Marquis Florent-Claude du Chastellet

The Marquis Florent-Claude du Chastellet was a prominent figure in the French aristocracy during the beginning period of the Age of Enlightenment. The Marquis was a military man and governor of Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy.

Marriage

On 20 June 1725 he married Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, who became known as Émilie du Châtelet. Like many marriages among the nobility, theirs was an arranged marriage. The couple had little in common, but the proprieties were observed in accordance with contemporary norms. After bearing three children, Émilie, considering her marital responsibilities fulfilled, made an agreement with her husband to live separate lives while still maintaining one household.

Children

The Marquis Florent-Claude du Chastellet and Émilie du Châtelet had three children: Francoise Gabriel Pauline, who was born on June 30 1726, Louis Marie Florent was born on November 20 1727, and Victor-Esprit, born at Paris in 1734, who died in infancy. [cite book|last=Hamel|first=Frank|title=An Eighteenth Century Marquise: a study of Emilie du Châtelet and her times|publisher=Stanley Paul and Co|location=London|date=1910|pages=p 25]

Death

Florent-Claude died at age seventy.

References