Marie Louise Élisabeth of Orléans

Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, duchesse de Berry (20 August 1695 – 21 July 1719) was a French princess. She was a member of the House of Orléans and was a Princesse du Sang.

Early life

Born at the Palace of Versailles, Marie Louise Élisabeth was the eldest daughter of Philippe II d'Orléans, Régent of France during the minority of King Louis XV, and his wife Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his most famous mistress, Madame de Montespan.

The second daughter of her parents, her elder sister known as "Mademoiselle de Valois" died the year before her birth. During her youth, Marie Louise Élisabeth was given the honourary title of "Mademoiselle d'Orléans". After her marriage the title would later be given to her younger sister Marie Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans.

Marie Louise Élisabeth grew up at her fathers Palais-Royal, Paris - the family residence in the capital (it had been given to her parents as a wedding gift in 1692) with a small court of her own friends. After recovering a near fatal illness at the age of 6, her father and her became even closer and she would remain his beloved and most favourite daughter till her very early death. From a young age, according to her grandmother, the famous writer Dowager "duchesse d'Orléans" said:

" had entirely her own way, so that it is not surprising she should be like a headstrong horse" [Letters from Liselotte: Elizabeth-Charlotte, Princess Palatine and Duchess of Orleans]

Marriage

The situation of her marriage arose at the time that her cousin, the more beautiful Louise-Élisabeth de Bourbon-Condé was suggested to be a possible wife for the youngest grandson of Louis XIV. Louise-Élisabeth was the daughter of her aunt Louise-Françoise de Bourbon - sister of her mother and her constant opponent in all.

It was decided that it would be the younger Marie Louise Élisabeth would marry her older cousin Charles de France, "duc de Berry" - this happened with the help of the "duchesse de Bourgogne", her future sister-in-law.

This marriage took place on 6 July 1710, at the Palace of Versailles. Berry was the third and youngest son of "Le Grand Dauphin", the only legitimate son of Louis XIV, and his wife, Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria. The marriage, at first was rather happy, due to the young Duke being rather in love with his new wife.

Soon though, the couple frequently scolded each other in public much to the annoyance of her grand-father Louis XIV. From the unhappy marriage, the couple had overall three children; and after a miscarriage during her first pregnancy, Marie Louise Élisabeth never gave birth to a child that lived for more than a year:

* Louise de Berry (July 21 1711)
* Charles de Berry (March 26 - June 16 1713)
* Marie-Louise-Élisabeth de Berry (June 16 1714 - June 17 1714)

Widow

On 5 May 1714, her husband died from internal injuries sustained in a hunting accident. His death led Louis XIV, not eager for the regency to be overly controlled by her father Philippe II d'Orléans, to increase the power of his illegitimate sons——Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine and Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse——by making them "Princes du Sang" and giving them many offices.

She was then known as the "Dowager Duchess of Berry" or in with her french style of "Madame la Duchesse de Berry Douarière". She held this style till her death. At the death of her grandfather in 1715, her father, after many political movements securred the position of "Régent de France" for himself, it now meant that the House of Orléans were now on the center stage of France. Her father moved the court back to Paris and Marie Louise Élisabeth was later given the Palais du Luxembourg as a personal residence. It was at this palace that she gave magnificent parties which would later effect her already brittle health. It was there that one of her most famous parties took place: given in honour of the return of her aunt (born Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans and wife of Léopold de Lorraine) to France, in 1718. She served 132 hors-d'oeuvrs, 32 soups, 60 entrées, 130 hot entremets, 60 cold entremets, 72 plats ronds, 82 pigeons, 370 partridges and pheasants and 126 sweetbreads. The dessert consisted of 100 baskets of fresh fruit, 94 baskets of dried fruit, 50 dishes of fruits glacées and 106 compotes - it was one of the most lavish parties of the season. [http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmonarchs/marielouise/marielouise_bio.htm "Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans]

During her fathers regency (1715-1723) she was given an anual income of 600,000 Livres [Letters from Liselotte: Elizabeth-Charlotte, Princess Palatine and Duchess of Orleans] . She also had the used of the Château de Meudon as well as her fathers residences. She died alone in Paris at the Palais du Luxembourg, as later would two of her sisters, Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans and Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans.

Her grandmother wrote the upon the last occasions that she saw her:

"28th March, 1719. I went to see her last Sunday, the 23rd May, and found her in a sad state, suffering from pains in her toes and the soles of her feet until the tears came into her eyes. I went away because I saw that she refrained from crying out on my account. I thought she was in a bad way. A consultation was held by her three physicians, the result of which was that they determined to bleed her in the feet. They had some difficulty in persuading her to submit to it, because the pain in her feet was so great that she uttered the most piercing screams if the bedclothes only rubbed against them. The bleeding, however, succeeded, and she was in some degree relieved. It was the gout in both feet" [Letters from Liselotte: Elizabeth-Charlotte, Princess Palatine and Duchess of Orleans]

Ancestors

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1= 1. Marie Louise Elisabeth 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

Titles