Dorothea von Biron
Encyclopedia
Dorothea von Biron, Princess of Courland, self-styled Dorothée de Courlande (21 August 1793 – 19 September 1862), was a Baltic German noblewoman. Her mother was Dorothea von Medem
, Duchess of Courland, and although her mother's husband, Duke Peter von Biron
, acknowledged her as his own, her true father was a Polish
statesman Aleksander Batowski, thus making her half-Polish. She was a lover of the French statesman Talleyrand and the wife of his nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord
.
, the fourth and last daughter of Duchess Dorothea of Courland, who was by then separated from her husband. Dorothea's paternity is disputed but generally assigned to Aleksander Batowski, a Polish envoy
to the Duchy of Courland, her biological father was a close associate of her lover Talleyrand during the Napoleonic period. Her three elder half sisters, all legitimate daughters of the Duke, were: Princess Wilhelmine, Duchess of Sagan; Princess Pauline, Duchess of Sagan; and Princess Johanna Katharina, Duchess of Acerenza. She was educated in Germany
.
to intervene with Dorothea's mother in favor of Edmond's marrying her. The marriage occurred on 21 and 22 April 1809 at Frankfurt
amidst the Napoleonic Wars
, presided over by Talleyrand's friend, Prince-Bishop Emmerich Joseph, duc de Dalberg
, and Dorothea thus became comtesse Edmond de Périgord and great-niece of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince of Bénévent. Educated in Germany, she was plunged into French society, where she represented the enemy. Her three sisters, also very anti-French, did not help her marriage and despite the birth of three children, it became unhappy, with Edmond more concerned with gaming, war and other women than with his wife.
The fall of the First French Empire
and the Congress of Vienna
(at which Talleyrand was designated to represent France) favoured an affair between Dorothea and Talleyrand. During his time in Vienna she kept her household in the Palais Kaunitz and it was at this time that Dorothea began to play a major part in Charles-Maurice's life, accompanying him to the Congress of Vienna and probably becoming his mistress sometime after 1815. On 31 August 1817, Talleyrand was made a duke and peer of France by Louis XVIII of France
, and on 2 December was also granted the duchy of Dino (a 1.5 km by 1.2 km Calabria
n island) by the king of Sicily
in recognition of his services at Vienna. The duchy of Dino was immediately handed down to his nephew and his wife and so Dorothea also became duchess of Dino. On 24 March 1818 she and her husband separated, though this was only pronounced formally on 6 November 1824.
, whose paternity is sometimes attributed to Talleyrand. Despite his company (39 years her senior) she took several lovers, gaining a reputation as a formidable seductress and bearing three illegitimate daughters (one of whom, born in 1816, was perhaps Bozena Nemcova
, the great Czech writer, fathered by Clam Martinic, her lover at the Congress of Vienna; the two others, Antonine and Julie Zulmé, were born in 1825 and 1827).
She became duchess of Talleyrand on 28 April 1838. On 6 (or 8) January 1845, the king of Prussia
invested Dorothea as duchess of Sagan (with the special privilege of the dukedom being able to descend via the female as well as the male line), with her son Louis-Napoléon, godson of Napoleon
and Louis-Napoléon's grandson Boson de Talleyrand-Périgord
immediately taking the title of prince of Sagan.
When Talleyrand became French ambassador in London in 1830, she accompanied him and felt more comfortable there than in Paris, which she detested and where the whole Faubourg Saint-Germain
made her feel she was a foreigner. This was a theme throughout her life: in Prussia she was seen as too French, in Paris as too German.
After Talleyrand's death in 1838, she granted her château de Rochecotte to her daughter Pauline de Castellane in 1847, having chosen in 1843 to live in state at her castle at Sagan in Silesia (made up of 130 buildings on an estate of 1,200 hectares, bought by her father and then by her sister Pauline de Hohenzollern). She reigned over this immense and rich duchy alone, until she had a carriage accident in June 1861 and died on 19 September 1862 at Sagan
.
Despite the wish she had expressed to her uncle and probable lover Talleyrand in a letter of April 1838 and in her will, that her heart should be placed in his grave at Valencay, she was buried in the Kreuzkirche at Sagan, with her sister Wilhelmine and son Louis.
evoking a duke of Sagan around 1950, was seduced by its sonority and chose "Sagan" as her "nom de plume".
“(..) With large dark blue eyes, very beautiful, so burning that they appeared black to some people. There was in her something bold, wild, dauntless and burning one which held the gaze". (Casimir Ensconce, "Talleyrand amoureux", edition France-Empire, 1975).
The opinions she inspired are various; those of men, admiring her beauty and intelligence, praise her, but those of women, jealous of her position and wealth, are more venomous. It is strange that she had no close female friends but instead was a solitary figure, despite keeping up a wide correspondence with many personalities of her era. She was a true European, in an era where that word was unknown. Born between two cultures, speaking three languages, in contact with all the political personalities of Europe, she could have been, in another era, thanks to her intelligence, a scholar or politician. But in that era, only men had a career, and so she was unable to realize her numerous talents. As Guizot said of her: "une personne rare et grande".
The duchess of Dino also has a descendant in Touraine, a "calm and human region, of a pure, very poetic beauty", in the person of Béatrice of Andia, one of her great-great-great granddaughters, president of the association of the "Friends of château d'Azay-le-Rideau", owner of château de La Chatonnière.
Chronologically:
Dorothea von Medem
Dorothea von Medem was born a Gräfin of the noble German Baltic Medem family and later became Duchess of Courland...
, Duchess of Courland, and although her mother's husband, Duke Peter von Biron
Peter von Biron
Peter von Biron was the last Duke of Courland from 1769 to 1795.Peter was born in Jelgava as the son of Ernst Johann von Biron, future Duke of Courland, and his wife Benigna von Trotha. When 16 years old, he was forced to follow his family into the Siberian exile. In 1769, Peter was given the...
, acknowledged her as his own, her true father was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
statesman Aleksander Batowski, thus making her half-Polish. She was a lover of the French statesman Talleyrand and the wife of his nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord
Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord
Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, 2nd Duke of Talleyrand, 2nd Duke of Dino , , was a French general of the Napoleonic Wars. As the son of Archambaud de Talleyrand-Périgord and Madeleine Olivier de Senozan de Viriville , he was the nephew of the minister Talleyrand...
.
Life
Dorothea was born in Friedrichsfelde near BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, the fourth and last daughter of Duchess Dorothea of Courland, who was by then separated from her husband. Dorothea's paternity is disputed but generally assigned to Aleksander Batowski, a Polish envoy
Envoy
Envoy may refer to:*an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary*a Special Envoy*a diplomat in general*Envoy , the British Vauxhall cars for Canadian market in 1960-'70*Envoy , a document reader and document file format...
to the Duchy of Courland, her biological father was a close associate of her lover Talleyrand during the Napoleonic period. Her three elder half sisters, all legitimate daughters of the Duke, were: Princess Wilhelmine, Duchess of Sagan; Princess Pauline, Duchess of Sagan; and Princess Johanna Katharina, Duchess of Acerenza. She was educated in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Marriage
Looking for a wealthy heiress for his nephew Edmond, Talleyrand asked Tsar Alexander I of RussiaAlexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
to intervene with Dorothea's mother in favor of Edmond's marrying her. The marriage occurred on 21 and 22 April 1809 at Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
amidst the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, presided over by Talleyrand's friend, Prince-Bishop Emmerich Joseph, duc de Dalberg
Dalberg
Dalberg is the name of an ancient and distinguished German noble family, derived from the hamlet and castle of Dalberg or Dalburg near Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate...
, and Dorothea thus became comtesse Edmond de Périgord and great-niece of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince of Bénévent. Educated in Germany, she was plunged into French society, where she represented the enemy. Her three sisters, also very anti-French, did not help her marriage and despite the birth of three children, it became unhappy, with Edmond more concerned with gaming, war and other women than with his wife.
The fall of the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
and the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
(at which Talleyrand was designated to represent France) favoured an affair between Dorothea and Talleyrand. During his time in Vienna she kept her household in the Palais Kaunitz and it was at this time that Dorothea began to play a major part in Charles-Maurice's life, accompanying him to the Congress of Vienna and probably becoming his mistress sometime after 1815. On 31 August 1817, Talleyrand was made a duke and peer of France by Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
, and on 2 December was also granted the duchy of Dino (a 1.5 km by 1.2 km Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
n island) by the king of Sicily
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
in recognition of his services at Vienna. The duchy of Dino was immediately handed down to his nephew and his wife and so Dorothea also became duchess of Dino. On 24 March 1818 she and her husband separated, though this was only pronounced formally on 6 November 1824.
Her life with Talleyrand
On 3 July 1820 Talleyrand left Paris for Valençay accompanied by Dorothea, then pregnant with her third child, PaulinePauline de Talleyrand-Périgord
Joséphine Pauline de Talleyrand-Périgord , by her marriage marquise de Castellane, was a French noblewoman.The third legitimate child of the duke and duchess of Dino, Dorothea von Biron and her husband Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, she is often thought to have in fact been fathered by...
, whose paternity is sometimes attributed to Talleyrand. Despite his company (39 years her senior) she took several lovers, gaining a reputation as a formidable seductress and bearing three illegitimate daughters (one of whom, born in 1816, was perhaps Bozena Nemcova
Božena Nemcová
Božena Němcová was a Czech writer of the final phase of the Czech National Revival movement.-Biography:...
, the great Czech writer, fathered by Clam Martinic, her lover at the Congress of Vienna; the two others, Antonine and Julie Zulmé, were born in 1825 and 1827).
King of Prussia
King of Prussia may refer to:* A ruler of the former German state of Prussia**List of rulers of Prussia* Place names** King of Prussia, Pennsylvania* Shopping Centers** King of Prussia Mall...
invested Dorothea as duchess of Sagan (with the special privilege of the dukedom being able to descend via the female as well as the male line), with her son Louis-Napoléon, godson of Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
and Louis-Napoléon's grandson Boson de Talleyrand-Périgord
Boson de Talleyrand-Périgord
Charles Guillaume Frédéric Boson de Talleyrand-Périgord , prince of Sagan , duke of Sagan and duke of Talleyrand was a famous French dandy, and the grandson of Dorothea von Biron....
immediately taking the title of prince of Sagan.
When Talleyrand became French ambassador in London in 1830, she accompanied him and felt more comfortable there than in Paris, which she detested and where the whole Faubourg Saint-Germain
Boulevard Saint-Germain
The Boulevard Saint-Germain is a major street in Paris on the Left Bank of the Seine river. It curves in a 3.5 kilometer arc from the Pont de Sully in the east to the Pont de la Concorde in the west and traverses the 5th, 6th and 7th arrondissements...
made her feel she was a foreigner. This was a theme throughout her life: in Prussia she was seen as too French, in Paris as too German.
After Talleyrand's death in 1838, she granted her château de Rochecotte to her daughter Pauline de Castellane in 1847, having chosen in 1843 to live in state at her castle at Sagan in Silesia (made up of 130 buildings on an estate of 1,200 hectares, bought by her father and then by her sister Pauline de Hohenzollern). She reigned over this immense and rich duchy alone, until she had a carriage accident in June 1861 and died on 19 September 1862 at Sagan
Zagan
Zagan may refer to:*Zagan - a demon in the Ars Goetia*Żagań - a town in west Poland...
.
Despite the wish she had expressed to her uncle and probable lover Talleyrand in a letter of April 1838 and in her will, that her heart should be placed in his grave at Valencay, she was buried in the Kreuzkirche at Sagan, with her sister Wilhelmine and son Louis.
With Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord
- Napoléon Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord, 3rd Duke of Talleyrand
- March 12, 1811 – March 21, 1898
- married Anne Louise Charlotte de Montmorency on February 26, 1829 at Paris
- Dorothée de Talleyrand-Périgord
- 1812–1814
- Alexandre Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, 3rd Duke of Dino
- December 15, 1813, Paris – April 9, 1894, FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
- married Valentine de Sainte-AldegondeValentine de Sainte-AldegondeValentine de Sainte-Aldegonde was a French noblewoman. She was the wife of Alexandre Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord and the mistress of Anatole Demidov...
on October 8, 1839 at Beauregard
- December 15, 1813, Paris – April 9, 1894, Florence
Disputed paternity
- Pauline de Talleyrand-PérigordPauline de Talleyrand-PérigordJoséphine Pauline de Talleyrand-Périgord , by her marriage marquise de Castellane, was a French noblewoman.The third legitimate child of the duke and duchess of Dino, Dorothea von Biron and her husband Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, she is often thought to have in fact been fathered by...
- December 29, 1820 – 1890
- attributed to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
Speculated to be hers
- Božena NěmcováBožena NemcováBožena Němcová was a Czech writer of the final phase of the Czech National Revival movement.-Biography:...
- may have been fathered by Karel Clam-Martinic (1792–1840), Dorothea's lover at the Congress of Vienna.
Reception
The young writer Françoise Quoirez (1935–2004), in reading a passage of Marcel ProustMarcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
evoking a duke of Sagan around 1950, was seduced by its sonority and chose "Sagan" as her "nom de plume".
“(..) With large dark blue eyes, very beautiful, so burning that they appeared black to some people. There was in her something bold, wild, dauntless and burning one which held the gaze". (Casimir Ensconce, "Talleyrand amoureux", edition France-Empire, 1975).
The opinions she inspired are various; those of men, admiring her beauty and intelligence, praise her, but those of women, jealous of her position and wealth, are more venomous. It is strange that she had no close female friends but instead was a solitary figure, despite keeping up a wide correspondence with many personalities of her era. She was a true European, in an era where that word was unknown. Born between two cultures, speaking three languages, in contact with all the political personalities of Europe, she could have been, in another era, thanks to her intelligence, a scholar or politician. But in that era, only men had a career, and so she was unable to realize her numerous talents. As Guizot said of her: "une personne rare et grande".
The duchess of Dino also has a descendant in Touraine, a "calm and human region, of a pure, very poetic beauty", in the person of Béatrice of Andia, one of her great-great-great granddaughters, president of the association of the "Friends of château d'Azay-le-Rideau", owner of château de La Chatonnière.
Styles
- 1809: Comtesse Edmond de Périgord
- 1817: Duchesse de Dino
- 1838: Duchesse de Talleyrand
- 1845: Duchesse de Sagan, now ŻagańZaganZagan may refer to:*Zagan - a demon in the Ars Goetia*Żagań - a town in west Poland...
, Poland
Her properties
- Château de BougesChâteau de BougesThe Château de Bouges is an 18th century mansion in the town of Bouges-le-Château, in the Indre département of France, in the Loire Valley. It is classified as a monument historique and the gardens are listed by the Ministry of Culture as among the Notable Gardens of France...
(IndreIndreIndre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
), bought for her in 1818 by Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord - Château de RochecotteChâteau de RochecotteThe château de Rochecotte is a late 18th century château located in the French village of Saint-Patrice, near Langeais, in Indre-et-Loire. It is known for its various owners and their many successive rebuilds....
(Indre-et-LoireIndre-et-LoireIndre-et-Loire is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.-History:Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
), overlooking the Loire valley, bought by her 30 April 1828, rebuilt by her. She wrote of it "He took me away from these deep and melancholy regrets to this soft and tranquil Rochecotte" ("Il me prend des profonds et mélancoliques regrets pour ce doux et tranquille Rochecotte..." - letter of 1862) - Château de Sagan (Lower SilesiaLower SilesiaLower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
, now ŻagańZaganZagan may refer to:*Zagan - a demon in the Ars Goetia*Żagań - a town in west Poland...
in PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), bought in 1843 by her elder sister, Pauline, princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen - Château de Günthersdorf (Lower SilesiaLower SilesiaLower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
, today ZatonieZatonieZatonie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Zielona Góra, within Zielona Góra County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Zielona Góra, and has a population of 392....
in PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), bought in 1840
Her memoirs
- Dorothée, princesse de Courlande, duchesse de Dino, Mémoires . Tome I, 1794-1808 : souvenirs d'enfance de la princesse de Courlande (texte établi par Clémence Muller). – Clermont-FerrandClermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
: Paleo, coll. « Sources de l'histoire de France », 2003. – 173 p., 21 cm. – ISBN 2-84909-022-0.
Chronologically:
-
- Mémoires. Tome II, 1831-1834 (texte établi par Clémence Muller). – Clermont-FerrandClermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
: Paleo, coll. « Sources de l'histoire de France », 2003. – 258 p., 21 cm. – ISBN 2-84909-039-5. - Mémoires . Tome III, 1835-1837 (texte établi par Clémence Muller). – Clermont-FerrandClermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
: Paleo, coll. « Sources de l'histoire de France », 2004. – 228 p., 21 cm. – ISBN 2-84909-065-4. - Mémoires . Tome IV, 1838-1840 (texte établi par Clémence Muller). – Clermont-FerrandClermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
: Paleo, coll. « Sources de l'histoire de France », 2004. – 243 p., 21 cm. – ISBN 2-84909-071-9. - Mémoires . Tome V, 1840-1843 (texte établi par Clémence Muller). – Clermont-FerrandClermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
: Paleo, coll. « Sources de l'histoire de France », 2004. – 244 p., 21 cm. – ISBN 2-84909-092-1. - Mémoires . Tome VI, 1844-1853 (texte établi par Clémence Muller). – Clermont-FerrandClermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
: Paleo, coll. « Sources de l'histoire de France », 2004. – 220 p., 21 cm. – ISBN 2-84909-109-X. - Mémoires . Tome VII, 1854-1862 (texte établi par Clémence Muller). – Clermont-FerrandClermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
: Paleo, coll. « Sources de l'histoire de France », 2004. – 203 p., 21 cm. – ISBN 2-84909-112-X.
- Mémoires. Tome II, 1831-1834 (texte établi par Clémence Muller). – Clermont-Ferrand
External links
- http://perso.orange.fr/courlande
- http://www.amis-talleyrand.asso.fr/