Louise Elisabeth of Orléans

Infobox Spanish Royalty|majesty|consort
name =Louise Elisabeth of Orléans
title =Queen consort of Spain


caption =
reign =15 January, 1724 - 31 August, 1724
spouse =Louis
issue =
royal house =House of Bourbon
House of Orléans
othertitles =
father =Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
mother =Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
date of birth =birth date|1709|12|11|mf=y
place of birth =Versailles Palace, France
date of death =death date and age|1742|6|16|1709|12|11|mf=y
place of death =Luxembourg Palace, Paris, France|

Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans (11 December 1709, Palace of Versailles, France — 16 June 1742, Palais du Luxembourg, Paris, France), Queen Consort of Spain as the wife of King Louis I of Spain.

Life

Louise-Élisabeth was one of the many daughters of Philippe II d'Orléans and his wife, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon. Her mother was a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his most famous mistress, Madame de Montespan. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, Louise-Élisabeth was a Princesse du Sang.

Early life

She was born at the Palace of Versailles on December 11, 1709 and was her parents fourth surviving daughter (the first ", Mademoiselle de Valois" died a year after brith). She was not officially classed, like her siblings, as a Petite Fille de France (Grand daughter of France), because petit fils de France were only figured in the male line.

During her youth prior to her marriage, she was known as "Mademoiselle de Montpensier". She grew up among a brother and many sisters. Because no one was much interested in her as a child, Louise Élisabeth received a poor education and seemed destined for marriage to some obscure German or Italian prince.

Since 1715, her father was "de facto" ruler of France as the regent for the child, King Louis XV. In 1718 the War of the Quadruple Alliance broke out between France and Spain. In 1720, King Philip V of Spain wanted to make peace and proposed a double marriage: his three year old daughter, Infanta Mariana Victoria, would marry the fifteen year old Louis XV, and his son and heir, Infante Luis, would marry one of the Regent's daughters.

Marriage

By that time, Louise Élisabeth and her sister Philippine d'Orléans were the Regent's only unmarried daughters. It was later decided that these two daughters of the Regent would marry two Infantes of Spain. Therefore, in 1721, at just twelve years old Louise Élisabeth was married by Proxy in Paris in November [Nouvelle biographie générale] , Louise Élisabeth and her younger sister left for Madrid. Despite a cold reception from the Spanish royal family, especially by Elizabeth of Parma, her future husband's stepmother, she married Louis of Spain on 20 January 1722 at Lerma. The dowry of this marriage was an enormous 4 million Livres. [Réimpression de l'ancien Moniteurseule histoire authentique et inaltérée]

Her sister was later engaged to Don Carlos of Spain, another heir to the throne of Spain; but the marriage came to nothing and her sister was later sent back to France where she died at the age of 19 in Paris.

Princess of Asturias

As wife of the heir to the Spanish throne, she assumed the title of "Princess of Asturias". Despite her rank at court, Louise-Elisabeth was spied upon and accused of all sorts of wrongdoings. Her poor education hindered her ability to deal with the pressures exerted on her, and she reacted by withdrawing emotionally and exhibiting odd behaviour, like walking around naked and burping and breaking wind in public.

Queen of Spain

On January 15, 1724, an emotionally unstable Philip V abdicated in favour of his eldest son, who became King Louis I. Louise Élisabeth became Queen, but after only seven months, Louis died of smallpox. Because he died without an heir, his father became the king once again. She stayed in Madrid for some time after the death of her husband but the Spanish court was unkind and malicious towards the lonely teenage widow.

Later life

After the death of her husband she returned back to France at the request of her proud mother the Dowager duchesse d'Orléans. She was obliged to live peacefully in the Capital away from the court of her young cousin Louis XV. As she was th widow of the King of Spain, it was customary for her receive an annual pension of 600,000 Livres from the state; she was unable to keep when as Spain would not pay her as the marriage was annulled. [Nouvelle biographie générale]

She discreetly travelled back to Paris and resided in the Château de Vincennes and the Palais du Luxembourg (The Luxembourg had been given to her sister by her father). It was at the latter that she died in 1742, sadly forgotten by everyone. She was buried at the church of Saint Suplice in Paris, close to the Luxembourg where her half brother Louis Charles de Saint-Albin was a bishop.

Ancestors

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1= 1. Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans
2= 2. Philippe II d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans
3= 3. Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Blois
4= 4. Phillippe de France, duc d'Orléans
5= 5. Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
6= 6. Louis XIV
7= 7. Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
8= 8. Louis XIII of France
9= 9. Anne of Austria
10= 10. Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
11= 11. Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
12= 12. Louis XIII of France
13= 13. Anne of Austria
14= 14. Gabriel de Rochechouart, duc de Mortemart
15= 15. Diane de Grandseigne
16= 16. Henry IV of France
17= 17. Marie de' Medici
18= 18. Philip III of Spain
19= 19. Margaret of Austria
20= 20. Frederick V, Elector Palatine
21= 21. Elizabeth Stuart
22= 22. William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
23= 23. Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg
24= 24. Henry IV of France =16
25= 25. Marie de' Medici =17
26= 26. Philip III of Spain =18
27= 27. Margaret of Austria =19
28= 28. Gaspard de Rochechouart, marquis de Mortemart
29= 29. Louise de Maure, comtesse de Maure
30= 30. Jean de Grandseigne, marquis de Marsillac
31= 31. Catherine de La Béraudière, Dame de Villenon

References

ources

* comte de Pimodan, "Louise-elisabeth d'Orléans, reine d'Espagne 1709-1742", 393 p., Plon, 1928

Titles