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Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689)
Encyclopedia
Marie Louise of Orléans (26 March 1662 – 12 February 1689) was Queen consort
of Spain
from 1679 to 1689 as the first wife of King Charles II of Spain
. She was a granddaughter of Louis XIII of France
; this made her a petite-fille de France
("Granddaughter of France"). In her adopted country, she was known as Maria Luisa de Orléans.
in Paris
. She was the eldest daughter of Philippe de France, Duke of Orléans
, the younger brother of King Louis XIV of France
, and of his first wife, Princess Henrietta Anne of England. As a petite-fille de France, she was allowed the style of Her Royal Highness
.
Charming, pretty and graceful, Marie Louise, who was her father's favourite child, had a happy childhood, residing most of the time in the Palais-Royal, and at the Château de Saint-Cloud
situated a few kilometers west of Paris. Marie Louise spent a lot of time with both her paternal and maternal grandmothers - Anne of Austria, who doted on her and left the bulk of her fortune to her when she died in 1666; and Henriette Marie de France, who lived in Colombes
, where she met her young cousin Anne, the future Queen of Great Britain.
Marie Louise's mother died in 1670. The following year, her father married Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
, Liselotte, who became a real mother to Marie Louise and her younger sister Anne Marie. All her life, Marie Louise would maintain an affectionate correspondence with her stepmother.
Marie Louise, saw the construction of the Palace of Versailles
in her youth and the reign of Madame de Montespan
.
It has been said that she wanted to marry her cousin, Louis, the Dauphin of France; however, the surviving letters of her stepmother prove that Marie Louise and the Dauphin were never in love. In any case, Europe was in an era of constant change and war. Her father and uncle were the informants of her marriage, which was seen as a way to induce better relations between France and Spain; the two nations had been on bad terms because of her uncle’s battles in the Spanish Netherlands. A famous, though inaccurate, scene occurred when the sixteen-year old girl was told that she was to be the Queen of Spain. Her uncle, Louis XIV, supposedly told her: "I could not have done more for my own daughter", to which Marie Louise replied: "Yes sire, but you could have done more for your niece."
The proxy marriage ceremony took place at the Palace of Fontainebleau on 30 August 1679; standing for the groom was her distant cousin Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti
. Till mid-September there were a series of formal occasions in honor of the new Queen of Spain. Before leaving for Spain, Marie Louise went to the convent of Val-de-Grâce
where the heart of her mother was kept. She would never return to France.
On 19 November 1679, Marie Louise married Charles in person in Quintanapalla, near Burgos
, Spain
. This was the start of a very lonely existence at the Spanish court. Her new husband had fallen madly in love with her, as her beauty and charm were renowned, and his passion for her remained with him until the end of his life. The very rigid etiquette of the Spanish Court (it was even forbidden to touch the Queen), and her unsuccessful attempts to bear a child, however, caused her to suffer from depression.
Her French attendants were all accused of plotting against the king and his family and, as a result, one of her personal maids was tortured under allegations. Due to the nature of the times, and the Spanish Court’s hatred of the young French princess, there were even riots outside the Palace in Madrid where she resided. Far away from the glamor and lavish courts at Versailles, Saint-Cloud and Paris, her new residences were the dark and forbidding Royal Alcazar of Madrid
(Real Alcázar de Madrid) and the more homely Buen Retiro Palace
(Palacio del Buen Retiro) - a country palace where Marie Louise was allowed to keep her French horses. She also liked to spend time in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez (Palacio Real de Aranjuez), south of Madrid, which was probably her favourite residence.
In early 1688, a witness wrote that when Charles and Marie Louise went to church to pray for children, they did so:
Within the ten years of the couple's marriage, the couple had no children. Marie Louise confided in the French ambassador, that
After years of trying and of increasing homesickness of her happy years in France with her family, Marie Louise turned to food. During the last years of her life, she became overweight. After horseback riding on 11 February 1689, she felt a severe pain in the abdomen which forced her to lie down the rest of the evening. She died the following night. According to a witness, on her deathbed Marie Louise said farewell to her husband:
, her mother-in-law, because Marie Louise had not given birth to any children. This is questionable since Mariana and Marie Louise were close and the dowager queen was also devastated at the young queen's death. It seems likely that the real cause of Marie Louise's death was appendicitis
.
Shortly after the Queen's death, the Spanish ministers began to look for a second wife for the King. The main candidates were the Italian princess Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
and the German princess Maria Anna of Neuburg. Upon showing the portraits of the princesses to Charles
, the King observed:
But then Charles turned towards a portrait of the deceased Marie Louise and, sighing, said:
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
from 1679 to 1689 as the first wife of King Charles II of Spain
Charles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
. She was a granddaughter of Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
; this made her a petite-fille de France
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...
("Granddaughter of France"). In her adopted country, she was known as Maria Luisa de Orléans.
Biography
Marie Louise d'Orléans, Mademoiselle d'Orléans at birth, was born at the Palais RoyalPalais Royal
The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace and an associated garden located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris...
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 eldest daughter of Philippe de France, 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...
, the younger brother 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...
, and of his first wife, Princess Henrietta Anne of England. As a petite-fille de France, she was allowed the style of Her Royal Highness
Royal Highness
Royal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
.
Charming, pretty and graceful, Marie Louise, who was her father's favourite child, had a happy childhood, residing most of the time in the Palais-Royal, and at the Château de Saint-Cloud
Château 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...
situated a few kilometers west of Paris. Marie Louise spent a lot of time with both her paternal and maternal grandmothers - Anne of Austria, who doted on her and left the bulk of her fortune to her when she died in 1666; and Henriette Marie de France, who lived in Colombes
Colombes
Colombes is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:On 13 March 1896, 17% of the territory of Colombes was detached and became the commune of Bois-Colombes ....
, where she met her young cousin Anne, the future Queen of Great Britain.
Marie Louise's mother died in 1670. The following year, her father married 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...
, Liselotte, who became a real mother to Marie Louise and her younger sister Anne Marie. All her life, Marie Louise would maintain an affectionate correspondence with her stepmother.
Marie Louise, saw the construction 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....
in her youth and the reign of 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....
.
Marriage
The proxy marriage ceremony took place at the Palace of Fontainebleau on 30 August 1679; standing for the groom was her distant cousin Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti
Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti
Louis Armand I de Bourbon was Prince of Conti from 1666 to his death, succeeding his father, Armand de Bourbon. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince du Sang....
. Till mid-September there were a series of formal occasions in honor of the new Queen of Spain. Before leaving for Spain, Marie Louise went to the convent of Val-de-Grâce
Val-de-Grâce
This article describes the hospital and former abbey. For the main article on Mansart and Lemercier's central church, see Church of the Val-de-Grâce....
where the heart of her mother was kept. She would never return to France.
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. This was the start of a very lonely existence at the Spanish court. Her new husband had fallen madly in love with her, as her beauty and charm were renowned, and his passion for her remained with him until the end of his life. The very rigid etiquette of the Spanish Court (it was even forbidden to touch the Queen), and her unsuccessful attempts to bear a child, however, caused her to suffer from depression.
Her French attendants were all accused of plotting against the king and his family and, as a result, one of her personal maids was tortured under allegations. Due to the nature of the times, and the Spanish Court’s hatred of the young French princess, there were even riots outside the Palace in Madrid where she resided. Far away from the glamor and lavish courts at Versailles, Saint-Cloud and Paris, her new residences were the dark and forbidding Royal Alcazar of Madrid
Royal Alcazar of Madrid
The Royal Alcázar of Madrid was a Muslim fortress built in the second half of the 9th century, at the site of today's Royal Palace of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. The structure was extended and enlarged over the centuries, particularly after the 16th century...
(Real Alcázar de Madrid) and the more homely Buen Retiro Palace
Buen Retiro Palace
Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recreation . It was built in what was then the eastern limits of the city of Madrid...
(Palacio del Buen Retiro) - a country palace where Marie Louise was allowed to keep her French horses. She also liked to spend time in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez (Palacio Real de Aranjuez), south of Madrid, which was probably her favourite residence.
In early 1688, a witness wrote that when Charles and Marie Louise went to church to pray for children, they did so:
with such faith that even the stones would move in order to join them and ask God for the issue they desire.
Within the ten years of the couple's marriage, the couple had no children. Marie Louise confided in the French ambassador, that
she was really not a virgin any longer, but that as far as she could figure things, she believed she would never have children.
After years of trying and of increasing homesickness of her happy years in France with her family, Marie Louise turned to food. During the last years of her life, she became overweight. After horseback riding on 11 February 1689, she felt a severe pain in the abdomen which forced her to lie down the rest of the evening. She died the following night. According to a witness, on her deathbed Marie Louise said farewell to her husband:
Your Majesty might have other wives, but no one will ever love you as I do.
Aftermath
The death of Marie Louise left her husband heartbroken. At the time, there were rumours that she had been poisoned by the notorious intrigante Olympia Mancini, Countess of Soissons, at the behest of the dowager queen, Mariana of AustriaMariana of Austria
Mariana of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second wife of King Philip IV, who was also her maternal uncle...
, her mother-in-law, because Marie Louise had not given birth to any children. This is questionable since Mariana and Marie Louise were close and the dowager queen was also devastated at the young queen's death. It seems likely that the real cause of Marie Louise's death was appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
.
Shortly after the Queen's death, the Spanish ministers began to look for a second wife for the King. The main candidates were the Italian princess Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici was the last scion of the House of Medici. A patron of the arts, she bequeathed the Medici's large art collection, including the contents of the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti and the Medicean villas, which she inherited upon her brother Gian Gastone's death in 1737, and her...
and the German princess Maria Anna of Neuburg. Upon showing the portraits of the princesses to Charles
Charles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
, the King observed:
The lady from Tuscany is pretty and the lady from Neuburg seems not to be ugly either.
But then Charles turned towards a portrait of the deceased Marie Louise and, sighing, said:
This lady was most beautiful.
Ancestors
Titles and Styles
- 26 March 1662 – 30 August 1679 Her Royal Highness Mademoiselle
- 30 August 1679 – 12 February 1689 Her Majesty the Queen of Spain