Septimanie d'Egmont (née Jeanne Louise Armande Élisabeth Sophie ''Septimanie'' de Vignerot du Plessis) (1740 in

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

- 14 October 1773), was a French

salonist A salon is a gathering of people held by an inspiring host. During the gathering they amuse one another and increase their knowledge through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "e ...

Biography

Born the daughter of Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis,

Duke of Richelieu Duke of Richelieu (french: duc de Richelieu) was a title of French nobility. It was created on 26 November 1629 for Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (known as Cardinal Richelieu) who, as a Roman Catholic clergyman, had no issue to pass it down ...

, and Princess

Élisabeth Sophie de Lorraine Élisabeth Sophie de Lorraine (Marie Élisabeth Sophie; 1710 – 2 August 1740) was a French noblewoman and the second wife of Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, the notoriously lecherous Duke of Richelieu. Biography She was born in 1710 and was ...

(daughter of

Joseph, Count of Harcourt Joseph de Lorraine (Anne Marie Joseph; 30 April 1679 – 29 April 1739) was a member of the House of Lorraine and Count of Harcourt. He was styled ''prince de Guise'' before becoming Count of Harcourt. Biography Born to Alphonse Henri, Count of ...

), a French ''

prince étranger ''Prince étranger'' (English: "foreign prince") was a high, though somewhat ambiguous, rank at the French royal court of the ''Ancien Régime''. Terminology In medieval Europe, a nobleman bore the title of prince as an indication of sovereignty, ...

'', she was raised with her paternal aunt in a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

convent. In 1755 she was married to Casimir Pignatelli,

Count of Egmont Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Prince of Gavere (18 November 1522 – 5 June 1568) was a general and statesman in the Spanish Netherlands just before the start of the Eighty Years' War, whose execution helped spark the national uprising that eventuall ...

. She hosted a salon which gathered "the literary celebrities of the days", including

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

and

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

, and was a center of opposition to

Madame du Barry Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed, by guillotine, during the French Revolution due to accounts of treason—particularly being ...

. Through her close friendship with the Swedish ambassador to France,

Ulrik Scheffer Ulrik is a male name, a Scandinavian form of Ulrich. Ulrik may refer to: *Ulrik Frederik Christian Arneberg (1829–1911), Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party *Albert Ulrik Bååth (1853–1912), Swedish poet *Ulrik Balling (born 1975), ...

, she came to know the future

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

during his visit to

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 ...

in 1771. Thereafter she maintained a correspondence with him during his reign. She advised him to "repress the strife of the raging parties", advocated a "monarchy restrained by laws" and greeted his coup of 1772 with joy, especially its non-bloody character. She called Gustav III "The hero of my heart", and it is considered likely that she had influence "upon the enlightened, humanistic, in many ways liberated direction of the early reign of Gustav III".Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 6. Degeberg - Egyptolog

Ancestry

References

Sources

* Marie-Célestine-Amélie-de Segur Armaille, Comtesse d', ''La comtesse d'Egmont, fille du maréchal de Richelieu, 1740-1773. D'après ses lettres inédites à Gustave III'', Perrin et Cie, 1890. * Jean-Claude Hauc, "Septimanie d'Egmont, princesse républicaine" in ''Trois femmes des Lumières'', Les Editions de Paris, 2010.
Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 6. Degeberg - Egyptolog
* Beth Hennings, Grevinnan d'Egmont och Gustav III (1920) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vignerot Du Plessis, Jeanne Sophie De 1740 births 1773 deaths French salon-holders French untitled nobility People of the Ancien Régime 18th-century French people