Marie de Nemours, originally known as Marie d'Orléans-Longueville (1625–1707), was

Princess of Neuchâtel Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a s ...

from 1694 to 1707. She was the daughter of

Henri II d'Orléans, duc de Longueville Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mo ...

and Louise de Bourbon. After the death of her brother Jean Louis Charles d'Orléans-Longueville in 1694 she succeeded him as sovereign

, although she remained a prominent member of the French royal court.

Biography

Descended from Jean d'Orléans, illegitimate son of Louis I, Duke of Orléans, she was known as Mademoiselle de Longueville prior to her marriage. By her marriage with Henri of Savoy, she became

Duchess of Nemours Duke of Nemours was a title in the Peerage of France. The name refers to Nemours in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. History In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Lordship of Nemours, in the Gatinais, France, was a possession of t ...

. The couple were married on 22 May 1657 at Trie. The dukes of Nemours were descendants of the

Dukes 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 at t ...

having settled in France in the sixteenth century, where they ranked as '' princes étrangers''. At an early age she was involved in the first

Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...

, of which her father and stepmother,

Anne Geneviève de Bourbon Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon (28 August 16195 April 1679) was a French princess who is remembered for her beauty and amours, her influence during the civil wars of the Fronde, and her final conversion to Jansenism. Biography Early life Anne Gene ...

, were leaders. She married Henri II, Duke of Nemours in 1657. When he died in 1659, leaving her childless, the rest of her life was mainly spent in contesting her inheritance with her stepmother. Her Savoyard nieces included Marie Jeanne, Duchess of Savoy and Marie Françoise, Queen of Portugal. The

Dukes of Longueville Duke of Longueville (''Longueville-sur-Scie'') was a title of French nobility, though not a peerage of France. History The title was created in 1505 by King Louis XII of France for his first cousin once removed, François d'Orléans, Count of ...

had acquired the principality of Neuchâtel through marriage to

Johanna of Hachberg-Sausenberg Johanna of Hachberg-Sausenberg (1485 – 23 September 1543), was a noble feudal lord, countess regnant of Neuchâtel in 1503–1512 and again from 1529 to 1543. She was the daughter of Philip of Hochberg and Maria of Savoy. Life Johanna inherited ...

. After the death of her brother Jean-Louis-Charles d'Orléans in 1694, she succeeded him as

Legacy

She left some interesting memoirs, published by C. B. Petitot in the ''Collection complete des memoires'' (1819–1829). She was the muse for

Jean Loret Jean Loret (ca 1600-1665) was a French writer and poet known for publishing the weekly news of Parisian society (including, initially, its pinnacle, the court of Louis XIV itself) from 1650 until 1665 in verse in what he called a ''gazette burles ...

's ''Muse historique'' (1650, 1660, 1665), a collection of weekly ''gazette burlesque'' reporting on the news of Paris society and the court of

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 Ve ...

in the form of letters to Marie d'Orléans-Longueville which are considered an early example of French journalism. Her childless death in 1707, without close relatives, opened a conflict about her vast inheritance. For example, see

Duke of Estouteville Duke of Estouteville (''duc d'Estouteville'') was a title in the French nobility that is claimed today by the Prince of Monaco. It was created in 1537 by King Francis I of France for Adrienne d'Estouteville (1512–1560) and her husband Francis d ...

Ancestry

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemours, Marie d'Orleans-Longueville, Duchess de 1625 births 1707 deaths Princes of Neuchâtel Counts of Dreux Neuchatel, Princess of, Marie de Nemours Marie Nobility from Paris French duchesses 17th-century French nobility 18th-century French nobility 18th-century women rulers 17th-century women rulers