Marguerite Louise d'Orléans
Encyclopedia
Marguerite Louise d'Orléans (28 July 1645 – 17 September 1721) was Grand Duchess of Tuscany, as the wife of Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici
. Deprived of her lover, Charles V of Lorraine, and yearning for France, Marguerite Louise despised her husband and his family, whom she often quarrelled with and falsely suspected of attempting to poison her. Marguerite Louise reconciled with the Medici on more than one occasion, however, only to promptly resume hostilities.
Having become Grand Duke of Tuscany upon his father's
death, in 1670, Cosimo III, under the sway of his mother, Vittoria della Rovere
, refused to grant Marguerite Louise entry to the Consulta (Privy Council). Thus without political influence, Marguerite Louise oversaw the education of her eldest son, Grand Prince Ferdinando. Two more children followed: Anna Maria Luisa, Electress Palatine
, and Gian Gastone
, the last Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany.
In June 1675, having signed a contract with Cosimo III the previous December stipulating an 80,000 livres pension, Marguerite Louise was allowed to return to France, on the condition she reside in the Abbaye Saint Pierre de Montmartre
, near Paris
. A daughter of Gaston de France, Duke of Orléans
, Marguerite Louise was obliged to surrender her rights as Princess of France in Cosimo's contract. Although the contract, too, banned her from leaving the convent, Marguerite Louise often went to her cousin Louis XIV's
court at Versailles
, where she gambled for high stakes. She was at the centre of many scandals at the convent, including an attempt to burn it down, which greatly irritated her husband, who, despite the separation, took great interest in Marguerite Louise's life. While still technically married, Marguerite Louise had several affairs
Marguerite Louise, the eldest child of Gaston of France, Duke of Orléans
, and of his second wife, Marguerite of Lorraine
, was born on 18 July 1645. Born at the Château de Blois
, she was the oldest of five children born to Gaston by his second wife. Her other sisters included Élisabeth Marguerite, future Duchess of Guise and the Duchess of Savoy.
Marguerite Louise received a rudimentary education at her father's court at Blois
, where he retreated to after his failed insurrection against his nephew Louis XIV of France
, the Fronde
. Marguerite Louise enjoyed a close relationship with her half-sister, Anne Marie Louise, Duchess of Montpensier, La Grande Mademoiselle, who took her and her friends to the theatre and royal balls; Marguerite Louise reciprocated her sister's affection, attending daily Anne Marie Louise's salon and seeking her guidance in court matters. Madame de Choisy, Marguerite Louise believed, poorly advised her mother in matters of court and ruined her marriage negotiations with Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy
. Therefore, when another proposal came, this time from Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany
, in 1658, Marguerite Louise asked her half-sister to ensure its fulfilment. Her own younger sister Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans
married Charles Emmanuel II in 1663.
Initially overjoyed at the prospect of marrying, Marguerite Louise's ebullience faded to dismay when she discovered her half-sister no longer favoured the Tuscan match, as she did before. After this rebut, Marguerite Louise's behaviour became erratic: she shocked the court by going out unaccompanied, a grievous offence in contemporary French society, with her cousin Prince Charles of Lorraine
, who soon became her lover. Her marriage by proxy, on 19 April 1661, did nothing to change her attitude, much to Louis XIV's ministers' discontentment; on the day she was supposed to meet diplomats offering their congratulations on the wedding, she attempted to abscond and go hunting, only to be stopped by the Duchess of Montpensier.
, the incumbent Grand Duke's
brother, brought Marguerite Louise to Tuscany in a fleet comprising nine galleys, three Tuscan, three on loan from the Republic of Genoa
and another three from the Papal States
. She arrived in Tuscany on 12 June, disembarking at Livorno
, and, to much pageantry, made her formal entry to Florence on 20 June. Their wedding, the most lavish spectacle Florence had hitherto seen, was composed of a retinue of over three-hundred carriages. As a wedding gift, Grand Duke Ferdinando, the bridegroom's father, presented her with a pearl the "size of a small pigeon's egg".
Marguerite Louise and Cosimo greeted each other with indifference, and, according to Sophia, Electress of Hanover, they only slept together once a week. Marguerite Louise, two days after their marriage, demanded possession of the Tuscan crown jewels from Cosimo, who replied that he did not have the authority to give them. The jewels that she did manage to get from Cosimo she tried to smuggle out of Tuscany, only to be stopped by the Grand Duke. Marguerite Louise's indifference, after this incident, turned to hatred, compounded by her love for Charles of Lorraine, from whom she was forced to part at Marseilles. On one occasion, she threatened to break a bottle over Cosimo's head if he did not leave her chamber. Her hatred of Cosimo, however, did not get in the way of children: Grand Prince Ferdinando in 1663, Anna Maria Luisa
in 1667 and Gian Gastone
in 1671. Cosimo's family, too, were the victims of Marguerite Louise's caprices: she argued with the Grand Duchess Vittoria
over precedence, Grand Duke Ferdinando over her profligacy. Marguerite Louise's spending habits not only made her unpopular with the Grand Duke, but with the Florentines, who were tired of her lax etiquette, two grooms frequented her chamber at all hours.
, the Grand Ducal palace, the tone of Marguerite Louise's letters to Charles compelled the Grand Duke
and Cosimo
to spy on her. In response, she begged Louis XIV
to intervene, but he stealthily declined. Both Marguerite Louise and the Grand Duke sent entreaties to Louis XIV following the dismissal of Marguerite Louise's French staff, the former complaining of her maltreatment, the latter asking for Marguerite Louise's behaviour to be curbed.
To placate both the Grand Duke and Marguerite Louise, he sent the comte de Saint Mêmê. Marguerite Louise wanted to return to France, and Mêmê sympathised with this, as did much of the French court, so he left without finding a solution to the heir's domestic disharmony, incensing both Ferdinando and Louis XIV. Now, she humiliated Cosimo at every chance she got: she insisted on employing French cooks only as she feared the Medici were out to poison her and branded Cosimo "a poor groom" in front of the Papal nuncio.
After several more attempts at French conciliation failed, in September 1664 Marguerite Louise left her apartment in Palazzo Pitti, refusing to return; therefore, Cosimo moved her into Villa di Lappeggi. where she was watched by forty soldiers, and six courtiers, appointed by Cosimo, had to follow her everywhere because it was feared she would abscond. The next year, she changed tack, and reconciled with the Grand Ducal family. The delicate rapprochement that existed between Marguerite Louise and the rest of the family collapsed after Anna Maria Luisa's
birth, in 1667, when she caught smallpox
.
, Marguerite Louise became Grand Duchess of Tuscany. The old tradition of admitting the Grand Duke's mother to the Consulta, or Privy Council, was reinstituted at Cosimo III's accession. Loathing Marguerite Louise for her treatment of Cosimo and herself, Vittoria della Rovere
, Cosimo III's mother, ensured that Marguerite Louise was excluded from politics, leaving her with nought else to do but supervise her son the Grand Prince Ferdinando's education. The Grand Duchess, furious at her exclusion, fought with Vittoria over precedence and demanded entry to the Consulta. Cosimo III sided with his mother. By early 1671, fighting between Marguerite Louise and Vittoria became so heated that a contemporary remarked that "the Pitti Palace
has become the devil's own abode, and from morn till midnight only the noise of wrangling and abuse could be heard".
personal physician, to tend to her. Alliot, unlike Mêmê, did not completely comply with Marguerite Louise's plot to be sent to France, under the guise of illness, pronouncing that the tumour was "nonwise malignant", though he did recommend thermal waters. Frustrated with the failure of her plan, Marguerite Louise began flirting with a cook in her household, tickling him and having pillow fights, to upset Cosimo.
To restore domestic harmony, Cosimo III sent for Madame du Deffand, Marguerite Louise's childhood governess who had tried, but failed, to help the Grand Duke before. However, because of a string of deaths in the Orléans family, she arrived late, in December 1672. By then, Marguerite Louise was in the depths of despair, and asked to be allowed visit Poggio a Caiano
, a Medici villa, ostensibly for worship at a nearby shrine. Once there, she refused to return, which resulted in a two-year stand off between herself and the Grand Duke, for he would not consent to her return to France, a return she begged for in her parting letter to him. Madame du Deffand's mission having failed, Louis XIV made one final attempt to reconcile the Grand Ducal couple, to no avail. Therefore, all attempts at conciliation having failed, Cosimo capitulated to Marguerite Louise, in a contract signed on 26 December 1674: Marguerite Louise, provided for with a pension of 80,000 livres, was allowed to leave for France, but she had to confine herself to the Saint Pierre Abbey of Montmartre
and surrender her rights as a Royal Princess of France. Overjoyed, the Grand Duchess departed for France laden down with the fixtures and furniture of Poggio a Caino, for, in her own words, she had no intention "of setting forth without her proper wages".
on the 12 July 1675 was greeted with "a great displeasure" by the Florentines. The nobility, too, sympathised with her, falsely believing Cosimo was to blame for driving Marguerite Louise from Tuscany. Marguerite Louise, initially, patronised charitable works at Montmartre and bore herself with "an air of piety", but soon reverted to her profligate ways, wearing heavy rouge and bright yellow periwigs, and embarking on an affair with the Count of Lovigny, and later with two members of the Luxembourg regiment. Louis XIV, ignoring the 1674 contract's article banning Marguerite Louise from stepping foot outside the convent, allowed the Grand Duchess to court, where she gambled for high stakes.
Because of her "shabby" retinue and short visits, Marguerite Louise garnered the reputation of a Bohemian among the courtiers of Versailles, and, therefore, was compelled to allow "those of insignificant birth" into her circle. The Tuscan envoy, Gondi, issued frequent protests to the French court of Marguerite Louise's behaviour, to no avail. Eventually, the Abbess of Montmartre, Françoise Renée de Lorraine, (1621–1682), when quizzed by the King about Marguerite Louise's latest affair with a groom, interceded, saying, "A conspiracy of silence is the sole antidote to the depravity and excesses of [Marguerite Louise]"; this explains Marguerite Louise's absence from memoirs of the time.
Back in Florence, Cosimo III had the Tuscan envoy report on Marguerite Louise's every movement, which he closely scrutinised. If he deemed a particular action of hers to be offensive, he wrote to Louis XIV, demanding an explanation. Initially sympathetic with Cosimo, Louis XIV, tiring of his endless stream of protests, said, "Since Cosimo had consented to the retirement of his wife to France, he had virtually relinquished all right to interfere in her conduct". That Cosimo III ceased meddling in the affairs of his wife was the result of Louis XIV's rebut. Marguerite Louise was informed of Cosimo III's ensuing illness by her eldest son, Grand Prince Ferdinando, who espoused his mother's cause and corresponded with her. Marguerite Louise, confident of her husband's imminent death, told the French court that "at the first notice of her detested husband's demise, she would fly to Florence to banish all hypocrites and hypocrisy and establish a new government". This, however, was not to be, and Cosimo III actually outlived her two years.
In 1688, saturated in debt, Marguerite Louise wrote to Cosimo, begging for 20,000 crowns. When Cosimo was not initially forthcoming, she switched her focus to her son the Grand Prince, in the hope he would help her, but he feigned he could not, for fear of upsetting his father. Eventually, Cosimo paid off her debts, and her financial security was assured when she inherited a large sum of money from a relative in 1696.
While Marguerite Louise's behaviour—at its worst when she threatened to burn down the convent—was tolerated by the previous Abbess of Montmartre, the new Abbess, Madame d'Harcourt, frequently complained of her to the Grand Duke and the King. In retaliation, Marguerite Louise threatened to kill her with a hatchet and a pistol, and formed a clique against her. Therefore, in line with her wishes, Cosimo III consented to Marguerite Louise's departure for a new convent, Saint-Mandé, on the condition she only leave with the King Louis XIV's explicit permission and be attended to by a chamberlain of his choice. Since she would not assent to these prerequisites, the payment of her pension was suspended, only to be resumed when Louis XIV compelled her to yield.
, which left her with a paralysed left arm and foaming mouth. She soon recovered, only to suffer another attack the next year; the death of the only one of her three children she cared for, Grand Prince Ferdinando, contributed to the second attack of apoplexy, which briefly paralysed her eyes and made speech difficult. The Regent of France, Philippe d'Orléans
, allowed Marguerite Louise to buy a house in Paris, 15 Place des Vosges
, where she spent her final years. She corresponded with the Regent's mother, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
, and gave assiduously to charity. Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, Princess of France and Grand Duchess of Tuscany, died in September 1721, and was buried in Picpus Cemetery
, in Paris.
Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo III de' Medici was the penultimate Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. Cosimo's 53-year long reign, the longest in Tuscan history, was marked by a series of ultra-reactionary laws which regulated prostitution and...
. Deprived of her lover, Charles V of Lorraine, and yearning for France, Marguerite Louise despised her husband and his family, whom she often quarrelled with and falsely suspected of attempting to poison her. Marguerite Louise reconciled with the Medici on more than one occasion, however, only to promptly resume hostilities.
Having become Grand Duke of Tuscany upon his father's
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando II de' Medici was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest child of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. His 49 year rule was punctuated by the terminations of the remaining operations of the Medici Bank, and the beginning of Tuscany's long economic...
death, in 1670, Cosimo III, under the sway of his mother, Vittoria della Rovere
Vittoria della Rovere
Vittoria della Rovere was Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. She gave her husband four children, two of which would survive infancy; the future Cosimo III, Tuscany's longest reigning monarch and Francesco Maria, a prince of the Church...
, refused to grant Marguerite Louise entry to the Consulta (Privy Council). Thus without political influence, Marguerite Louise oversaw the education of her eldest son, Grand Prince Ferdinando. Two more children followed: Anna Maria Luisa, Electress Palatine
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici was the last scion of the House of Medici. A patron of the arts, she bequeathed the Medici's large art collection, including the contents of the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti and the Medicean villas, which she inherited upon her brother Gian Gastone's death in 1737, and her...
, and Gian Gastone
Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Gian Gastone de' Medici was the seventh and last Medicean Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was the second son of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, Princess of France...
, the last Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany.
In June 1675, having signed a contract with Cosimo III the previous December stipulating an 80,000 livres pension, Marguerite Louise was allowed to return to France, on the condition she reside in the Abbaye Saint Pierre de Montmartre
Saint Pierre de Montmartre
The Church of Saint Peter of Montmartre is the lesser known of the two main churches on Montmartre in Paris, the other being the 19th-century Sacré-Cœur Basilica...
, near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. A daughter of Gaston de France, Duke of Orléans
Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston of France, , also known as Gaston d'Orléans, was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his wife Marie de Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a Fils de France. He later acquired the title Duke of Orléans, by which he was generally known during his adulthood...
, Marguerite Louise was obliged to surrender her rights as Princess of France in Cosimo's contract. Although the contract, too, banned her from leaving the convent, Marguerite Louise often went to her cousin Louis XIV's
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
court at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
, where she gambled for high stakes. She was at the centre of many scandals at the convent, including an attempt to burn it down, which greatly irritated her husband, who, despite the separation, took great interest in Marguerite Louise's life. While still technically married, Marguerite Louise had several affairs
Early life: 1645-1661
Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston of France, , also known as Gaston d'Orléans, was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his wife Marie de Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a Fils de France. He later acquired the title Duke of Orléans, by which he was generally known during his adulthood...
, and of his second wife, Marguerite of Lorraine
Marguerite of Lorraine
Marguerite of Lorraine was a duchess of Orléans and Alençon. She was born in Nancy, Lorraine to Francis II, Duke of Lorraine, and Countess Christina of Salm. On 31 January 1632, she married Gaston, Duke of Orléans, son of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici...
, was born on 18 July 1645. Born at the Château de Blois
Château de Blois
The Royal Château de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher département in the Loire Valley, in France, in the center of the city of Blois. The residence of several French kings, it is also the place where Joan of Arc went in 1429 to be blessed by the Archbishop of Reims before departing with her...
, she was the oldest of five children born to Gaston by his second wife. Her other sisters included Élisabeth Marguerite, future Duchess of Guise and the Duchess of Savoy.
Marguerite Louise received a rudimentary education at her father's court at Blois
Blois
Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.-History:...
, where he retreated to after his failed insurrection against his nephew Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, the Fronde
Fronde
The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....
. Marguerite Louise enjoyed a close relationship with her half-sister, Anne Marie Louise, Duchess of Montpensier, La Grande Mademoiselle, who took her and her friends to the theatre and royal balls; Marguerite Louise reciprocated her sister's affection, attending daily Anne Marie Louise's salon and seeking her guidance in court matters. Madame de Choisy, Marguerite Louise believed, poorly advised her mother in matters of court and ruined her marriage negotiations with Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel II was the Duke of Savoy from 1638 to 1675 and under regency of his mother Christine Marie of France until 1663. He was also Marquis of Saluzzo, Count of Aosta, Geneva, Moriana and Nice, as well as claimant king of Cyprus and Jerusalem...
. Therefore, when another proposal came, this time from Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany
Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo III de' Medici was the penultimate Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. Cosimo's 53-year long reign, the longest in Tuscan history, was marked by a series of ultra-reactionary laws which regulated prostitution and...
, in 1658, Marguerite Louise asked her half-sister to ensure its fulfilment. Her own younger sister Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans
Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans
Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans was born a Princess of France and was the Duchess of Savoy as the first wife of Charles Emmanuel II. She was a first cousin of Louis XIV as well of her husband...
married Charles Emmanuel II in 1663.
Initially overjoyed at the prospect of marrying, Marguerite Louise's ebullience faded to dismay when she discovered her half-sister no longer favoured the Tuscan match, as she did before. After this rebut, Marguerite Louise's behaviour became erratic: she shocked the court by going out unaccompanied, a grievous offence in contemporary French society, with her cousin Prince Charles of Lorraine
Charles V, Duke of Lorraine
Charles V , Karl V. Leopold, , son of Nicolas François, Duke of Lorraine, and Claude Françoise de Lorraine. Karl Leopold was born in Vienna and became the brother in law of Emperor Leopold and son in law of emperor Ferdinand III...
, who soon became her lover. Her marriage by proxy, on 19 April 1661, did nothing to change her attitude, much to Louis XIV's ministers' discontentment; on the day she was supposed to meet diplomats offering their congratulations on the wedding, she attempted to abscond and go hunting, only to be stopped by the Duchess of Montpensier.
Grand Princess of Tuscany
Mattias de' MediciMattias de' Medici
Mattias de' Medici was the third son of Grand Duke Cosimo II de' Medici of Tuscany and Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria. He was governor of Siena, with interruptions, from 1629. He never married.-Biography:...
, the incumbent Grand Duke's
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando II de' Medici was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest child of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. His 49 year rule was punctuated by the terminations of the remaining operations of the Medici Bank, and the beginning of Tuscany's long economic...
brother, brought Marguerite Louise to Tuscany in a fleet comprising nine galleys, three Tuscan, three on loan from the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
and another three from the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
. She arrived in Tuscany on 12 June, disembarking at Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
, and, to much pageantry, made her formal entry to Florence on 20 June. Their wedding, the most lavish spectacle Florence had hitherto seen, was composed of a retinue of over three-hundred carriages. As a wedding gift, Grand Duke Ferdinando, the bridegroom's father, presented her with a pearl the "size of a small pigeon's egg".
Marguerite Louise and Cosimo greeted each other with indifference, and, according to Sophia, Electress of Hanover, they only slept together once a week. Marguerite Louise, two days after their marriage, demanded possession of the Tuscan crown jewels from Cosimo, who replied that he did not have the authority to give them. The jewels that she did manage to get from Cosimo she tried to smuggle out of Tuscany, only to be stopped by the Grand Duke. Marguerite Louise's indifference, after this incident, turned to hatred, compounded by her love for Charles of Lorraine, from whom she was forced to part at Marseilles. On one occasion, she threatened to break a bottle over Cosimo's head if he did not leave her chamber. Her hatred of Cosimo, however, did not get in the way of children: Grand Prince Ferdinando in 1663, Anna Maria Luisa
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici was the last scion of the House of Medici. A patron of the arts, she bequeathed the Medici's large art collection, including the contents of the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti and the Medicean villas, which she inherited upon her brother Gian Gastone's death in 1737, and her...
in 1667 and Gian Gastone
Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Gian Gastone de' Medici was the seventh and last Medicean Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was the second son of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, Princess of France...
in 1671. Cosimo's family, too, were the victims of Marguerite Louise's caprices: she argued with the Grand Duchess Vittoria
Vittoria della Rovere
Vittoria della Rovere was Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. She gave her husband four children, two of which would survive infancy; the future Cosimo III, Tuscany's longest reigning monarch and Francesco Maria, a prince of the Church...
over precedence, Grand Duke Ferdinando over her profligacy. Marguerite Louise's spending habits not only made her unpopular with the Grand Duke, but with the Florentines, who were tired of her lax etiquette, two grooms frequented her chamber at all hours.
Entreaties to Louis XIV
Following Charles of Lorraine's brief visit to Florence, during which he was entertained by the Grand Ducal family in Palazzo PittiPalazzo Pitti
The Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio...
, the Grand Ducal palace, the tone of Marguerite Louise's letters to Charles compelled the Grand Duke
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando II de' Medici was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest child of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. His 49 year rule was punctuated by the terminations of the remaining operations of the Medici Bank, and the beginning of Tuscany's long economic...
and Cosimo
Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo III de' Medici was the penultimate Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. Cosimo's 53-year long reign, the longest in Tuscan history, was marked by a series of ultra-reactionary laws which regulated prostitution and...
to spy on her. In response, she begged Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
to intervene, but he stealthily declined. Both Marguerite Louise and the Grand Duke sent entreaties to Louis XIV following the dismissal of Marguerite Louise's French staff, the former complaining of her maltreatment, the latter asking for Marguerite Louise's behaviour to be curbed.
To placate both the Grand Duke and Marguerite Louise, he sent the comte de Saint Mêmê. Marguerite Louise wanted to return to France, and Mêmê sympathised with this, as did much of the French court, so he left without finding a solution to the heir's domestic disharmony, incensing both Ferdinando and Louis XIV. Now, she humiliated Cosimo at every chance she got: she insisted on employing French cooks only as she feared the Medici were out to poison her and branded Cosimo "a poor groom" in front of the Papal nuncio.
After several more attempts at French conciliation failed, in September 1664 Marguerite Louise left her apartment in Palazzo Pitti, refusing to return; therefore, Cosimo moved her into Villa di Lappeggi. where she was watched by forty soldiers, and six courtiers, appointed by Cosimo, had to follow her everywhere because it was feared she would abscond. The next year, she changed tack, and reconciled with the Grand Ducal family. The delicate rapprochement that existed between Marguerite Louise and the rest of the family collapsed after Anna Maria Luisa's
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici was the last scion of the House of Medici. A patron of the arts, she bequeathed the Medici's large art collection, including the contents of the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti and the Medicean villas, which she inherited upon her brother Gian Gastone's death in 1737, and her...
birth, in 1667, when she caught smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
.
Grand Duchess of Tuscany: 1670-1721
In May 1670, with the death of Grand Duke Ferdinando IIFerdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando II de' Medici was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest child of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. His 49 year rule was punctuated by the terminations of the remaining operations of the Medici Bank, and the beginning of Tuscany's long economic...
, Marguerite Louise became Grand Duchess of Tuscany. The old tradition of admitting the Grand Duke's mother to the Consulta, or Privy Council, was reinstituted at Cosimo III's accession. Loathing Marguerite Louise for her treatment of Cosimo and herself, Vittoria della Rovere
Vittoria della Rovere
Vittoria della Rovere was Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. She gave her husband four children, two of which would survive infancy; the future Cosimo III, Tuscany's longest reigning monarch and Francesco Maria, a prince of the Church...
, Cosimo III's mother, ensured that Marguerite Louise was excluded from politics, leaving her with nought else to do but supervise her son the Grand Prince Ferdinando's education. The Grand Duchess, furious at her exclusion, fought with Vittoria over precedence and demanded entry to the Consulta. Cosimo III sided with his mother. By early 1671, fighting between Marguerite Louise and Vittoria became so heated that a contemporary remarked that "the Pitti Palace
Palazzo Pitti
The Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio...
has become the devil's own abode, and from morn till midnight only the noise of wrangling and abuse could be heard".
Return to France
At the start of 1672, Marguerite Louise wrote to Louis XIV, begging him for medical assistance as she believed she had breast cancer. Louis XIV sent Alliot le Vieux, Anne of Austria'sAnne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
personal physician, to tend to her. Alliot, unlike Mêmê, did not completely comply with Marguerite Louise's plot to be sent to France, under the guise of illness, pronouncing that the tumour was "nonwise malignant", though he did recommend thermal waters. Frustrated with the failure of her plan, Marguerite Louise began flirting with a cook in her household, tickling him and having pillow fights, to upset Cosimo.
To restore domestic harmony, Cosimo III sent for Madame du Deffand, Marguerite Louise's childhood governess who had tried, but failed, to help the Grand Duke before. However, because of a string of deaths in the Orléans family, she arrived late, in December 1672. By then, Marguerite Louise was in the depths of despair, and asked to be allowed visit Poggio a Caiano
Poggio a Caiano
Poggio a Caiano is a town and comune in the Province of Prato, Tuscany region Italy. The town lies 9 km south of the provincial capital of Prato.-The Medici villa:...
, a Medici villa, ostensibly for worship at a nearby shrine. Once there, she refused to return, which resulted in a two-year stand off between herself and the Grand Duke, for he would not consent to her return to France, a return she begged for in her parting letter to him. Madame du Deffand's mission having failed, Louis XIV made one final attempt to reconcile the Grand Ducal couple, to no avail. Therefore, all attempts at conciliation having failed, Cosimo capitulated to Marguerite Louise, in a contract signed on 26 December 1674: Marguerite Louise, provided for with a pension of 80,000 livres, was allowed to leave for France, but she had to confine herself to the Saint Pierre Abbey of Montmartre
Saint Pierre de Montmartre
The Church of Saint Peter of Montmartre is the lesser known of the two main churches on Montmartre in Paris, the other being the 19th-century Sacré-Cœur Basilica...
and surrender her rights as a Royal Princess of France. Overjoyed, the Grand Duchess departed for France laden down with the fixtures and furniture of Poggio a Caino, for, in her own words, she had no intention "of setting forth without her proper wages".
Montmartre
News of Marguerite Louse's departure from LivornoLivorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
on the 12 July 1675 was greeted with "a great displeasure" by the Florentines. The nobility, too, sympathised with her, falsely believing Cosimo was to blame for driving Marguerite Louise from Tuscany. Marguerite Louise, initially, patronised charitable works at Montmartre and bore herself with "an air of piety", but soon reverted to her profligate ways, wearing heavy rouge and bright yellow periwigs, and embarking on an affair with the Count of Lovigny, and later with two members of the Luxembourg regiment. Louis XIV, ignoring the 1674 contract's article banning Marguerite Louise from stepping foot outside the convent, allowed the Grand Duchess to court, where she gambled for high stakes.
Because of her "shabby" retinue and short visits, Marguerite Louise garnered the reputation of a Bohemian among the courtiers of Versailles, and, therefore, was compelled to allow "those of insignificant birth" into her circle. The Tuscan envoy, Gondi, issued frequent protests to the French court of Marguerite Louise's behaviour, to no avail. Eventually, the Abbess of Montmartre, Françoise Renée de Lorraine, (1621–1682), when quizzed by the King about Marguerite Louise's latest affair with a groom, interceded, saying, "A conspiracy of silence is the sole antidote to the depravity and excesses of [Marguerite Louise]"; this explains Marguerite Louise's absence from memoirs of the time.
Back in Florence, Cosimo III had the Tuscan envoy report on Marguerite Louise's every movement, which he closely scrutinised. If he deemed a particular action of hers to be offensive, he wrote to Louis XIV, demanding an explanation. Initially sympathetic with Cosimo, Louis XIV, tiring of his endless stream of protests, said, "Since Cosimo had consented to the retirement of his wife to France, he had virtually relinquished all right to interfere in her conduct". That Cosimo III ceased meddling in the affairs of his wife was the result of Louis XIV's rebut. Marguerite Louise was informed of Cosimo III's ensuing illness by her eldest son, Grand Prince Ferdinando, who espoused his mother's cause and corresponded with her. Marguerite Louise, confident of her husband's imminent death, told the French court that "at the first notice of her detested husband's demise, she would fly to Florence to banish all hypocrites and hypocrisy and establish a new government". This, however, was not to be, and Cosimo III actually outlived her two years.
In 1688, saturated in debt, Marguerite Louise wrote to Cosimo, begging for 20,000 crowns. When Cosimo was not initially forthcoming, she switched her focus to her son the Grand Prince, in the hope he would help her, but he feigned he could not, for fear of upsetting his father. Eventually, Cosimo paid off her debts, and her financial security was assured when she inherited a large sum of money from a relative in 1696.
While Marguerite Louise's behaviour—at its worst when she threatened to burn down the convent—was tolerated by the previous Abbess of Montmartre, the new Abbess, Madame d'Harcourt, frequently complained of her to the Grand Duke and the King. In retaliation, Marguerite Louise threatened to kill her with a hatchet and a pistol, and formed a clique against her. Therefore, in line with her wishes, Cosimo III consented to Marguerite Louise's departure for a new convent, Saint-Mandé, on the condition she only leave with the King Louis XIV's explicit permission and be attended to by a chamberlain of his choice. Since she would not assent to these prerequisites, the payment of her pension was suspended, only to be resumed when Louis XIV compelled her to yield.
Saint-Mandé
At Saint-Mandé, Marguerite Louise underwent a transformation: she no longer cared for "excesses", and busied herself with reforming the convent, which she called a "spiritual brothel"; the absentee mother superior, who wore men's clothing, was sent away, non-conformist nuns were removed and it is because of these deeds her behaviour no longer proved a bone of contention with Florence. Marguerite Louise's health began to decline in 1712, with an attack of apoplexyApoplexy
Apoplexy is a medical term, which can be used to describe 'bleeding' in a stroke . Without further specification, it is rather outdated in use. Today it is used only for specific conditions, such as pituitary apoplexy and ovarian apoplexy. In common speech, it is used non-medically to mean a state...
, which left her with a paralysed left arm and foaming mouth. She soon recovered, only to suffer another attack the next year; the death of the only one of her three children she cared for, Grand Prince Ferdinando, contributed to the second attack of apoplexy, which briefly paralysed her eyes and made speech difficult. The Regent of France, Philippe d'Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
, allowed Marguerite Louise to buy a house in Paris, 15 Place des Vosges
Place des Vosges
The Place des Vosges is the oldest planned square in Paris.It is located in the Marais district, and it straddles the dividing-line between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris.- History :...
, where she spent her final years. She corresponded with the Regent's mother, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine was a German princess and the wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV of France. Her vast correspondence provides a detailed account of the personalities and activities at the court of her brother-in-law, Louis XIV...
, and gave assiduously to charity. Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, Princess of France and Grand Duchess of Tuscany, died in September 1721, and was buried in Picpus Cemetery
Picpus Cemetery
The Picpus Cemetery is the largest private cemetery in the city of Paris, France. It was created from land seized from the convent of the Chanoinesses de St-Augustin, during the Revolution. It contains the remains of French aristocrats who had been guillotined during the French Revolution...
, in Paris.
Issue
Cosimo III and Marguerite Louise had three children:- Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany (b.1663 d.1713) married Violante Beatrice of Bavaria, no issue;
- Anna Maria Luisa de' MediciAnna Maria Luisa de' MediciAnna Maria Luisa de' Medici was the last scion of the House of Medici. A patron of the arts, she bequeathed the Medici's large art collection, including the contents of the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti and the Medicean villas, which she inherited upon her brother Gian Gastone's death in 1737, and her...
, Electress Palatine (b.1667 d.1743) married Johann Wilhelm, Elector PalatineJohann Wilhelm, Elector PalatineJohann Wilhelm II, Elector Palatine was Elector Palatine , Duke Palatine of Neuburg/Danube , Duke of Jülich and Berg , and Duke of Upper Palatinate and Cham...
, no issue; - Gian Gastone de' MediciGian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of TuscanyGian Gastone de' Medici was the seventh and last Medicean Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was the second son of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, Princess of France...
, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b.1671 d.1737) married Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-LauenburgAnna Maria Franziska of Saxe-LauenburgAnna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg was the legal Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg in the eyes of the Holy Roman Emperor, the overlord of Saxe-Lauenburg, from 1689 until 1728; however, because her distant cousin George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, conquered the duchy by force in 1689, she...
, no issue.
Ancestors
Titles and styles
- 28 July 1645 – 12 June 1661 Her Royal Highness Mademoiselle d'Orléans
- 12 June 1661 – 23 May 1670 Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess of Tuscany
- 23 May 1670 – 17 September 1721 Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Tuscany