Marie Therese de Grandelumiere (18th January 1708 – 10th February 1745) was the third child of Emperor Louis XI and Empress Elisabeth Justine.
Marie Therese, though not remembered for her birth-right or marital position, is remembered for her patronage of architecture and decorative arts, such as porcelain. Her immensely detailed diaries and letters pay witness to some of Grandelumiere's major historical events and the most famous people of her time.
Reign of Louis XI -[]
Early Life - Madame Deuxième[]
Marie Therese was born at Le Château de Saint-Etienne on the 18th January, 1708. She was the second daughter of Emperor Louis XI and Empress Elisabeth Justine, as a result was known at the court of her father as "Madame Deuxième".
Therese was sent to be raised at Fontevraud Abbey in 1714. Fontevraud was an ancient institution, founded in 1101 by the Plantagenêts in the heart of the Loire Valley.
Upon her arrival, she was heralded as one of the most beautiful woman at the court of her father. It was clear for all to see that she had inherited her father’s attractive looks. After her return from Fontevraud it became clear that Therese suffered from mild panic attacks. Her reader, Madame Genet, attributed the terror attacks she had never been able to overcome to the violent fears she felt at the Abbey of Fontevraud, every time she was sent, as a punishment, to pray alone in the nuns’ burial crypt.
Marie Therese married Louis Henri, Duc de d'Auvergne in 1722. This marriage would forge an alliance between House Lowell-Burgundy and Montpensier. Therese gave birth to multiple children. Their marriage was unpleasant and caused her great anguish. Louis Henri had a concealed loathing for Louis XI, a loathing which would irrupt after her death.
Young Adulthood - Duchesse d'Auvergne[]
Marie Therese was charming, beautiful and vivacious. In all sense of the word she was a "sweetie". Therese was most passionate about music. Therese found a deep passion for botanical flowers and various forms of floriculture and horticulture. Her passions for flowers and agriculture would be fully explored later on in her life at Le Château de Bellevue. Therese's attractive nature was lamented in various verses and poems:
"Blest tho’ she is with every human grace,
The mien engaging, and bewitching face,
Yet still an higher beauty is her care,
Virtue, the charm that most adorns the fair."
This admiration was most fortunate for she was used in promoting Louis XI's image. As a result she was a common companion when traveling outside of the court, not due to her charm and personality but for her decorative nature. Marie Therese was regularly adorned with the finest Grandelumierian fabrics, flowers and vanities from the popular milliners and pioneers in the field of haute-couture. This popularity produced some by-products in the field of fashion. Her light step and graceful manner of walking warranted a style of shoe, made affordable for bourgeoisie ladies to wear, "Guérir à la Marie Therese".
Marie Therese was also a bit of a scatter brain and an eccentric. She was known to give champagne to her favorite tawny pug "Poupette". Therese even trained the dog to bite her husband. The featherbrained Therese also didn't understand government and the ways of parliament. Louis XI would note:
"The only way she would get important papers of the state into her head would be if she were to use them as hair curlers."
"Affaire d'amour"[]
It's been speculation over various years of the true nature of the relationship between Marie Therese and Alexandre Constantin de Bretagne, later Prince de Bretagne. Back in 1721, Therese had many marrige candidats. Perspective bridegroomd ranged from the heir of Normandy and a possible foreign alliance.
The young Alexandre Constantin was another one of these possible matches. Therese was delighted at this, for the two had a close bond and truly loved one another. Both were determined to wed, even to an extent where the young Therese was affectionately known as Madame Bretagne. This was not meant to be, as an alliance with d'Auvergne had to be forged. This didn't stop their relationship. Their love was genuine and pure. Throughout the entirety of her life, Therese and Alexandre had a constant flow of correspondence. Their meetings for "amorous encounters" were always discrete and never spoken of, for whom would dare. The idea of a relationship where love was true and innocent was that of novels and envied by many. Though both would always deny anything, for they both had their pride and status. Beneath the stiff-upper-lip, lay the sweet and tender words of both acquaintances, she would always sign letters; "Un coeur toujours le vôtre", here Therese was writing in the tradition of Rousseau's heroine Julie d'Étange in the la Nouvelle Héloïse. In return, Alexandre wrote palpably sensitive also:
"Ma douce Thérèse, il ne passe point une journée sans qu'une pensée de vous ne me traverse l'esprit, me réconfortant et m'apaisant profondément. Je ne puis point vous décrire au combien vous me manquez, ma chère, mais je sais que cette attente en vaut la peine puisque la récompense ultime sera de vous retrouvez, et de vous prendre dans mes bras, mon ange."
An air was dedicated to the both of them, "J'avois cru qu'en vous aymant":
"J'aurais cru qu'en vous aimant,
(I would have thought that by loving you,)
Mon sort eût été charmant.
(My fate would be charming.)"
Therese and Alexandre would have six children in total. They were tended to with the up-most discreetness and dignity. They were born away from court and pains suffered by Therese were said to have been caused by colic. Therese housed her children at Le Château de Saint-Fargeau. At Saint-Fargeau, the children would find a comfortable and respectable life.
Adulthood - Duchesse d'Auvergne[]
Tragedy struck in late 1738 when many of her siblings passed away due to an outbreak of smallpox. Louis XI contracted the illness and fell terribly ill with pneumonia. Louis XI he ventured south, Marie Therese retreated to Le Château de Saint-François. Therese remained a close support to Le Prince et La Princesse de Bretagne's regency and continued to pay court frequently.
In 1740, Marie Therese made an escape from the turmoil in Dijon with Anastasie Genvieve. They arrived in Parma and from Parma back to Le Château de Saint-François when tensions among the peasantry dwindled.
After the hardships of the rebellion Louis XI returned from the south to resume his role. Therese settled back easily into court life and went back to her frivolous ways, occasionally making visits to Château de Bellevue where she enjoyed long walks and observing her collections of botanical flowers and art pieces.
In January of 1745, Marie Therese was seen walking in the gardens of Le Château de Saint-Etienne as she always had done. Later she complained of swelling upon her breast. It wasn't long before her physicians declared that she had breast cancer. She was tended to over the course of a few months by ladies who would do small things to comfort her. Therese lived on until February 10th, 1745. At her beside were her father and her husband. People who were near her beside could note the frightfully saddening words which she uttered:
"Today a princess, tomorrow nothing, and after two days forgotten."
Marie Therese, Princesse de Grandelumiere, Duchesse d'Auvergne, died on the 10th February, 1745. She was in her 37th year.
Issue[]
Legitimate Issue[]
To his marriage with Louis Henri, Duc d'Auvergne she had eleven children, all of which were carried to full term, with their styles at the time of their birth;
- Philippe Charles, Duc de Bourbon (23rd October 1722 - 14th June 1767)
- Marie Elisabeth, Sister Elisabeth of Mercy (8th June 1723 - 28th March 1780)
- Louis Alexandre, Comte de Cahors (8th October 1724 - 16th February 1754)
- Jean Charles, Comte de Toulouse (18th September 1724 - 23rd September 1724)
- Philippe Charles, Comte de Toulouse (13th July 1725 - 17th May 1729)
- Marie Therese, Dame d'Auvergne (13th July 1725 - Present)
- Marie Josephe, Dame d'Auvergne (25th March 1726 - 6th November 1726)
- Louis-François, Baron de Rodez (10th February 1727 - Present)
- Olympe Françoise, Dame d'Auvergne (16th August 1729 - Present)
- Marie Angélique, Dame d'Auvergne (14th Febuary 1730 - 2nd December 1738)
- Marie Henriette, Dame d'Auvergne (9th June 1731 - 27th November 1752)
Titles, Styles and Honours[]
Titles and Styles[]
- 18th January 1708 - 5th November 1722 Her Imperial Highness, Madame Deuxieme
- 5th November 1722 - 10 February 1745 Her Imperial Highness, Duchesse d'Auvergne
Honours[]
- Dame of the Order of Saint-Marie