Christine-Philippine de Herzelles

Christine-Philippine Marquise von Herzelles as Lady of the Star Cross ( Martin van Meytens , 1760s).

Christine-Philippine-Élisabeth Marquise von Herzelles née von Trazegnies (born December 19, 1728 in Sopron , † September 5, 1793 in Namur ) was entrusted by Emperor Joseph II with the upbringing of his only child, but it seems his desire for an extramarital or Having refused the marital relationship.

From Brussels to Vienna

Gate tower of Trazegnies Castle in Courcelles near Charleroi ( Hainaut ).

Her parents were the k. k. Colonel Dragoon Philippe-Ignace-Joachim von Trazegnies (1685–1739) and Maria Eleonore Agnes von Bode widowed von Martensegg (1698–1755). In 1730 her father became a marquis . As a result, he returned to his native Hainaut .

After the withdrawal of the French, who had occupied the Austrian Netherlands in the War of the Austrian Succession , the 21-year-old married Ambroise-Joseph Marquis von Herzelles (1680–1759), 48 years her senior, in 1749 . He is said to have entered into a first marriage in 1706 with María Catalina Vicenta de Austria (1661–1714), a niece of the last Spanish Habsburg Charles II , 19 years older , who lived in a monastery in Brussels . From 1722 he was married to Marie-Claire-Josèphe de Croÿ, Duchess of Havré (1679–1747). Since 1736 the licentiate of the law and former Spanish brigadier administered the finances of the Austrian Netherlands and led the life of a great gentleman. The necessary framework was provided by Fauquez Castle near Ittre ( Brabant ) and the Hôtel Salazar in Brussels, in whose renovation he invested 36,000 guilders in 1749–1753. Since he had no legitimate children, he had two sons legitimized in 1755 from a premarital relationship with Anne-Charlotte de Saint-Amand . When he died in 1759, there was a lawsuit over the inheritance that lasted well beyond the widow's death. In 1761 the Brabant Council placed the estate under Sequester .

On the recommendation of her sister-in-law Anna Charlotte von Lothringen , abbess of Remiremont and Mons , Maria Theresa brought the widowed marquise to Vienna as the chief steward of her problem child Maria Elisabeth (1743–1808). The beautiful Archduchess was temporarily the wife of Louis XV, 33 years her senior . talked about France , but later, disfigured by smallpox , had to be content with the management of the aristocratic women's monastery in Innsbruck . Before Madame de Herzelles took office as "Aja" in 1761, she became a star of the cross . When she resigned for health reasons in 1763, the monarch granted her a pension from her private casket .

Joseph II

Emperor Joseph II in general's uniform (unidentified artist, 1760s?).

Isabella of Parma ( Jean-Marc Nattier , 1758).

Maria Theresa's son Joseph II had such fond memories of the marquise that in 1766, with the support of his mother, he asked her to take on responsibility for the upbringing of his motherless daughter Maria Theresa (1762–1770). This only child of the emperor came from his first marriage to the gifted but depressed Isabella of Parma (1741–1763), whom he had loved, although she had a lesbian relationship with his sister Marie Christine (1742–1798). In 1765 he had a second marriage with the unloved Josepha von Bayern (1739–1767). Madame de Herzelles doesn't seem to have accepted his offer until he was again a widower.

In 1766 Joseph had prophesied to his aunt Anna Charlotte that the example and the "pleasant spirit" of the marquise would have more effect on his daughter "than the unpleasant caution of the mustached matrons of the court". When Madame de Herzelles returned to Vienna in the autumn of 1767, he confided to her that it had not been easy to prefer her to the “entire corps of the terribly respectable Ajas and Obersthofmeisterinnen”. The fact that he was promoting one of her brothers to lieutenant colonel at her request is a favor that he has not granted to any woman before her.

However, in early 1770 the protege of the Marquise died at only seven years at a pneumonia . The emperor was heartbroken. He dated a note to Madame de Herzelles: “On this unhappy 23rd January, which dissolved our happy and so good household.” He also wrote her that now he only had her to support him and to whom he was attached. At that time the marquise refused a suggestion from him that no one except Maria Theresa would ever find out about. Did he want to reward her like a prince, keep her close, or even enter into a morganatic marriage with her? Kervyn de Lettenhove, who put the latter assumption up for discussion, remarked that it was not supported by any facts. Derek Beales described a marriage proposal as possible, but unlikely, although the emperor had previously defended mesalliances . For the prince of Ligne, who was enchanting but virtuous, the fact that the emperor was sexually active at the time was twelve years younger than her and that she felt more indebted to his possessive mother than to him, may have spoken against a connection with Joseph .

Maria Theresa

After Madame de Herzelles had left Vienna for good, Maria Theresa had a correspondence with her that was extremely frank from 1771–1773. In it she complained so bitterly about the emperor, as if she had wanted to drive out any remnants of sympathy for him from the addressee. Joseph has changed a lot since the Marquise's departure and, as a mother, treats her as lovelessly as his late wife Maria Josepha: “Judge how my heart suffers, which only lived for this son, adored him; that is more bitter than death. ”The monarch also accused her co-regent and successor of defying her will with anti-clericalism and saber rattling.

Namur ( Ferraris map , 1775).

In 1775 the marquise moved to her unmarried aunt Sabine Charlotte von Bode (1719–1798) in the Benedictine convent Paix-Notre-Dame in Namur, where she was called "Your Excellency". The two ladies lived there with three maids in an apartment that cost 1,100 guilders a year . A niece of Madame de Herzelles was tutored by the nuns . Apparently the marquise was friends with the bishop of Namur Ferdinand Prince Lobkowitz (1726–1795). In 1776/77 she asked Maria Theresa for preambles for her cabinet secretary Karl Joseph Freiherr von Pichler, with whom she also corresponded, and for the niece mentioned. The ruler promised the latter a place in the noble women's monastery of Mons from the age of twelve . In 1779 she also became the godmother of another niece of Madame de Herzelles.

Last reunion

Abolition of monasteries in the Austrian Netherlands by Joseph II ( Carl Gottlieb Guttenberg after Léonard Defrance , 1782).

When Joseph II toured his Belgian possessions after his mother's death in 1781, he placed a great deal of importance on seeing the Marquise again. During the two days of his stay in Namur, he was with her three times for a total of six to eight hours. No nuns were allowed to show themselves at the second and third meetings. Joseph's companion, General Terzi, was not present either, at least the travel diary kept by him is silent about the visit. According to a collection of anecdotes , the Emperor always called Madame de Herzelles “ma bonne maman”.

In 1782 the marquise asked the "revolutionary on the imperial throne" to exclude her old age from the planned abolition of "useless" ( contemplative ) monasteries because the Benedictine nuns in Namur would henceforth maintain a free school for poor girls. In his reply he granted her this request, which honored her “beautiful soul” and her desire for a better education of the youth.

Shortly after the annexation of the Austrian Netherlands by France in 1793, Madame de Herzelles died of cancer at the age of 64 in the monastery in Namur.

gallery

Marquis of Herzelles (François Harrewijn, 1740).
Fauquez Castle near Ittre ( Brabant ).
Archduchess Maria Elisabeth ( Martin van Meytens ?).
Archduchess Maria Theresia (Archduchess Marie Christine ?).

literature

(Alexandre Lemarié :) Le voyageur bienfaisant, ou Anecdotes du voyage de Joseph II dans les Pays-Bas, la Hollande, & c. (...) Paris / Liège 1781, p. 39 ( digitized version ).
Abbé Corneille Stroobant: Histoire de la commune de Virginal . J.-H. Dehou, Bruxelles 1853, pp. 167-169, 173, 201 f. ( Digitized version ).
Almanach de la cour de Bruxelles (…) de 1725 à 1850 (…) H. Tarlier, Bruxelles 1864 ( digitized ).
Alfred Ritter von Arneth : Maria Theresia and Joseph II. Their correspondence including letters from Joseph to his brother Leopold . 1. Volume, Carl Gerold's Sohn, Vienna 1867 ( digitized version ).
Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l ' Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique , collection in- 8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3-60 ( digitized version ).
Alfred Ritter von Arneth: History of Maria Theresa. 7th volume, Wilhelm Braumüller, Vienna 1876, pp. 33-63, 269-286, 334-343 ( digitized version ).
Jean Barbier: Notes et documents concernant le monastère des Bénédictines de la Paix-Notre-Dame, à Namur . In: Analectes pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique de la Belgique. Volume 15, Charles Peeters, Louvain / Henri Goemaere, Bruxelles 1878, pp. 53-65 ( digitized version ).
Alfred Ritter von Arneth: Letters from Empress Maria Theresa to her children and friends. 2nd volume, Wilhelm Braumüller, Vienna 1881, p. 355 f. ( Digitized version ).
Rudolf Graf Khevenhüller-Metsch, Hanns Schlitter (Ed.): From the time of Maria Theresa. Diary of Prince Johann Josef Khevenhüller-Metsch , Imperial Court Master , 1742–1776. 7th volume, Adolf Holzhausen / Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig / Vienna 1925.
Gustav Gugitz : Josef II. And the women. In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt , January 27, 1935, p. 23 f .; February 3, 1935, p. 23.
Jean Lorette: Les Belges au service de l'Autriche, le feldmaréchal comte de Clerfayt 1733–1798. In: Carnet de la fourragère, 10/1953, pp. 385-410, 481-516.
Josef Hrazky: The personality of the Infanta Isabella of Parma . In: Communications of the Austrian State Archives , 12/1959, pp. 174–239.
Cécile Douxchamps-Lefèvre: Inventaire des archives du Fonds de Corroy-le-Château (Archives de l'État à Namur). Galerie Ravenstein, Bruxelles 1962.
Robert Wellens: Joseph II à Namur en 1781. In: La Vie wallonne ( Liège ), 36/1962, pp. 188–194.
Louis Delvaux: Un général belge de l'ancien régime au service de l'Autriche, le Baron Jean-Pierre de Beaulieu , de Lathuy, et son temps. In: Le Folklore brabançon, 166/1965, pp. 179–214.
Olivier de Trazegnies et d'Ittre: La marquise de Herzelles, une amie de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II. In: L'Éventail, 1971, No. 4, p. 4 to f.
Derek Beales : Joseph II, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1987, ISBN 0-521-24240-1 , pp. 69-89, 153-156, 201-207, 288 f., 322, 324 f., 336.
Cécile Douxchamps-Lefèvre: de Herzelles, Ambroise-Joseph. In: Nouvelle biographie nationale, Volume 1, Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles 1988 ( digitized ), pp. 45-47.
Ursula Tamussino: Isabella von Parma, wife of Joseph II. ÖBV , Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-215-07068-5 , pp. 196-214.
Jean-Paul Cayphas: 1793-1993. Il ya 200 ans mourait Christine-Philippine de Trazegnies, marquise de Herzelles, une grande dame ittroise de qualité. In: Entre Senne et Soignes ( Ittre ), 75/1993, pp. 4-15.
Roger Brunet: Généalogie et histoire de la famille de Trazegnies. Les Amis du Château de Trazegnies, 1996.
Denis Tomboy: Le marquis Ambroise-Joseph de Herzelles (1680–1759), surintendant et directeur général des finances. In Roland Mortier, Hervé Hasquin (ed.): La haute administration dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens (…) ( Études sur le XVIIIe siècle 27 f.). Êditions de l ' Université de Bruxelles , 1999, ISBN 2-8004-1224-0 ( digitized version ), pp. 1–109.
Karin van Honacker: Het archief van de familie de Herzelles (voorheen deel van "Familearchief de Cock de Rameyen"): inventaris ( inventory 50). Algemeen Rijksarchief , Brussels 2002.
Ernest Sanger: Isabelle de Bourbon-Parme. La princesse et la mort. Racine, Bruxelles 2002, 2-87386-276-8 (first edition 1991), pp. 291-306.
Derek Beales: Love and the Empire: Maria Theresa and Her Co-regents. In: Enlightenment and Reform in Eighteenth-century Europe, I. B. Tauris, London 2005, ISBN 1-86064-949-1 , pp. 182–206, here: pp. 183, 185.
Jean-Paul Cayphas: Ittre, un village extraordinaire. Notes et anecdotes d'histoire. Self-published, Ittre 2013.

Web links

References and comments

↑ Denis Tomboy: Le Marquis Ambroise-Joseph de Herzelles (1680-1759), surintendant et directeur général des finances. In Roland Mortier, Hervé Hasquin (ed.): La haute administration dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens (…) ( Études sur le XVIIIe siècle 27 f.). Êditions de l ' Université de Bruxelles , 1999, ISBN 2-8004-1224-0 ( digitized version ), pp. 1–109, here: p. 22.
↑ Both buildings no longer exist.
↑ Denis Tomboy: Le marquis Ambroise-Joseph de Herzelles (1680-1759), surintendant et directeur général des finances. In Roland Mortier, Hervé Hasquin (ed.): La haute administration dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens (…) ( Études sur le XVIIIe siècle 27 f.). Êditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 1999, ISBN 2-8004-1224-0 ( digitized version ), pp. 1–109, here: pp. 13–40.
↑ Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: p. 9 ( digitized version ).
↑ According to Ursula Tamussino: Isabella von Parma , wife of Joseph II. ÖBV , Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-215-07068-5 , p. 205, Isabella's around 200 received letters to Marie Christine are “testimonies to a passionate affection”, the “intimate Including tenderness ”. And Ernest Sanger: Isabelle de Bourbon-Parme. La princesse et la mort. Racine, Bruxelles 2002, 2-87386-276-8 (first edition Paris / Louvain-la-Neuve 1991), p. 304, independently came to the conclusion: “Il semble qu'on ne puisse exiger des preuves plus explicites du caractère lesbian relations (...) "
↑ Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l ' Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique , collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: pp. 14, 55 ( digitized version ).
↑ Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l ' Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique , collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: pp. 17–21 ( digitized version ); Derek Beales : Joseph II, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1987, ISBN 0-521-24240-1 , pp. 201-203; see. Derek Beales: Love and the Empire: Maria Theresa and Her Co-regents. In: Enlightenment and Reform in Eighteenth-century Europe, I. B. Tauris, London 2005, ISBN 1-86064-949-1 , pp. 182–206, here: p. 183 (Joseph had Madame de Herzelles “asked to become his companion, perhaps even to marry him ").
^ Derek Beales : Joseph II, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1987, ISBN 0-521-24240-1 , pp. 206 f.
↑ Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: pp. 21–44, quotation: p. 22 ( digitized version ).
↑ Denis Tomboy: Le marquis Ambroise-Joseph de Herzelles (1680-1759), surintendant et directeur général des finances. In Roland Mortier, Hervé Hasquin (ed.): La haute administration dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens (…) ( Études sur le XVIIIe siècle 27 f.). Êditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 1999, ISBN 2-8004-1224-0 ( digitized version ), pp. 1–109, here: p. 23. Abbé Corneille Stroobant: Histoire de la commune de Virginal . J.-H. Dehou, Bruxelles 1853, p. 201 ( digitized version ), names 1779 as the date of moving to the monastery.
↑ Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: pp. 44–46, 49 ( digitized version ).
↑ (Ludwig von Terzi :) Journal of the tear, so his Majestæt der Kaÿser undertook the 22nd measure in 1781. Austrian State Archives , War Archives Department, Mem 1781-28-14.
↑ (Alexandre Lemarié :) Le voyageur bienfaisant, ou Anecdotes du voyage de Joseph II dans les Pays-Bas, la Hollande, & c. (...) Paris / Liège 1781, p. 39 ( digitized version ).
↑ See Saul Kussiel Padover : The Revolutionary Emperor, Joseph II of Austria. 2nd ed., Archon, London 1967 (first edition 1934); translated by Rosemarie Heyd as: Joseph II., a revolutionary on the imperial throne. Diederichs, Düsseldorf 1969.
^ Jean Barbier: Notes et documents concernant le monastère des Bénédictines de la Paix-Notre-Dame, à Namur . In: Analectes pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique de la Belgique. Volume 15, Charles Peeters, Louvain / Henri Goemaere, Bruxelles 1878, pp. 53-65 ( digitized version ).

personal data
SURNAME	Herzelles, Christine-Philippine de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Trazegnies, Christine-Philippine-Élisabeth de (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Chief Chamberlain, confidante Maria Theresa and Joseph II.
DATE OF BIRTH	December 19, 1728
PLACE OF BIRTH	Sopron
DATE OF DEATH	September 5, 1793
Place of death	Namur

[1] Denis Tomboy: Le Marquis Ambroise-Joseph de Herzelles (1680-1759), surintendant et directeur général des finances. In Roland Mortier, Hervé Hasquin (ed.): La haute administration dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens (…) ( Études sur le XVIIIe siècle 27 f.). Êditions de l ' Université de Bruxelles , 1999, ISBN 2-8004-1224-0 ( digitized version ), pp. 1–109, here: p. 22.

[2] Both buildings no longer exist.

[3] Denis Tomboy: Le marquis Ambroise-Joseph de Herzelles (1680-1759), surintendant et directeur général des finances. In Roland Mortier, Hervé Hasquin (ed.): La haute administration dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens (…) ( Études sur le XVIIIe siècle 27 f.). Êditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 1999, ISBN 2-8004-1224-0 ( digitized version ), pp. 1–109, here: pp. 13–40.

[4] Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: p. 9 ( digitized version ).

[5] According to Ursula Tamussino: Isabella von Parma , wife of Joseph II. ÖBV , Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-215-07068-5 , p. 205, Isabella's around 200 received letters to Marie Christine are “testimonies to a passionate affection”, the “intimate Including tenderness ”. And Ernest Sanger: Isabelle de Bourbon-Parme. La princesse et la mort. Racine, Bruxelles 2002, 2-87386-276-8 (first edition Paris / Louvain-la-Neuve 1991), p. 304, independently came to the conclusion: “Il semble qu'on ne puisse exiger des preuves plus explicites du caractère lesbian relations (...) "

[6] Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l ' Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique , collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: pp. 14, 55 ( digitized version ).

[7] Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l ' Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique , collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: pp. 17–21 ( digitized version ); Derek Beales : Joseph II, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1987, ISBN 0-521-24240-1 , pp. 201-203; see. Derek Beales: Love and the Empire: Maria Theresa and Her Co-regents. In: Enlightenment and Reform in Eighteenth-century Europe, I. B. Tauris, London 2005, ISBN 1-86064-949-1 , pp. 182–206, here: p. 183 (Joseph had Madame de Herzelles “asked to become his companion, perhaps even to marry him ").

[8] Derek Beales : Joseph II, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1987, ISBN 0-521-24240-1 , pp. 206 f.

[9] Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: pp. 21–44, quotation: p. 22 ( digitized version ).

[10] Denis Tomboy: Le marquis Ambroise-Joseph de Herzelles (1680-1759), surintendant et directeur général des finances. In Roland Mortier, Hervé Hasquin (ed.): La haute administration dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens (…) ( Études sur le XVIIIe siècle 27 f.). Êditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 1999, ISBN 2-8004-1224-0 ( digitized version ), pp. 1–109, here: p. 23. Abbé Corneille Stroobant: Histoire de la commune de Virginal . J.-H. Dehou, Bruxelles 1853, p. 201 ( digitized version ), names 1779 as the date of moving to the monastery.

[11] Joseph-Marie-Bruno-Constantin, baron Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.): Lettres inédites de Marie-Thérèse et de Joseph II ( Mémoires de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, collection in -8 °, 20). Bruxelles 1868, pp. 3–60, here: pp. 44–46, 49 ( digitized version ).

[12] (Ludwig von Terzi :) Journal of the tear, so his Majestæt der Kaÿser undertook the 22nd measure in 1781. Austrian State Archives , War Archives Department, Mem 1781-28-14.

[13] (Alexandre Lemarié :) Le voyageur bienfaisant, ou Anecdotes du voyage de Joseph II dans les Pays-Bas, la Hollande, & c. (...) Paris / Liège 1781, p. 39 ( digitized version ).

[14] See Saul Kussiel Padover : The Revolutionary Emperor, Joseph II of Austria. 2nd ed., Archon, London 1967 (first edition 1934); translated by Rosemarie Heyd as: Joseph II., a revolutionary on the imperial throne. Diederichs, Düsseldorf 1969.

[15] Jean Barbier: Notes et documents concernant le monastère des Bénédictines de la Paix-Notre-Dame, à Namur . In: Analectes pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique de la Belgique. Volume 15, Charles Peeters, Louvain / Henri Goemaere, Bruxelles 1878, pp. 53-65 ( digitized version ).