Maria Teresa d'Este
Encyclopedia
Maria Teresa Felicitas d'Este (October 6, 1726 – April 30, 1754) was born a Princess of Modena
and was by marriage the Duchess of Penthièvre. She was the mother-in-law of Philippe Égalité
and thus the grandmother to the future Louis-Philippe of France
.
, a region of her native Modena
, she was the daughter of Francesco III, Duke of Modena and Reggio
and his wife, the French princess Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans
. Her mother was a granddaughter of Louis XIV of France
and his mistress, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
.
One of nine children, she was the first daughter of the family. Her parents' marriage was not happy, and her mother eventually returned to France to live. The duchess took up residence in the Luxembourg Palace
in Paris
with the permission of Louis XV
. It was while her mother was in France that a marriage was arranged between Maria Teresa and her cousin, Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre
. Her mother also helped arrange the marriage of Maria Teresa's younger sister, Maria Fortunata d'Este
, to Louis François II de Bourbon, prince de Conti
.
was Maria Teresa's mother's first cousin. Charlotte Aglaé's mother was the sister of the duke's father, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse
. The young duke had inherited a vast fortune when his father died in 1737.
A proxy wedding ceremony took place in Modena. It was followed on December 29 1744 by another ceremony at the Palace of Versailles
. In France, her name was rendered as Marie Thérèse Félicité. According to contemporaries, the marriage between the duke and his wife, now known officially as S.A.S.
, the duchesse de Penthièvre, was a very happy one. It produced many children:
of the era, only two of the Penthièvre children survived into adulthood. Marie Thérèse died at the Château de Rambouillet
after giving birth to Louis Marie Félicité de Bourbon, who died soon afterwards. Originally buried in the chapel at Rambouillet, after the Bourbon Restauration in the early 19th centry, she was later moved to the Chapelle royale de Dreux
by her daughter.
Her husband was very affected by her death. Another of her sons, Jean Marie, died the next year.
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
and was by marriage the Duchess of Penthièvre. She was the mother-in-law of Philippe Égalité
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror...
and thus the grandmother to the future Louis-Philippe of France
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
.
Life
Born in Emilia-RomagnaEmilia-Romagna
Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....
, a region of her native Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
, she was the daughter of Francesco III, Duke of Modena and Reggio
Francesco III d'Este
Francesco III was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1737 until his death.-Biography:He was born in Modena, the son of Rinaldo d'Este, Duke of Modena, and Charlotte of Brunswick-Lüneburg....
and his wife, the French princess Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans
Charlotte Aglaé of Orléans
Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, was the Duchess of Modena and Reggio by marriage. She was the third daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, , and of his wife, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon. She was born a princesse du sang...
. Her mother was a granddaughter of Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
and his mistress, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise 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....
.
One of nine children, she was the first daughter of the family. Her parents' marriage was not happy, and her mother eventually returned to France to live. The duchess took up residence in the Luxembourg Palace
Luxembourg Palace
The Luxembourg Palace in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, north of the Luxembourg Garden , is the seat of the French Senate.The formal Luxembourg Garden presents a 25-hectare green parterre of gravel and lawn populated with statues and provided with large basins of water where children sail model...
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...
with the permission of 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...
. It was while her mother was in France that a marriage was arranged between Maria Teresa and her cousin, Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre
Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre
Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon was the son of Louis Alexandre de Bourbon and his wife Marie Victoire de Noailles. He was also a grandson of Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. From birth he was known as the Duke of Penthièvre...
. Her mother also helped arrange the marriage of Maria Teresa's younger sister, Maria Fortunata d'Este
Maria Fortunata d'Este
Maria Fortunata d'Este was a Modenese princess by birth and a princess of the blood of France by marriage. By her marriage to a second cousin Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, she became the Countess of La Marche and later the Princess of Conti and was a member of the French court...
, to Louis François II de Bourbon, prince de Conti
Louis François II de Bourbon, prince de Conti
Louis François Joseph de Bourbon was Prince of Conti, succeeding his father Louis François de Bourbon. His mother was Louise Diane d'Orléans, the youngest daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans, the Regent of France during the minority of King Louis XV of France...
.
Marriage
The duc de PenthièvreCounts and dukes of Penthièvre
In the 11th and 12th centuries the countship of Penthièvre in Brittany belonged to a branch of the sovereign house of Brittany. Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany, gave it to his brother Eudes in 1035, and the line formed a cadet branch of the ducal house of Brittany...
was Maria Teresa's mother's first cousin. Charlotte Aglaé's mother was the sister of the duke's father, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse , duc de Penthièvre , d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet , , was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Madame de Montespan...
. The young duke had inherited a vast fortune when his father died in 1737.
A proxy wedding ceremony took place in Modena. It was followed on December 29 1744 by another ceremony at 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....
. In France, her name was rendered as Marie Thérèse Félicité. According to contemporaries, the marriage between the duke and his wife, now known officially as S.A.S.
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...
, the duchesse de Penthièvre, was a very happy one. It produced many children:
- Louis Marie de BourbonLouis Marie, Duke of RambouilletLouis Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Rambouillet was a French prince and child of the eldest son of the Duke of Penthièvre...
(1746-1749); - Louis-Alexandre de BourbonLouis-Alexandre de Bourbon, prince de LamballeLouis Alexandre de Bourbon was the son and heir of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, grandson of Louis XIV by the king's legitimised son, Louis Alexandre de Bourbon. He was known as the Prince of Lamballe from birth...
, prince de Lamballe (1747-1768); married the princesse de Lamballe - Jean Marie de BourbonJean Marie, Duke of ChâteauvillainJean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Châteauvillain was a French Duke and nobleman. He died in Paris at the age of 6. He was the duc de Châteauvillain from birth.-Biography:...
(1748-1755), duc de Châteauvillain ; - Vincent Marie Louis de BourbonVincent, Count of GuingampVincent Marie Louis de Bourbon, Count of Guingamp was a French Count and son of the wealthy Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, grand son Louis XIV of France and Madame de Montespan....
(1750-1752), comte de Guingamp ; - Marie Louise de Bourbon (1751-1753) ;
- Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Penthièvre (1753-1821):
- married Louis Philippe II, Duke of OrléansLouis Philippe II, Duke of OrléansLouis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror...
- the parents of Louis-Philippe I, King of the FrenchLouis-Philippe of FranceLouis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
;
- married Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
- Louis Marie Félicité de Bourbon (1754), died at birth.
Death
Due to the high mortality rateMortality rate
Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time...
of the era, only two of the Penthièvre children survived into adulthood. Marie Thérèse died at the Château de Rambouillet
Château de Rambouillet
The château de Rambouillet is a castle in the town of Rambouillet, Yvelines department, in the Île-de-France region in northern France, southwest of Paris...
after giving birth to Louis Marie Félicité de Bourbon, who died soon afterwards. Originally buried in the chapel at Rambouillet, after the Bourbon Restauration in the early 19th centry, she was later moved to the Chapelle royale de Dreux
Dreux
Dreux is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-History:Dreux was known in ancient times as Durocassium, the capital of the Durocasses Celtic tribe. Despite the legend, its name was not related with Druids. The Romans established here a fortified camp known as Castrum...
by her daughter.
- Louis-Alexandre de BourbonLouis-Alexandre de Bourbon, prince de LamballeLouis Alexandre de Bourbon was the son and heir of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, grandson of Louis XIV by the king's legitimised son, Louis Alexandre de Bourbon. He was known as the Prince of Lamballe from birth...
, her second but only surviving son, went on to marry Princess Maria Teresa Louise of Savoy-Carignan, who after his death became the favourite of the future Queen Marie AntoinetteMarie AntoinetteMarie 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....
. - Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, her youngest and only surviving daughter, went on to marry the Duke of ChartresDuke of ChartresOriginally, the Duchy of Chartres was the comté de Chartres, an Earldom. The title of comte de Chartres thus became duc de Chartres. This duchy–peerage was given by Louis XIV of France to his nephew, Philippe II d'Orléans, at his birth in 1674...
, born Louis Philippe Joseph of OrléansLouis Philippe II, Duke of OrléansLouis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror...
. It is through Louise Marie Adelaide that Marie Thérèse is an ancestor of many of the royal houses of Europe.
Her husband was very affected by her death. Another of her sons, Jean Marie, died the next year.