Landgravine Christine of Hesse-Rotenburg

Christine
Princess of Carignan
Spouse	Louis Victor, Prince of Carignan
Detail Issue
Victor Amadeo, Prince of Carignan Leopoldina, Princess of Melfi Marie Louise, Princess of Lamballe Gabriella, Princess of Lobkowicz Caterina, Princess of Paliano Eugenio, Count of Villafranca
Full name
Italian: Cristina d'Assia-Rotenburg German: Christine von Hessen-Rheinfels-Rotenburg
Father	Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg
Mother	Eleonore of Löwenstein-Rochefort[1]
Born	21 November 1717(1717-11-21) Schloss Rotenburg, Rotenburg
Died	1 September 1778(1778-09-01) (aged 60) Palazzo Carignano, Turin, Italy
Burial	1786 Basilica of Superga, Italy

Christine of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (Christine Henriette; 21 November 1717 – 1 September 1778) was a princess of the German dynasty of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. She was the Princess of Carignan by marriage and mother of the princesse de Lamballe and of Victor Amadeus II, Prince of Carignan.

Biography

Christine Henriette was born in Rotenburg the youngest of the ten children of the Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg and his consort.^[1] Her older sister Polyxena was married in 1730 to the future Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and had issue. Another sister, Caroline was the wife of the French Prime Minister, Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon until her death in 1741.

After Polyxena's marriage, Christine became engaged. Her future husband was Louis Victor, Prince of Carignan the eldest surviving child of Victor Amadeus, Prince of Carignan and his wife Maria Vittoria Francesca of Savoy.^[2] The Carignans were a cadet branch of the House of Savoy, Kings of Sardinia from 1720, and would inherit from them the kingship of Italy from 1861.

Christine married Louis Victor on 4 May 1740 at the age of 22. The next year her husband succeeded to the title Prince de Carignan, the seigneury of Carignan having belonged to the Savoys since 1418. The fact that it was part of Piedmont, only twenty kilometers south of Turin, meant that it could be a "princedom" for the cadet line in name only, being endowed neither with independence nor revenues of substance.^[3]

Christine's second child, born at the Palazzo Carignano, was named Victor Amadeus and was the great-grandfather of the future Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. Her fifth daughter was her most famous; Louise, princesse de Lamballe, the tragic best friend of Marie Antoinette.

Christine died at the Palazzo Carignano in Turin on the night of August 31–1 September 1778, and was followed less than three months later by her husband. Buried firstly at Turin Cathedral, she was moved in 1835 to Turin's Basilica of Superga. At her death the Gazette de France published a small epitaph for her in honour of her daughter Madame de Lamballe:

Tuesday, the 31st of last month,^[4] princesse Christine Henriette de Hesse Rheinfels, wife of Louis Victor Amédée de Savoie, Prince de Carignan, died in this city [Turin], after a lingering and painful illness. She was born the 24th November, 1717.^[4]

Her present descendants include the rival pretenders to the Italian throne, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples^[1] and Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta, as well as the Bonapartist pretender, Victor, Prince Napoléon.

Issue

• Princess Charlotte Maria Luisa of Savoy (Turin, 17 August 1742 - 20 February 1794) died unmarried; was a nun;
• Prince Vittorio Amadeo of Savoy (Turin, 31 October 1743 - September 1780) married Joséphine de Lorraine and had issue;
• Princess Leopoldina Maria of Savoy (Turin, 21 December 1744 – Rome, 17 April 1807) married Prince Andrea IV Doria Pamphili Landi, 8th Prince of Melfi and had issue;
• Princess Polyxena Teresa of Savoy (Turin, 31 October 1746 - 20 December 1762) died unmarried;
• Princess Gabrielle of Savoy (Turin, 17 May 1748 - Vienna, 10 April 1828) married Ferdinand Philipp Josef, Prince of Lobkowicz and had issuel currant House of Lobkowicz descend from her;
• Princess Maria Teresa Luisa of Savoy (Turin, 8 September 1749 – Paris, 3 September 1792) married Louis Alexandre Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Lamballe; murdered in the French Revolution;
• Prince Tommaso of Savoy (Turin, 6 March 1751 - 23 July 1753)
• Prince Eugenio of Savoy (Turin, 21 October 1753 - 30 June 1785) married Elisabeth Anne Magon Boisgarin and had issue;
• Princess Caterina Maria Luisa Francesca of Savoy (Turin, 4 April 1762 - 4 September 1823) married Don Filippo Giuseppe Francesco Colonna, 9th Prince of Paliano, descendant of Marie Mancini;^[1] had issue from which the present Princes of Paliano descend;^[1]

Titles and styles

• 21 November 1717 – 4 May 1740 Princess Christine of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg
• 4 May 1740 – 4 April 1741 Her Highness Princess Louis Victor of Savoy
• 4 April 1741 – 1 September 1778 Her Highness the Princess of Carignan

Ancestry

References and notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} van de Pas, Leo. "Landgräfin Christine von Hessen-Rheinfels-Rotenburg". Genealogics .org. http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00003907&tree=LEO. Retrieved 2010-03-01. 
2. ^ She was the legitimatised daughter of King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and his mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
3. ^ "Carignano". Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. 1911. http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Carignano. Retrieved 2008-03-31. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Bertin, Georges. "Full text of Madame de Lamballe". Archive.org. http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924024292504/cu31924024292504_djvu.txt. Retrieved 2009-11-26. 

See also

Persondata
Name	Christine Henriette Of Hesse-Rotenburg, Landgravine
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	21 November 1717
Place of birth	Schloss Rotenburg, Rotenburg
Date of death	1 September 1778
Place of death	Palazzo Carignano, Turin, Italy