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Anne Marie Louise
La Grande Mademoiselle
Portrait by the school of Pierre Mignard (Musée de Versailles)
Duchess of Montpensier
Tenure	4 June 1627 – 5 April 1693
Predecessor	Marie de Bourbon
Successor	Philippe de France
Burial	19 April 1693 Royal Basilica of Saint Denis, Saint Denis, France
Names Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans
House	House of Orléans
Father	Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Mother	Marie, Duchess of Montpensier
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature

Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, (29 May 1627 – 5 April 1693) known as La Grande Mademoiselle, was the eldest daughter of Gaston d'Orléans, and his first wife Marie de Bourbon. She was one of the greatest heiresses in history. She died unmarried and childless, leaving her vast fortune to her cousin, Philippe de France. After a string of proposals from various members of European royalty, including Charles II of England, Afonso VI of Portugal and Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy, she eventually fell in love with Antoine Nompar de Caumont and scandalised the court when she asked Louis XIV for permission to marry him, as such a union was viewed as a mésalliance. She is best remembered for her role in the Fronde, bringing the famous Lully to the king's court, and her Mémoires. She carried out various improvements to the Château d'Eu, Château de Saint-Fargeau and Château de Choisy, her personal properties.

Biography

Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans was born at the Palais du Louvre in Paris, on 29 May 1627. Her father was Gaston, Duke of Orléans, known as Monsieur, the only surviving brother of the then ruling Louis XIII of France. Her mother, the twenty-one-year old Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier, the only member of the Montpensier branch of the House of Bourbon until the birth of her daughter, died five days after giving her birth, leaving the newly born Duchess of Montpensier heiress to her huge fortune, which included five duchies, the land of Auvergne and the sovereign Principality of Joinville, in the former province of Champagne.

As the eldest daughter of Monsieur, Anne Marie Louise was officially known as Mademoiselle from the time of her birth, and because she was the granddaughter of a King of France, Henry IV, her uncle Louis XIII created for her the new title of petite-fille de France ("Granddaughter of France"). Until the birth in 1638 of her cousin, the future King Louis XIV, she was the most important child at the French royal court.

Youth

Mademoiselle was moved from the Louvre to the Palais des Tuileries and placed under the care of Jeanne de Harley, Madame de Saint Georges who was also the head of her household. Mademoiselle always had a great sense of her own self importance and when asked about her maternal grandmother the Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse she replied that she was not her grandmother because she was "not a queen". She grew up in the company of Mademoiselle de Longueville, as well as the sisters of the Maréchal de Gramont. Madame de Saint George, as Mademoiselle's mentor and head of her household, taught the child to read and write.

Mademoiselle was very close to her father, Gaston, Duke of Orléans. Frequently involved in conspiracies against Louis XIII and his unpopular chief advisor, Cardinal Richelieu, he was often on bad terms with the court and thus banished on several occasions.

Her father married Marguerite of Lorraine in a secret ceremony in Nancy during the night of 2 – 3 January 1632. Having not obtained the prior permission of his elder brother, the couple could not appear at the French court and the marriage was kept secret. On learning that the cardinal was the force behind her father's exile, Mademoiselle would sing the various street songs and lampoons in the presence of the cardinal himself which earned her a cold scolding from the cardinal, who was her godfather.

The seven year old Mademoiselle saw her father again in October 1634 having renounced his associates. For the first time in two years she met him at Limours where seeing him she "flung herself into his arms". Gaston resided at Blois where Mademoiselle would be a frequent visitor.

At the birth of the future Louis XIV, the determined Mademoiselle decided that she would marry him, calling him "her little husband" to the amusement of Louis XIII. Richelieu subsequently reprimanded her for her remarks. Regardless of her dreams, her father made no secret that he wanted her to marry Louis, Count of Soissons, a prince du Sang (descended in the male line from the monarch) and one of his old conspirators. This marriage never materialised.

Madame de Saint Georges died in 1643 and Mademoiselle's father chose Madame de Fiesque to take her place. Mademoiselle was devastated at the death of her former governess and, unkeen on having a new governess, was an awkward student; she once recalled that she locked her governess in her room as well as Madame de Fiesque's grandson who was in another. Her uncle also died in May 1643, leaving Louis XIV as King of France. Louis XIII, prior to death, had accepted his brother's plea for forgiveness and authorised his marriage to Marguerite of Lorraine, whereupon the couple undertook nuptials for the third time in July 1643 before the Archbishop of Paris at Meudon, and the Duke and Duchess of Orléans were finally received at court.

In 1646, she met Charles, Prince of Wales. Her aunt, Queen Henrietta Maria of England, encouraged the idea of marrying Charles, stating he had taken a "fancy" to Mademoiselle, but nothing further was said at the time.

Soon after, at the death of Empress Maria Anna, Mademoiselle ceased all interest in the prince and thus sighed over a union with her widower, Emperor Ferdinand III, Charles having become the "object of pity". However, under the influence of Mazarin, Queen Anne ignored Mademoiselle's pleas. The "wealthiest single princess of Europe" was unable to marry the infant Louis XIV or his brother, the Duke of Anjou. Queen Anne suggested her brother the Cardinal Ferdinand of Austria; Mademoiselle declined.

The Fronde

One of the key areas of the life of Mademoiselle her involvement in the period of French history known as the Fronde. This was a civil war in France which came in two main parts called the Fronde Parlementaire (1648–1649) and the Fronde des nobles (1650–1653). The former regarded a tax which was levied on judicial officers of the Parlement of Paris, a tax which was met with a refusal to pay and the leadership of Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (future Grand Condé) who took the city of Paris by siege. The influence of Cardinal Mazarin was also opposed.

At the Peace of Rueil of 1 April 1649, the Fronde Parlementaire ended and the court returned to Paris in August amid great celebration. Mademoiselle caught smallpox but survived the illness. Having convalesced, Mademoiselle befriended Claire Clémence de Brézé, Madame la Princesse, the unwanted wife of the Grand Condé. The pair sojourned in Bordeaux where Mademoiselle was involved in the peace which ended the siege of Bordeaux in October 1650 which made her look like a "frondeuse" in the eyes of Queen Anne.

Even in uncertain times, the subject of a marriage between Mademoiselle and the Prince of Condé arose when Claire Clémence became critically ill with erysipelas. Mademoiselle considered the proposal as she would still maintain her rank as one of the most important females at court and her father had a good relationship with Condé; however plans failed when Claire Clémence recovered.

In 1652, there was another Fronde, this time regarding the Princes of the Blood. Mazarin was in exile and was not recalled until October 1653. The city of Orléans, Mademoiselle's namesake and the capital of her father's duchy, had wanted to stay neutral within the civil war; the magistrates of the city had seen what the war had done to the nearby area of Blaisons and wanted to avoid the same fate. The city requested the input of Mademoiselle's father in order to avoid being pillaged. Gaston was undecided and Mademoiselle took it upon herself to go to Orléans to represent her father and put an end to the troubles. Travelling via Artenay, Mademoiselle was informed that the city would not receive her because she and the king were on different sides, referring to Mademoiselle's dislike for Mazarin.

When Mademoiselle arrived at Orléans, the city gates were locked and the city refused to open them. She shouted that they should open the gates but was ignored. An approaching boatman offered to row her to the Porte de La Faux, a gate on the river; Mademoiselle got onboard "climbing like a cat" and "jumping over the hedge" in order not to hurt herself climbed through a gap in the gate. She got into the city and was greeted triumphantly, being carried through the streets of Orléans on a chair for all to see. She later said she was "in so entrancing a situation".

Staying for five weeks, she became attached, calling it "my town", before returning to Paris in May 1652. Paris was once again under a state of panic when the on the eve of the Battle of the Faubourg Saint Antoine; Mademoiselle, in order to allow the Prince of Condé into the city which was dominated by Turenne fired from the Bastille on the army of Turenne on 2 July 1652. Mazarin remarked "with that canon, Mademoiselle has shot her husband".

Exile

Fearing for her life, she fled Paris for the safety of her residence at Saint-Fargeau. She remained in exile until 1657 when she was welcomed to the court once again. She went with Madame de Fiesque and Madame de Frontenac, wife of the future Governor General of New France.

Having never been to Saint-Fargeau before, she was unaware of the state of the building and thus stayed at a small residence in Dannery having been received by the bailiff of her estates. Convinced to return to Saint-Fargeau, she settled into her home for the next four years and soon began to improve the building under the direction of François Le Vau, brother of the renowned architect Louis Le Vau.

Le Vau redid the exteriors, at a cost of 200,000 livres, which were lost in a fire in 1752 suffering further damage in 1850 and thus losing all evidence of Mademoiselle's residence. Despite being an exile, she still visited her father at Blois. While at Saint-Fargeau, she dabbled in writing where she wrote a small biography under the title of Madame de Fouquerolles despite her bad spelling and grammar. Mademoiselle looked to her financial affairs which had been under her father's management. Having reached her majority in 1652 it was discovered that her father had not been entirely honest with his management and was the reason for her 800,000 livres debt. At the same time her grandmother the Dowager Duchess of Guise tricked Mademoiselle into signing away money to her under false pretences, which her father was involved, causing her relationship with Gaston to deteriorate. In 1656, hearing that her father had been excused for his various scandals, Mademoiselle herself said she would forget the bad blood caused by his financial misdemeanours and thus the once close relationship between father and daughter resumed.

Return to court and family life

When her father was welcomed back to court, it paved the way for Mademoiselle. She left for Sedan, Ardennes where the court was established in July 1657. Having not seen any of her family for some five years, she was greeted with being reminded that "everything was forgotten" with the added compliment that her "looks had improved" according to Queen Anne.

In a pen portrait of herself later the same year, she noted how she was not "fat nor thin" and "looked healthy; my bosom is fairly well formed; my hands and arms not beautiful;, but the skin is good...". The same year, she met Christina of Sweden who had arrived in France in July 1656. The two ladies met at Essone where they watched a ballet together. Mademoiselle later exclaimed that Christina "surprised me very much. She was in all respects a most extraordinary creature".

At court, her cousins Louis XIV and the Philippe, Duke of Anjou were nineteen and seventeen respectively. Mademoiselle's part in the Fronde had ruined her dream of becoming Louis's consort but the Duke of Anjou had allegedly courted her despite his open homosexuality. Despite toying with the idea, Mademoiselle later said of him that he always stayed near his mother as if he was "like a child".

Despite more dashed hopes, Mademoiselle fell ill in Paris during September of 1657 when she bought the Château d'Eu from Mademoiselle de Guise (her niece) at the end of her illness before returning to her beloved Saint-Fargeau for Christmas.

In February 1660, Gaston died of a stroke at Blois. As his eldest daughter Mademoiselle his main heiress and Gaston left her a considerable fortune, adding to her already vast personal wealth. As a result of her mourning her father, Mademoiselle was only allowed to go to the formal marriage between Louis and his new spouse Maria Theresa of Austria; however, Mademoiselle went to the proxy ceremony incognito which fooled no one. The next marriage at court was between Philippe, the Duke of Orléans, known as Monsieur.

Monsieur married Princess Henrietta of England (youngest child of Queen Henrietta Maria and the dead Charles I of England) on 31 March 1661 with Mademoiselle in attendance and various other members of the court.

Philippe and Henrietta were a stormy couple. Philippe was an overt homosexual and openly lived with his lovers at the Palais Royal much to the dislike of Henrietta. In retaliation, she openly flirted with Louis XIV as well as seduced Philippe's own lover the Guiche. Mademoiselle was the godmother of Philippe and Henrietta's youngest child Mademoiselle de Valois in 1670. Once again at Henrietta's death in 1670, allegedly poisoned, Louis XIV asked if Mademoiselle wanted to fill "the vacant place" that had been left by Henrietta; to which she declined.

Mademoiselle and her younger half sister Marguerite Louise enjoyed a close relationship. The two would go to the theatre and attend Mademoiselle's salon.

Marguerite Louise later asked her to sort out arrangements when the Grand Prince of Tuscany proposed an alliance in 1658: Mademoiselle was asked to ensure its fulfilment, a previous proposal from the Duke of Savoy having failed.

Initially overjoyed at the prospect of marrying, Marguerite Louise's ebullience faded to dismay when she discovered Mademoiselle no longer favoured the Tuscan match. After this, Marguerite Louise's behaviour became erratic: she shocked the court by going out unaccompanied with her cousin Prince Charles of Lorraine, who soon became her lover. Her proxy marriage did nothing to change her attitude and she attempted to abscond and go hunting, only to be stopped by Mademoiselle herself.

In 1663, Louis XIV again turned to Mademoiselle in order to arrange a match for his cousin. This match came in the form of Alfonso VI of Portugal who acceded to the Portuguese throne in 1656 and was the brother of Catherine of Braganza. The proud Mademoiselle ignored the idea saying she would rather stay in France with her vast income, estates and that she did not want a husband who was rumoured to be an alcoholic, impotent as well as paralytic. Alfonso instead married Marie Françoise of Savoy.

An angry Louis thus ordered she return to Saint-Fargeau for having disobeyed him. This "exile" lasted roughly a year and during it she began to make repairs to the Château d'Eu where she began to write her memoirs. Appealing to Louis regarding her health, she was allowed to return to court, where upon return, Louis proposed she marry Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy who had previously married Mademoiselle's younger half sister Françoise Madeleine. Mademoiselle seemed very keen on the match but Charles Emmanuel II however was not and made various excuses regarding the match. This proposal was to be the last for la Grande Mademoiselle.

Lauzun and later years

Away from court in 1666, Mademoiselle regretted not being present at the entertainments organised at Fontainebleau in honour of Queen Marie Thérèse that summer. At the entertainments was a man called Antoine Nompar de Caumont, an impoverished nobleman from Guyenne. Close to the king, he was renowned for his wit as well as his evident "sex appeal" despite being "the smallest man god ever made". He was also a distinguished soldier and was part of the marriage negotiations between Louis XIV and Queen Marie Thérèse. Very opinionated and louche, once, Lauzun seeing Mademoiselle had a red ribbon in her hair, he declared it being too "youthful" for her to which the proud Mademoiselle replied "people of my rank are always young".

Before long, Mademoiselle fell hopelessly in love with Lauzun. In December 1670, the most senior female at the court (behind Madame Royale, only legitimate daughter of Louis XIV, who died young) asked Louis XIV's permission to marry Lauzun; Louis accepted astonishing his court much to the dislike of Queen Marie Thérèse, Monsieur and various members of the court; the Queen and Monsieur refused to sign the marriage contract. The date was set for the ceremony to occur at the Louvre on Sunday 21 December 1670. Lauzun even asked Madame de Montespan to help convince the king to submit to the match. Mademoiselle was in high spirits later stating that the days from 15 – 18 December 1670 were the happiest days of her life, referring to him as "Monsieur le duc de Montpensier" to her friends.

The joy was not to last; Louis XIV opposed the match and thus called off the engagement on 18 December stating that the match would damage his reputation however court disapproval was the main reason. Mademoiselle was asked to have an interview with the king and Madame de Montespan. The former informed her of his choice; "what cruelty..!" Louis thus replied "kings must please the public" having ruined Mademoiselle's hopes of marriage on the "malheureux jeudi" as she later called it.

Mademoiselle secluded herself in her apartments and did not reappear until the beginning of 1671 when she was informed of the arrest of Lauzun which had occurred without an official reason released. He was taken to the Bastille and then the Pignerol fortress where he remained until 1681 despite making several attempts to escape.

Determined to get Lauzun freed, she devoted herself to his interests and approached Madame de Montespan to try and encourage the king to release Lauzun. The release came at a cost; she would have to sell two of her most profitable lands the principality of Dombes and the County of Eu. These titles would be given to Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Légitimé de France, Duke of Maine – eldest and favourite son of Louis and La Montespan. Capitulating on 2 February 1681, Mademoiselle sold the lands, both of which she had a great personal meaning to her. Unknown to Mademoiselle, she was only buying Lauzun's release and the right for him to live on her estates as an exile.

Lauzun was freed on 22 April 1681 and obliged to live quietly at Bourbon before returning to Paris not the court, however, Mademoiselle having given the duchies of Saint-Fargeau and Châtellerault to the son of La Montespan, to live at the Hôtel de Lauzun in March 1682. Prior to the death of Queen Marie Thérèse in July 1683, the couple had been on bad terms when they again came together temporarily in their grief. Soon after the two had an interview and that was the last time they saw each other before Mademoiselle retired to her Parisian residence the Palais du Luxembourg.

Death and burial

Mademoiselle fell ill on 15 March 1693 with what appears to have been stoppage of the bladder. Lauzun asked to see her, but due to her pride Mademoiselle refused to admit him. She died at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris on Sunday 5 April 1693. As a Grand daughter of France, the title she treasured so much, she was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis outside Paris on 19 April. At her funeral, according to Saint-Simon she was noted as being "the wealthiest single princess of Europe". Laying in state the urn containing her entrails exploded mid-ceremony, which caused chaos people fleeing to avoid the smell. Eventually, the ceremony continued with the conclusion of it being " another jest at the expense of Mademoiselle".

Ancestors

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and Styles

• 29 May 1627 – 4 June 1693 Her Royal Highness Mademoiselle
• 4 June 1627 – 5 April 1693 Her Royal Highness, Mademoiselle, the Duchess of Montpensier

References

1. Barker, p 178
2. Fraser, p. 58
3. ^ Cowart, p 19
4. François Velde (July 4, 2005). "The French Royal Family: Titles and Customs". heraldica.org. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
5. Sackville-West, p 19
6. "Sackville-West, p 26
7. ^ Velde, Francois. Heraldica.org. Morganatic and Secret Marriages in the French Royal Family. Royal Consent: the case of Gaston d'Orléans. Retrieved 27 February 2010
8. ^ Sackville-West, p 25
9. Sackville-West, p 30
10. Fraser, p 5
11. Sackville-West, p 60
12. Sackville-West, p 62
13. Fraser, p 33
14. Sackville-West, p 76
15. Sackville-West, p 78
16. Barker, p 34
17. Sackville-West, p 96
18. ^ .Sackville-West, p 99
19. Sackville-West, p 103
20. Sackville-West, p 109
21. Pitts, p 82
22. ^ .Sackville-West, p 112
23. Pitts, p 62
24. Barker, p 38
25. Pitts, p 101
26. Sackville-West, p 160
27. Sackville-West, p 170
28. Sackville-West, p 350
29. Sackville-West, p 175
30. Pitts, p 51
31. Sackville-West, p 193
32. Sackville-West, p 201
33. Fraser, p 48
34. ^ Fraser, p 279
35. Barker, p 58
36. Sackville-West, p 199
37. Barker, p 176
38. Sackville-West, p 218
39. Barker, p 76
40. Mitford, p 54
41. Cartwright, p 132
42. Barker, p 121
43. Pitts, p 159
44. ^ Pitts, p 160
45. Pitts, p 159-160
46. Pitts, p 161
47. Pitts, p 162
48. Sackville-West, p 224
49. Pitts, p 172
50. Fraser, p 58
51. Sackville-West, p 228
52. ^ Fraser, p 158
53. Sackville-West, p 230
54. ^ Fraser, p 159
55. Sackville-West, p 288
56. Sackville-West, p 282
57. Hilton, p 90
58. Sackville-West, p 287
59. Fraser, p 160
60. Hilton, p 222
61. Hilton, p 223
62. Hilton, p 224
63. Sackville-West, p 322
64. Sackville-West, p 332
65. ^ Sackville-West, p 355

Bibliography

• Barker, Nancy Nichols : Brother to the Sun King; Philippe, Duke of Orléans, John Hopkis University Press, Baltimore/London, 1989
• Cartwright, Julia : Madame: A life of Henrietta, daughter of Charles I and Duchess of Orléans, Seeley and Co.Ltd, London, 1900
• Cowart Georgia : The triumph of pleasure: Louis XIV & the politics of spectacle, University of Chicago Press, 2008, ISBN 0226116387
• Fraser, Antonia : Love and Louis XIV; The Women in the Life of the Sun King, Anchor Books, London, 2006, ISBN 0753822938
• Mitford, Nancy : The Sun King, Penguin Publishing, London, 1966, ISBN 0140239677
• Pitts, Vincent Joseph. : La Grande Mademoiselle at the Court of France, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8018-6466-6.
• Sackville-West, Vita : Daughter of France:The life of Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier 1627-1693, Micheal Joseph, London, 1959
• Vatout, Jean : Histoire du Palais-royal, Paris, 1830

External links

• Template:Lang-fr Mémoires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier
• Template:Lang-en Memoirs of Mademoiselle de Montpensier

See also

Template:Persondata

• 1627 births
• 1693 deaths
• French memoirists
• House of Orléans
• House of Bourbon
• French Roman Catholics
• House of Bourbon (France)
• People from Paris
• French Suo jure nobility
• Burials at the Basilica of St Denis
• Women in early modern warfare
• Smallpox survivors
• Princes of the Dombes
• Duchess of Montpensier
• Dukes of Châtellerault
• Princesses of Joinville
• French nobility
• French duchesses
• 17th-century French people
• Women in 17th-century warfare
• Duchesses of Montpensier
• French royalty
• French princesses