Marie Adélaïde, Madame Quatrième
Encyclopedia
Marie Adélaïde de France, Daughter of France (Versailles
23 March 1732 - Trieste
27 February 1800), was the fourth daughter and sixth child of King Louis XV of France
and his Queen consort
, Maria Leszczyńska
. As the daughter of the king, she was a Fille de France. She was referred to as Madame Adélaïde from 1737 to 1755 and from 1759 to her death, and simply as Madame from 1755 to 1759.
Originally known as Madame Quatrième ("Madame the Fourth"), until the death of her older sister Louise Marie in 1733, she became Madame Troisième, ("Madame the Third"). Adélaïde also possessed the Duchy of Louvois with her sister Madame Sophie from 1777, and which had been created for them by their nephew Louis XVI
, in their own right.
She outlived both of her parents and all of her siblings.
.
She was put in the care of Marie Isabelle de Rohan
, duchesse de Tallard.
and Madame Sophie. They all found solace in music.
In the early 1750s when the health of Madame de Pompadour was deteriorating, Adélaïde, who was a good rider, became the favorite and close companion of her father for a time, often accompanied him on during his riding and amused him with conversation, and their new close relationship caused rumors that they had an incestuous relationship. A rumor also claimed that Adélaïde was the true mother of Louis de Narbonne
(born 1755) by her father. There is nothing to indicate that these rumors were true, and Adélaïde's new close relationship to her father did not last for many years. Adélaïde was described as intelligent and was the only one of the unmarried sisters with political aspirations, and she attempted, without much success, to gain political influence through her father the king, her brother the Dauphin
, and eventually her nephew, the next Dauphin.
Madame Adélaïde, as well as her siblings, attempted without success to prevent their father's liaison with Madame de Pompadour
, which began in 1745.
She was deeply affected by the death of her sister Madame Henriette at the age of twenty-four in 1752, and by the death of her brother, the Dauphin, in 1765. By 1770, Adélaïde and her sisters were described as bitter old hags, who spent their days gossiping and knitting in their rooms. They seldom dressed properly, merely putting on panniers
covered by a coat when leaving their rooms. They did, however, alternate with the countess of Provence in accompanying Marie Antoinette on official assignments.
Madame Adélaïde despised her father's last maîtresse-en-titre
, Madame du Barry
. When the fourteen-year old Marie-Antoinette became Dauphine in 1770, Madame Adélaïde tried to win her support against Mme du Barry, but the empress Maria Theresa
opposed it. This was a factor which would cause Adélaide to bear subsequent malice toward Marie Antoinette and to become one of the most vicious rumour-mongers at Versailles.
After the dauphin's death in 1765, followed in 1767 by that of his second spouse, Marie-Josèphe
, Madame Adélaïde took custody of the late dauphine's papers, with instructions concerning their son, Louis Auguste, should he become king. The papers were opened on 12 May 1774, after the death of Louis XV, who was succeeded by his grandson Louis Auguste as Louis XVI
. Three distinguished names were suggested for the position of Prime Minister (Premier Ministre), that of Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas
, Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon
, and Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville.
.
Revolutionary laws against the Catholic Church caused them to leave France for Italy
on 20 February 1791. On their way, they were arrested and detained for several days at Arnay-le-Duc
before they were allowed to continue their journey. They visited their niece Clotilde, sister of Louis XVI, in Turin
, and arrived in Rome
on 16 April 1791. As a result of the increasing influence of Revolutionary France, they traveled farther afield, moving to Naples
in 1796, where Marie Antoinette's sister, Marie Caroline, was queen.
They moved to Corfu
in 1799, and finally settled in Trieste
, where Victoire died of breast cancer
. Adélaïde died one year later. Their bodies were returned to France by Louis XVIII at the time of the Bourbon Restoration
, and buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Among her nephews were the kings of France Louis XVI
, Louis XVIII
, and Charles X
, and Ferdinand, Duke of Parma
. She had as nieces Madame Élisabeth
, Clotilde, Queen Consort of Sardinia, and Queen Maria Luisa of Spain
.
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
23 March 1732 - Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
27 February 1800), was the fourth daughter and sixth child of King Louis XV of France
Louis 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...
and his Queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
, Maria Leszczyńska
Maria Leszczynska
Marie Leszczyńska was a queen consort of France. She was a daughter of King Stanisław Leszczyński of Poland and Catherine Opalińska. She married King Louis XV of France and was the grandmother of Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X. In France, she was referred to as Marie Leczinska...
. As the daughter of the king, she was a Fille de France. She was referred to as Madame Adélaïde from 1737 to 1755 and from 1759 to her death, and simply as Madame from 1755 to 1759.
Originally known as Madame Quatrième ("Madame the Fourth"), until the death of her older sister Louise Marie in 1733, she became Madame Troisième, ("Madame the Third"). Adélaïde also possessed the Duchy of Louvois with her sister Madame Sophie from 1777, and which had been created for them by their nephew Louis XVI
Louis 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....
, in their own right.
She outlived both of her parents and all of her siblings.
Childhood
Madame Adélaïde was raised at the Palace of Versailles with her older sister, Madame Henriette, in the shadow of her brother, Louis, the Dauphin. Her younger sisters received their education at the Abbaye de FontevraudFontevraud Abbey
Fontevraud Abbey or Fontevrault Abbey is a religious building hosting a cultural centre since 1975, the Centre Culturel de l'Ouest, in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in Anjou, France. It was founded by the itinerant reforming preacher Robert of Arbrissel, who had just created a...
.
She was put in the care of Marie Isabelle de Rohan
Marie Isabelle de Rohan
Marie Isabelle de Rohan was a French noblewoman and grand daughter of Madame de Ventadour. Marie Isabelle was the governess of the children of Louis XV and his consort Marie Leszczyńska.-Biography:Born in Paris the fourth child of five...
, duchesse de Tallard.
Versailles
Adélaïde was never married: in the late 1740s, by the time she had reached the age when princesses were normally married, there were no consort available in Europe because she wanted to stay unmarried rather than marry some one who was not a monarch or an heir to a throne. She became the head of the group of the three unmarried, younger sisters who survived into adulthood, the others being Madame VictoireVictoire of France
Victoire de France, Princess of France was the seventh child and fifth daughter of King Louis XV of France and his Queen consort Maria Leszczyńska...
and Madame Sophie. They all found solace in music.
In the early 1750s when the health of Madame de Pompadour was deteriorating, Adélaïde, who was a good rider, became the favorite and close companion of her father for a time, often accompanied him on during his riding and amused him with conversation, and their new close relationship caused rumors that they had an incestuous relationship. A rumor also claimed that Adélaïde was the true mother of Louis de Narbonne
Louis, comte de Narbonne-Lara
Louis Marie Jacques Amalric, comte de Narbonne-Lara was a French nobleman, soldier and diplomat.-Birth and early life:He was born at Colorno, in the Duchy of Parma, as the son of Françoise de Châlus Louis Marie Jacques Amalric, comte de Narbonne-Lara (17, 23 or 24 August 1755 – 17 November...
(born 1755) by her father. There is nothing to indicate that these rumors were true, and Adélaïde's new close relationship to her father did not last for many years. Adélaïde was described as intelligent and was the only one of the unmarried sisters with political aspirations, and she attempted, without much success, to gain political influence through her father the king, her brother the Dauphin
Dauphin
The Dauphin of France —strictly, The Dauphin of Viennois —was the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830...
, and eventually her nephew, the next Dauphin.
Madame Adélaïde, as well as her siblings, attempted without success to prevent their father's liaison with Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
, which began in 1745.
She was deeply affected by the death of her sister Madame Henriette at the age of twenty-four in 1752, and by the death of her brother, the Dauphin, in 1765. By 1770, Adélaïde and her sisters were described as bitter old hags, who spent their days gossiping and knitting in their rooms. They seldom dressed properly, merely putting on panniers
Pannier (clothing)
Panniers or side hoops are women's undergarments worn in the 18th century to extend the width of the skirts at the side while leaving the front and back relatively flat...
covered by a coat when leaving their rooms. They did, however, alternate with the countess of Provence in accompanying Marie Antoinette on official assignments.
Madame Adélaïde despised her father's last maîtresse-en-titre
Maîtresse-en-titre
The maîtresse-en-titre was the chief mistress of the king of France. It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartments. The title really came into use during the reign of Henry IV and continued until the reign of Louis XV....
, Madame du Barry
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
. When the fourteen-year old Marie-Antoinette became Dauphine in 1770, Madame Adélaïde tried to win her support against Mme du Barry, but the empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
opposed it. This was a factor which would cause Adélaide to bear subsequent malice toward Marie Antoinette and to become one of the most vicious rumour-mongers at Versailles.
After the dauphin's death in 1765, followed in 1767 by that of his second spouse, Marie-Josèphe
Marie-Josèphe of Saxony
Maria Josepha of Saxony was a Duchess of Saxony and the Dauphine of France. She became Dauphine at the age of fifteen through her marriage to Louis de France, the son and heir of Louis XV...
, Madame Adélaïde took custody of the late dauphine's papers, with instructions concerning their son, Louis Auguste, should he become king. The papers were opened on 12 May 1774, after the death of Louis XV, who was succeeded by his grandson Louis Auguste as Louis XVI
Louis 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....
. Three distinguished names were suggested for the position of Prime Minister (Premier Ministre), that of Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas
Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas
Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas was a French statesman.He was born at Versailles, the son of Jérôme Phélypeaux, secretary of state for the marine and the royal household...
, Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon
Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon
Emmanuel-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon was a French soldier and statesman and a nephew of Louis François Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis XV.-Early life:Before the death of his father, he was known at court...
, and Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville.
Later life
Madame Adélaïde left Versailles with the rest of the Royal Family on 6 October 1789, the day following the Parisian women's march to Versailles and they took up residence at the Château de BellevueChâteau de Bellevue
The Château de Bellevue was a small château built for Madame de Pompadour in 1750. It was constructed on a broad plateau in Meudon, above a slope overlooking the Seine to the east, but was demolished in 1823 and little remains....
.
Revolutionary laws against the Catholic Church caused them to leave France for Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
on 20 February 1791. On their way, they were arrested and detained for several days at Arnay-le-Duc
Arnay-le-Duc
Arnay-le-Duc is a commune of the Côte-d'Or department in Bourgogne in eastern France.-History:Arnay-le-Duc was the location of the worship of the Celtic god Abilus, who was associated with the goddess Damona.-Population:-Personalities:...
before they were allowed to continue their journey. They visited their niece Clotilde, sister of Louis XVI, in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, and arrived in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
on 16 April 1791. As a result of the increasing influence of Revolutionary France, they traveled farther afield, moving to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in 1796, where Marie Antoinette's sister, Marie Caroline, was queen.
They moved to Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
in 1799, and finally settled in Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, where Victoire died of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. Adélaïde died one year later. Their bodies were returned to France by Louis XVIII at the time of the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
, and buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Among her nephews were the kings of France Louis XVI
Louis 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....
, Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
, and Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
, and Ferdinand, Duke of Parma
Ferdinand, Duke of Parma
Ferdinand Maria Philip Louis Sebastian Francis James of Parma was Duke of Parma from 1765 to 1802. He was the second child and only son of Philip, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise-Élisabeth of France, eldest daughter of Louis XV of France and Maria Leszczyńska...
. She had as nieces Madame Élisabeth
Élisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène of France
|align=left|Élisabeth of France , known as Madame Élisabeth, was a French princess and the youngest sister of King Louis XVI...
, Clotilde, Queen Consort of Sardinia, and Queen Maria Luisa of Spain
Maria Luisa of Parma
Maria Luisa of Parma was Queen consort of Spain from 1788 to 1808 as the wife of King Charles IV of Spain. She was the youngest daughter of Duke Philip of Parma and his wife, Louise-Élisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of King Louis XV.She was christened Luisa Maria Teresa Ana, but was known...
.
Ancestry
Further reading
- Antoine, Michel, Louis XV, Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris, 1989, (French).
- Castelot, André Charles X, Librairie Académique Perrin, Paris, 1988, (French).
- Lever, ÉvelyneÉvelyne LeverÉvelyne Lever is a contemporary French historian and writer. She is married to a French historian, Maurice Lever, who is the author of Sade....
, Louis XVI, Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris, 1985, (French). - Lever, Évelyne, Marie Antoinette, Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris, 1991,(French).
- Lever, Évelyne, Louis XVIII, Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris, 1988, (French).
- Zieliński, Ryszard, Polka na francuskim tronie, Czytelnik, 1978, (Polish).
Titles and Styles
- 23 March 1732 – 27 February 1800 Her Royal HighnessRoyal HighnessRoyal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
Princess Marie Adélaïde of France