Louise Henriette Françoise de Lorraine (1707 – 31 March 1737) was a French noblewoman and member of the

House of Guise The House of Guise ( , ; ; ) was a prominent French noble family that was involved heavily in the French Wars of Religion. The House of Guise was the founding house of the Principality of Joinville. Origin The House of Guise was founded as a c ...

, a cadet branch of the

House of Lorraine The House of Lorraine () originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Francis of Lorraine to Maria Ther ...

. She was the last wife of Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne (1668–1730).

Biography

The eldest of four children, her other surviving sister Marie Elisabeth Sophie de Lorraine was the wife of Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis. Prior to her marriage, she was styled as ''Mademoiselle de Guise''. A member of the ''House of Guise'' founded by

Claude, Duke of Guise Claude de Lorraine, Duke of Guise (20 October 1496 – 12 April 1550) was a French aristocrat and general. He became the first Duke of Guise in 1528. He was a highly effective general for the French crown. His children and grandchildren were to ...

, she was a ''Princess of Lorraine'' as a

patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descendant of

René II, Duke of Lorraine René II (2 May 1451 – 10 December 1508) was Count of Vaudémont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar from 1483 to 1508. He claimed the crown of the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Provence as the Duke of Calabria ...

. At court, she, like his Lorraine family, held the rank of ''

Foreign Prince Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...

'', a rank which was below that of the immediate

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

and Princes of the Blood. This also allowed her the style of ''

Her Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adjec ...

''. Family relations included Emmanuel Maurice, Duke of Elbeuf,

second cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

of her husband via Emmanuel Maurice's mother Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne.Daughter of Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne Others included the

Abbess of Remiremont Remiremont Abbey was an abbey that was founded as a house of nuns near Remiremont, Vosges, France. It later became a community of secular canonesses. History It was founded about 620 by Romaric (580–653), a lord at the court of Chlothar II, w ...

, Princess of Epinoy and a

Queen consort of Sardinia This is a list of consorts of the Savoyard monarchs. Countess of Savoy, 1003–1416 Duchess of Savoy, 1416–1713 ;As courtesy title Queen of Sardinia, 1720–1861 Between 1859 and 1861 the Kingdom of Sardinia incorporated the majo ...

. She was described as ''very pretty; rather tall than short; neither stout nor slender; an oval face; a broad forehead; black eyes and eyebrows; brown hair; very wide mouth and very red lips'' . Married on 21 March 1725, the couple did not have a child until four years later. They had a daughter named Marie Sophie Charlotte who is an ancestor of the present Dukes of Mouchy, a ''cadet'' branch of the

House of Noailles The title of Duke of Noailles is a Peer of France, French peerage created in 1663 for Anne de Noailles, Anne de Noailles, Count of Ayen. History Noailles is the name of a prominent French noble family, derived from the castle of Noailles in the t ...

. Her husband died in 1730, leaving Louise Henriette Françoise a widow at the age of 23. There are theories that the Duchess of Bouillon poisoned the famous contemporary actress

Adrienne Lecouvreur Adrienne Lecouvreur (5 April 1692 – 20 March 1730), born Adrienne Couvreur, was a French actress, considered by many as the greatest of her time. Born in Damery, she first appeared professionally on the stage in Lille. After her Paris debut ...

, but scholars have not been able to confirm the accusation. Louise Henriette Françoise later became the mistress of her stepson, Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne, who was one year older than she was. Another lover was the Count of Clermont, a grandson of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

and

Madame de Montespan Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan (5 October 1640 – 27 May 1707), commonly known as Madame de Montespan (), was a French noblewoman and the most celebrated maîtresse-en-titre, royal mistress of King Lou ...

through their daughter the

Duchess of Bourbon Lady of Bourbon House of Bourbon, 950–1218 House of Dampierre, 1228–1288 House of Burgundy, 1288–1310 :Beatrix of Burgundy, Dame de Bourbon, None Capetian House of Clermont, 1310–1327 Duchess of Bourbon First Creati ...

. She died in March 1737 at the age of roughly 30. Her brother cousin Gaston married Marie Louise de Rohan, sister of

Charles, Prince of Soubise Charles de Rohan, 4th Prince of Soubise (16 July 17151 July 1787), Duke of Rohan-Rohan was a French aristocrat, soldier, and minister to kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was the last male of his branch of the House of Rohan, and was great-grand ...

. Charles, in turn, was the husband of her stepdaughter Anne Marie Louise.

Issue

* ''Marie'' Sophie ''Charlotte'' de La Tour d'Auvergne (20 December 1729–6 September 1763) married Charles Just de Beauvau, son of Marc de Beauvau, Prince of Beauvau and had issue. Present Duke of Noailles descends from her.

Ancestry

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorraine, Louise Henriette Francoise De 1707 births 1737 deaths House of Lorraine House of Guise Princesses of Lorraine 18th-century French people La Tour d'Auvergne French duchesses Duchesses of Bouillon