Maria Josepha of Saxony (1731–1767)
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Maria Josepha Karolina Eleonore Franziska Xaveria of Poland and Saxony (born November 4, 1731 in Dresden , † March 13, 1767 in Versailles ) was Princess of Poland and Saxony from the house of the Albertine Wettins and, by marriage, Crown Princess ( Dauphine ) of France.
Life
Maria Josepha was the daughter of King August III. of Poland , who was also Elector of Saxony and his wife Maria Josepha of Austria . She had a total of 14 siblings, including the future Elector Friedrich Christian and the last Elector of Trier , Clemens Wenzeslaus of Saxony .
After Maria Theresia Rafaela of Spain , the first wife of Louis Ferdinand de Bourbon, dauphin de Viennois , the son and heir to the throne of King Louis XV. of France , who died on July 22, 1746 after the birth of the couple's only daughter, the French king immediately looked for a new wife for the Dauphin. Because of his strong involvement in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), Louis XV tried to win a military ally through this planned marriage; At the same time, he hoped for the dauphin's male offspring, who had not yet fathered a son, which would jeopardize the dynastic continuity of the Bourbons. Because of his numerous opponents of war, only the courts of Spain, Piedmont and Poland came into question for the French king at the bride show. Moritz Graf von Sachsen , who rose to Marshal of France, successfully proposed his niece, Maria Josepha, as the future wife of the Dauphin to the influential mistress Madame de Pompadour . The mistress was very committed to the election of Maria Josepha. After all, Louis XV was. convinced after he had found out at the court in Dresden that the princess he was considering as a bride was graceful, if not beautiful, and well educated and seemed ideally suited to give birth to numerous offspring. The king now had to use a lot of persuasion with his wife Maria Leszczyńska , since her father Stanislaus I. Leszczyński had once been ousted as King of Poland by August the Strong , Maria Josepha's grandfather. Therefore, the French queen could not please the proposed marriage project.
Finally all obstacles were removed and the Duke of Richelieu, a confidante of Louis XV, traveled to Dresden to escort the well-prepared 16-year-old Maria Josepha to France. The Saxon princess had been given the order to show her gratitude to Madame de Pompadour for her support in the marriage project. Her marriage to the Dauphin took place on February 9, 1747. Shortly afterwards, she had to show a lot of tact. The court etiquette obliged her to wear a portrait of her father in a bracelet at the subsequent celebrations. As a result, the queen felt hurt because of the above-mentioned dethronement of her father by the grandfather of the new Dauphine (wife of the heir to the throne). When the Queen asked the Dauphine to show her the portrait and August III. expected to see Poland, she was both surprised and very touched when she recognized her father Stanislaus in the picture instead. Since then, Maria Leszczyńska and Maria Josepha have been good friends.
Maria Josepha also showed a lot of understanding and patience with her husband, who mourned his deceased wife very much and initially treated his new wife coolly. With a lot of empathy and the support of her sister-in-law Anne Henriette de Bourbon , however, the Dauphine slowly succeeded in winning her husband over and having a happy marriage by his side. She wept sincerely when her stepdaughter, who was her husband's first marriage, passed away at the age of two.
As requested, the Dauphine also proved to be grateful to Madame de Pompadour. She was always kind to her and tried to maintain a good relationship with the royal mistress. However, she was hindered in these efforts due to the hatred of her husband and sister-in-law for the mistress. Politically, she largely held back. Only once in 1762 did she campaign, albeit in vain, for the preservation of the Jesuit order in France. The order was dissolved by the king at the instigation of influential parliamentarians, Choiseuls and Madame de Pompadour. Like her husband, Maria Josepha was also very pious. Together with the queen, they formed a counterpoint in this area to the permissive, in their eyes immoral behavior of the rest of the court with the king at its head. Louis XV but had a good relationship and a lot of trust in his daughter-in-law.
After two stillbirths, the daughter Marie Zéphyrine was born in 1750, but she died again in 1755. The first son was born on September 15, 1751 and was named Louis Joseph Xavier. He was given the title of Duke of Burgundy. This title was last held by the father of Louis XV, who died in 1712. carried. In total, the couple had 11 children, including three future French kings. Their common preference, however, was for the Duke of Burgundy, whose talent came to the fore early on and who aroused great hopes not only among his parents but also at the entire French court. Because of this preference, the couple's younger sons were neglected, which later turned out to be a great disadvantage for the kings Louis XVI. , Louis XVIII. and Charles X. should prove. The Duke of Burgundy died on March 22, 1761 after an accident of bone tuberculosis . Maria Josepha never got over the loss. After the Duke of Aquitaine, born in 1753, died after a year, Louis Auguste, born on August 23, 1754, Duke of Berry and future Louis XVI., Took second place in the French line of succession after his father.
The death of her husband on December 20, 1765 hit Maria Josepha hard. Even Louis XV. had pity. To save her the grief of having to stay alone in the apartments of her married apartment, he let her move into the apartments of Madame Pompadour, who died in 1764. There he visited her often and they discussed family problems, such as the wedding of the new Dauphin. Maria Josepha was not very impressed by the marriage of her now eldest son to Archduchess Marie Antoinette, and in 1766 the king managed to postpone negotiations with Vienna. However, her health deteriorated more and more. She suffered from the same disease as her late husband ( pulmonary tuberculosis ). She died on March 13, 1767 and was buried in the crypt in the Cathedral of Sens . Her son's marriage to Marie Antoinette took place three years later in the spring of 1770.
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progeny
- stillborn child (* / † January 30, 1748)
- stillborn child (* / † May 10, 1749)
- Marie Zéphyrine (born August 26, 1750 - † September 2, 1755)
- Louis Joseph Xavier (born September 13, 1751 - † March 22, 1761), Duke of Burgundy
- stillborn daughter (* / † September 3, 1752)
- Xavier Marie Joseph (September 8, 1753 - February 22, 1754), Duke of Aquitania
- Louis XVI (23 August 1754 - 21 January 1793) ⚭ Marie Antoinette (1755–1793)
- Louis XVIII (November 17, 1755 - September 16, 1824) ⚭ Maria Josepha of Savoy (1753–1810)
- Charles X (October 9, 1757 - November 6, 1836) ⚭ Maria Theresa of Savoy (1756–1805)
- Clothilde (September 23, 1759 - March 7, 1802) ⚭ Charles Emanuel IV of Sardinia-Piedmont
- Elisabeth (May 3, 1764 - May 10, 1794) remained unmarried
ancestors
literature
- Jacques Levron: Louis XV. The misunderstood king of France . Munich 1987, ISBN 3-453-00115-X .
- Otto Eduard Schmidt : Maria Josepha, Princess v. Saxony (= Velhagen & Klasings monthly books . Volume 19 , 1904/1905, part 3). 1904, p. 341-357 .
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Uwe Schultz, Madame de Pompadour. CH Beck, Munich 2004, pp. 113-115.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Maria Josepha of Saxony |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Maria Josepha Karolina Eleonore Franziska Xaveria of Poland and Saxony (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Princess of Poland and Saxony and, by marriage, Crown Princess of France |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 4, 1731 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dresden |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 13, 1767 |
| Place of death | Versailles |