Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon
Duchess of Maine
Portrait by François de Troy as Cleopatra, c. 1690
Born	(1676-11-08)8 November 1676 Hôtel de Condé, Paris, France
Died	23 January 1753(1753-01-23) (aged 76) Hôtel du Maine, Paris, France
Burial	26 January 1753 Church of Saint Jean Baptiste
Spouse	Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine (m. 1692; died 1736)
Issue Among others...	Louis Auguste, Prince of Dombes Louis Charles, Count of Eu Louise Françoise, Mademoiselle du Maine
Father	Henri Jules de Bourbon-Condé
Mother	Anne Henriette of Bavaria
Signature

Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon (born November 8, 1676 – died January 23, 1753) was a French princess. She was the daughter of Henri Jules de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, and Anne Henriette of Bavaria. As a member of the royal House of Bourbon, she was known as a princess of the blood.

She was married to Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine. He was a son of King Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. Louise Bénédicte loved politics and the arts. She hosted popular gatherings, called salons, at her homes in Paris and Sceaux.

Biography
Issue
Ancestry
See also

Biography

Early Life

Portrait of a young girl, possibly Louise Bénédicte

Louise Bénédicte was born on November 8, 1676, in Paris. She was the eighth child of her parents. Her middle name, Bénédicte, honored her aunt, the Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

She grew up in Paris with her many sisters. As a princess of the blood, she was called Mademoiselle d'Enghien. Later, when her father became the Count of Charolais, she was known as Mademoiselle de Charolais.

Louise Bénédicte was known for being very outspoken and witty. She also had a quick temper. She was quite small and cared a lot about her appearance. People at court nicknamed her poupée du Sang, which means "Doll of the Blood." This was a playful twist on her title, "princess of the Blood."

She had a weak arm from birth. Despite this, many thought she was the most attractive of her sisters. However, some people, like the Duchess of Orléans, called her a "little toad." The Duchess also said Louise Bénédicte was not very tall and had "irregular teeth." But she also noted her "fine eyes, a white skin, and fair hair."

Louise Bénédicte received a typical education for noble girls in France. She learned reading, writing, dancing, and singing. These skills were important for a young aristocrat.

Marriage and Court Life

Louise Bénédicte around the time of her marriage

In 1692, when she was 15, Louise Bénédicte married Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine. He was 22 years old. The wedding took place at the Palace of Versailles. Both the bride and groom had physical challenges. People at court joked about the "union of a one-armed woman and a lame man."

Their marriage was not a happy one. Louise Bénédicte found her husband weak and not ambitious enough. He, in turn, disliked her temper and how she tried to embarrass him.

To escape the strict court of Madame de Maintenon, King Louis XIV's secret wife, Louise Bénédicte created her own lively court. She did this at the Château de Sceaux. Her husband bought the château in 1700. Louise Bénédicte spent a lot of money decorating it.

After moving in, she became known as La Reine des Abeilles, or Queen of the Bees. In 1703, she even created her own special group, the Order of the Honey Bee. It had 39 members. Each member wore special clothes and a medal with Louise Bénédicte's profile.

The Château de Sceaux during Louise Bénédicte's time

She invited many famous writers and thinkers to her court. These included the young Voltaire and the baron de Montesquieu.

In 1710, she helped arrange the marriage of her sister, Marie Anne, to the general Louis Joseph de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme. Louise Bénédicte hoped to inherit the duke's large estate if he died without children. Marie Anne was considered too old to have children, and the duke was much older. However, Louise Bénédicte did not inherit anything.

Both Louise Bénédicte and her husband loved their children very much. Their daughter, Louise Françoise, was baptized at Versailles in 1714. The future Louis XV was a guest of honor at the baptism. Thanks to Madame de Maintenon, King Louis XIV made the Duke of Maine a Prince of the Blood. This meant he was in line to the throne. In his will, Louis XIV also named the Duke of Maine as the Regent for the young Louis XV.

The Regency and Imprisonment

Philippe d'Orléans (right) pointing to the young King Louis XV. Louise Bénédicte was jailed because of her part in the Cellamare Conspiracy in 1719.

When King Louis XIV died in 1715, his will was changed. Instead of the Duke of Maine, his brother-in-law, Philippe d'Orléans, became the Regent for the child king Louis XV. This upset Louise Bénédicte. She was also angry that the king's children born outside marriage, like her husband, had their royal rank lowered.

Because of this, Louise Bénédicte convinced her husband to join a secret plan called the Cellamare Conspiracy. The goal was to remove Philippe d'Orléans as regent and replace him with King Philip V of Spain. The plot was discovered. In 1719, both the Duke and Duchess of Maine were arrested. The duke was sent to a fortress, and the duchess was imprisoned in Dijon. Their children were also moved to different places.

After her release in 1720, Louise Bénédicte lived a quieter life at Sceaux. She still hosted her court of writers and poets. Before their imprisonment, she and her husband had bought a house in Paris. It became known as the Hôtel du Maine.

While imprisoned, she tried to arrange a marriage for her oldest son, Louis Auguste, to his cousin Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans. This marriage was hoped to heal the bad feelings between their families. However, Charlotte Aglaé refused to marry her cousin.

Later Life and Death

After their release, Louise Bénédicte and her husband seemed to get along better. In May 1736, the Duke of Maine died at age 66. King Louis XV allowed Louise Bénédicte to keep her apartments at Versailles.

Madame du Maine tried to arrange a good marriage for her daughter several times. But her daughter remained unmarried and died in 1743. She was buried at the church in Sceaux. At the time of her death, her library had about 3,000 books.

The Hôtel du Maine, now the Musée Rodin, where Louise Bénédicte lived in her later years

In 1736, Louise Bénédicte received the old Château de Montrond. She allowed it to be taken apart for its building materials. In 1737, she rented another house in Paris, which also became known as the Hôtel du Maine. She died there in January 1753, at the age of 76. She had outlived all of her brothers and sisters.

Louise Bénédicte was buried at the Saint Jean-Baptiste church in Sceaux. Her oldest son, Louis Auguste, died less than two years after her. Her youngest son, Louis Charles, never married and died without children in 1775. He left his money to his cousin, Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre.

Issue

Arms of Louise Bénédicte as Duchess of Maine

Mademoiselle de Dombes (born September 11, 1694 – died September 15, 1694), died as a baby.
Louis Constantin de Bourbon, Prince of Dombes (born November 17, 1695 – died September 28, 1698), died as a young child.
Mademoiselle d'Aumale (born December 21, 1697 – died August 4, 1699), died as a young child.
Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Prince of Dombes (born March 4, 1700 – died October 1, 1755), never married.
Louis Charles de Bourbon, Count of Eu (born October 15, 1701 – died July 13, 1775), never married.
Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Aumale (born March 31, 1704 – died September 2, 1708), died as a young child.
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Mademoiselle du Maine (born December 4, 1707 – died August 19, 1743), never married.