Anne-Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé

Anne-Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé, duchesse du Maine (November 8, 1676 – January 23, 1753), daughter of the Prince de Condé and a Bavarian Princess by birth. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, she was a Princesse du Sang. She was mainly known as Louise-Bénédicte as all but one of her sisters (one died in infancy) had the name Anne as did her mother.

Life

Early life

The eighth child of the prince de Condé and his wife, she was born on November 8 1676 at the Hôtel de Condé in Paris. She was baptised "Anne-louise" with the name of "Bénédicte" in honour of her aunt known as "Bénédicte" de Bavière, duchesse de Brunswick-Lunebourg (her mother's younger sister and wife of Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern). She was bought up at the Condé residences, such as the Château de Chantilly and the family's Parisian townhouse. She was given the honorary title of Mademosielle d'Enghien. When she was 9, her father was given the title of comte de Chalorais and its land, Anne was then known as Mademoiselle de Charolais.

Born with her right arm lame, she was known to be very outspoken, witty, have a terrible temper and to pay so much attention to appearance that the French court called her "Poupée du Sang" (literally 'Doll of the Blood'). [http://conde.ifrance.com/al.htm "Doll of the Blood" (sometimes said to have been made up by her sister-in-law Louise-Françoise de Bourbon)] She was generally thought to be the most attractive of the Condé daughters, despite the duchess d'Orléans called her a "Little Toad" [Love and Louis XIV;Lady Antonia Fraser] Some time after her marriage the duchesse d'Orléans also said:

"Madame du Maine is not taller than a child ten years old, and is not well made. To appear tolerably well, it is necessary for her to keep her mouth shut; for when she opens it, she opens it very wide, and shows her irregular teeth. She is not very stout, uses a great quantity of paint, has fine eyes, a white skin, and fair hair. If she were well disposed, she might pass, but her wickedness is insupportable" [The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of the Louis XIV. and TheRegency, Complete, by Elizabeth-Charlotte, duchesse d'Orleans]

Despite living in an age where education amongst young ladies of the nobility was uncommon, Mlle d'Enghien received an education in reading, writing, dancing, singing and other things which were considered necessary for a young debutante of her age. She spent most of her time in the company of her mother and two older sisters Marie-Thérèse de Bourbon-Condé and Marie-Anne de Bourbon-Condé.

Marriage

Louis XIV arranged many marriages between his illegitimate children by Louise de la Vallière and Françoise-Athénaïs de Montespan and princely houses in France. In 1680, his eldest daughter married Louise-Bénédicte's cousin the prince de Conti.

In 1685 her older brother, Louis de Bourbon-Condé, the heir to the House of Bourbon-Condé married Louise-Françoise de Bourbon. She was the younger sister of the duc du Maine.

Two months before Anne-Louise married, her younger sister-in-law Françoise-Marie de Bourbon married duc de Chartres heir to the House of Orléans. Of the children between Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, the duc du Maine was the only one not married (his brother led a military life until he married), nor was Louise-Bénédicte at the age of nearly 17.

On March 19, 1692 in the Chapel of the Palace of Versailles she married Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, known as the duc du Maine. He was the eldest (and favourite) illegitimate son of King Louis XIV of France and his most famous mistress, Madame de Montespan. As the groom was lame, like his wife, the fickle members of the court whispered

"Here is the union of a lame and a one-armed; What a beautiful couple!" ["Voici l'union d'un boiteux et d'une manchote. Ah, le beau couple" Place de Condé Site]

The marriage of the duc and his new duchesse was not happy; the couple hated each other intensely. Louise-Bénédicte hated her husband's weak mind and his lack of ambition; Louis-Auguste hated his wife's terrible temper and her deliberate moves to embarrass him as much as possible in and around the court. Louise-Bénédicte's infidelities were well known [ [http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php?topic=6346.0 Duchess of Maine ] ] . To her husband, she was once heard to have remarked:

"Look at yourself a bit! A lame bastard! Who wants to lead me? I was born a princess of the blood, Monsieur, without a stain on my cradle! What would you be without the sticks at which everyone laughs? One to support your body, and the other, me, to maintain your rank! And this Leggy would rule my steps!" [As Maine was lame, his wife gave him this nickname which in French was 'Gambillard' - an old word for leg] ["Regardez-vous un peu! Un bâtard boiteux! Qui me prétend gouverner! Je suis née princesse du sang, Monsieur, sans tache sur mon berceau! Vous, que seriez-vous sans les bâtons (les cannes) dont le monde rit bien haut? Un pour soutenir votre corps, plus moi pour soutenir votre rang! Et ce Gambillard-là réglerait mon pas!" - Place de Condé Site]

Children

The "duc" and "duchesse du Maine" had seven children, all of whom died without leaving any children or possible heirs to the House of Bourbon du Maine. Only three survived infancy but all of their children were:

*Mademoiselle de Dombes (Born 11 September 1694 and died on the 15 of the same month),
*Louis Constantin de Bourbon, "prince de Dombes" (Born at Versailles on the 17 November 1695, died 28 September 1698),
*Mademoiselle d'Aumale (Born in 1697, died 24 August 1699),
*Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, prince de Dombes (Born at Versailles: 4 March 1700, died 1 October 1755),
*Louis-Charles de Bourbon, comte d'Eu (Born at Sceaux 15 October 1701, died 13 July 1775 at Sceaux),
*Charles de Bourbon, duc d'Aumale (Born at Versailles: 31 March 1704, died September 1708 at Sceaux),
*Louise Françoise de Bourbon, known as "Mademoiselle du Maine" (Born 4 December 1707 at Versailles and died 19 August 1743 at the Chateau d'Anet).

ceaux

In order to escape the dull court of Madame de Maintenon, by then the king's wife, the enthusiastic duchesse du Maine created a little court at the Château de Sceaux, where she gave brilliant entertainments and immersed herself in political intrigues.

The castle was bought by her husband for the sum of 900,000 livres in 1700 and had been the residence of Jean-Baptiste Colbert and his family. It had been abandoned by them since their disgrace at court. She also spent a further 80,000 livres on furnishings and decorations. The castle was rebuilt and redesigned for her and she moved in during December 1700. It was at this château that she took one her most famous nickname of "La Reine des Abeilles" or Queen of Bees. In 1703, she set up her own little order called the Order of the Honey Bee. This order held by 39 people, though purely for Louise-Bénédicte's enjoyment had a robe embroided with silver thread; a wig in the shape of a beehive and even a medal with the profile of Louise-Bénédicte with the letters L. BAR. D. SC. D.P.D.L.O.D.L.M.A.M. This meant: [Les Aventures des Bourbon-Condé & Bourbon-Conti]

"Louise, baronne de Sceaux, dictatrice perpétuelle de l'ordre de la Mouche" [Lousie, baroness of Sceaux, dictator of Order of the Honey Bee]

Members of her court were the young Voltaire, baron de Montesquieu, cardinal de Bernis, comte de Caylus, Charles-Jean-François Hénault and Jean-Baptiste Rousseau amongst other literary figures of the day.

Later life

Cellamare

At the death of her father-in-law in 1715, the regency of the country was put in the hands of the head of the House of Orléans rather than her husband, which was what Louis had put in his original will.

The duc d'Orléans had his will reversed and he then gained control of the state. As a result, upset with the role played by the duc d'Orléans, the Régent of France while King Louis XV was a child, in reducing the status of the illegitimate children of Louis XIV from the rank of "Princes du Sang" (which Louise-Bénédicte had enjoyed since birth) to mere peers of France, she induced her husband to join in the "Cellamare conspiracy" in the hope of transferring the regency to King Philip V of Spain, the uncle of the small King. The name of the plot was named after the "prince de Cellamare", called Antonio del Giudice who was the Spanish ambassador of Felipe V of Spain.

In order to gain more support for the new regent, she then started a correspondence with
Giulio Alberoni, then the Spanish Prime Minister. Members of "this" court also included the duc de Richelieu and Melchior de Polignac.

Imprisonment

The plot, however, was discovered, and she was arrested and imprisoned in Dijon in 1719. Her husband was also sent to prison in Doullens, northern France. Her two sons were put in the care of their governor in Gien and their sister was sent back to her convent education at Maubuisson.

After her imprisonment, Lousie-Bénédicte led a more peaceful life at her château at Sceaux still with her little court and its entertainments. Around the time of her imprisonment, it had been suggested by her that her eldest son and heir to the fortune of the House of Boubon du Maine, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, prince de Dombes should marry his cousin Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans known as "Mademoiselle de Valois". The rivalry between the princely houses of France was well known and the marriage proposal was not undertaken as the young Mademoiselle de Valois refused - much to the annoyance of the proud Louise-Bénédicte!

Widow

After the arrest of the du Maines, the couple seemed to have reconciled and led a more compatible life rather than being hostile to each other. In May 1736 her husband died at the age of 66. In the same year, she received the Château de Montrond and then, in 1737 she gained the Hôtel Biron in Paris and it was there that she died (today the musée Rodin [Then called the "Hôtel du Maine"] ) in Paris on the 23 January 1753. She was aged 77 and outlived all of her siblings.

Ancestry

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1= 1. Anne-Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé
2= 2. Henry III Jules de Bourbon, Prince of Condé
3= 3. Countess Palatine Anne-Henriette of Simmern
4= 4. Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé
5= 5. Claire Clémence de Maillé Brézé
6= 6. Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern
7= 7. Anna Gonzaga
8= 8. Henry II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé
9= 9. Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency
10= 10. Urbain de Maillé, Marquis of Brézé
11= 11. Nicole du Plessis de Richelieu
12= 12. Frederick V, Elector Palatine
13= 13. Elizabeth Stuart
14= 14. Charles I, Duke of Mantua
15= 15. Catherine of Lorraine
16= 16. Henri I de Bourbon, Prince of Condé
17= 17. Charlotte de la Tremouille
18= 18. Henri I de Montmorency
19= 19. Louise de Budos
20= 20. Charles de Maillé-Brézé
21= 21. Jacqueline de Thévalle
22= 22. François du Plessis, Lord of Richelieu
23= 23. Suzanne de La Porte
24= 24. Frederick IV, Elector Palatine
25= 25. Louise Juliana von Orange-Nassau
26= 26. James I of England
27= 27. Anne of Denmark
28= 28. Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers
29= 29. Henriette of Cleves
30= 30. Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne
31= 31. Henriette de Savoie-Villars

References

ources

* [http://conde.ifrance.com/al.htm Anne-Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé]
*1911
*Général de Piepape, "La duchesse du Maine" (1910).

Titles

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