Anne, Duchess of Maine
Encyclopedia
Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon (Anne Louise Bénédicte; 8 November 1676 – Paris, 23 January 1753), was the daughter of Henri Jules de Bourbon, prince de Condé and Anne Henriette of Bavaria
Anne Henriette of Bavaria
Anne Henriette of Palatinate-Simmern, in France known as Anne Henriette of Bavaria was a Princess of Palatinate-Simmern by birth and by her marriage in 1663, the Duchess of Enghien and then the Princess of Condé...
. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
, she was a princesse du sang
Prince du Sang
A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
. She was known as Louise-Bénédicte. She has no surviving descendants. She married the duc du 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...
, legitimised son of 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...
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....
Biography
Louise-Bénédicte was born on 8 November 1676 at the Hôtel de CondéOdéon
The Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe is one of France's six national theatres.It is located at 2 rue Corneille in the 6th arrondissement of Paris on the left bank of the Seine, next to the Luxembourg Garden...
in 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...
. She was the eighth child born to the then duc and duchesse d'Enghien.
The name Bénédicte was taken from her maternal aunt, Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate
Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate
Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate was a German princess, the third and youngest daughter of Edward of the Palatinate and his French wife, the political hostess Anna Gonzaga...
, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Benedicta Henrietta was an ancestor of Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
.
She was brought up at the Hôtel de Condé with her many sisters and had to endure slave-like conditions under the madness of her father. Her mother, who was pious and gentle, was often beaten by her father as were their staff and her sister Marie Anne, Mademoiselle de Montmorency.
When formally addressed, Louise-Bénédicte was known as Mademosielle d'Enghien. As a princess of the blood
Prince du Sang
A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
, she possessed the style of Serene Highness
Serene Highness
His/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...
.
When she was nine years old, her father was given the title of comte de
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Chalorais, and as a result Louise-Bénédicte became known as court as Mademoiselle de Charolais. This appellation would later pass to her niece, the beautiful Louise Anne de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Charolais.
She was very outspoken and witty, and had a terrible temper. As she was very small and paid much attention to her appearance, she was nicknamed Poupée du Sang at the French court (literally, "Doll of the Blood", a play on the honorific princesse du sang, princess of the Blood). She was close to her sister Marie Anne, whose marriage to the duc de Vendôme (1654–1712) she later arranged. Although born with a lame arm, she was generally thought to be the most attractive of the Condé daughters. Despite this fact, the duchesse d'Orléans
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...
called her a "little toad." Some time after her marriage, the duchesse d'Orléans also said:
Madame du Maine is not taller than a child ten years old, and is not well-made. To appear tolerably well, it is necessary for her to keep her mouth shut; for when she opens it, she opens it very wide, and shows her irregular teeth. She is not very stout, uses a great quantity of paint, has fine eyes, a white skin, and fair hair. If she were well-disposed, she might pass, but her wickedness is insupportable.
At first, it was proposed that she marry Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois, the son of Louis XIV and Louise de La Vallière
Louise de La Vallière
Louise de La Vallière was a mistress of Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667. She later became the Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of Vaujours in her own right...
. As he died in 1683, the marriage never took place.
She was very short like her older sister Anne Marie, Mademoiselle de Condé
Anne Marie Victoire de Bourbon
Anne Marie de Bourbon was the daughter of the Prince of Condé and of a Bavarian princess. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, she was a Princesse du Sang. She never married and died of lung disease.-Biography:Anne Marie Victoire was the seventh child born to the Duke and Duchess of Enghien...
. Louise-Bénédicte and her oldest sister Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, known as Mademoiselle de Bourbon until her marriage to le Grand Conti
François Louis, Prince of Conti
François Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was Prince de Conti, succeeding his brother Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti in 1685. Until this date he used the title of Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon. He was son of Armand de Bourbon and Anne Marie Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Jules Mazarin...
in 1688, were considered the most attractive out of the daughters born to the Condés.
Mademoiselle d'Enghien received the typical education given to girls of the nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
in France and was taught reading, writing, dancing, singing and other matters which were considered necessary for a young aristocrat. She spent most of her time in the company of her mother and two older sisters.
Madame du Maine
Louis XIVLouis 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...
arranged several marriages into princely houses of France for his legitimised children by Louise de La Vallière
Louise de La Vallière
Louise de La Vallière was a mistress of Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667. She later became the Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of Vaujours in her own right...
and . Prior to her marriage, she saw the marriage of 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...
to Mademoiselle de Blois
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...
, future duchesse d'Orléans. Louise-Bénédicte's own brother Louis de Bourbon
Louis III, Prince of Condé
Louis de Bourbon, , was Prince of Condé for less than a year, following the death of his father Henry III, Prince of Condé in 1709...
had even had been forced to marry Mademoiselle de Nantes
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman that her mother had replaced as the king's...
, eldest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan.
In 1692, the 15-year-old Louise-Bénédicte married the 21-year-old Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Légitimé de France, duc du 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...
.
The wedding ceremony took place on 19 May 1692 in the chapel of the Palace of Versailles
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....
. Madame de Montespan was not invited but all of Maine's siblings attended. As both the groom and his wife were physically handicapped, the cruel members of the court whispered:
Look at the union of a one-armed woman and a lame man! What a beautiful couple!
The marriage of the duc and duchesse du Maine was not happy. The couple did not like each other. Louise-Bénédicte disliked her husband's weak mind and his lack of ambition. He could not stand her terrible temper and deliberate attempts to embarrass him at court. Louise-Bénédicte's infidelities were well known. To her husband, she was once heard to have remarked:
Just look at yourself - a lame bastard! - and you'd like to boss me? I am a pure bred royal princess, Monsieur, with no stain on my cradle! What would you be without the sticks at which everyone laughs? One to support your body, and the other, me, to maintain your rank! And this Leggy wants to rule my steps!
[Since Maine limped, his wife called him 'Gambillard', which meant leggy]
In order to escape the dull court of Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV's secret wife since October 1683, the enthusiastic duchesse du Maine created a little court at the Château de Sceaux
Château de Sceaux
The Château de Sceaux is a grand country house in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, not far from Paris, France. Located in a park laid out by André Le Nôtre, it houses the Musée de l’Île-de-France, a museum of local history. The former château was built for Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's minister of...
, where she entertained brilliantly and immersed herself in political intrigues.
The château, the former residence of Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
and his family, was bought in 1700 by her husband for the sum of 900,000 livres. Louise-Bénédicte spent a further 80,000 livres on its furnishings and decorations.
Chivalric order
Chivalric orders are societies and fellowships of knights that have been created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades...
, the Order of the Honey Bee. She gave the order to thirty-nine people. Each member had a robe embroidered with silver thread, a wig in the shape of a beehive and a medal embossed with a profile of Louise-Bénédicte and engraved with the letters L. BAR. D. SC. D.P.D.L.O.D.L.M.A.M. This meant:
Louise, baronne de Sceaux, dictatrice perpétuelle de l'ordre de la Mouche à miel
To her small court, Louise-Bénédicte attracted a host of literary figures of the day, including the young Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, the baron de Montesquieu
Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu
Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu , generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment...
, the cardinal de Bernis
François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis
François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis was a French cardinal and statesman. He was the sixth member elected to occupy seat 3 of the Académie française in 1744.- Biography :...
, the comte de Caylus
Anne Claude Philippe de Tubieres de Grimoard de Pestels de Levis, Comte de Caylus
Anne Claude de Tubières-Grimoard de Pestels Levieux de Lévis, comte de Caylus, marquis d'Esternay, baron de Bransac , French antiquarian, proto-archaeologist and man of letters, was born at Paris....
, Charles-Jean-François Hénault
Charles-Jean-François Hénault
Charles-Jean-François Hénault was a French historian.-Early years:Hénault was born in Paris. His father, a farmer-general of taxes, was a man of literary tastes, and young Hénault obtained a good education at the Jesuit college...
and Jean-Baptiste Rousseau
Jean-Baptiste Rousseau
Jean-Baptiste Rousseau was a French poet.-Biography:Rousseau was born in Paris, the son of a shoemaker, and was well educated. As a young man, he gained favour with Boileau, who encouraged him to write. Rousseau began with the theatre, for which he had no aptitude...
.
In 1710, she helped to plot the marriage of her sister, Marie Anne, Mademoiselle de Monmorency, to the famous general Louis Joseph de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme. For mercenary reasons, Louise-Bénédicte wanted a marriage that would not produce any children. Upon the death of a childless Vendôme, Louise-Bénédicte hoped that she or her children would inherit the duke's huge estate, which he had acquired as the grandson of the rich heiress, Françoise de Lorraine. At thirty-two, Marie Anne was considered past child-bearing age, and Vendôme was a well known homosexual, thirty years older than his prospective bride. As it happened, though, Louise-Bénédicte got nothing. On the duke's death, Marie Anne was created duchesse d'Étampes in her own right and inherited the Hôtel de Vendôme
Hôtel de Vendôme
The Hôtel de Vendôme was built as a private home in Paris; the famous Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond worked on the hôtel.The hôtel is the main relic of what once was the most popular convent in Paris, the Vauvert Charterhouse; founded by Saint-Louis and famous for its vineyard called the Clos de...
in Paris, where she died in 1718 from alcoholism.
Both the Maines doted on their children. Their daughter, who would remain close to her mother until her death, was baptised at Versailles on 9 April 1714. Mademoiselle du Maine was given the name of her paternal aunt Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman that her mother had replaced as the king's...
, known at court as Madame la Duchesse. Madame la Duchesse had grown up with the duc du Maine under the care of Madame de Maintenon
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon was the second wife of King Louis XIV of France. She was known during her first marriage as Madame Scarron, and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon...
.
The guest of honor at the baptism of Mademoiselle du Maine was the small dauphin, the future Louis XV, who was chaperoned by Maine's other sister, the new duchesse d'Orléans
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...
. The cardinal de Rohan
Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan
Armand de Rohan was a French churchman and politician. He became bishop of Strasbourg in 1704, Cardinal in 1712 then grand almoner of France in 1713 and member of the regency council in 1722....
baptised Mademoiselle du Maine.
Thanks to the help of Madame de Maintenon, who had always loved Maine, Louis XIV created Maine a Prince of the Blood
Prince du Sang
A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
which put him in line of succession to the throne. In his will, Louis XIV also appointed Maine to be the Regent of France for his five year old great-grandson, the future 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...
.
At the death of the king in 1715, however, the Parlement de Paris annulled Louis XIV's will and named Maine's brother-in-law, the duc 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...
, as Régent
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...
for the child king. Upset with this and the role played by the duc d'Orléans in reducing the status of the legitimised children of Louis XIV from the rank of Princes du Sang
Prince du Sang
A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
(which Louise-Bénédicte had enjoyed since birth) to mere peers of France
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
, Louise-Bénédicte induced her husband to join in the Cellamare Conspiracy
Cellamare Conspiracy
The Cellamare Conspiracy of 1718 was a conspiracy against the then Regent of France, Philippe d'Orléans . "Created" in Spain, it was the brainchild of Antonio del Giudice, Prince of Cellamare.-Background and Plot:...
in the hope of transferring the regency to King Philip V of Spain
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
, the uncle of Louis XV. The plot was named after Antonio del Giudice, Duke of Giovinazzo, Prince of Cellamare, who was the Spanish ambassador to France.
In order to gain more support for a new regent, Louise-Bénédicte started a correspondence with
Giulio Alberoni
Giulio Alberoni
Giulio Alberoni was an Italian cardinal andstatesman in the service of Philip V of Spain.-Early years:He was born near Piacenza, probably at the village of Fiorenzuola d'Arda in the Duchy of Parma....
, the Spanish Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
. Among her co-conspirators were the duc de Richelieu
Louis François Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu
Armand de Vignerot du Plessis was a French soldier, diplomat and statesman. Joining the army, he participated in three major wars and eventually rose to the rank of Marshal of France....
and Melchior de Polignac
Melchior de Polignac
Melchior de Polignac was a French diplomat, Roman Catholic cardinal and neo-Latin poet.A younger son of Armand XVI, marquis de Polignac, he was born at Lavoûte-sur-Loire, Haute-Loire, Auvergne. At an early age he achieved distinction as a diplomat...
.
The plot, however, was discovered, and both the duc and duchesse du Maine were arrested and forced to abandon their residence at Sceaux. In 1719, the duke was imprisoned in the Doullens
Doullens
Doullens is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.Its inhabitants are called Doullennais and Doullennaises.-Geography:...
fortress and the duchess in Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
.
Their two sons were put in the care of their governor in Gien
Gien
Gien is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.Gien is on the Loire River, from Orléans. The town was bought for the royal property by Philip II of France. The town is twinned with Malmesbury in England.-Sights:*Faience de Gien...
, and their daughter was taken from a convent at Maubuisson to another convent at Chaillot in Paris, in the area of the present Trocadéro
Trocadéro
The Trocadéro, , site of the Palais de Chaillot, , is an area of Paris, France, in the 16th arrondissement, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. The hill of the Trocadéro is the hill of Chaillot, a former village.- Origin of the name :...
. She stayed at Chaillot till 1720 when her parents were released from their separate imprisonments. .
After her release, Louise-Bénédicte led a more peaceful life at Sceaux, still surrounded though by her little court. At the time of her imprisonment, she was trying to arrange the marriage of her eldest son, Louis Auguste de Bourbon, heir to the fortune of the House of Bourbon du Maine
Bourbon du Maine
The House of Bourbon-Maine was an illegitimate branch of the House of Bourbon, being thus part of the Capetian dynasty. It was founded in 1672 when Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine was legitimised by his father, King Louis XIV of France....
, to his cousin Charlotte Aglaé, Mademoiselle de Valois.
The rivalry between the Maines and Charlotte Aglaé's father, the duc d'Orleans
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...
, was well known, and it was hoped that the wedding would heal old wounds. A marriage did not occur, however, as the young Mademoiselle de Valois refused her cousin, much to the annoyance of the proud Louise-Bénédicte. Madame du Maine was not happy when she found out that Charlotte Aglaé had considered the hand of another cousin, Charles de Bourbon, the son of Monsieur le Duc
Louis III, Prince of Condé
Louis de Bourbon, , was Prince of Condé for less than a year, following the death of his father Henry III, Prince of Condé in 1709...
, Louise-Bénédicte's brother, and Madame la Duchesse
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman that her mother had replaced as the king's...
, Maine's sister.
After their release from imprisonment in 1720, the duc and duchesse du Maine seemed to have reconciled and led a more compatible life rather than being hostile to each other. In May 1736, the duke died at the age of sixty-six. Louis XV allowed Louise-Bénédicte to keep her apartments at Versailles next to those of her daughter. These apartments overlooked the Orangérie. Both her sons also had apartments at court, but both preferred to stay in the country hunting.
Madame du Maine tried on more than one occasion to arrange an advantageous marriage for her daughter. First to one Monsieur de Guise, but that marriage never materialised. Later, she tried to convince the widower Jacques I, Prince of Monaco
Jacques I, Prince of Monaco
Jacques Goyon de Matignon was count of Thorigny, Prince of Monaco as Jacques I and the fourth Duke of Valentinois from 1731 until 1733.-Biography:...
, who was often at Versailles, to wed again. Despite the lure of a large dowry, both men considered Mademoiselle du Maine to be very unattractive. Unwed, she died in 1743. She was buried at the Église at Sceaux.
In 1736 Louise-Bénédicte received the Château
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
de Montrond
Montrond
Montrond may refer to the following places in France:* Montrond, Hautes-Alpes, a commune in the department of Hautes-Alpes* Montrond, Jura, a commune in the department of Jura* Montrond-le-Château, a commune in the department of Doubs...
and then, in 1737, she acquired the Hôtel Biron
Hôtel Biron
The Hôtel Biron is an hôtel particulier in the rue de Varenne, Paris VIIème, that was built by Jacques Gabriel and his associate designer Jean Aubert, in 1728-31 Since 1919 it has housed the Musée Auguste Rodin....
(today the musée Rodin
Musée Rodin
The Musée Rodin in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919 in the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds. It displays works by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin....
), in 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...
, where she died. During her lifetime, it was referred to as the Hôtel du Maine. She died at the Hôtel du Maine on 23 January 1753.
Dying at the age of seventy-six, Louise-Bénédicte had outlived all of her siblings. She was buried at the Saint Jean-Baptiste church in Sceaux. Her oldest son, Louis Auguste, died less than two years after her, having been injured in a duel at Fontainebleau. Her youngest surviving son, Louis Charles, never married and died childless in 1775. He left his fortune to his first cousin, the already wealthy Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre.
Issue
- Mademoiselle de Dombes (Palace of VersaillesPalace of VersaillesThe 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....
, 11 September 1694 – Palace of VersaillesPalace of VersaillesThe 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....
, 15 September 1694); - Louis Constantin de Bourbon, Prince of Dombes (Palace of Versailles, 17 November 1695 – Palace of Versailles, 28 September 1698);
- Mademoiselle d'Aumale (Palace of Versailles, 21 December 1697 - Palace of Versailles, 4 August 1699);
- Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Prince of Dombes (Palace of Versailles, 4 March 1700 - Palace of Fontainebleau, 1 October 1755),
- Louis Charles de Bourbon, Count of Eu (Château de SceauxChâteau de SceauxThe Château de Sceaux is a grand country house in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, not far from Paris, France. Located in a park laid out by André Le Nôtre, it houses the Musée de l’Île-de-France, a museum of local history. The former château was built for Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's minister of...
, 15 October 1701 – 13 July 1775); - Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Aumale (Palace of Versailles, 31 March 1704 - Château de Sceaux, 2 September 1708),
- Louise Françoise de BourbonLouise-Françoise de Bourbon (1707–1743)Louise Françoise de Bourbon was a grand daughter of Louis XIV of France and his mistress Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, better known as Madame de Montespan...
, Mademoiselle du Maine (Palace of Versailles, 4 December 1707 – Château d'AnetChâteau d'AnetThe Château d'Anet is a château near Dreux, France, built by Philibert de l'Orme from 1547 to 1552 for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II of France...
, 19 August 1743).
Ancestry
Titles and styles
- 8 November, 1676 - 1685 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'Enghien - 1685 - 19 May, 1692 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 de Charolais - 19 May, 1692 – 14 May, 1736 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...
the Duchess of Maine (Madame la duchesse du Maine) - 14 May, 1736 – 23 January, 1753 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...
the Dowager Duchess of Maine (Madame la duchesse du Maine Douairière)
Sources
- Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon
- Général de Piépape, La duchesse du Maine (1910).