Maria Karolina Sobieska
Encyclopedia
Maria Karolina Sobieska (25 November 1697 – 8 May 1740
) was a Polish
noble lady
, daughter of Jakub Ludwik Sobieski
. Known as Marie Charlotte or just Charlotte, she was the Princess of Turenne
and later Duchess of Bouillon
by marriage. Charlotte was the last surviving member of the House of Sobieski
.
pretender James Francis Edward Stuart
.
Her paternal cousins included (children of her aunt Theresa Kunegunda Sobieska) Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor
and Clemens August of Bavaria
, Archbishop of Cologne. Her maternal cousins included the famous Elisabeth Farnese, the future John V of Portugal as well as his consort Maria Anna of Austria
.
Her childhood was spent in Silesia
. She was asked for her hand by many an aristocrat including Antonio Ferrante Gonzaga
, Duke of Guastalla. She, however, rejected him due to the duke's mental illness.
Having travelled to Neuburg, her mother's birthplace, she embarked on an affair with Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł, a future Great Hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
. She had wanted to marry him but her father would not allow the couple to elope. A depressed Charlotte, wanted to leave the court and join a convent but Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
(another first cousin), took it upon himself to find her a suitable husband.
The candidate was found in form of Frédéric Casimir de La Tour d'Auvergne
, son of Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne
and Marie Armande Victoire de La Trémouille. He was the heir to the sovereign Duchy of Bouillon which the La Tour d'Auvergne's had ruled for over a century. As heir, he was styled the prince de Turenne. Charlotte married Frédéric Casimir by proxy on 25 August 1723 at Neuss
(modern day Germany
). The couple met for the first time at Strassburg on 20 September and were married formally.
At the French court, the House of La Tour d'Auvergne ranked as Foreign Prince
s. This entitled them to the style of Highness
. As such, prior to becoming Duchess of Bouillon, Charlotte was styled as Her Highness the Princess of Turenne.
Frédéric Casimir died in Strassburg on 1 October 1723 leaving Charlotte a widow having been married for fourteen days. Seven months later, she married her dead husband's younger brother Charles Godefroy
who was now prince de Turenne and heir to Bouillon
. The new couple married on 2 April 1724 in Paris
. The marriage produced two children; a daughter named Marie Louise (mistress of her first cousin Charles Edward Stuart
, the Jacobite
pretender
) and a son named Godefroy who was the penultimate Duke of Bouillon.
The marriage, despite producing children, was not happy. The couple divorced and Charlotte moved to Silesia. Moving again, this time to Zhovkva
, she spent her last years trying to protect her father's estates of which she was the heiress to from 1737. At her father's death, she inherited the Duchy of Oława where she was born.
Before her death, she designated her old lover, Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł, as her heir. A part of her library was transmitted into the famous Załuski Library which was succeeded by today's National Library of Poland
.
She was accused of poisoning the famous contemporary actress Adrienne Lecouvreur
who was her rival, yet it was proved that the actress died of natural causes.
She was buried at the Church of Saint Kazimierz in Warsaw
, Poland
. Charlotte's heart was embalmed and placed in the parish church of Zhovkva. Her tombstone was designed in 1747 by her former lover. It displays a crack indicating the extinction of the Sobieski family
of which she was the last surviving member.
Her husband outlived her, dying in 1771. Her son lived until 1792 and her daughter was executed in The Terror of the French Revolution
.
) was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
noble lady
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...
, daughter of Jakub Ludwik Sobieski
Jakub Ludwik Sobieski
James Louis Sobieski was the son of King John III of Poland and Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien.-Biography:...
. Known as Marie Charlotte or just Charlotte, she was the Princess of Turenne
Princess of Turenne
The title Princess of Turenne was used by the daughter in law's of the Dukes of Bouillon as wives of the Princes of Turenne, heirs to Bouillon and Sedan.- House of La Tour d'Auvergne, 1691-1794 :...
and later Duchess of Bouillon
Duchess of Bouillon
-Ardennes-Bouillon dynasty, ?-1100:-House of La Marck, ?-1588 :-House of La Tour d'Auvergne, 1594-1794 :-House of La Tour d'Auvergne, 1794-1802 :-House of Rohan, since 1816 :...
by marriage. Charlotte was the last surviving member of the House of Sobieski
Sobieski family
Sobieski family of Janina coat of arms, also known as House of Sobieski due to their royalty connections, were a notable family of Polish nobility. According to the family's legend, disproved by modern historians, it traced its lineage to Polish duke, Leszek II the Black...
.
Biography
Born to James Louis Sobieski and his wife Countess Palatine Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuburg, she was the couple's third daughter. Her younger sister Clementina, married the JacobiteJacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
pretender James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
.
Her paternal cousins included (children of her aunt Theresa Kunegunda Sobieska) Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VII Albert a member of the Wittelsbach family, was Prince-elector of Bavaria from 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 until his death in 1745...
and Clemens August of Bavaria
Clemens August of Bavaria
Clemens August of Bavaria was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne.-Biography:...
, Archbishop of Cologne. Her maternal cousins included the famous Elisabeth Farnese, the future John V of Portugal as well as his consort Maria Anna of Austria
Maria Anna of Austria
Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria , was Electress of Bavaria as the spouse of Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria. She also served as Regent of Bavaria during the minority of her son...
.
Her childhood was spent in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
. She was asked for her hand by many an aristocrat including Antonio Ferrante Gonzaga
Antonio Ferrante Gonzaga
Antonio Ferrante Gonzaga was Duke of Guastalla.He was the son of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla and Maria Vittoria Gonzaga...
, Duke of Guastalla. She, however, rejected him due to the duke's mental illness.
Having travelled to Neuburg, her mother's birthplace, she embarked on an affair with Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł, a future Great Hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. She had wanted to marry him but her father would not allow the couple to elope. A depressed Charlotte, wanted to leave the court and join a convent but Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
(another first cousin), took it upon himself to find her a suitable husband.
The candidate was found in form of Frédéric Casimir de La Tour d'Auvergne
Frédéric Maurice Casimir de La Tour d'Auvergne
Frédéric Maurice Casimir de La Tour d'Auvergne styled Prince of Turenne, was the eldest surviving son of Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne . He died aged 20...
, son of Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne
Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne (1668–1730)
Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French nobleman and ruler of the Soveriegn Duchy of Bouillon. He was the son of Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne and his wife Marie Anne Mancini...
and Marie Armande Victoire de La Trémouille. He was the heir to the sovereign Duchy of Bouillon which the La Tour d'Auvergne's had ruled for over a century. As heir, he was styled the prince de Turenne. Charlotte married Frédéric Casimir by proxy on 25 August 1723 at Neuss
Neuss
Neuss is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district and owes its prosperity to its location at the crossing of historic and modern trade routes. It is primarily known...
(modern day Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
). The couple met for the first time at Strassburg on 20 September and were married formally.
At the French court, the House of La Tour d'Auvergne ranked as Foreign Prince
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:...
s. This entitled them to the style of Highness
Highness
Highness, often used with a possessive adjective , is an attribute referring to the rank of the dynasty in an address...
. As such, prior to becoming Duchess of Bouillon, Charlotte was styled as Her Highness the Princess of Turenne.
Frédéric Casimir died in Strassburg on 1 October 1723 leaving Charlotte a widow having been married for fourteen days. Seven months later, she married her dead husband's younger brother Charles Godefroy
Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne
Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French nobleman and member of the powerful House of La Tour d'Auvergne.-Biography:...
who was now prince de Turenne and heir to Bouillon
Bouillon
Bouillon is a municipality in Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Luxembourg Province.The municipality, which covers 149.09 km², had 5,477 inhabitants, giving a population density of 36.7 inhabitants per km².- History :...
. The new couple married on 2 April 1724 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...
. The marriage produced two children; a daughter named Marie Louise (mistress of her first cousin Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
, the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
) and a son named Godefroy who was the penultimate Duke of Bouillon.
The marriage, despite producing children, was not happy. The couple divorced and Charlotte moved to Silesia. Moving again, this time to Zhovkva
Zhovkva
Zhovkva is a city in the Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine, north of Lviv. It is the administrative center of the Zhovkivskyi Raion . The current estimated population is 13,500.-History:...
, she spent her last years trying to protect her father's estates of which she was the heiress to from 1737. At her father's death, she inherited the Duchy of Oława where she was born.
Before her death, she designated her old lover, Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł, as her heir. A part of her library was transmitted into the famous Załuski Library which was succeeded by today's National Library of Poland
National Library of Poland
The National Library of Poland is the central Polish library, subject directly to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland....
.
She was accused of poisoning the famous contemporary actress Adrienne Lecouvreur
Adrienne Lecouvreur
Adrienne Lecouvreur was a French actress.Born in Damery, she first appeared professionally on the stage in Lille...
who was her rival, yet it was proved that the actress died of natural causes.
She was buried at the Church of Saint Kazimierz in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Charlotte's heart was embalmed and placed in the parish church of Zhovkva. Her tombstone was designed in 1747 by her former lover. It displays a crack indicating the extinction of the Sobieski family
Sobieski family
Sobieski family of Janina coat of arms, also known as House of Sobieski due to their royalty connections, were a notable family of Polish nobility. According to the family's legend, disproved by modern historians, it traced its lineage to Polish duke, Leszek II the Black...
of which she was the last surviving member.
Her husband outlived her, dying in 1771. Her son lived until 1792 and her daughter was executed in The Terror of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Issue
Children with her second husband;- Marie Louise Henriette Jeanne de La Tour d'AuvergneMarie Louise de La Tour d'AuvergneMarie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French noblewoman and member of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne...
(15 August 1725–1793) married the Prince of Guéméné and had issue; was guillotined during the revolution; had a secret child with her cousin Charles Edward StuartCharles Edward StuartPrince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
; - Godefroy Charles Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne (26 January 1728–3 December 1792) married Louise Henriette Gabrielle de Lorraine and had issue, she was a grand daughter of Charles de Lorraine, Count of Marsan.
Ancestry
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
- 25 November 1697 – 25 August 1723 Maria Karolina Sobieska
- 25 August 1723 – 1 October 1723 Her Highness the Princess of Turenne
- 1 October 1723 – 2 April 1724 Her Highness the Dowager Princess of Turenne
- 2 April 1724 – 17 April 1730 Her Highness the Princess of Turenne
- 17 April 1730 – 8 May 1740 Her Highness the Duchess of Bouillon