Marie Louise Elisabeth d'Orléans
Encyclopedia
Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Duchess of Berry (duchesse de Berry), (Palace of Versailles
, 20 August 1695 – Paris, 21 July 1719) was a member of the House of Orléans
who married Charles, Duke of Berry.
, Regent of France
, and of his wife Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
, a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France
. She was given the honorary title of Mademoiselle d'Orléans at birth. After her marriage the title would be given to her younger sister Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans
. She was baptised at Saint-Cloud on 29 July 1696.
Louise Élisabeth grew up at the Palais-Royal, the Orléans residence in Paris. After recovering from a near fatal illness at the age of six, her father personally nursed her day and night in order to save her life. Her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
, Madame, known since her childhood as Liselotte, wrote in her memoirs that from a very early age, Louise Élisabeth:
At the age of ten, Louise Élisabeth, again caught smallpox at Saint-Cloud and her grandmother wrote in her memoirs that Mademoiselle d'Orléans was presumed dead for over six hours.
. Papal dispensation having arrived on the 5th, the marriage took place on 6 July 1710 at the Palace of Versailles. The presiding bishop was the Cardinal de Janson. The king ordered his other Orléans granddaughters (Mademoiselle de Chartres
and Mademoiselle de Valois) back from their convent at Chelles.
The position of dame d'honneur was given to Marie Gabrielle de Durfort de Lorges
, the wife of the Duke of Saint-Simon
, while her first cousin, Marie Anne de Bourbon became her lady-in-waiting
, a post Marie Anne later resigned because of her cousin's wayward nature.
In July 1711, the young duchess gave birth to her first child, a girl, at the Palace of Fontainebleau. The girl lived only two days and her death was blamed on the king who had made her mother travel with the Court to Fontainebleau despite the doctors advising her to stay at Versailles or at the Palais Royal because of her advanced pregnancy. The king did not give in and made Louise Élisabeth travel by barge instead of carriage. During this journey, the barge hit a pier of a bridge at Melun
and nearly sank. Louise Élisabeth almost lost her life. According to the doctors, the death of the baby was due to the stress of the journey and the accident. The princess however made a quick recovery.
On 26 March 1713, at Versailles, the Duchess of Berry gave birth to a son, who was given the title Duke of Alençon
. After several attacks of convulsions, the child died at Versailles on 16 June. His heart was taken to the Val-de-Grâce
convent in Paris by the Bishop of Sens, and his body to the Basilica of St Denis. The duchess ordered that her son's governesses continue receiving their annual salary.
In November 1713, it became public that the Duke of Berry had taken as a mistress one of her chamber maids. In turn, Louise Élisabeth took as a lover, a certain "Monsieur La Haye", who had been preceded by Monsieur de Salvert. When her affair with La Haye became known, her husband threatened to have her sent to a convent. Saint-Simon even records on one occasion when Berry kicked his wife in public because of her indiscretions. During her romance with La Haye, she conceived a plan for the two of them to flee to the Netherlands.
In September 1715, Louise Élisabeth was given the Luxembourg Palace
as her Parisian residence, where she gave magnificent banquets. The closing of the Luxembourg Garden
to the public made her unpopular with the Parisian population.
On Friday 21 May 1717, the duchess received at the Luxembourg Peter the Great
, Tsar of Russia, on a semi-official visit to France. In March 1718, she nursed her mother who was ill.
During the Regency, Louise Élisabeth was given an annual income of 600,000 livres
. In addition to the Orléans residences, she was also given the use of the Château de Meudon
after giving back to the Crown the Château d'Amboise
, which had been the official country residence of the Duke of Berry.
Her health deteriorated after the still-birth, in March 1719, of a daughter fathered by Sicaire Antonin Armand Auguste Nicolas d'Aydie, the Chevalier de Rion, whom she had secretly married. At Meudon, she gave a reception in honour of her father who did not approve of her marriage to Rion.
She took up residence at La Muette, where she died on 21 July 1719, at the age of twenty-three. On Saturday 22 July 1719, her heart was taken to the Val-de-Grâce
church in Paris, and on 24 July 1719, she was buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Her funeral arrangements were made by Saint-Simon himself.
Concerning her last visit to her granddaughter, Madame wrote:
During her lifetime, Louise Élisabeth gained a reputation for scandal. In an irony of history, the next duchesse de Berry, Princess Caroline Ferdinande of Naples and Sicily, was also known for her scandalous behaviour.
Sicaire Antonin Armand Auguste Nicolas d'Aydie, Chevalier de Rion, became her lover and she married him in secret in 1718. The couple had one child:
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, 20 August 1695 – Paris, 21 July 1719) was a member of the House of Orléans
House of Orleans
Orléans is the name used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. It became a tradition during France's ancien régime for the duchy of Orléans to be granted as an appanage to a younger son of the king...
who married Charles, Duke of Berry.
Biography
Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans was born at the Palace of Versailles. She was the eldest of the surviving children of Philippe II, Duke of OrléansPhilippe 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...
, Regent of France
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
, and of his wife Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Originally known as the second Mademoiselle de Blois, that style eventually gave way to the name Françoise Marie de...
, a legitimised daughter of 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...
. She was given the honorary title of Mademoiselle d'Orléans at birth. After her marriage the title would be given to her younger sister Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans
Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans
Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans was the third daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, and Françoise Marie de Bourbon, a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. She was Abbess of Chelles.-Biography:Marie Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans was born at the Palace of Versailles on...
. She was baptised at Saint-Cloud on 29 July 1696.
Louise Élisabeth grew up at the Palais-Royal, the Orléans residence in Paris. After recovering from a near fatal illness at the age of six, her father personally nursed her day and night in order to save her life. Her paternal grandmother, 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...
, Madame, known since her childhood as Liselotte, wrote in her memoirs that from a very early age, Louise Élisabeth:
... had entirely her own way, so that it is not surprising she should be like a headstrong horse.
At the age of ten, Louise Élisabeth, again caught smallpox at Saint-Cloud and her grandmother wrote in her memoirs that Mademoiselle d'Orléans was presumed dead for over six hours.
Marriage
It was decided, with the help of Marie Adélaïde, Duchess of Burgundy, her future sister-in-law, that Louise Élisabeth would marry Charles, Duke of Berry, the youngest son of Le Grand Dauphin LouisLouis, Grand Dauphin
Louis of France was the eldest son and heir of Louis XIV, King of France, and his spouse, Maria Theresa of Spain. As the heir apparent to the French throne, he was styled Dauphin...
. Papal dispensation having arrived on the 5th, the marriage took place on 6 July 1710 at the Palace of Versailles. The presiding bishop was the Cardinal de Janson. The king ordered his other Orléans granddaughters (Mademoiselle de Chartres
Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans
Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans was the third daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, and Françoise Marie de Bourbon, a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. She was Abbess of Chelles.-Biography:Marie Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans was born at the Palace of Versailles on...
and Mademoiselle de Valois) back from their convent at Chelles.
The position of dame d'honneur was given to Marie Gabrielle de Durfort de Lorges
Guy Aldonce de Durfort de Lorges
Guy Aldonce de Durfort, duc de Lorges, marshal of France, , was a French nobleman and soldier.Guy Aldonce was the fourth son of Guy Aldonce de Durfort , marquis of Duras, count of Rozan and of Lorges, maréchal de camp, and Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne, daughter of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne and...
, the wife of the Duke of Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy commonly known as Saint-Simon was a French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born in Paris...
, while her first cousin, Marie Anne de Bourbon became her lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
, a post Marie Anne later resigned because of her cousin's wayward nature.
I shall pass lightly over an event which, engrafted upon some others, made some noise, notwithstanding the care taken to hush it up. The Duchess of Burgundy supped at Saint-CloudSaint-CloudSaint-Cloud is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.Like other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine or Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of the wealthiest cities in France, ranked 22nd out of the 36500 in...
one evening with the Duchess of Berry and others, Madame de Saint-Simon absenting herself from the party. The Duchess of Berry and the Duke of OrléansPhilippe II, Duke of OrléansPhilippe 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...
, but she more than he, got so drunk that the Duchess of Burgundy, the Duchess of Orléans, and the rest of the company knew not what to do. The Duke of Berry was there, and him they talked over as well as they could, and the numerous company was amused by the Grand DuchessMarguerite Louise d'OrléansMarguerite Louise d'Orléans 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...
, to the best of her ability. The effect of the wine in more ways than one was such that people were troubled, and, since she could not be sobered, it became necessary to carry her back, drunk as she was, to Versailles. All the servants waiting with the carriages saw the condition she was in, and did not keep it to themselves; nevertheless, they succeeded in concealing it from the King, from Monseigneur, and from Madame de Maintenon
In July 1711, the young duchess gave birth to her first child, a girl, at the Palace of Fontainebleau. The girl lived only two days and her death was blamed on the king who had made her mother travel with the Court to Fontainebleau despite the doctors advising her to stay at Versailles or at the Palais Royal because of her advanced pregnancy. The king did not give in and made Louise Élisabeth travel by barge instead of carriage. During this journey, the barge hit a pier of a bridge at Melun
Melun
Melun is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Located in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, Melun is the capital of the department, as the seat of an arrondissement...
and nearly sank. Louise Élisabeth almost lost her life. According to the doctors, the death of the baby was due to the stress of the journey and the accident. The princess however made a quick recovery.
On 26 March 1713, at Versailles, the Duchess of Berry gave birth to a son, who was given the title Duke of Alençon
Counts and dukes of Alençon
Several counts and then royal dukes of Alençon have figured in French history. The title has been awarded to a younger brother of the French sovereign.-History:...
. After several attacks of convulsions, the child died at Versailles on 16 June. His heart was taken to the Val-de-Grâce
Val-de-Grâce
This article describes the hospital and former abbey. For the main article on Mansart and Lemercier's central church, see Church of the Val-de-Grâce....
convent in Paris by the Bishop of Sens, and his body to the Basilica of St Denis. The duchess ordered that her son's governesses continue receiving their annual salary.
In November 1713, it became public that the Duke of Berry had taken as a mistress one of her chamber maids. In turn, Louise Élisabeth took as a lover, a certain "Monsieur La Haye", who had been preceded by Monsieur de Salvert. When her affair with La Haye became known, her husband threatened to have her sent to a convent. Saint-Simon even records on one occasion when Berry kicked his wife in public because of her indiscretions. During her romance with La Haye, she conceived a plan for the two of them to flee to the Netherlands.
Dowager Duchess
On 5 May 1714, her husband died from internal injuries sustained in a hunting accident, whereupon Louise Élisabeth became the Dowager Duchess of Berry. On 16 June 1714, seven weeks after the death of her husband, she gave birth, at Versailles, to a daughter who died the following day.In September 1715, Louise Élisabeth was given the Luxembourg Palace
Luxembourg Palace
The Luxembourg Palace in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, north of the Luxembourg Garden , is the seat of the French Senate.The formal Luxembourg Garden presents a 25-hectare green parterre of gravel and lawn populated with statues and provided with large basins of water where children sail model...
as her Parisian residence, where she gave magnificent banquets. The closing of the Luxembourg Garden
Jardin du Luxembourg
The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris (224,500 m²...
to the public made her unpopular with the Parisian population.
On Friday 21 May 1717, the duchess received at the Luxembourg Peter the Great
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
, Tsar of Russia, on a semi-official visit to France. In March 1718, she nursed her mother who was ill.
During the Regency, Louise Élisabeth was given an annual income of 600,000 livres
French livre
The livre was the currency of France until 1795. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.-Etymology:...
. In addition to the Orléans residences, she was also given the use of the Château de Meudon
Château de Meudon
The former Château de Meudon, on a hill in Meudon, about 4 kilometres south-west of Paris, occupied the terraced steeply sloping site. It was acquired by Louis XIV, who greatly expanded its as a residence for Louis, le Grand Dauphin...
after giving back to the Crown the Château d'Amboise
Château d'Amboise
The royal Château at Amboise is a château located in Amboise, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France.-Origins and royal residence:...
, which had been the official country residence of the Duke of Berry.
Her health deteriorated after the still-birth, in March 1719, of a daughter fathered by Sicaire Antonin Armand Auguste Nicolas d'Aydie, the Chevalier de Rion, whom she had secretly married. At Meudon, she gave a reception in honour of her father who did not approve of her marriage to Rion.
She took up residence at La Muette, where she died on 21 July 1719, at the age of twenty-three. On Saturday 22 July 1719, her heart was taken to the Val-de-Grâce
Val-de-Grâce
This article describes the hospital and former abbey. For the main article on Mansart and Lemercier's central church, see Church of the Val-de-Grâce....
church in Paris, and on 24 July 1719, she was buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Her funeral arrangements were made by Saint-Simon himself.
Concerning her last visit to her granddaughter, Madame wrote:
28th March, 1719. I went to see her last Sunday, the 23rd May, and found her in a sad state, suffering from pains in her toes and the soles of her feet until the tears came into her eyes. I went away because I saw that she refrained from crying out on my account. I thought she was in a bad way. A consultation was held by her three physicians, the result of which was that they determined to bleed her in the feet. They had some difficulty in persuading her to submit to it, because the pain in her feet was so great that she uttered the most piercing screams if the bedclothes only rubbed against them. The bleeding, however, succeeded, and she was in some degree relieved. It was the goutGoutGout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
in both feet
During her lifetime, Louise Élisabeth gained a reputation for scandal. In an irony of history, the next duchesse de Berry, Princess Caroline Ferdinande of Naples and Sicily, was also known for her scandalous behaviour.
Issue
The Duke and the Duchess of Berry had three children who never reached one month of age. Since their father was Duke of Berry only by courtesy, their surname was not "de Berry" but "d'Alençon", taken from his first substantial duchy.- N... (not baptized) d'Alençon (Palace of Fontainebleau, 21 July 1711 - same day, Palace of Fontainebleau)
- Charles d'Alençon, Duke of Alençon (as a courtesy title) (Palace of Versailles, 26 March 1713 – 16 April 1713, Palace of Versailles)
- Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Alençon (Palace of Versailles, 16 June 1714 – 17 June 1714, Palace of Versailles)
Sicaire Antonin Armand Auguste Nicolas d'Aydie, Chevalier de Rion, became her lover and she married him in secret in 1718. The couple had one child:
- N..., Mademoiselle d'Aydie de Rion (Luxembourg PalaceLuxembourg PalaceThe Luxembourg Palace in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, north of the Luxembourg Garden , is the seat of the French Senate.The formal Luxembourg Garden presents a 25-hectare green parterre of gravel and lawn populated with statues and provided with large basins of water where children sail model...
, 28 March 1719) stillborn, but, according to Duclos, subsequently became a nun at the Abbey of Pontoise.
Ancestors
Titles and styles
- 20 August 1695 – 6 July 1710 Her Serene HighnessSerene HighnessHis/Her Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein and Monaco. It also preceded the princely titles of members of some German ruling and mediatised dynasties as well as some non-ruling but princely German noble families until 1918...
Mademoiselle d'Orléans - 6 July 1710 – 5 May 1714 Her Royal HighnessRoyal HighnessRoyal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
the Duchess of Berry (Madame la duchesse de Berry) - 5 May 1714 – 21 July 1719 Her Royal HighnessRoyal HighnessRoyal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
the Dowager Duchess of Berry (Madame la duchesse de Berry douairière)