Marie Charlotte de La Tour d'Auvergne (Marie Sophie Charlotte; 20 December 1729,

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. Si ...

– 6 September 1763), was a French noblewoman and member of the

House of La Tour d'Auvergne La Tour d'Auvergne () was a noble French dynasty. Its senior branch, extinct in 1501, held two of the last large fiefs acquired by the French crown, the counties of Auvergne and Boulogne, for about half a century. Its cadet branch, extinct in 1802, ...

. Married into the House of Beauvau, a powerful family originating in Anjou, she had a daughter at the age twenty, and died of smallpox at the age of thirty three. The present

Duke of Mouchy Duke of Mouchy ( es, Duque de Mouchy) was a hereditary title in the peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee and granted in 1747 by Ferdinand VI to Philippe de Noailles, a French military officer. After failure of the 1st Duke's ...

branch of the Noailles family are descended from her.

Biography

Born at the Hôtel de Bouillon in Paris to

Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne Emmanuel-Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne, cardinal de Bouillon (24 August 1643 – 2 March 1715, Rome) was a French prelate and diplomat. Biography Originally known as the Duc d'Albret, he was the son of Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergn ...

(1668–1730), sovereign

Duke of Bouillon The Duchy of Bouillon (french: Duché de Bouillon) was a duchy comprising Bouillon and adjacent towns and villages in present-day Belgium. The state originated in the 10th century as property of the Lords of Bouillon, owners of Bouillon Cast ...

, and his last wife Louise Henriette Françoise of Lorraine; she was the couple's only child. Her mother was a daughter of Joseph of Lorraine, Count of Harcourt. Her father was a son of

Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon (21 June 1636 – 26 July 1721) was a French nobleman and member of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne, one of the most important families in France at the time. He married Marie Anne Manci ...

and

Marie Anne Mancini Marie Anne Mancini, Duchess of Bouillon (1649 – 20 June 1714), was an Italian-French aristocrat and cultural patron, the youngest of the five famous Mancini sisters, who along with two of their female Martinozzi cousins, were known at the ...

, the latter was a niece of

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

and an infamous hostess in her day. Marie Charlotte was styled as ''Mademoiselle de Château-Thierry'' from birth. When her older half sister Anne Marie Louise, ''Mademoiselle de Bouillon'' was married to

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 Hou ...

in 1734, as the most senior unmarried

princess 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 subs ...

of the La Tour d'Auvergne family, she was styled ''Mademoiselle de Bouillon'' until her marriage. A first cousin included ''

Antoine de Vignerot du Plessis Louis ''Antoine'' Sophie de Vignerot du Plessis, 4th Duke of Richelieu (4 February 1736 – 1791), was a French nobleman and general. He was known by the courtesy title of Duke of Fronsac before 1788. He also held the titles of Prince de Mortagne, ...

'', son of her aunt Élisabeth Sophie of Lorraine and the famous womaniser

Armand de Vignerot du Plessis Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, duc de Richelieu (; 13 March 1696 – 8 August 1788), was a French soldier, diplomat and statesman. He joined the army and participated in three major wars. He eventually rose to the rank of Mars ...

, duc de Richelieu. Her father died in 1730, leaving her mother a widow at twenty-three. Her mother died in 1737. As such she became the ward of her uncle Louis Henri, Count of Évreux (''comte d'Évreux''). In 1741, her maternal uncle Louis de Lorraine-Harcourt was a proposed candidate for the hand of the 12-year-old, but the marriage never materialised and he died childless in 1747. She married

Charles Juste de Beauvau Charles Juste de Beauvau, Prince of Craon (10 September 1720 – 21 May 1793), 2nd Prince of Craon (1754), Marshal of France (1783) was a French scholar, nobleman and general. The son of Marc de Beauvau, he was also brother of the famous Madame ...

, a member of the wealthy Beauvau family of the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following th ...

, on 3 April 1745. Her sister in law (her husband's sister) was the famous '' marquise de Boufflers''. Her daughter married

Philippe Louis de Noailles Philippe-Louis-Marc-Antoine, comte de Noailles, prince-duc de Poix, and 2nd Spanish and 1st French duc de Mouchy (21 November or 21 December 175217 February 1819), was a French soldier, and politician of the Revolution. Biography The son of ...

, son of

Philippe de Noailles Philippe de Noailles, comte de Noailles and later prince de Poix, duc de Mouchy, and duc de Poix ''à brevêt'' (27 December 1715 in Paris27 June 1794 in Paris), was a younger brother of Louis de Noailles, and a more distinguished soldier than hi ...

and

Anne d'Arpajon Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in th ...

, lady-in-waiting to

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 ...

. She died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

at the Hôtel de Beauvau-Craon, her husband's town house in Lunéville, Lorraine. She and her daughter were heading to Paris from Lorraine when Marie Charlotte caught the illness. Notwithstanding the utmost care, she succumbed to the illness; at the time she was arranging the proposed marriage between her daughter Louise and

Armand Louis de Gontaut Armand Louis de Gontaut (), duc de Lauzun, later duc de Biron, and usually referred to by historians of the French Revolution simply as Biron (13 April 174731 December 1793) was a French soldier and politician, known for the part he played in ...

Duke of Lauzun The title of Duc de Lauzun was a French peerage created in 1692 for Antoine Nompar de Caumont under influence of Mary of Modena. All dukes were marshals of France or renowned generals. Ducs de Lauzun * Antoine Nompar de Caumont (1632–1723) ...

. Lauzun and Louise never married and were both greatly affected by the death of Marie Charlotte – the two were in love – and with the death of Marie Charlotte, Lauzun lost his most valuable ally, regarding a union with Louise and himself. Her daughter was placed in the Abbey of Port Royal in

where she remained till her marriage in 1767. After her death, her husband married again in 1764 to Marie Charlotte Sylvie de Rohan-Chabot, a cousin of

Issue

* Anne ''Louise'' Marie de Beauvau, Mademoiselle de Beauvau (1 April 1750 – 20 November 1834) married

, ''prince de Poix'', later

and had issue.

Ancestry

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tour Dauvergne, Marie Charlotte De La 1729 births 1763 deaths Nobility from Paris Marie Charlotte 18th-century French nobility Marie Charlotte Deaths from smallpox