Marie de Bourbon (15 October 1605 – 4 June 1627), Duchess of Montpensier, and

Duchess of Orléans Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

by marriage, was a French noblewoman and one of the last members of the

House of Bourbon-Montpensier The House of Bourbon-Montpensier or ''Maison de Bourbon-Montpensier'' was a semi royal family. The name of Bourbon comes from a marriage between Marie de Valois, comtesse de Montpensier (1375–1434) who married Jean de Bourbon - the duc de Bo ...

. Her parents were Henri de Bourbon, '' Duke of Montpensier'' and

Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse (8 January 1585 – 25 February 1656) was the daughter of Henri de Joyeuse and Catherine de Nogaret Nogaret de La Valette. She married her first husband, Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier, on 15 May 1597 an ...

, Duchess of Joyeuse in her own right.

Biography

Marie de Bourbon was born in the château de Gaillon, in Gaillon ( Eure department of France), in the former province of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. Known as ''Mademoiselle de Montpensier'' before her marriage, she was the Duke and Duchess of Montpensier's only child. At the age of two, she had been engaged to the second son of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

, Nicolas Henri de France, Duke of Orléans, but he died at the age of four in 1611. She was then betrothed to his brother, Gaston de France, Duke of Orléans, the younger brother of king Louis XIII, and the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the

throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the mona ...

of France. At the death of her father, in 1608, Marie became the Duchess of Montpensier in her own right; the Duchy was one of the oldest in France having been elevated from a County in 1539. Marie was a descendant of

John II of France John II (french: Jean II; 26 April 1319 – 8 April 1364), called John the Good (French: ''Jean le Bon''), was King of France from 1350 until his death in 1364. When he came to power, France faced several disasters: the Black Death, which killed ...

, of the

House of Valois The Capetian house of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the f ...

and of Saint Louis. Because of the Montpensier's fortune, of which Marie was the only heiress, and despite the aversion shown by Gaston toward this arranged marriage, Louis XIII and Richelieu were determined the marriage would take place. The wedding ceremony was celebrated in Nantes, on 6 August 1626, in the presence of Louis XIII, his wife, Queen

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 un ...

, and Marie de' Medici, the Queen Mother. According to her daughter's biographer, Vita Sackville-West, quoting a member of her husband's household, ''A sadder wedding was never seen.''. From this union, the new ducal couple had one child: * Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, ''Duchess of Montpensier'' (Louvre, 29 May 1627 – Palais du Luxembourg, 3 April 1693), the future ''Grande Mademoiselle''. Marie died on 4 June 1627 at the

Palais du Louvre The Louvre Palace (french: link=no, Palais du Louvre, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the ...

in Paris, at the age of twenty-one, shortly after the birth of her daughter who, as her only child, inherited her fortune and titles. She was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis, north of Paris. In a will intended to disinherit her niece, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Marie's half-sister Marie de Lorraine,) chose Charles François de Stainville as beneficiary in 1688; but on the urging of her heirs, the will was broken by the Parlement of Paris in 1689. Counts and Dukes of Guise After the death of her daughter, ''La Grande Mademoiselle'', in 1693, Marie's fortune was handed over to Philippe de France,

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 Ver ...

's younger and only brother.

Ancestors

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montpensier, Marie De Bourbon, Duchess Of 1605 births 1627 deaths Duchesses of Orléans Marie Bourbon Princesses of France (Bourbon) 17th-century peers of France Peers created by Henry IV of France Deaths in childbirth Princes of the Dombes Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis Montpensier, Duchess of, Marie de Bourbon Duchesses of Montpensier People from Eure