Marguerite Louise d'Orléans

Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, contemporary portrait

Marguerite Louise d'Orléans (born July 28, 1645 in Blois , † September 17, 1721 in Paris ), actually Marguerite Louise de Bourbon-Orléans , was married to Cosimo III. de 'Medici from May 23, 1670 to September 17, 1721 Grand Duchess of Tuscany .

Life

Marguerite Louise was a daughter of the Duke Gaston d'Orléans and his second wife Margaret of Lorraine. About her father she was the cousin of Louis XIV. She spent her childhood in the years of the Fronde at Blois Castle , where Cardinal Jules Mazarin finally her father because of his constant intrigues in 1652 banished had.

The marriage plans for her future husband, Cosimo III. de 'Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany initially envisaged a Saxon princess, but Cardinal Mazarin brought the cousin of Louis XIV into play. The negotiations about the marriage dragged on for three years due to the enormous dowry demand. The Amazon-like and fun-loving Marguerite was reluctant to go to Florence , because Cosimo was considered a bigot and boring, the court there was dreary. On 20th June 1661 while the wedding took place. The marriage got off to a bad start. Soon Marguerite Louise refused her marital duties and was removed from court in 1664.

A year later she returned to Florence and made up with her husband. The politically and humanly weak Cosimo came more and more under the influence of his mother. In 1672 Marguerite requested the separation. Three years later she was allowed to move to the Montmartre monastery in Paris, where she lived a lavish lifestyle, had various affairs and gambled at the court of Louis XIV in Versailles. She later lived in the Saint-Mandé monastery.

Marguerite Louise de Bourbon-Orléans died lonely and almost forgotten, albeit heavily rich as the heir to her sister Elisabeth, in her house on the Place des Vosges in Paris. She was buried in the Picpus cemetery .

progeny

Marguerite Louise d'Orléans had with her husband Cosimo III. de 'Medici the following children:

Ferdinando (born August 9, 1663; † October 31, 1713), ⚭ January 19, 1689 Violante Beatrix of Bavaria , daughter of the Bavarian Elector Ferdinand Maria
Anna Maria Luisa (* August 11, 1667; † February 18, 1743), ⚭ June 5, 1691 Johann Wilhelm , Elector Palatinate
Gian Gastone (born April 24, 1671; † July 9, 1737), from 1723 Grand Duke of Tuscany, ⚭ July 2, 1697 Anna Maria Franziska von Sachsen-Lauenburg , daughter of Duke Julius Franz

literature

James Cleugh: The Medici. Power and splendor of a European family . Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-86047-155-4 , pp. 408-422, 424, 435.
Otto Flake : Great ladies of the baroque . Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1981, ISBN 3-596-22273-7 , pp. 104-134.

Web links

Commons : Marguerite Louise de Bourbon-Orléans - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Entry on Marguerite Louise d'Orléans in the Dictionnaire des Femmes de l'ancienne France (French)

personal data
SURNAME	Orléans, Marguerite Louise d '
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bourbon-Orléans, Marguerite Louise de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	by marriage to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany
DATE OF BIRTH	July 28, 1645
PLACE OF BIRTH	Blois
DATE OF DEATH	September 17, 1721
Place of death	Paris