Maria Vittoria of Savoy (Maria Vittoria Francesca; 9 February 1690 – 8 July 1766) was a
legitimated daughter of
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus II (Vittorio Amedeo Francesco; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of Prince of Piedmont, Duke of Montferrat, Marquis of Saluzzo and Count of Aosta, Moriana and Nice.
Louis XIV ...
, first king of the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
. Married to the head of a
cadet branch
In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...
of the House of Savoy, she is an ancestor of the kings of Sardinia and of the Savoy kings of Italy.
Early life
Maria Vittoria Francesca di Savoia was the child of
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus II (Vittorio Amedeo Francesco; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of Prince of Piedmont, Duke of Montferrat, Marquis of Saluzzo and Count of Aosta, Moriana and Nice.
Louis XIV ...
and his ''
maîtresse-en-titre
''maîtresse-en-titre'' () was the chief royal mistress of the King of France. The title came into use during the reign of Henry IV and continued through the reign of Louis XV. It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartme ...
'',
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, ''comtesse de Verrue'' (18 January 1670 – 18 November 1736) was a French noblewoman and the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia.
Biography
The daughter of Louis Charles d'Albert, Duke of Luynes (1620 ...
. Born in Turin on 9 February 1690 while her father was reigning
Duke of Savoy
The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a Duchy of Sav ...
, her parents' affair had begun in early 1689. Daughter of a French
duke of distinguished ancestry and wife of a prominent Savoyard nobleman, initially she sought to avoid becoming a mistress of Victor Amadeus, then reigning Duke of Savoy. But ambition prompted her husband's family and even the Duke's wife,
Anne Marie d'Orléans
Anne Marie d'Orléans (27 August 1669 – 26 August 1728) was Queen of Sardinia by marriage to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. She served as regent of Savoy during the absence of her spouse in 1686 and during the War of the Spanish Succession.
...
, to encourage the liaison.
Her mother's popularity made her unpopular at the Savoyard court. Maria Vittoria's father, jealous and obsessed with Jeanne Baptiste, eventually had her shut up from view of the court. Jeanne Baptiste decided to flee Savoy in 1700 and sought refuge in France from
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
.
When her mother fled Savoy in 1700, Maria Vittoria and her brother,
Vittorio Francesco di Savoia, remained in the duchy under the care of their father.
Her father legitimated Maria Vittoria and her brother Vittorio Francesco, making him the
Marchese di Susa (he died childless in 1762, aged 68) and granting her the feminine version of that title, ''Marchesa di Susa''.
Marriage
In 1713 Victor Emmanuel acquired royal dignity, becoming King of Sicily (although he would be compelled to exchange that realm for Sardinia by the European Powers in 1720, while retaining the title of king). Betrothed in mid-1714 in an arrangement which imitated Louis XIV's practice of marrying his legitimated offspring to his royal kinsmen, the ''
princes du sang'', Maria Vittoria married
Victor Amadeus of Savoy, Prince of Carignan at the
Castle of Moncalieri
The Castle of Moncalieri is a palace in Moncalieri ( Metropolitan City of Turin), 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
The first structure ...
on 7 November, aged 23. Her father gave her husband an annual income of 400,000
livre
LIVRE (, L), previously known as LIVRE/Tempo de Avançar (, L/TDA), is a green political party in Portugal founded in 2014.
Its founding principles are ecology, universalism, freedom, equity, solidarity, socialism and Europeanism. Its symbol i ...
s, partly to assuage injury to the princely dignity of the Carignans for acquiescing to a marital alliance with a lady born out of wedlock.
Her father was fond of Prince Victor Amadeus but in 1717, her husband was found to be deeply in debt and lost the King's favour. As a result, Maria Vittoria's husband fled to France in July 1718 during the
Regency of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, travelling as the ''Conte di Bosco''. Soon after, Maria Vittoria followed.
France
The couple settled in Paris at the court of the infant
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
, who lived at the
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...
. Her husband was created ''
Intendant des Ménus Plaisirs'' – a sort of
Master of Ceremonies by the Regent. The couple lived at the ''
Hôtel de Soissons
The Hôtel de Soissons was a ''hôtel particulier'' (grand house) built in Paris, France, between 1574 and 1584 for Catherine de' Medici (1519–89) by the architect Jean Bullant (1515–78).
It replaced a series of earlier buildings on the same s ...
'', which they claimed in right of the
Savoy-Soissons inheritance which had been confiscated when Savoy became an enemy of France under Louis XIV during the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
. Maria Vittoria and her husband led a scandalous 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
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, th ...
, "She pretends to be devout and makes money out of the transactions of the court through the Cardinal, with whom she is on good terms." She also became an intimate of
Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon
Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon (Louis Henri Joseph; 18 August 1692 – 27 January 1740), was a French nobleman and politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1723 to 1726. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a '' pr ...
, Louis XV's prime minister after the death of Phillipe d'Orléans.
Her husband's position and their connections at the French court were important to their circumstances, as Prince Victor Amadeus proceeded to incur massive debts in France, adding to those already contracted in Savoy.
Maria Vittoria is alleged to have intrigued with the Duke of Bourbon, reporting all to her father back in Savoy, effectively acting as a spy. She also reported attempts of
Queen Marie Leszczyńska to influence Louis XV politically – which involved the Duke of Bourbon's trying to dispose of Fleury, a move which ended very badly for the duke. However, Maria Vittoria is alleged to have remained loyal to Fleury: When the Duke of Bourbon suggested, via an intermediary, that if she could mend the relationship between himself and the Cardinal her husband's huge debts in both France and Savoy would be settled and an income of half a million livres would be assured her, she is said to have indignantly refused.
The Queen is said to have sought Maria Vittoria's advice as to how to reconcile with the King when he took offence at her attempts to interfere in his relations with Fleury. She advised the queen to henceforth discontinue all involvement in politics and act only as a role model for the consort of the Most Christian King of France, and advise queen Marie followed. Nonetheless, Maria Vittoria never became very intimate with the Queen; in 1726 she and Fleury speculated about who would replace Marie if she should die in childbirth.
[Clarissa Campbell Orr: Queenship in Europe 1660-1815: The Role of the Consort. Cambridge University Press (2004)]
Maria Vittoria saw her son marry
Landgravine Christine of Hesse-Rotenburg
german: Christine von Hessen-Rheinfels-Rotenburg
, image = Christine Henriette of Hesse-Rotenburg.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Maria Giovanna Clementi
, title = Princess of Carignano
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Schlos ...
, whose sister
Caroline of Hesse had married the disgraced Duke of Bourbon in 1728, 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, Princess Anna Teresa of Savoy-Carignan, to the widowed
Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise
Charles de Rohan (16 July 17151 July 1787), Prince of Soubise, Duke of Rohan-Rohan, Seigneur of Roberval, and Marshal of France from 1758, was a soldier, and minister to kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was the last male of his branch of the ...
. Anna Teresa had one child;
Victoire de Rohan
Victoire Armande Josèphe de Rohan, ''Princess of Guéméné'' (28 December 1743 – 20 September 1807) was a French noblewoman and court official. She was the governess of the children of Louis XVI of France. She is known better as ''Madame de G ...
, who would become the official governess of
Louis XVI's daughter,
Marie Thérèse of France
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in T ...
.
In 1763
Leopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a German composer, violinist and theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook ''Versuch einer gründlichen ...
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".
Maria Vittoria of Savoy-Carignan died in Paris on 8 July 1766 aged 76. She was the paternal grandmother of the ''
Princesse de Lamballe Princesse (French 'princess') may refer to:
*"Princesse", single hit for Julie Zenatti
* Princesse (Nekfeu song)
* La Princesse 15-metre (50-foot) mechanical spider designed and operated by French performance art company La Machine.
See also
* P ...
'', tragic friend of
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
.
Issue
*Prince Joseph Victor Amadeus of Savoy (1716–1716)
*
Princess Anna Teresa of Savoy
Anne Thérèse of Savoy (1 November 1717 – 5 April 1745) was a Savoyard princess born in Paris, France. She was the second wife of Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise, a military leader and friend of Louis XV. She was also a first half-cousin ...
(Turin, 1 November 1717 – Paris, 5 April 1745) married
Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise
Charles de Rohan (16 July 17151 July 1787), Prince of Soubise, Duke of Rohan-Rohan, Seigneur of Roberval, and Marshal of France from 1758, was a soldier, and minister to kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was the last male of his branch of the ...
and had issue;
*
Prince Louis Victor of Savoy, Prince of Carignan (Paris, 25 September 1721 – Turin, 16 December 1778)
*Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy (1722)
*A stillborn daughter (1729)
Ancestry
References
*
Maria Vittoria Francesca of Savoy'
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Vittoria Of Savoy
1690 births
1766 deaths
Princesses of Savoy
17th-century Italian nobility
18th-century Italian people
Princesses of Carignan
Nobility from Turin
Illegitimate children of Italian monarchs
18th-century spies
Daughters of kings