Marie-Anne de La Trémoille

Portrait probably of Marie-Anne de La Trémoille in the Musée Condé , which is attributed to René Antoine Houasse

Marie-Anne de La Trémoille (* 1642 , † 5. December 1722 in Rome ), also known as the Princesse des Ursins or Madame des Ursins , was a French nobleman who, during the War of the Spanish Succession was the first chamber Dame (Spanish: camarera mayor ) of the Spanish Queen Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoydecisively determined the politics of the country. She went to the Spanish court when she was around 60 and stayed there - with a brief interruption - until 1714. For over twelve years she exercised almost unlimited power in Spain. Together with changing ambassadors and advisers, she guaranteed a French presence at the Spanish court of Philip V , the grandson of Louis XIV.

In his memoirs, the Duke of Saint-Simon describes Marie-Anne de La Trémoille as a woman with “great ambitions that were far beyond those customary for her sex and that also went beyond the common ambitions of men” (“[…] ambitions vastes , fort au-dessus de son sexe et de l'ambition ordinaire des hommes […] »). As with many other contemporaries, Madame des Ursins was extremely unpopular with Liselotte von der Pfalz , the Duchess of Orléans and mother of the later regent Philippe II. De Bourbon, duc d'Orléans , because of her close contacts with Madame de Maintenon . Lieselotte called her "old Zott" and "witch".

family

Marie-Anne was the eldest of seven children of the Duke of Noirmoutier , Louis II. De La Trémoille , and his wife Renée Julie Aubéry in Poitou, western France . Her father came from an old but impoverished French aristocracy . Her mother was a commoner and daughter of a member of the Royal Grand Council (French: Conseiller au Grand Conseil ), Maître des requêtes , and a member of the Council of State (French: Conseiller d'État ). Her siblings included Joseph-Emmanuel de La Trémoille , whom Marie-Anne supported as best she could in his church career.

Her first marriage was from 1659 to Adrien-Blaise de Talleyrand-Périgord , who had to leave France in 1663 after the duel between the Marquis de La Frette and the Prince de Chalais . Her husband died in Italy in 1670 without any children arising from the relationship. Through the mediation of Cardinals Estrées and Bouillon , she married for the second time in March 1675. Her husband became the Duke of Bracciano, Flavio I. Orsini (French: Ursins), a man of old but impoverished nobility. In her high-ranking position as Duchess, she brokered the marriage of her younger sister Louise-Angelique to the Duke of Bomarzo, Antonio Lante Montefeltro della Rovere , in November 1682.

Life

First years in Versailles

At the age of 17 she married the daredevil Adrien-Blaise de Talleyrand-Périgord. Together they were welcome guests in the Parisian salons , because Marie-Anne knew how to fascinate with her sparkling temperament and esprit. At one of these events in the Hôtel d'Albret , she met Madame de Maintenon in 1661, an acquaintance that would pay off for her in later years.

Adrien-Blaise fell out of favor with the king in 1663 after he had become involved in a duel , which was forbidden at the time . He had to leave France and went to Spain. His wife followed him only a short time later. There she made the acquaintance of Father Johann Eberhard Neidhardt , the powerful adviser to the Spanish Queen Maria Anna of Austria . When he had to leave the country in 1669, Marie-Anne and her husband accompanied him to Italy.

Duchess of Bracciano

With the death of her husband in 1670, she was left virtually penniless. Marie-Anne did not return to France, however, but went to a Roman monastery. There she spent the first years of her widowhood and during this time was able to win powerful men as her patrons. For example, she was sponsored by Cardinal César d'Estrées, with whom she is said to have had a liaison . This exercised his influence at the French court and recommended Louis XIV to appoint the young widow as a representative of French interests at the Holy See . When the king agreed to this, it was necessary to give Marie-Anne the necessary social prestige. In 1675 she married Duke Flavio Orsini, 21 years her senior, as a second marriage. The Palazzo Orsini in Rome became the meeting place for ambassadors from all the European royal courts under the new duchess's housekeeping, but the lavish courtship devoured vast sums of money that Flavio Orsini was soon no longer willing to pay. To make matters worse, he supported political plans and interests that ran counter to those of France and thus those of his wife. The couple fell apart and Marie-Anne returned to France, initially only for a few months in 1677, from 1693/94 for several years until 1698. During this time, she intensified her acquaintance with Madame de Maintenon and gained her trust .

Her husband bequeathed his fortune to Marie-Anne when he died in April 1698, but there were long and bitter legal disputes with the Orsini-Gravina family over the inheritance, to which the widow finally lost. She also had to give up the title of Duchess of Bracciano, as her husband had sold the duchy to the Odescalchi family in 1696 . Instead, she took on the nonexistent title of Princess Orsini (French: princesse des Ursins ), which became naturalized over time. A short time later, Madame des Ursins, as she was now mostly called, began her rise to become the most powerful person in the Kingdom of Spain at times.

Camarera mayor of the Spanish Queen

The Spanish succession had been the subject of extensive diplomatic activities for decades, as both the House of Bourbon and the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs asserted claims to the succession of Charles II . After lengthy negotiations and extensive partition plans, the parties finally agreed on a compromise such that Prince Elector Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria , son of Elector Maximilian II Emanuel of Bavaria , would succeed him on the Spanish throne. The surprising death of the young prince in 1699 made the agreement null and void and caused hectic activity at the Spanish court.

In this critical situation Madame des Ursins succeeded in winning over Cardinal Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero , Archbishop of Toledo and closest adviser to the Spanish King. Under their growing influence, the cardinal finally persuaded Charles II, who was already terminally ill , to appoint Philip of Anjou , a grandson of Louis XIV, as his successor in his will. This passed over the Habsburg pretender, Archduke Karl , second son of Emperor Leopold I , and laid the foundation for the War of the Spanish Succession that broke out two years later.

Madame des Ursins had won the favor and trust of Louis XIV through her successful advocacy for the interests of France. Through the intercession of Madame de Maintenon, she received in August 1701 the post of first lady-in-waiting (Spanish: Camarera mayor) to the designated Spanish Queen Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy , the younger sister of Maria Adelaide of Savoy , who had been with the older brother of the Spanish since 1697 King, Louis de Bourbon , Duke of Burgundy, was married. The position of Camarera mayor was the highest office that a woman could hold at the Spanish court, and in terms of status and duties it corresponded roughly to the position of chief court master at the French court. The Camarera Mayor presided over the Queen's personal court and was therefore privileged to have constant access to her. For Madame des Ursins, on the one hand, her diverse experience, which she had previously gained at various European courts, and, on the other hand, the fact that, due to her Italian title, she could not be officially assigned to the French camp at court. In this respect, she was the suitable candidate for this post, where she was able to meet both the strict demands of the royal court in Madrid, which was shaped by the Spanish court ceremonies , and the political interests of the French king.

Portrait probably of Marie-Anne de La Trémoille, attributed to René Antoine Houasse; last quarter of the 17th / first quarter of the 18th century

Marie-Anne accompanied the 13-year-old Savoyard bride to Figueres, where the wedding with Philip V was celebrated in November of the same year, and then traveled on to Madrid . The young royal couple initially felt a stranger in Spain and were not familiar with the courtly ceremonies. Madame des Ursins, with her rich experience, soon became irreplaceable for both of them. She introduced them to the customs of the Spanish court, took on chores and looked after their wellbeing. In this way she gained enormous influence over the king and queen. In doing so, the Camarera mayor managed to disempower ministers, ambassadors and advisers and to fill all important public offices with their own favorites, including Marshal Henri d'Harcourt , Jean Orry and their secretary Jean Bouteroue d'Aubigny.

Louis XIV used the influence of Madame des Ursins in order to exercise direct control over the politically inexperienced Spanish royal couple from the start. The couple also needed financial and political support from France in order to prevail against the still strong Habsburg-friendly factions at court. While Philip V was in Italy in 1702, the Queen, in the background, guided and guided by Madame des Ursins, was in charge of government affairs. On his return, he was accompanied by the new French ambassador, César d'Estrées. Estrées expected to be involved in the affairs of government to a considerable extent because of his origin and age, as well as because of his old acquaintance with Marie-Anne, but he was wrong. From the resulting struggle for power, Madame des Ursins emerged victorious. The cardinal asked Louis XIV to be released in September 1703 and was replaced by his nephew Jean d'Estrées .

Marie-Anne hoped to find in the new ambassador a willing instrument of her political interests, but the Abbé Estrées proved to be much more independent than she had anticipated. He dared to send letters to France that she had not read. When the Camarera Mayor found out about it, it intercepted the next of these "unauthorized" letters to the French king and opened it. In it, Jean d'Estrées mentioned rumors about Marie-Anne and her secretary Aubigny and a possible marriage of the two. Madame des Ursins was so angry about these hints that she added a handwritten note to the letter and only then sent it on to Paris. Marie-Anne's unauthorized action meant a clear transgression of authority and an affront to Louis XIV, who could not tolerate such presumptuous action. Rather, he saw his influence on Spanish politics endangered by this scandal . With a letter from the king dated October 6, 1704, Madame des Ursins was dismissed from her post and was ordered to leave Spain immediately and retreat to Italy. In the end, however, she received permission to settle in Toulouse , France .

However, Louis XIV had not reckoned with the stubbornness of the Spanish queen, who did everything in her power to get her first lady-in-waiting back. She took a blockade towards France and convinced her husband not to take any more advice from his grandfather and to ignore his wishes. Maria Luisa's stubborn resistance led to Madame des Ursins being given permission to come to Versailles to justify herself to the king and Madame de Maintenon. At several meetings with them from January 1705, Marie-Anne managed to get her post back and to be allowed to return to Spain around the middle of the year - in triumph, so to speak. As the new French ambassador in Madrid, she was accompanied by a man she had chosen: Michel Jean Amelot , seigneur de Gournay, President of the Paris Parliament .

Engraving from the royal almanac of 1708 on the occasion of the birth of the heir to the Spanish throne. Marie-Anne de La Trémoille can be seen in the left foreground.

In the period that followed, Marie-Anne's de La Trémoille's power and influence at the Spanish royal court were greater than ever. The royal couple even entrusted them with the education of their son Ludwig I, born in 1707, Charles-Jean-François Hénault wrote in his memoirs published in 1855 on the power of Madame des Ursins:

«  Elle gouvernoit, mais elle ne régnoit pas  » (She ruled, but she did not rule).

From 1705 until 1715 she maintained a very intensive and regular correspondence with Madame de Maintenon in order to keep her informed about the political situation in Spain and the events during the War of the Spanish Succession. In addition, she exchanged numerous letters with high military officials, churchmen and ambassadors. For the next ten years, Madame des Ursins was a “hub for Franco-Spanish relations”. However, with Philip V's increasing emancipation from his grandfather, she increasingly got into conflicts of loyalty. The increasingly divergent interests of the two courts from 1708 made it almost impossible for Marie-Anne to do justice to both sides equally, and she identified more and more with the Spanish party.

1706 was Philippe II. De Bourbon, duc d'Orléans to Marshal Berwick , replaced as the commander of the French forces in Spain and could after initial defeats in mid-1707 also recorded victories. Especially after the defeats of 1707 it was thanks to the energetic demeanor of the Camarera mayor that the central power of the Bourbons in Spain did not collapse completely. However, she came into conflict with Philippe II de Bourbon, who disagreed with her policies and the way she was administered. The argument between the two was accompanied by numerous courtly intrigues, from which Marie-Anne emerged once again as the winner. Philippe de Bourbon was forced to return to France, but her reputation at the French court had continued to decline. The final break between France and Spain occurred in 1709, when Louis XIV could no longer support his grandson in the war against the Habsburgs. Madame des Ursins used this to dismiss all foreign advisers and royal servants in order to emphasize the “Spanish side” of the king among the people. A not unflattering side effect of this coup was that many of their enemies and critics were removed from the court. After this wave of layoffs, Marie-Anne was the only remaining French woman in the court. The victory of the Spanish troops in the battle of Villaviciosa under the leadership of Louis II Joseph de Bourbon , Duke of Vendôme , did another thing to make Philip V popular with his people. In addition, Marie-Anne, together with the financial expert Orry, succeeded in organizing the country's finances in a sustainable manner.

Their influence on the Spanish king went so far that he blocked the conclusion of the Peace of Utrecht for a long time . Among other things, the regulations provided for the Spanish Netherlands to be ceded to the ore house of Austria. In this area lay the city and the rule of La Roche-en-Ardenne , which Philip had granted Madame des Ursins as sovereign lands in September 1711. Madame des Ursins now tried to have the sovereignty of her lands officially recognized in peacetime and insisted on being elevated to imperial status, but ultimately in vain. The resulting delay in the conclusion of the peace brought both the Spanish people and the French court against them. She finally lost the favor of Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon.

Disempowerment and later life

After the death of Queen Maria Luisa in February 1714, Marie-Anne looked for a second wife for Philip V. The envoy of the Duke of Parma , Cardinal Giulio Alberoni , convinced her that Elisabetta Farnese , niece and heiress of the Duke of Parma, would be suitable because be a compliant bride. However, this was not true, because Elisabetta was extremely educated, intelligent, well-read and strong-willed. That Alberoni had deceived her about the real character of the new queen, Madame des Ursins learned when she first met her on December 23, 1714 in the city of Jadraque . Elisabetta staged a scandal and had the previously almighty Camarera mayor expelled from the country without further ado. As she was - with no entourage and no luggage - Marie-Anne was put in a waiting carriage and brought under guard across the French border to Saint-Jean-de-Luz . Since she could not expect any help from Philip V, she traveled on to Versailles, where she received a very cool reception on March 27, 1715, but at least she received an annuity and a pension of 40,000 livres from the king .

Shortly after Ludwig's death and the subsequent takeover of the reign by Philippe II. De Bourbon, Madame des Ursins left France because she feared the revenge of the rival regent, whom she had accused of conspiracy against Philip V during his stay in Spain. She first went to the Netherlands in August of that year, but was not particularly welcome there, so she traveled on to Genoa via Savoy and settled there until 1720. She then moved to Rome. There she placed herself in the service of James Francis Edward Stuart , the son of the deposed English King James II , who also lived in Rome with his wife Maria Clementina Sobieska , and exerted a great influence on the court of the English pretender .

In the end she still had the satisfaction of witnessing the fall of Giulio Alberoni and his retreat into Roman exile, as well as surviving Madame de Maintenon before she died on December 5, 1722 after a kidney colic at the age of over 80 in Rome.

Works

Marie-Anne de La Trémoille's extensively preserved correspondence was published several times after her death. After Claude François Xavier Millot had included some of their letters in the memoirs of the Dukes of Noailles, Marshals Anne-Jules and Adrien-Maurice , published in 1777 , some of their letters to François de Neufville were published in Paris in 1806 under the title Lettres indédites au maréchal de Villeroi published.

Marie-Anne's letter from ten years of correspondence with Madame de Maintenon was first published in Paris in 1826 and appeared in four volumes with the title Correspondance avec Mme de Maintenon . In 1858 a publication with the title Lettres inédites de Mme des Ursins followed, also in Paris, with letters from her from the national archives of Sweden, Italy and France.

Parts of their correspondence are being reissued over and over again up to the present day.

literature

Main literature

• Eugène Asse: Ursins (Anne-Marie de La Trémoille, princesse des) . In: Jean Chrétien Ferdinand Hoefer : Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours . Volume 45. Firmin Didot, Paris 1866, Sp. 810-816 ( online ).
• Corina Bastian: Chamberlain and diplomatic actor: The Princesse des Ursins at the court of Philip V of Spain (1701–1714). In: Christian Windler , Hillard von Thiessen (ed.): Actors in external relations. Networks and interculturality in historical change. Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar 2010, ISBN 978-3-412-20563-8 , pp. 261-276 ( online ).
• Marianne Cermakian: La princesse des Ursins. Sa vie et ses lettres . Didier, Paris [et al.] 1969.
• François Combes: La princesse des Ursins. Essai sur sa vie et son caractère politique d'après de nombreux documents inédits . Didier, Paris 1858 ( online ).
• Duplessis: Ursins (Anne-Marie de La Trémoille, princesse des) . In: Joseph François Michaud , Louis Gabriel Michaud (ed.) Biography universal, ancienne et modern. Volume 47. LG Michaud, Paris 1827, pp. 218-227 ( online ).
• Auguste Geffroy: Fragments d'une notice sur la vie et le rôle politique de Mme. Des Ursins d'après des documents inédits . A. Durand, Paris 1858 ( online ).
• Louis de La Trémoille (ed.): Madame des Ursins et la succession d'Espagne. Fragments de correspondence . 6 volumes. Honoré Champion, Paris 1902–1907.
• Diane Ribardière: La Princesse des Ursins. Dame de fer et de velours. Perrin, Paris 1988, ISBN 2-262-01439-6 .
• Anja Röhrig: Ambition far beyond the usual of men . In: Back then . Vol. 28, No. 4, 1996, ISSN  0011-5908 , pp. 65-68.
• Eugène-François-Achille Rosseeuw Saint-Hilaire: La princesse des Ursins . Furne, Jouvet & Cie., Paris 1875 ( online ).

further reading

• Corina Bastian: Diplomacy has no gender. The correspondence of Madame de Maintenon and the Princesse des Ursins in the War of the Spanish Succession (1705–1715). In: Zeitblicke . Vol. 8, No. 2, 2009, ISSN  1619-0459 , urn : nbn: de: 0009-9-19517 ( online ).
• Caroline Castiglione: The Orsini: A Family of Roman Baroni in Context. Part 4: When a Woman "takes" charge: Marie-Anne de La Trémoille and the end of the patrimony of the Dukes of Bracciano . In: Viator . Vol. 39, No. 2, 2008, ISSN  0083-5897 , pp. 363-379, doi : 10.1484 / J.VIATOR.1.100218 .
• Auguste Geffroy: Lettres indédites de la princesse des Ursins . Didier & Cie., Paris 1859 ( online ).
• Constance Hill: The Story of the Princess des Ursins in Spain (Camarera-Mayor) . John Lane, London 1906 ( online ).
• Marie René Roussel, marquis de Courcy: L'Espagne après la paix d'Utrecht. 1713-1715 . E. Plon, Nourrit & Cie., Paris 1891 ( online ).
• Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon: The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency . Chapman & Hall, London 1857 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Marie Anne de La Trémoille  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry for Marie-Anne de La Trémoille in the Dictionnaire des Femmes de l'ancienne France (French)
• Biography (English)
• Laura Savani: La Principessa Orsini (Italian)
• Brief presentation of Corina Bastian's research project

References and comments

1. ↑ Older publications often give 1641 as the year of birth.
2. ↑ Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon: Mémoires de Saint-Simon. Nouvelle édition collationnée sur le manuscrit autographe, augmentée des additions de Saint-Simon au Journal de Dangeau. Volume 9. Hachette, Paris 1892, p. 97 ( online ).
3. ↑ Wilhelm Ludwig Holland (ed.): Letters from Duchess Elisabeth Charlotte von Orléans from the years 1716 to 1718. Literarischer Verein Stuttgart, Tübingen 1874, p. 409 ( online )
4. ↑ Wilhelm Ludwig Holland (ed.): Letters from Duchess Elisabeth Charlotte von Orléans from 1719. Literarischer Verein Stuttgart, Tübingen 1877, p. 4 ( online )
5. ^ Camille Trani: Les magistrats du grand conseil au XVIe siècle (1547–1610) . In: Paris et Île-de-France. Mémoires publiés par la fédération des sociétés archéologiques de Paris et de l'Île-de-France . Volume 42, 1991, p. 102.
6. ^ E. Asse: Ursins (Anne-Marie de La Trémoille, princesse des) , column 811.
7. ^ Duplessis: Ursins (Anne-Marie de La Trémoille, princesse des) , p. 219.
8. ↑ Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon writes in his memoirs that the cardinal "suddenly fell in love with her".
9. ↑ C. Bastian: Diplomacy knows no gender , paragraph 9.
10. ^ E. Asse: Ursins (Anne-Marie de La Trémoille, princesse des) , column 813.
11. ^ Charles-Jean-François Hénault: Mémoires du président Hénault . Dentu, Paris 1855, p. 161 ( online ).
12. ↑ C. Bastian: Diplomacy knows no gender , paragraph 14.
13. ^ Duplessis: Ursins (Anne-Marie de La Trémoille, princesse des) , p. 223.
14. ^ ^{A b} E. Asse: Ursins (Anne-Marie de La Trémoille, princesse des) , column 815.
15. ↑ A. Röhrig: Ambition far above the ordinary of men , p. 68.