Marie de Bourbon (15 October 1605 – 4 June 1627),

Duchess of Montpensier Countess of Montpensier House of Valois, 1362?–1434 House of Bourbon-Montpensier, 1434–1523 Duchess of Montpensier House of Bourbon-Vendôme, 1561–1627 House of Bourbon-Orléans House of Bourbon-Orléans (in pretence) ...

, Princess of

Dombes The Dombes (; ) is an area in eastern France, once an independent municipality, formerly part of the provinces of France, province of Burgundy (region), Burgundy, and now a district comprised in the department of France, department of Ain, and b ...

and

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

by marriage, was a French noblewoman and one of the last members of the House of Bourbon-Montpensier. Her parents were Henri de Bourbon, '' Duke of Montpensier'' and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse, Duchess of Joyeuse in her own right.

Biography

Marie de Bourbon was born in the château de Gaillon, in Gaillon (

Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. 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 (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

, 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 Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

, 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 a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

to the

throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...

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, 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 List of French monarchs, French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. ...

and of Saint Louis. Because of the Montpensier 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 Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, on 6 August 1626, in the presence of Louis XIII, his wife, Queen

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

, 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 (, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Ger ...

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 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 ...

'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 People from the Province of Normandy 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 Duchesses regnant