Marie Thérèse de Bourbon

Marie Thérèse de Bourbon
Titular Queen of Poland Princess of Conti
Painting by Pierre Mignard
Spouse	François Louis, Prince of Conti
Detail Issue
Marie Anne, Princess of Condé Louis Armand, Prince of Conti Louise Adélaïde, Mademoiselle de La Roche-sur-Yon
Full name
Marie Thérèse de Bourbon
Father	Henri Jules de Bourbon
Mother	Anne Henriette of Bavaria
Born	1 February 1666(1666-02-01) Hôtel de Condé, Paris, France
Died	22 January 1732(1732-01-22) (aged 65) Hôtel de Conti, Paris, France
Burial	Église Saint-André des Arcs, L'Isle d'Adam, France

Marie Thérèse de Bourbon (1 February 1666 – 22 February 1732^[1]) was the daughter of the Prince of Condé and of a Bavarian princess. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, she was a Princesse du Sang. She, along with her husband, were the titular monarchs of Poland in 1697.

Biography

Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, was born at the Hôtel de Condé in Paris on 1 February 1666 to Henri Jules de Bourbon, the then Duke of Bourbon and his wife Anne Henriette of Bavaria, she was named after the wife of Louis XIV, the Spanish born Marie Thérèse d'Autriche.

On her father's side she was descended from the French royal House of Bourbon, and on her mother's side, from English royalty and the House of Nassau. She was given at birth the honorary title of Mademoiselle de Bourbon.

• In 1685, her older brother Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon (later Prince of Condé) married a natural legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV, Louise Françoise de Bourbon;
• In 1692, her sister Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon married her brother's brother-in-law, the Duke of Maine;
• In 1718, her other and youngest sister, Marie Anne de Bourbon, married the Duke of Vendôme, a great-grandson of Henry IV of France.

She was supposed to marry the Italian Prince Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy^[2] as she was the most senior female at court. He later married Maria Angela Caterina d'Este, daughter of the late General Borso d'Este, marquis of Scandiano, the collateral branch of the duchy of Modena, and Ippolita d'Este. This match was opposed by Louis XIV of France, who had wanted Emmanuel Philibert to marry a French princess, given his position as heir to the duchy of Savoy. Marie Thérèse's cousin Anne Marie d'Orléans later married the Duke of Savoy.

On 22 January 1688, Marie-Thérèse married François Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, le Grand Conti, head of the House of Bourbon-Conti, at the Chapel of the Palace of Versailles. She later took the title of "Her Serene Highness", and was known as Madame la Princesse de Conti.

The bride was passionately in love with her husband, but he had his attentions elsewhere. It was well known at court that he had had an affair with his wife's sister-in-law, the Duchess of Bourbon, but it had also been said that had also had homosexual tendencies^[3] and did not pay his wife much attention.

Marie Thérèse had a difficult relationship with her children and, as a result, lived quietly at the various Conti residences, mainly at the Château de L'Isle-Adam. The family later reconciled after the death of the Prince of Conti. Marie Thérèse was known for her quiet personality and her piety, much praised by many at court. Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, the Dowager Duchess of Orléans, mother of the Regent), a letter writer memorable for her vivid description of court life and personages, said of the widowed Marie Thérèse:

This Princess is the only one of the House of Condé who is good for anything. I think she must have some German blood in her veins. She is little, and somewhat on one side, but she is not hunchbacked. She has fine eyes, like her father; with this exception, she has no pretensions to beauty, but she is virtuous and pious. What she has suffered on account of her husband has excited general compassion;^[4]

Queen of Poland

In 1697, Marie Thérèse's husband was offered the Crown of Poland by Louis XIV. The Prince of Conti went to Poland to inspect his possible new kingdom, while Marie Thérèse stayed in France, and during this time, the princesse de Conti, became the Titular Queen of Poland and her husband the king.^[5] From a vote that was cast by the Polish people, her husband was the more popular candidate, but when he arrived in Gdańsk, he found that Augustus II the Strong had taken his place on the throne, and he returned to France.

Princesse Douairière

In 1709, her husband died in Paris. In order to tell them apart after the death of their respective husbands, the dowager Princesses of Conti were given the name of Douairière preceded by a number corresponding to their time of widowhood. Their full style would then be Madame la Princesse de Conti 'number' douairière. Between 1727 and 1732, there were three dowager Princesses de Conti:

• Marie Anne de Bourbon (1666–1739), the legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Louise de La Vallière; she was the wife of Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti. Widowed in 1685, she was known as Madame la Princesse de Conti première douairière. Her husband's title went to his younger brother, François Louis, Prince of Conti.
• Marie Thérèse de Bourbon (1666–1732), the wife of François Louis, Prince of Conti; widowed in 1709, she was known as ''Madame la Princesse de Conti seconde douairière.
• Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon (1693–1775), the wife of Louis Armand II, Prince of Conti, who was the son and successor of François Louis, Prince of Conti. Widowed in 1727, she was known as Madame la Princesse de Conti troisième/dernière douairière.

After her husband's death, she turned her attention to the renovation of the Conti's residences, beginning with the Hôtel de Conti^[6][7] (sometimes called the "Palais Conti") on the Quai Conti, left bank of the Seine, in Paris, then to the nearby Hôtel de Seignelay.^[5][8] She commissioned the work to Robert de Cotte, Premier Architecte du Roi.

In 1713, her daughter Marie Anne married Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, known as Monsieur le Duc, the son of her husband's former mistress the Princess of Condé (previously Duchess of Bourbon). Her daughter thus became Madame la Duchesse. On the same day at Versailles, in a double wedding ceremony, her son, the new prince de Conti, married another child of the Princess of Condé, Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon who then took the title that Marie Thérèse had had for almost thirty years. In 1720, Marie-Anne died in Paris.

Marie Thérèse died on 22 February 1732 at the Hôtel de Conti. She was buried at the Église Saint-André des Arcs, L'Isle d'Adam.

After her death, her son moved into another Paris palace; it was later given to her brother-in-law, the duc du Maine, who had it demolished.

Due to her granddaughter Louise Henriette de Bourbon marrying the young Duke of Chartres in 1743, Marie Thérèse is an ancestor to several of the present royal families in Europe.

Her great-greatgrandson, was Louis-Philippe of France, the last king to reign in France. His many children married into European royal houses.

Issue

• Marie Anne de Bourbon (18 April 1689 - 21 March 1720) married Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon but had no issue.
• Unknown name (18 November 1693 - 22 November 1693) died in infancy.
• Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon (1 December 1694 - 25 April 1698) died in infancy.
• Louis Armand de Bourbon (10 November 1695 - 4 May 1727) married Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon and had issue.
• Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon (2 November 1696 – 20 November 1750) died unmarried.
• Mademoiselle d'Alais (19 November 1697 - 13 August 1699) died in infancy.
• Louis François de Bourbon, Count of Alais (27 July 1703 - 21 January 1704) died in infancy.

Ancestry

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References

1. ^ 403 Forbidden
2. ^ Son of Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignan and his French wife, Marie de Bourbon
3. ^ Pevitt, Christine, Philippe, Duc d'Orléans: Regent of France, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1997, (English), p.100.
4. ^ Translated Memoirs of the Duchess of Orléans
5. ^ ^{a b} Journal historique du règne de Louis XIV par le Marquis de Dangeau
6. ^ After been bought by the city of Paris to become the Hôtel de Ville, the Hôtel de Conti was demolished to make place for the Hôtel des Monnaies, which was built between 1767 and 1775, during the latter part of the reign of Louis XV.
7. ^ http://www.mintsoftheworld.com/frenchmint.html
8. ^ Now Ministère de l'artisanat, 80 rue de Lille, Paris 7e.

Persondata
Name	Marie Therese De Bourbon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 February 1666
Place of birth	Hôtel de Condé, Paris, France
Date of death	22 January 1732
Place of death	Hôtel de Conti, Paris, France