Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles, Marquise de La Fayette (2 November 1759 – 25 December 1807), was a French
marchioness
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
. She was the daughter of
Jean de Noailles
Jean-Louis-Paul-François de Noailles, 5th Duke of Noailles (26 October 1739, Paris20 October 1824) was a French nobleman and scientist.
Early life
Jean-Louis-Paul-François de Noailles was the son of Cathérine Françoise Charlotte de Cossé-Bri ...
and
Henriette Anne Louise d'Aguesseau
Henriette Anne Louise d'Aguesseau, Duke of Noailles, Duchess of Noailles, Princess of Tingry (12 February 1737 – 22 July 1794), was a French salon hostess and duchess, the heiress of her grandfather, Henri François d'Aguesseau, and wife of ...
, and married
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemasonry, freemason and military officer who fought in the Ameri ...
.
Life
They had four children: Henriette du Motier (15 December 1775 – 3 October 1777), Anastasie Louise Pauline du Motier (1 July 1777 – 24 February 1863),
Georges Washington Louis Gilbert du Motier, (24 December 1779 – 29 November 1849), and Marie Antoinette Virginie du Motier (17 September 1782 – 23 July 1849) She was a great-granddaughter of
Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné
Françoise Charlotte Amable d'Aubigné, Duchess of Noailles (5 May 1684 – 6 October 1739) was a French aristocrat, the wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles, 3rd Duke of Noailles. She was the niece of Françoise d'Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon, a ...
, niece of
Madame de Maintenon Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ...
.
[.]
In 1795, the Marquise de La Fayette was imprisoned and about to be executed. Intervention by
Elizabeth Monroe
Elizabeth Monroe ( ''née'' Kortright; June 30, 1768 – September 23, 1830) was the first lady of the United States from 1817 to 1825, as the wife of James Monroe, fifth president of the United States. Due to the fragile condition of Elizabe ...
saved her. Mrs. Monroe visited the imprisoned marquise on the day before the execution and loudly announced she would come the next day. Not wanting to cut ties with then-diplomat
James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
, France did not execute her.
Notes
References
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Further reading
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Maurois, André (1961). ''Adrienne; ou, La vie de Madame de La Fayette.'' Hachette.
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Collections
Letter from Adrienne de Lafayette to her Children, The 17th Brumaire, November 1794John Jay letter to Adrienne Lafayette, 13 August 1785Gouverneur Morris letter to Adrienne Lafayette, 19 December 1796Lafayette Family Papers, University of MarylandNational Museum of Women in the Arts*
ttp://www.pastellists.com/Genealogies/Noailles.pdf Neil Jeffares, ''Dictionary of pastellists before 1800'', Noailles Iconographical Genealogybr>
The Marquis de Lafayette collection, Cleveland State UniversityMarie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette Collection, Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafayette, Adrienne
French marchionesses
Nobility from Paris
People of the French Revolution
1759 births
1807 deaths
House of Noailles
Grange-Bleneau, Lady of, Adrienne de La Fayette
Burials at Picpus Cemetery
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette