Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac

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Portrait of the Duchess of Polignac (1782/83) by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun , Grand Trianon, Versailles
Painting of the Duchess of Polignac in front of her harpsichord and with music in her hand, around 1783, by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun , oil on canvas, 98.5 × 71 cm, now owned by the National Trust at Waddesdon Manor , Aylesbury , Buckinghamshire

Yolande Martine Gabrielle von Polastron , Countess and later Duchess of Polignac (born September 8, 1749 in Paris , † December 9, 1793 in Vienna ), also known as Madame de Polignac , was for a long time the favorite of the French Queen Marie-Antoinette and was hers Critics on the eve of the French Revolution as the prototype of the selfish and wasteful aristocrat of the Ancien Régime .

Pamphlet from 1789 directed against the Duchess of Polignac

Life

Yolande de Polastron was the daughter of Jean François Gabriel de Polastron , Count of Polastron, Knight of Noueilles, Venerque and Grépiac († 1794) and Jeanne Charlotte Hérault (* 1726), in turn daughter of the Paris Police Prefect René Hérault (1691-1740) and his first wife Marguerite Durey de Vieuxcourt (1700–1729), born in Paris. Soon after their birth, the family moved to Languedoc . After her mother's death in 1753 (or 1756), she was sent to her aunt, who placed her in a convent for noble women.

At the age of 18 she became the captain of the royal dragoon regiment , Count Jules François Armand de Polignac (1745–1817), son of Héracle Louis de Polignac (1717–1802) from the house of Polignac and the Diane de Mazarin (1726– 1755), married. She had four children with him, although it is likely that their second child was born into an affair with Joseph Hyacinthe François de Paule de Rigaud , Count of Vaudreuil. Through her husband's sister, Diane de Polignac (1746-1818), they both managed to be introduced to the court of Versailles , where Yolande met Marie-Antoinette in 1775 and immediately won her favor. Because of its calming effect, which it had on the queen, it made itself also with Louis XVI. popular. She soon ousted Marie-Louise de Savoie-Carignan , the Princess of Lamballe, as the Queen's closest confidante.

As the leader of the exclusive circle around the queen, she managed to gain great advantages for her entire family, which, however, earned her the opposition and envy of the old court nobility, who viewed her as an upstart. At the same time, she also attracted the hatred of the masses who disapproved of her luxurious lifestyle at court and the provision of her family at the expense of the state.

At the height of her influence, she was appointed governess of the royal children, including the Dauphin Louis Joseph and Princess Marie Thérèse Charlotte , and her husband was elevated to the status of duke in 1780. The Polignac faction was now one of the most important power factors at court, but their maintenance devoured huge sums of money.

After the birth of Marie-Antoinette's second son Louis Charles in 1785, however, Yolande de Polignac's power began to wane, as the queen found the costs caused by the Polignacs and their followers, but also their behavior, increasingly oppressive, even despotic towards her felt. The Queen's displeasure was ultimately expressed in the fact that she withdrew Yolande de Polignac's position as First Chamberlain and transferred her to Jeanne-Louise-Henriette Campan .

Yolande finally drew her conclusions from this and decided to visit friends in England .

After her return she became increasingly involved in current politics and soon led the ultra-royalists at court, who refused any concession to the members of the third estate and hoped for the rehabilitation of absolutism . Together with the king's brother, Karl von Artois , and the Baron von Breteuil , she convinced the queen, whose favor she won again, to dismiss the reform-minded and popular finance minister, Jacques Necker , and install Charles Alexandre de Calonne instead.

After the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, the Polignacs fled to Switzerland and traveled to Italy, from where they continued to communicate with the royal family by letters. Louise Félicité Joséphine de Croy d'Havré followed her as governess .

Yolande herself fell ill with cancer a few years later and died shortly after learning of the execution of her former friend and benefactor while staying in Vienna.

evaluation

The image of the Duchess of Polignac is generally tarnished by reports from the revolutionary period, which accuse her above all of favoritism, waste and insatiable extravagance and see her as the embodiment of the ruling class that oppressed the common people. Historians Pierre de Nolhac and Pierre de Ségur , however, describe Yolande as indolent and naive, judging that the majority of the problems they allegedly caused are more likely to be attributed to their entourage.

progeny

  • Aglaé Louise Françoise Gabrielle (born May 7, 1768 in Paris, † March 30, 1803 in Edinburgh), called Guichette , ⚭ July 11, 1780 Antoine VIII , Duke of Gramont and Guiche
  • Armand Jules Marie Héracle (born January 17, 1771 in Paris; † March 1, 1847 there or in Saint-Germain-en-Laye), ⚭ September 6, 1790 Ida Johanna von Neukirchen called Nyvenheim, niece of Albertine Elisabeth de Champcenetz
  • Jules Auguste Armand Marie (born May 14, 1780 in Paris, † March 29, 1847 in Paris), ⚭ July 1, 1816 Barbara Campbell; 2.) June 3, 1824 Mary Charlotte Parkyns; French Prime Minister 1829/30
  • Camille Henri Melchior (born December 27, 1781 in Versailles, † February 2, 1855 in Fontainebleau), ⚭ October 1, 1810 Marie Charlotte Calixte Alphonsine Le Vassor de La Touche

Trivia

In Sophia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette from 2006, Yolande de Polignac is played by Australian Rose Byrne . In Benoît Jacquot's film Farewell my Queen! from 2012 she is portrayed by Virginie Ledoyen .

literature

Web links

Commons : Yolande de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Polastron, Yolande Martine Gabrielle de, duchesse de Polignac
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Polignac, Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron duchesse de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French lady-in-waiting, confidante of Queen Marie Antoinette
DATE OF BIRTH September 8, 1749
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH December 9, 1793
Place of death Vienna