, the cenotaph was restored with financial help from the Messerschmitt Foundation whose primary goal is the preservation and maintenance of German cultural monuments.

********************

The Crypt

The 1971 crypt in the Frauenkirche; Credit – By User: Bbb at wikivoyage shared, CC BY-SA 1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22660042

The crypt we see today was created in 1971 when a larger crypt with exposed brick walls and a concrete beam ceiling was built during World War II-related reconstruction. The coffins of members of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach were then transferred to new wall niches with grave markers. The House of Wittelsbach ruled as Dukes, Electors, and Kings of Bavaria from 1180 until 1918.

Besides the Frauenkirche, rulers of the House of Wittelsbach have mostly been interred at the Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St Cajetan) in Munich and Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church) in Munich, and the Andechs Monastery in Andechs. In 1977, Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne from 1955 until his death in 1996, set up a Wittelsbach family cemetery near Andechs Abbey due to the lack of space in the other Wittelsbach burial sites. The cemetery complex is now the main burial place of the Wittelsbach family.

Burial site of some members of the House of Wittelsbach; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62160767

The following members of the House of Wittelsbach are interred in the crypt:

Burial site of Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria, his wife and five of their children; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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. 2021. Frauenkirche (München) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frauenkirche_(M%C3%BCnchen)> [Accessed 29 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Munich Frauenkirche – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Frauenkirche> [Accessed 29 December 2021].
  • Muenchner-dom.de. 2021. Der Münchner Dom: Baugeschichte. [online] Available at: <https://www.muenchner-dom.de/die-kathedrale/geschichte/baugeschichte/> [Accessed 29 December 2021].
  • Muenchner-dom.de. 2021. Der Münchner Dom: Home. [online] Available at: <https://www.muenchner-dom.de/> [Accessed 29 December 2021].