Maria Vittoria Francesca of Savoy
Encyclopedia
Maria Vittoria of Savoy was an illegitimate daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
and his favourite mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
, estranged wife of Joseph Ignace Scaglia, Count of Verua. She was an ancestor of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
and thus the whole present pretending Italian Royal Family
. She is also a descendant of the pretenders of France.
and his favourite mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
. Born in Turin on 9 February 1690, her parents affair had begun in early 1689 when her mother Jeanne Baptiste had caught the eye of the Duke of Savoy. Her mother was originally unwilling to become the mistress of the Duke but was encouraged by her husband, mother in law and even the Dukes wife Anne Marie d'Orléans.
Her parents were soon in love and the reign of her mother Jeanne Baptiste had begun at the Savoyard court; her mothers husband was horrified at Jeanne Baptiste having become the Dukes mistress and soon extracted many a favour from the Duke. Her mothers popularity made her unpopular at the Savoyard court and at one point she was nearly poisened and it was none other than the Duchess of Savoy who helped Jeanne Baptiste with her illness and helped her recover. Maria Vittoria's father became obsessed with Jeanne Baptiste; he had her shut up from view of the court for some time; Jeanne Baptiste decided to flee Savoy in 1700 and seek refuge in France
, ruled by Louis XIV
.
Maria Vittoria had one full sibling Vittorio Francesco who died in 1762, aged 68 having had no children. When her mother fled Savoy in 1700, Maria Vittoria and her brother were left in Savoy and were thus cared for by a loving father. It was her father who organised Maria Vittoria's marriage to Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy
, son of the Prince of Carignan. The Princes of Carignano were members of the so called House of Savoy-Carignan and a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. They were the most important people in the Duchy of Savoy after the Ducal family themselves.
Her father had her legitimised and created her the Marchesa di Susa.
in mid 1714, she married Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy at the Castle of Moncalieri
on 7 November aged 23. Her father gave her husband an annual income of 400,000 livres partly to appease the union; her father was fond of Prince Victor Amadeus but in 1717, her husband was deeply in debt and lost the Kings favour.
As a result Maria Vittoria's husband fled to France in July 1718 during the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans
; her husband travelled as the Comte de Bosco and soon after in Maria Vittoria followed; her husband set about founding an Italian opera house with his own set designs, only one of the grand schemes for which Vittorio became notorious in Paris. He had engaged the best voices in Italy for the project, but sadly it folded within two months. It appears that Paris was not then ready for such an ambitious project.
who lived at the Tuileries Palace
. Her husband was created Intendant des Ménus Plaisirs
- a sort of Master of Ceremonies by the Régent
and the couple lived at the Hôtel de Soissons which they claimed by right of the Soissons inheritance which had been confiscated when Savoy had become an enemy of France under Louis XIV during the War of the Spanish Succession. During the Regency, Maria Vittoria and her husband led a louche life at the Hôtel de Soissons turning it into one of the most dangerous for gambling in the capital. Maria Vittoria eventually developed a close relationship with Cardinal Fleury However, she was also an intimate of the Duke of Bourbon, Louis XV's prime minister after the death of Phillipe d'Orléans.
These connections were important as the Prince Victor Amadeus proceeded to incur massive debts in France to add to those already contracted in Savoy (he eventually died a bankrupt in 1744) so it was important to keep in with the great officers of the court of France.
Of a dramatic nature, she happily intruiged with the Duke of Bourbon and reported all happenings to her father back in Savoy. She also reported first and last attempt of Queen Marie to try to influence Louis XV politically - which involved the Duke of Bourbon's trying to dispose of Fleury, a move which ended very badly for Monsieur de Bourbon. However, the Maria Vittoria sided with Fleury, and when Monsieur de Bourbon suggested via an intermediary that if she tried to mend the relationship between himself and the Cardinal that he would pay off her husband's huge debts in both France and Savoy and settle an income of half a million livres on her, she indignantly refused.
Although the Queen sought her advice as to how to reconcile with the King, who had been very offended by Marie's attempts to interfere between himself and Fleury, Maria Vittoria never became very intimate with the Queen and in 1726 she and Fleury were speculating about who would replace Marie if she should die in childbirth.
She saw her son marry Christine of Hesse-Rotenburg in 1740.
daughter Marie Thérèse of France.
In 1763 Leopold Mozart
wrote in a letter that "today my little girl was given a small, transparent snuff-box, inlaid with gold, from the Princess Carignan, and Wolfgang a pocket writing case in silver, with silver pens with which to write his compositions; it is so small and exquisitely worked that it is impossible to describe it".
She died in Paris on 8 July 1766 aged 76. She was the paternal grand mother of the princesse de Lamballe
, friend of Marie Antoinette
.
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus II was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of marquis of Saluzzo, duke of Montferrat, prince of Piedmont, count of Aosta, Moriana and Nizza. Louis XIV organised his marriage in order to maintain French influence in the Duchy but Victor Amadeus soon broke away...
and his favourite mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, comtesse de Verrue was a French noblewoman and the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia.-Biography:...
, estranged wife of Joseph Ignace Scaglia, Count of Verua. She was an ancestor of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
Victor Emanuel II was king of Sardinia from 1849 and, on 17 March 1861, he assumed the title King of Italy to become the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878...
and thus the whole present pretending Italian Royal Family
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
. She is also a descendant of the pretenders of France.
Early life
Maria Vittoria Francesca di Savoia was the child of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of SavoyVictor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus II was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of marquis of Saluzzo, duke of Montferrat, prince of Piedmont, count of Aosta, Moriana and Nizza. Louis XIV organised his marriage in order to maintain French influence in the Duchy but Victor Amadeus soon broke away...
and his favourite mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, comtesse de Verrue was a French noblewoman and the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia.-Biography:...
. Born in Turin on 9 February 1690, her parents affair had begun in early 1689 when her mother Jeanne Baptiste had caught the eye of the Duke of Savoy. Her mother was originally unwilling to become the mistress of the Duke but was encouraged by her husband, mother in law and even the Dukes wife Anne Marie d'Orléans.
Her parents were soon in love and the reign of her mother Jeanne Baptiste had begun at the Savoyard court; her mothers husband was horrified at Jeanne Baptiste having become the Dukes mistress and soon extracted many a favour from the Duke. Her mothers popularity made her unpopular at the Savoyard court and at one point she was nearly poisened and it was none other than the Duchess of Savoy who helped Jeanne Baptiste with her illness and helped her recover. Maria Vittoria's father became obsessed with Jeanne Baptiste; he had her shut up from view of the court for some time; Jeanne Baptiste decided to flee Savoy in 1700 and seek refuge in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, ruled by Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
.
Maria Vittoria had one full sibling Vittorio Francesco who died in 1762, aged 68 having had no children. When her mother fled Savoy in 1700, Maria Vittoria and her brother were left in Savoy and were thus cared for by a loving father. It was her father who organised Maria Vittoria's marriage to Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy
Victor Amadeus, Prince of Carignan
Victor Amadeus of Savoy was an Italian nobleman who was Prince of Carignano from 1709 to 1741. He was the son of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, Prince of Carignano and his wife, the Maria Angela Caterina d'Este.-Biography:...
, son of the Prince of Carignan. The Princes of Carignano were members of the so called House of Savoy-Carignan and a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. They were the most important people in the Duchy of Savoy after the Ducal family themselves.
Her father had her legitimised and created her the Marchesa di Susa.
Marriage
Engaged to the son of the dead Prince of Carignan and Maria Angela Caterina d'EsteMaria Angela Caterina d'Este
Maria Angela Caterina d'Este was an Italian born Princess of Modena who was later the Princess of Carignano by marriage. She was the wife of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, Prince of Carignano. In France she was known as Angélique Catherine d'Este and in Modena and Savoy she was known as Maria...
in mid 1714, she married Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy at the Castle of Moncalieri
Castle of Moncalieri
The Castle of Moncalieri is a palace in Moncalieri , Piedmont, in northern Italy. It is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites in 1997.-History:...
on 7 November aged 23. Her father gave her husband an annual income of 400,000 livres partly to appease the union; her father was fond of Prince Victor Amadeus but in 1717, her husband was deeply in debt and lost the Kings favour.
As a result Maria Vittoria's husband fled to France in July 1718 during the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
; her husband travelled as the Comte de Bosco and soon after in Maria Vittoria followed; her husband set about founding an Italian opera house with his own set designs, only one of the grand schemes for which Vittorio became notorious in Paris. He had engaged the best voices in Italy for the project, but sadly it folded within two months. It appears that Paris was not then ready for such an ambitious project.
France
The couple settled in Paris amongst the court of the infant Louis XVLouis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
who lived at the Tuileries Palace
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace was a royal palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
. Her husband was created Intendant des Ménus Plaisirs
Menus-Plaisirs du Roi
The Menus-Plaisirs du Roi was, in the organisation of the French royal household under the Ancien Régime, the department of the Maison du Roi responsible for the "lesser pleasures of the King", which meant in practice that it was in charge of all the preparations for ceremonies, events and...
- a sort of Master of Ceremonies by the Régent
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
and the couple lived at the Hôtel de Soissons which they claimed by right of the Soissons inheritance which had been confiscated when Savoy had become an enemy of France under Louis XIV during the War of the Spanish Succession. During the Regency, Maria Vittoria and her husband led a louche life at the Hôtel de Soissons turning it into one of the most dangerous for gambling in the capital. Maria Vittoria eventually developed a close relationship with Cardinal Fleury However, she was also an intimate of the Duke of Bourbon, Louis XV's prime minister after the death of Phillipe d'Orléans.
These connections were important as the Prince Victor Amadeus proceeded to incur massive debts in France to add to those already contracted in Savoy (he eventually died a bankrupt in 1744) so it was important to keep in with the great officers of the court of France.
Of a dramatic nature, she happily intruiged with the Duke of Bourbon and reported all happenings to her father back in Savoy. She also reported first and last attempt of Queen Marie to try to influence Louis XV politically - which involved the Duke of Bourbon's trying to dispose of Fleury, a move which ended very badly for Monsieur de Bourbon. However, the Maria Vittoria sided with Fleury, and when Monsieur de Bourbon suggested via an intermediary that if she tried to mend the relationship between himself and the Cardinal that he would pay off her husband's huge debts in both France and Savoy and settle an income of half a million livres on her, she indignantly refused.
Although the Queen sought her advice as to how to reconcile with the King, who had been very offended by Marie's attempts to interfere between himself and Fleury, Maria Vittoria never became very intimate with the Queen and in 1726 she and Fleury were speculating about who would replace Marie if she should die in childbirth.
She saw her son marry Christine of Hesse-Rotenburg in 1740.
Later life
Her husband died at the Hôtel de Soissons in April 1740 heavily in debt; she lived quietly as a widow but successfully managed to marry her only surviving daughter Anna Teresa to marry the once widowed Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise. Anna Teresa had one child; Victoire de Rohan was the governess of Louis XVI'sLouis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
daughter Marie Thérèse of France.
In 1763 Leopold Mozart
Leopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...
wrote in a letter that "today my little girl was given a small, transparent snuff-box, inlaid with gold, from the Princess Carignan, and Wolfgang a pocket writing case in silver, with silver pens with which to write his compositions; it is so small and exquisitely worked that it is impossible to describe it".
She died in Paris on 8 July 1766 aged 76. She was the paternal grand mother of the princesse de Lamballe
Princess Marie Louise of Savoy
Maria Luisa of Savoy was a member of the House of Savoy. She was married at the age of 16 to Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, Prince de Lamballe, the heir to the greatest fortune in France. After her marriage, which lasted a year, she went to court and became the confidante of Queen Marie Antoinette...
, friend of Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
.
Issue
- Prince Joseph Victor Amadeus of Savoy (1716 - 1716)
- Princess Anna Teresa of Savoy (Turin, 1 November 1717 - Paris, 5 April 1745) married Charles de Rohan and had issue;
- Prince Louis Victor of SavoyLouis Victor, Prince of CarignanLouis Victor of Savoy was a northern Italian nobleman and the Prince of Carignano from 1741 till his death.-Biography:...
, Prince of Carignano (Paris, 25 September 1721 - Turin, 16 December 1778) - Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy (1722)
- A stillborn daughter (1729)