- Duchess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria
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Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria Posthumous portrait of Maria Anna Victoria holding the coronet of a Dauphine, François de Troy Dauphine of France Tenure 7 March 1680 – 20 April 1690 Spouse Louis, Dauphin of France Issue Louis, Dauphin of France
Philip V, King of Spain
Charles, Duke of BerryFull name Maria Anna Christine Victoria House House of Bourbon
House of WittelsbachFather Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria Mother Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy Born 28 November 1660
Munich, BavariaDied 20 April 1690 (aged 29)
Palace of Versailles, FranceBurial Royal Basilica of Saint Denis, France Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, Dauphine of France (Maria Anna Christina Victoria; 28 November 1660 – 20 April 1690) was Dauphine of France as spouse of Louis, Grand Dauphin, son and heir of Louis XIV. She was known as the Dauphine Marie Anne Victoire or la Grande Dauphine. The dauphine was a pathetic figure at the court of France, isolated and unappreciated due to the perception that she was dull, unattractive and sickly.
Contents
Background
Maria Anna was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and his wife Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy. Her maternal grandparents were Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy and Christine Marie of France, the second daughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici, thus her husband the dauphin was her second cousin.
Biography
Born in Munich, capital of the Electorate of Bavaria, Maria Anna was betrothed to the dauphin of France in 1668, at the age of eight, and was carefully educated to fulfill that role. Besides her native language of German, she was taught to speak French, Italian and Latin. She was said to have looked forward to the fate of becoming dauphine of France. Maria Anna was very close to her mother, who died in 1676. Her siblings included Violante of Bavaria, future wife of Ferdinando de' Medici as well as the future Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian II Emanuel.
Prior to her marriage to the dauphin, there was a proxy ceremony in Munich on 28 January 1680; the couple would meet for the first time on 7 March 1680 in Châlons-sur-Marne. She was the first dauphine of France since Mary, Queen of Scots married Francis II of France in 1558.
Upon her marriage, Maria Anna took on the rank of her husband as a Fille de France (Daughter of France); this meant that she was entitled to the style "Royal Highness" and the form of address Madame la Dauphine.
When she first arrived in France, Maria Anna made a good impression with her good French. When she entered Strasbourg, she was addressed in German, but interrupted the greeting by saying, "Gentlemen, I speak French!" The impression of her appearance, however, was not as good, and she was called "terribly ugly". Others said, that although she may not have been beautiful, she did have personal charm.
As soon as she married the dauphin, Maria Anna was the second most important women at court after her mother-in-law, Queen Maria Theresa of Spain. When the queen died in July 1683, Maria Anna ranked as the most prominent female at court and was given the apartments of the late queen. The king expected her to perform the functions of the first lady at court, but her ill health made it very difficult for her to carry out her duties. The king was completely unsympathetic to her situation and accused her falsely of hypchondria.
Her husband took mistresses, and she lived an isolated life in her apartments, where she spoke with her friends in German, a language her husband could not understand. She was very close to a fellow German at court, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, the wife of the king's younger brother Philippe. She was said to be depressed having to live at a court where beauty was so much prized, not being beautiful herself. She died in 1690. An autopsy revealed a multitude of internal disorders that completely vindicated her complaints of chronic and severe illness.
Maria Anna was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis. She is an ancestor of Prince Henri the Count of Paris, Orléanist pretender to the French throne. Also Juan Carlos I of Spain, Albert II, King of the Belgians, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and of Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, a pretender to the Italian throne.
Issue
- Louis de France (16 August 1682 – 18 February 1712), Duke of Burgundy and later Dauphin of France; married his second cousin Princess Maria Adelaide of Savoy; they were the parents of Louis XV of France;
- Philippe de France (19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746), Duke of Anjou, later King of Spain as of 1700; married his second cousin Princess Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy and had issue; married again Elisabeth Farnese and had issue;
- Charles de France (31 July 1686 – 5 May 1714), Duke of Berry, Alençon, and Angoulême, Count of Ponthieu; married his first cousin Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans and had issue, but none survived over a year;
Family of Maria Anna in 1687 Ancestors
Ancestors of Duchess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria 16. Albert V, Duke of Bavaria 8. William V, Duke of Bavaria 17. Anna of Austria 4. Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria 18. Francis I, Duke of Lorraine 9. Renata of Lorraine 19. Christina of Denmark 2. Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria 20. Charles II of Austria 10. Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor 21. Maria Anna of Bavaria 5. Maria Anna of Austria 22. William V, Duke of Bavaria 11. Maria Anna of Bavaria 23. Renata of Lorraine 1. Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria 24. Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy 12. Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy 25. Margaret of France 6. Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy 26. Philip II of Spain 13. Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain 27. Elisabeth of Valois 3. Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy 28. Antoine of Bourbon 14. Henry IV of France 29. Jeanne III de' Albret 7. Princess Christine Marie of France 30. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 15. Marie de' Medici 31. Johanna of Austria References
- Simone Bertière, Les Femmes du Roi-Soleil, Éditions de Fallois, 1998, ISBN 2-253-14712-5
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
- 28 November 1660 – 7 March 1680 Her Serene Highness Duchess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria
- 7 March 1680 – 20 April 1690 Her Royal Highness the Dauphine of France
See also
Duchesses of Bavaria by birth 1st generation Duchess Sidonie · Sibylle, Electress Palatine · Sabina, Duchess of Württemberg · Duchess Susanne · Susanna, Electress Palatine2nd generation 3rd generation Maria Anna, Archduchess of Austria · Duchess Maximiliana Maria4th generation Duchess Christiane · Maria Anna, Archduchess of Austria · Duchess Eleonore Magdalene · Magdalene, Countess Palatine of Neuburg5th generation Duchess Marie Renate6th generation Maria Anna Victoria, Dauphine of France · Duchess Luise Margarete Antonie · Violante Beatrice, Grand Princess of Tuscany7th generation Duchess Maria Anna Karoline8th generation Duchess Maximiliane* · Maria Antonia, Electress of Saxony* · Duchess Therese Benedikta* · Maria Anna Josepha, Margravine of Baden-Baden* · Maria Josepha, Holy Roman Empress**also Princess of BavariaPrincesses of France by marriage 1st generation None2nd generation 3rd generation 4th generation Duchess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria · Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Légitimée de France5th generation 6th generation None7th generation 8th generation Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria · Princess Maria Giuseppina of Savoy · Princess Maria Teresa of Savoy9th generation 10th generation Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este*also a princess of France in her own rightDauphines of France Jeanne de Bourbon (1350-1364) · Princess Marguerite of Burgundy (1412-1415) · Duchess Jacqueline of Bavaria (1415-1417) · Princess Margaret of Scotland (1436-1445) · Princess Charlotte of Savoy (1451-1461) · Catherine de' Medici (1536-1547) · Mary, Queen of Scots (1558-1559) · Duchess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria (1680-1690) · Princess Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (1711-1712) · Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (1745-1746) · Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony (1747-1765) · Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria (1770-1774) · Princess Marie Thérèse of France (1824-1830)Categories:- House of Bourbon (France)
- House of Wittelsbach
- People from Munich
- Dauphines of Viennois
- 17th-century German people
- Duchesses of Bavaria
- Dauphines of France
- Princesses of France (Bourbon)
- 1660 births
- Burials at the Basilica of St Denis
- 1690 deaths
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