Élisabeth Charlotte of Orléans
Encyclopedia
Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (13 September 1676 – 23 December 1744) was a French petite-fille de France
and by marriage to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine
, duchess and later regent of Lorraine and Bar
. She was also suo jure
Princess of Commercy
. Among her children was Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
, a co-founder of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
outside Paris. She was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
, Monsieur
, and of his second wife, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
, Madame, the daughter of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
. Her father was the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France
.
As a petite-fille de France, she was entitled to have the style of Her Royal Highness
, as well as the right to an armchair in the presence of the King.
At birth, she was given the honorary style Mademoiselle de Chartres, taken from the name of one of her father's appanage
s. After the marriage of her two older half-sisters, Marie Louise and Anne Marie born of the first marriage of their father to Henrietta Anne of England, she was known as Madame Royale, according to her status as the highest-ranking unmarried princess in France.
As a child, Élisabeth-Charlotte was described by her mother as 'so terribly wild' and 'rough as a boy'.
To her father's displeasure, she inherited her mother's frank opinions.
, Élisabeth Charlotte said:
As her mother despised the king's illegitimate children, the chances of such an alliance were remote; however, in 1692, to the 'horror' of the Duchess of Orléans, such a mismatch occurred when the Duke of Chartres
married, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan
.
Élisabeth's mother initially wanted her daughter to marry King William III of England
, who was the widower of Queen Mary II of England
, but, due to religious differences, William being a Protestant, the marriage did not materialise.
Other candidates considered were Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I
; Joseph was highly regarded, and, had the marriage taken place, the union would have been a way of reconciling the Bourbons and their traditional rivals, the Habsburgs. Even her widowed first cousin Monseigneur, the Dauphin of France, was considered, as were his son, Louis de France, and another cousin, the legitimised Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine
, eldest son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. The latter, much to the relief of Madame did not occur as the Duke of Maine married Mademoiselle de Charolais in May 1692.
Élisabeth Charlotte was finally married on 13 October 1698 at the Palace of Fontainebleau to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine
, son of Charles V, Duke of Lorraine
, and of the Archduchess Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria
.
The marriage was the result of the Treaty of Ryswick
, one of its conditions being that the Duchy of Lorraine, which had been for many years in the possession of France, be restored to Leopold Joseph, a son of Charles V, Duke of Lorraine
. Thus, Élisabeth Charlotte was but an instrument to cement the peace treaty. Her mother later said that her daughter "was a victim of war
".
but was regarded by some as a rank not deserved for a petite-fille de France. Despite this, the House of Lorraine received a dowry
of 900,000 Livres. So many honors excited the jealousy of the other members of the royal family, and, taking the pretext of the death of a child of the Duke of Maine, certain princesses claimed to attend the marriage ceremonies by proxy in dress of mourning.
After Élisabeth Charlotte's marriage, her niece Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans
, who was born on 13 August 1698, took on the style of Mademoiselle de Chartres.
To everyone surprise, what had been expected to be an unhappy union turned out to be a marriage of love and happiness. With the birth of her children, Élisabeth Charlotte showed great maternal instinct and a naturally caring character.
The marriage produced thirteen children, of which five survived into adulthood. Three of them died within a week in May 1711 due to a smallpox outbreak at the Château de Lunéville
, the country seat of the Duke's of Lorraine.
After ten years, however, her husband turned his attentions to another, Anne-Marguerite de Lignéville, princesse de Beauvau-Craon. Embarrassed, Élisabeth Charlotte, on her mother's advice, remained silent and continued to live in the Château de Lunéville with her husband and his mistress. After her husband's liaison ended, the couple had five more children, one of whom would become the father of Queen Marie Antoinette
.
In June 1701, her father died after having a heated argument with Louis XIV at Versailles about the Duke of Chartres. Her brother thus became the new Duke of Orléans and head of the House of Orléans
. Her mother was left at the mercy of Louis XIV who forbade her from visiting foreign soil . As a result, Élisabeth Charlotte was only able to see her mother when she went to Versailles. Despite this, Élisabeth Charlotte and her mother still saw each other and kept in contact through letters. Their correspondence was tragically destroyed in a fire at the Château de Lunéville in 1719.
On the death of Louis XIV in 1715, her elder brother, became the Regent
of France for the five-year old King Louis XV
. In 1718, during a brief visit to the French court in Paris, her niece, the Dowager Duchess of Berry
, gave a splendid reception in her honour at the Palais du Luxembourg
which included 132 hors-d'œuvres, 32 soups, 60 entrées, 130 hot entremets, 60 cold entremets, 72 plats ronds, 82 pigeons, 370 partridges and pheasants and 126 sweetbreads. The dessert consisted of 100 baskets of fresh fruit, 94 baskets of dried fruit, 50 dishes of fruits glacés and 106 compotes. The event was considered one of the most lavish of the season
Upon leaving France, her husband received the style of Royal Highness, given to foreign princes, as, at the Court of France, the House of Lorraine was deemed as being a Foreign House
.
Louis XV was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Reims, on 25 October 1722. The occasion was the only time Élisabeth Charlotte's youngest child Anne Charlotte
would see her grandmother who died a few weeks later on 8 December; Élisabeth Charlotte's brother died a year after the death of their mother, on 2 December 1723.
. After being educated in Vienna
, Francis Stephen returned to Lorraine in 1737, ending his mother's tenure as regent.
Élisabeth Charlotte tried to engage her youngest child Anne Charlotte to King Louis XV; this project failed due to the intrigues of Duke of Bourbon; Élisabeth Charlotte then tried to arrange the marriage of Anne Charlotte to her first cousin Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, who had been recently widowed; Louis d'Orléans refused.
, Élisabeth Charlotte moved into the Château d'Haroué in nearby Commercy
, which was turned into a sovereign principality for her to enjoy during her dowager
years.
In 1737, her daughter, Élisabeth Thérèse married Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia
. Elisabetta Teresa, as she was known in Italy, died in childbirth in 1741 after giving birth to Élisabeth Charlotte's grandson, Benedetto, Duke of Chablais
.
On 7 January 1744, her youngest son, Charles Alexander of Lorraine
made a "marriage of love" with Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, who died in childbirth on 16 December 1744.
Élisabeth Charlotte died of a stroke, on 23 December 1744, one week after her daughter-in-law and grandchild, at the age of sixty-eight. She was the last of her siblings to die and had outlived ten of her thirteen children. Nine months after her death, her son Francis Stephen became Holy Roman Emperor
.
She was buried in the funerary chapel of the Dukes of Lorraine in the Saint-François-des-Cordeliers church in Nancy.
.
In 1730, she offered to the church of Mattaincourt
the wooden gilded shrine for the relics of Pierre Fourier
, the former parish priest who had been beatified on 29 January 1730. The modern basilique Saint-Pierre-Fournier was built in 1853 on the site of the former church.
In 1696, the French author Charles Perrault
dedicated Les Contes de ma mère l'Oye, ("Tales of Mother Goose")
to Élisabeth Charlotte, who was then nineteen.
Fils de France
Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...
and by marriage to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine
Leopold, Duke of Lorraine
Leopold , surnamed the Good, was Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1690 to his death.-Early life:Leopold Joseph Charles Dominique Agapet Hyacinthe was the son of Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, and his wife Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria, a half-sister of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.At the time of...
, duchess and later regent of Lorraine and Bar
Bar-le-Duc
Bar-le-Duc, formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the préfecture . The department is in Lorraine in north-eastern France-Geography:...
. She was also suo jure
Suo jure
Suo jure is a Latin phrase meaning "in her [or his] own right".It is commonly encountered in the context of titles of nobility, especially in cases where a wife may hold a title in her own right rather than through her marriage....
Princess of Commercy
Commercy
Commercy is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It is the home of the madeleines referred to by Marcel Proust in A la Recherche du Temps Perdu.-History:...
. Among her children was Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...
, a co-founder of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
Family
Élisabeth Charlotte was born at the Château de Saint-CloudChâteau de Saint-Cloud
The Château de Saint-Cloud was a Palace in France, built on a magnificent site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 10 kilometres west of Paris. Today it is a large park on the outskirts of the capital and is owned by the state, but the area as a whole has had a large...
outside Paris. She was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Philippe of France was the youngest son of Louis XIII of France and his queen consort Anne of Austria. His older brother was the famous Louis XIV, le roi soleil. Styled Duke of Anjou from birth, Philippe became Duke of Orléans upon the death of his uncle Gaston, Duke of Orléans...
, Monsieur
Fils de France
Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...
, and of his second wife, 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, the daughter of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
Charles Louis, , Elector Palatine KG was the second son of Frederick V of the Palatinate, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and his wife, Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England ....
. Her father was the only sibling of King 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...
.
As a petite-fille de France, she was entitled to have the style of Her Royal Highness
Royal Highness
Royal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
, as well as the right to an armchair in the presence of the King.
At birth, she was given the honorary style Mademoiselle de Chartres, taken from the name of one of her father's appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
s. After the marriage of her two older half-sisters, Marie Louise and Anne Marie born of the first marriage of their father to Henrietta Anne of England, she was known as Madame Royale, according to her status as the highest-ranking unmarried princess in France.
As a child, Élisabeth-Charlotte was described by her mother as 'so terribly wild' and 'rough as a boy'.
To her father's displeasure, she inherited her mother's frank opinions.
Marriage
Her mother wanted her to marry with the same level of prestige as that of her sisters. When her cousin's wife, the Dauphine suggested she should marry the Dauphine's younger brother Joseph Clemens of BavariaJoseph Clemens of Bavaria
Joseph Clemens of Bavaria was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1688 to 1723.-Biography:...
, Élisabeth Charlotte said:
I am not made, madame, for a younger son
As her mother despised the king's illegitimate children, the chances of such an alliance were remote; however, in 1692, to the 'horror' of the Duchess of Orléans, such a mismatch occurred when the Duke of Chartres
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...
married, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan , better known as Madame de Montespan, was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children....
.
Élisabeth's mother initially wanted her daughter to marry King William III of England
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
, who was the widower of Queen Mary II of England
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
, but, due to religious differences, William being a Protestant, the marriage did not materialise.
Other candidates considered were Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I
Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph I , Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, King of the Romans was the elder son of Emperor Leopold I and his third wife, Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg....
; Joseph was highly regarded, and, had the marriage taken place, the union would have been a way of reconciling the Bourbons and their traditional rivals, the Habsburgs. Even her widowed first cousin Monseigneur, the Dauphin of France, was considered, as were his son, Louis de France, and another cousin, the legitimised Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine
Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Legitimé de France was the eldest legitimised son of the Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan...
, eldest son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. The latter, much to the relief of Madame did not occur as the Duke of Maine married Mademoiselle de Charolais in May 1692.
Élisabeth Charlotte was finally married on 13 October 1698 at the Palace of Fontainebleau to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine
Leopold, Duke of Lorraine
Leopold , surnamed the Good, was Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1690 to his death.-Early life:Leopold Joseph Charles Dominique Agapet Hyacinthe was the son of Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, and his wife Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria, a half-sister of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.At the time of...
, son of Charles V, Duke 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...
, and of the Archduchess Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria
Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria
Eleonor Maria Josefa of Austria , was the daughter of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Mantua, and was the Queen Consort of Poland-Lithuania, and Duchess of Lorraine.-Biography:Eleonor married Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki,...
.
The marriage was the result of the Treaty of Ryswick
Treaty of Ryswick
The Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces.Negotiations started in May...
, one of its conditions being that the Duchy of Lorraine, which had been for many years in the possession of France, be restored to Leopold Joseph, a son of Charles V, Duke 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...
. Thus, Élisabeth Charlotte was but an instrument to cement the peace treaty. Her mother later said that her daughter "was a victim of war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
".
Duchess of Lorraine
The marriage was seen as a brilliant match by the House of LorraineHouse of Lorraine
The House of Lorraine, the main and now only remaining line known as Habsburg-Lorraine, is one of the most important and was one of the longest-reigning royal houses in the history of Europe...
but was regarded by some as a rank not deserved for a petite-fille de France. Despite this, the House of Lorraine received a dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
of 900,000 Livres. So many honors excited the jealousy of the other members of the royal family, and, taking the pretext of the death of a child of the Duke of Maine, certain princesses claimed to attend the marriage ceremonies by proxy in dress of mourning.
After Élisabeth Charlotte's marriage, her niece 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...
, who was born on 13 August 1698, took on the style of Mademoiselle de Chartres.
To everyone surprise, what had been expected to be an unhappy union turned out to be a marriage of love and happiness. With the birth of her children, Élisabeth Charlotte showed great maternal instinct and a naturally caring character.
The marriage produced thirteen children, of which five survived into adulthood. Three of them died within a week in May 1711 due to a smallpox outbreak at the Château de Lunéville
Château de Lunéville
The Château de Lunéville which had belonged to the Dukes of Lorraine since the thirteenth century, was rebuilt as “the Versailles of Lorraine” by Duke Léopold from 1703 to 1723, from designs of Pierre Bourdict and Nicolas Dorbay and then of the architect Germain Boffrand, whose masterwork it became...
, the country seat of the Duke's of Lorraine.
After ten years, however, her husband turned his attentions to another, Anne-Marguerite de Lignéville, princesse de Beauvau-Craon. Embarrassed, Élisabeth Charlotte, on her mother's advice, remained silent and continued to live in the Château de Lunéville with her husband and his mistress. After her husband's liaison ended, the couple had five more children, one of whom would become the father of Queen Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
.
In June 1701, her father died after having a heated argument with Louis XIV at Versailles about the Duke of Chartres. Her brother thus became the new Duke of Orléans and head 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...
. Her mother was left at the mercy of Louis XIV who forbade her from visiting foreign soil . As a result, Élisabeth Charlotte was only able to see her mother when she went to Versailles. Despite this, Élisabeth Charlotte and her mother still saw each other and kept in contact through letters. Their correspondence was tragically destroyed in a fire at the Château de Lunéville in 1719.
On the death of Louis XIV in 1715, her elder brother, became the Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of France for the five-year old King Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
. In 1718, during a brief visit to the French court in Paris, her niece, the Dowager Duchess of Berry
Marie Louise Elisabeth d'Orléans
Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Duchess of Berry , was a member of the House of Orléans who married Charles, Duke of Berry.-Biography:...
, gave a splendid reception in her honour at the Palais du Luxembourg
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...
which included 132 hors-d'œuvres, 32 soups, 60 entrées, 130 hot entremets, 60 cold entremets, 72 plats ronds, 82 pigeons, 370 partridges and pheasants and 126 sweetbreads. The dessert consisted of 100 baskets of fresh fruit, 94 baskets of dried fruit, 50 dishes of fruits glacés and 106 compotes. The event was considered one of the most lavish of the season
Upon leaving France, her husband received the style of Royal Highness, given to foreign princes, as, at the Court of France, the House of Lorraine was deemed as being a Foreign House
Foreign Prince
Foreign Prince is the English translation of prince étranger, a high, though somewhat ambiguous, rank at the French royal court of the ancien régime.-Terminology:...
.
Louis XV was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Reims, on 25 October 1722. The occasion was the only time Élisabeth Charlotte's youngest child Anne Charlotte
Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine
Anne Charlotte of Lorraine was the Abbess of Remiremont, Mons and Essen. She was the youngest daughter and the youngest of thirteen children of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, and his spouse Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans...
would see her grandmother who died a few weeks later on 8 December; Élisabeth Charlotte's brother died a year after the death of their mother, on 2 December 1723.
Regent of Lorraine
Her husband died in 1729, leaving his wife Regent of Lorraine for their son, Francis Stephen of LorraineFrancis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...
. After being educated in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Francis Stephen returned to Lorraine in 1737, ending his mother's tenure as regent.
Élisabeth Charlotte tried to engage her youngest child Anne Charlotte to King Louis XV; this project failed due to the intrigues of Duke of Bourbon; Élisabeth Charlotte then tried to arrange the marriage of Anne Charlotte to her first cousin Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, who had been recently widowed; Louis d'Orléans refused.
Princess of Commercy
Unable to prevent her son from giving up the duchy of Lorraine to Stanisław Leszczyński when he married the Habsburg heiress, Maria Theresa of AustriaMaria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
, Élisabeth Charlotte moved into the Château d'Haroué in nearby Commercy
Commercy
Commercy is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It is the home of the madeleines referred to by Marcel Proust in A la Recherche du Temps Perdu.-History:...
, which was turned into a sovereign principality for her to enjoy during her dowager
Dowager
A dowager is a widow who holds a title or property, or dower, derived from her deceased husband. As an adjective, "Dowager" usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles....
years.
In 1737, her daughter, Élisabeth Thérèse married Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia
Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia
Charles Emmanuel III was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death.-Biography:...
. Elisabetta Teresa, as she was known in Italy, died in childbirth in 1741 after giving birth to Élisabeth Charlotte's grandson, Benedetto, Duke of Chablais
Benedetto, Duke of Chablais
Benedetto of Savoy was a prince of Savoy and Duke of Chablais. He was born in the reign of his father Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia. He has no descendants but had a distinguished military career...
.
On 7 January 1744, her youngest son, Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine was a Lorraine-born Austrian soldier.-Background:Charles was the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans...
made a "marriage of love" with Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, who died in childbirth on 16 December 1744.
Élisabeth Charlotte died of a stroke, on 23 December 1744, one week after her daughter-in-law and grandchild, at the age of sixty-eight. She was the last of her siblings to die and had outlived ten of her thirteen children. Nine months after her death, her son Francis Stephen became Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
.
She was buried in the funerary chapel of the Dukes of Lorraine in the Saint-François-des-Cordeliers church in Nancy.
Legacy
Élisabeth Charlotte authorised the construction of a hospital in the town of BruyèresBruyères
Bruyères is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.The town built up around a castle built on a hill in the locality in the 6th century. It was the birthplace of Jean Lurçat, in 1892.-History:...
.
In 1730, she offered to the church of Mattaincourt
Mattaincourt
Mattaincourt is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.Inhabitants are called Mattaincurtiens.-Geography:Mattaincourt lies on the southern part of the Lorraine Plateau, in a wooded area of gentle hills known as the Vôge. It is some to the east-northeast of Vittel and...
the wooden gilded shrine for the relics of Pierre Fourier
Peter Fourier
Saint Peter Fourier, C.R.S.A., was a French canon regular who is honored as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, who had served as a pastor in Mattaincourt , and who also helped to found a religious congregation of canonesses dedicated to the care of poor children...
, the former parish priest who had been beatified on 29 January 1730. The modern basilique Saint-Pierre-Fournier was built in 1853 on the site of the former church.
In 1696, the French author Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
dedicated Les Contes de ma mère l'Oye, ("Tales of Mother Goose")
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
to Élisabeth Charlotte, who was then nineteen.
Issue
- Prince Léopold, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (26 August 1699 – 2 April 1700) died in infancy.
- Élisabeth Charlotte of LorrainePrincess Élisabeth Charlotte of LorraineÉlisabeth Charlotte of Lorraine was a princess of Lorraine. She died of Smallpox aged 10...
(21 October 1700 – 4 May 1711) died of smallpox. - Louise Christine of Lorraine (13 November 1701 – 18 November 1701) died in infancy.
- Marie Gabrièle Charlotte of Lorraine (30 December 1702 – 11 May 1711) died of smallpox.
- Louis, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (28 January 1704 – 10 May 1711) died of smallpox.
- Joséphine Gabrièle of Lorraine (16 February 1705 – 25 March 1708) died in infancy.
- Gabrièle Louise of Lorraine (4 March 1706 – 13 June 1710) died in infancy.
- Léopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of LorraineLéopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of LorraineLéopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine was heir apparent to the throne of the sovereign Duchy of Lorraine....
(25 April 1707 – 4 June 1723) died unmarried. - Francis I, Holy Roman EmperorFrancis I, Holy Roman EmperorFrancis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...
(8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) married Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria and had issue. - Eléonore of Lorraine (4 June 1710 – 28 July 1710) died in infancy.
- Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine (15 October 1711 – 3 July 1741) married Charles Emmanuel III of SardiniaCharles Emmanuel III of SardiniaCharles Emmanuel III was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death.-Biography:...
and had issue. - Charles Alexander of Lorraine (12 December 1712 – 4 July 1780) married Maria Anna of Austria and had no surviving issue.
- Anne Charlotte of LorrainePrincess Anne Charlotte of LorraineAnne Charlotte of Lorraine was the Abbess of Remiremont, Mons and Essen. She was the youngest daughter and the youngest of thirteen children of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, and his spouse Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans...
(17 May 1714 – 7 November 1773) died unmarried.
Ancestors
Titles and styles
- 13 September 1676 – 10 April 1684 Her Royal Highness Mademoiselle de Chartres
- 10 April 1684 – 13 October 1698 Her Royal Highness Mademoiselle
- 13 October 1698 – 27 March 1729 Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Lorraine
- 27 March 1729 – 23 December 1744 Her Royal Highness The Dowager Duchess of Lorraine