Marie Zéphyrine of France (26 August 1750 – 2 September 1755) was a Daughter of France, the daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Maria Josepha of Saxony. Marie Zéphyrine, known as ''Madame Royale'' or ''la Petite Madame'', was born at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...

and was named after St. Zephyrinus, on whose

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

she was born. Her birth was greeted with caution; in the previous two years, Maria Josepha had suffered stillbirths and her health was of a fragile nature. Louis XV, on the other hand, had hoped for a grandson.

Marie Isabelle de Rohan Marie Isabelle de Rohan (Marie Isabelle Gabrielle Angélique; 17 January 1699 – 5 January 1754) 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 ...

served as Marie Zéphyrine's governess. Marie Zéphyrine died at Versailles due to an attack of convulsions, in the early hours of the morning of 2 September, having been baptised just days before by the Abbot of Chabannes. She was not officially mourned; a Daughter of France could only be mourned if she was over the age of seven. She was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis outside the capital of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Ancestry

Bibliography

– Maurice Comte de Saxe et Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, Dauphine de France : Lettres et documents inédits des Archives de Dresde (édition de 1867) – Mémoires du duc de Luynes sur la cour de Louis XV volume 10 (1749-1750) et volume 14 (1755-1756) – La mère de Louis XVI, Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, dauphine de France, par Yvonne Brunel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marie Zephyrine Of France, Princess 1750 births 1755 deaths People from Versailles Marie Zephyrine 18th-century French people Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis Royalty and nobility who died as children