Princess Louise-Marie of France

:"See also Louise-Marie of France (1812-1850), Queen of the Belgians."

Louise Marie de France or "Marie Louise" and sometimes just "Louise" (15 July 1737 - 23 December 1787) was the youngest of the 10 children of Louis XV of France and his Queen consort Maria Leszczyńska. As a daughter of the king, she held the rank of a "fille de France". Louise outlived her father, mother, and all of her siblings except for her two older sisters, known Madame Adélaïde and Madame Victoire.

Early life

Louise was born at Versailles, and was known as "Madame Septième" [Ravel, Jeffrey. " Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture", P125. Published 2007, John Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801885981] (one of her seven older sisters died before her birth) or "Madame Dernière", later "Madame Louise" [Gratay, Alphonse-Joseph-Auguste. "Henri Perreyve", Pvi, Published 1872, C. Douniol.] . She was brought up at the Abbey of Fontevraud with Louis' three other youngest daughters, Victoire, Sophie and Thérèse-Félicité (who died aged 8).

Marriage

None of her father's projects for her marriage came to fruition, and she sought sanctuary from the world in her religion. In 1748, there were rumours that Louis would have her engaged to Charles Edward Stuart (also known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie", the Young Pretender to the throne of England). She said:

"N'ai-je pas sujet d'être bien inquiète puisqu'on me destine un époux, moi qui n'en veux d'autre que Jésus-Christ?" ("Shouldn't I be anxious when I am destined for a husband, when I don't want any other than Jesus Christ?)". Fact|date=July 2008

Gallery

Versailles

She returned to the court in 1750. She returned to a court that was ruled by his fathers lust for his Maîtresse-en-titre Madame de Pompadour. She stayed at the court of Versaillesfor another 20 years seeing, the death of her older sister "Madame Henriette" (1752); the births of her nieces and nephews; the Assassination attempt on her father in 1757; the introduction of Madame du Barry; construction the the Petit Trianon; death of her older sister known as "Madame Infante" (1759) and mother (1768)).

The year she left (1770) she saw the marriage of her nephew Louis-Auguste to Marie Antoinette. In 1770, to general amazement, Louise asked her father to allow her to become a Carmelite nun [Hare, Augustus JohnCuthbert. "North-eastern France", P143. Published 1896, Macmillan.] [Markham, JacobAbbott. "A History of France", P473. Published 1863, Harper & Brothers.] . She believed that becoming a nun would compensate for her father's lax morals. She joined the convent at Saint-Denis [Baedeker, Karl. "Paris and Environs with Routes from London to Paris", P348. Published 1898, Dulau.] , where the order's rule was obeyed strictly, taking the name Thérèse of Saint Augustine.

She became Mother Superior of the convent [Leathes, Stanley. "The religion of the Christ, its historic and literary development", P356. Published 1874, Oxford University. ] , and interceded with her father to allow Austrian Carmelites persecuted by the Emperor Joseph II to enter France. While at the convent, she tried her best to make sure that the other nuns treated her as an equal rather than the daughter of a king.Fact|date=July 2008 As a child she had had an accident which had effected her knee. As a result of that, she found it difficult to kneel and when offered assistance, she refused.Fact|date=July 2008

Death

She died at Saint-Denis, suffering from a stomach complaint. Her last words were:

"Au paradis! Vite! Au grand galop!" ("To heaven! Quickly! At the gallop!)"

Along with other royal tombs at Saint-Denis, her remains were desecrated during the French Revolution. Pope Pius IX declared her Venerable on 19 June 1873. Her life is celebrated on 23 December.

Ancestry

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1= 1. Princess Louise-Marie of France
2= 2. Louis XV of France
3= 3. Maria Leszczyńska
4= 4. Louis, Dauphin of France and Duke of Burgundy
5= 5. Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy
6= 6. Stanisław Leszczyński, King of Poland
7= 7. Countess Katarzyna Opalińska
8= 8. Louis, Dauphin of France
9= 9. Maria Anna of Bavaria
10= 10. Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
11= 11. Anne Marie of Orléans
12= 12. Rafał Leszczyński, Duke of Lesno
13= 13. Anna Jabłonowska
14= 14. Count Jan Karol Opaliński
15= 15. Countess Zofia Czarnkowska
16= 16. Louis XIV of France
17= 17. Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain
18= 18. Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
19= 19. Henriette Adelaide of Savoy
20= 20. Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy
21= 21. Princess Marie Jeanne of Savoy-Nemours
22= 22. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
23= 23. Princess Henrietta Anne of England
24= 24. Bogusław Leszczyński
25= 25. Countess Anna von Denhoff
26= 26. Prince Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski
27= 27. Countess Marianna Kazanowska
28= 28. Count Krzystof Opaliński
29= 29. Countess Teresa Konstancya Czarnkowska
30= 30. Count Adam-Uryel Czarnkowski
31= 31. Countess Teresa Zaleska

References

External links

* [http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j052sdMadameLouise12-23.htm Venerable Therese of St. Augustine]