Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern
Encyclopedia
Princess Louise Maximilienne Caroline Emmanuele of Stolberg-Gedern (20 September 1752 – 29 January 1824) was the wife of the Jacobite
claimant to the English and Scottish thrones Charles Edward Stuart
. She is commonly called Countess of Albany.
, Hainaut
, in the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium
), the eldest daughter of Prince Gustav Adolf of Stolberg-Gedern and of his wife Princess Elisabeth of Hornes, the daughter of Maximilian, Prince of Hornes. When she was only four years old, her father was killed at the Battle of Leuthen
. When she was seven, she was sent to be educated at the school attached to the convent of St. Waudru in Mons. The mission of this convent was to provide a home for young ladies of the nobility who had insufficient financial means to live unmarried in the world. In 1766 the Empress Maria Theresa
arranged for the convent to give to Louise one of its endowed prebends. Although technically Louise was a canoness (a type of nun), she was not required to stay in the convent cloister and was still allowed to travel in society. Indeed, for most of the canonesses, the acceptance of a prebend was merely a temporary stage until they found appropriate noble husbands.
claimant to the English and Scottish thrones. Although King Louis XV of France
recognised the succession of the House of Hanover
, he also hoped that the legitimate Stuart line would not die out and would be an ongoing threat to the Hanoverians.
The negotiations were delicate since Louise's family had no money of its own and relied totally on the goodwill of the Empress Maria Theresa (who was allied to the Hanoverians). On 28 March 1772 Louise was married by proxy to Charles Edward at Paris
. The couple met for the first time on 14 April 1772 when they renewed their marriage vows in person in the town of Macerata
, Italy
. Louise was henceforward recognised by Jacobites as Queen Louise of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland.
Charles and Louise spent the first two years of their married life in Rome
. In spite of the difference in their ages (he was 52, she was 20), the couple were at first happy together. But there were several shadows on the relationship. There was no sign of Louise conceiving a child. Charles had been encouraged in the belief that, if he married, the pope would recognise him as King of England and Scotland, and France might provide funds for another Jacobite rising
. Louise had virtually been promised that she would be treated as a queen. Instead Charles found his hopes both of a son and of diplomatic recognition disappointed, while Louise found herself married to an old prince with no prospects.
. It was there that they began to use the title "Count and Countess of Albany". In 1776 the Italian poet Count Vittorio Alfieri
was presented at their palace; he became a frequent visitor. In Rome
Louise had had several young men pay court to her, but these relationships had probably not been adulterous. But sometime in 1778 Louise and Alfieri became lovers.
Meanwhile Louise's husband Charles had become a drunkard again as he had been a number of years before. In December 1780 Louise left Charles and took refuge in a convent. She claimed, and it is widely believed to be true, that Charles had become physically abusive to her. Louise received the support of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany
, the pope, and her brother-in-law the Cardinal Duke of York
, all of whom were unaware of Louise's ongoing adulterous relationship with Alfieri.
Within a few weeks Louise moved back to Rome. She lived briefly at the Ursuline Convent before moving to her brother-in-law's official residence, the Palazzo della Cancelleria. Alfieri followed Louise to Rome where for two years they carried on their affair in secret. In April 1783 the Cardinal Duke of York finally discovered the truth. In early May Alfieri left Rome in order to avoid being expelled by force.
In April 1784 Charles was induced by King Gustav III of Sweden
to grant Louise a decree of separation. The couple did not divorce (since no such legal procedure existed in the Papal States
), but Louise was thereby permitted to live separately from her husband.
In June 1784 Louise left Rome, purportedly to summer at the baths of Baden
. In August she was reunited with Alfieri at Colmar
. They spent the next two months together at the castle of Martinsburg. In order to continue to keep their meeting secret from the Cardinal-Duke of York (who was the chief source of Louise's income), they separated again, and Louise spent the winter of 1784/1785 in Bologna
. She summered in Paris
, before returning to Martinsburg where she was joined again by Alfieri in September. After two months Louise returned to Paris.
In 1786 the Cardinal-Duke of York learnt of the ongoing relationship between Louise and Alfieri. This caused a complete rupture between Louise and her brother-in-law. Henceforth she made no attempt to hide her relationship with Alfieri. From December 1786 onwards they lived together as a couple with only occasional and brief separations.
On the last day of January 1788, Louise's husband Charles died. This resulted in a substantial improvement in her financial situation thanks to a previously agreed pension from the King of France. Although Louise now had the freedom to marry Alfieri, they did not regularise their relationship, since Alfieri had always opposed the institution of marriage. They lived at first in Paris. There Louise established a famous salon
in her home to which the most important writers, artists, and intellectuals were invited.
In 1791 Louise and Alfieri paid a four-month visit to England. In 1792 the 10th of August insurrection
encouraged them to flee from Paris, only two days before the republican authorities went to their home to arrest them.
Louise and Alfieri settled in Florence. In 1793 Alfieri purchased Palazzo Gianfigliazzi, a mansion overlooking the River Arno. Here Louise re-established her famous salon, although perhaps on a somewhat smaller scale than in Paris.
Louise continued to live with Alfieri until his death in 1803.
Louise is buried in the Basilica di Santa Croce
in Florence (in the Castellani Chapel); Alfieri is also buried in the basilica (between the tombs of Machiavelli
and Michelangelo
).
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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...
claimant to the English and Scottish thrones 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...
. She is commonly called Countess of Albany.
Birth and early life
Louise was born in MonsMons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
, Hainaut
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
, in the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
), the eldest daughter of Prince Gustav Adolf of Stolberg-Gedern and of his wife Princess Elisabeth of Hornes, the daughter of Maximilian, Prince of Hornes. When she was only four years old, her father was killed at the Battle of Leuthen
Battle of Leuthen
In the Battle of Leuthen or Lissa, fought on 5 December 1757, Frederick the Great's Prussian army used maneuver and terrain to decisively defeat a much larger Austrian army under Charles of Lorraine, thus ensuring Prussian control of Silesia during the Seven Years' War.- Background :While Frederick...
. When she was seven, she was sent to be educated at the school attached to the convent of St. Waudru in Mons. The mission of this convent was to provide a home for young ladies of the nobility who had insufficient financial means to live unmarried in the world. In 1766 the Empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
arranged for the convent to give to Louise one of its endowed prebends. Although technically Louise was a canoness (a type of nun), she was not required to stay in the convent cloister and was still allowed to travel in society. Indeed, for most of the canonesses, the acceptance of a prebend was merely a temporary stage until they found appropriate noble husbands.
Marriage
In 1771 Louise's younger sister (also a canoness at St. Waudru) married the Marquess of Jamaica, only son of the 3rd Duke of Berwick (great-grandson of King James II of England and VII of Scotland). The Duke of Berwick's uncle, the duc de Fitz-James, began negotiations with Louise's mother for a marriage between Louise and Charles Edward Stuart, 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...
claimant to the English and Scottish thrones. Although King Louis XV of France
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...
recognised the succession of the House of Hanover
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, he also hoped that the legitimate Stuart line would not die out and would be an ongoing threat to the Hanoverians.
The negotiations were delicate since Louise's family had no money of its own and relied totally on the goodwill of the Empress Maria Theresa (who was allied to the Hanoverians). On 28 March 1772 Louise was married by proxy to Charles Edward at 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 couple met for the first time on 14 April 1772 when they renewed their marriage vows in person in the town of Macerata
Macerata
Macerata is a city and comune in central Italy, the capital of the province of Macerata in the Marche region.The historical city center is located on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza rivers. It consisted of the Picenes city named Ricina, then, after the romanization, Recina and Helvia Recina...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Louise was henceforward recognised by Jacobites as Queen Louise of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland.
Charles and Louise spent the first two years of their married life in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. In spite of the difference in their ages (he was 52, she was 20), the couple were at first happy together. But there were several shadows on the relationship. There was no sign of Louise conceiving a child. Charles had been encouraged in the belief that, if he married, the pope would recognise him as King of England and Scotland, and France might provide funds for another Jacobite rising
Jacobite rising
The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in Great Britain and Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746. The uprisings were aimed at returning James VII of Scotland and II of England, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by...
. Louise had virtually been promised that she would be treated as a queen. Instead Charles found his hopes both of a son and of diplomatic recognition disappointed, while Louise found herself married to an old prince with no prospects.
Count Vittorio Alfieri
In 1774 Charles and Louise moved to FlorenceFlorence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. It was there that they began to use the title "Count and Countess of Albany". In 1776 the Italian poet Count Vittorio Alfieri
Vittorio Alfieri
Count Vittorio Alfieri was an Italian dramatist, considered the "founder of Italian tragedy."-Early life:Alfieri was born at Asti in Piedmont....
was presented at their palace; he became a frequent visitor. In Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
Louise had had several young men pay court to her, but these relationships had probably not been adulterous. But sometime in 1778 Louise and Alfieri became lovers.
Meanwhile Louise's husband Charles had become a drunkard again as he had been a number of years before. In December 1780 Louise left Charles and took refuge in a convent. She claimed, and it is widely believed to be true, that Charles had become physically abusive to her. Louise received the support of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany
Maria Luisa of Spain
Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary as the spouse of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.-Names:...
, the pope, and her brother-in-law the Cardinal Duke of York
Henry Benedict Stuart
Henry Benedict Stuart was a Roman Catholic Cardinal, as well as the fourth and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Unlike his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, and brother, Charles Edward Stuart, Henry made no effort to seize the throne...
, all of whom were unaware of Louise's ongoing adulterous relationship with Alfieri.
Within a few weeks Louise moved back to Rome. She lived briefly at the Ursuline Convent before moving to her brother-in-law's official residence, the Palazzo della Cancelleria. Alfieri followed Louise to Rome where for two years they carried on their affair in secret. In April 1783 the Cardinal Duke of York finally discovered the truth. In early May Alfieri left Rome in order to avoid being expelled by force.
In April 1784 Charles was induced by King Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....
to grant Louise a decree of separation. The couple did not divorce (since no such legal procedure existed in the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
), but Louise was thereby permitted to live separately from her husband.
In June 1784 Louise left Rome, purportedly to summer at the baths of Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
. In August she was reunited with Alfieri at Colmar
Colmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
. They spent the next two months together at the castle of Martinsburg. In order to continue to keep their meeting secret from the Cardinal-Duke of York (who was the chief source of Louise's income), they separated again, and Louise spent the winter of 1784/1785 in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
. She summered 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...
, before returning to Martinsburg where she was joined again by Alfieri in September. After two months Louise returned to Paris.
In 1786 the Cardinal-Duke of York learnt of the ongoing relationship between Louise and Alfieri. This caused a complete rupture between Louise and her brother-in-law. Henceforth she made no attempt to hide her relationship with Alfieri. From December 1786 onwards they lived together as a couple with only occasional and brief separations.
On the last day of January 1788, Louise's husband Charles died. This resulted in a substantial improvement in her financial situation thanks to a previously agreed pension from the King of France. Although Louise now had the freedom to marry Alfieri, they did not regularise their relationship, since Alfieri had always opposed the institution of marriage. They lived at first in Paris. There Louise established a famous salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
in her home to which the most important writers, artists, and intellectuals were invited.
In 1791 Louise and Alfieri paid a four-month visit to England. In 1792 the 10th of August insurrection
10th of August (French Revolution)
On 10 August 1792, during the French Revolution, revolutionary Fédéré militias — with the backing of a new municipal government of Paris that came to be known as the "insurrectionary" Paris Commune and ultimately supported by the National Guard — besieged the Tuileries palace. King Louis XVI and...
encouraged them to flee from Paris, only two days before the republican authorities went to their home to arrest them.
Louise and Alfieri settled in Florence. In 1793 Alfieri purchased Palazzo Gianfigliazzi, a mansion overlooking the River Arno. Here Louise re-established her famous salon, although perhaps on a somewhat smaller scale than in Paris.
Louise continued to live with Alfieri until his death in 1803.
Later life
After Alfieri's death Louise's companion was the artist François Xavier Fabre; it seems unlikely that their relationship was a romantic one. Louise continued to live in Florence until in 1809 she was summoned to Paris by Napoleon who asked if she and Charles Edward had ever given birth to a child hoping they could then be used to try and stir up insurrection in Britain with which France was at war. When she replied "no", the meeting was abrubtly terminated. A year later she was allowed to return to Florence.Louise is buried in the Basilica di Santa Croce
Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze
The Basilica di Santa Croce is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres south east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls...
in Florence (in the Castellani Chapel); Alfieri is also buried in the basilica (between the tombs of Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
and Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
).
Ancestry
Further reading
- Crosland, Margaret. Louise of Stolberg, Countess of Albany. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1962.
- Lee, Vernon (i.e. Violet Paget). The Countess of Albany. London: W.H. Allen, 1884. Full text.
- Mitchiner, Margaret. No Crown for the Queen: Louise de Stolberg, Countess of Albany, and Wife of the Young Pretender. London: Jonathan Cape, 1937.
- Vaughan, Herbert. The Last Stuart Queen. London: Duckworth, 1910.
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