ON THIS DAY IN THE VERSAILLES CENTURY (1682-1789)

3 April 1776 

On this day, following on from yesterday’s visit to the faisanderie, the Duc de Croÿ goes with the Abbé d’Arvillars to see M Boutin’s pleasure garden.* 

Simon Gabriel Boutin (1720-1794) is the wealthy son of a farmer-general. He has been working for a decade on a pleasure park that features gardens and follies in various styles, including in the new English style. He calls his garden Tivoli, but it is commonly called the Folie-Boutin. Poor M Boutin dies on the guillotine, but his park becomes a public attraction under the Tivoli name and later moves to another location nearby. There are at this date several pleasure parks in the area, a trend started by the Duc de Richelieu in the 1730s.

*Journal of the Duc de Croÿ

Pictured: The Place de l’Europe-Simone-Veil today occupies the original site of the Folie-Boutin.

Credit — CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=438239

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Birth of a Future Duchess of Parma on 14 August, 1727

It was on this day 292 years ago that Louise-Elisabeth of France was born to Louis XV and his consort, Marie Leczinska. Ten minutes after she appeared, her twin Henriette emerged.

The two infants were the eldest of seven surviving daughters and one son, and were dubbed Madame Première and Madame Seconde. Louise-Elisabeth was her father’s favourite. He called her ‘Babette.’ Her witty remarks could always make him laugh. Nonetheless, her arranged an early marriage for her. She would be the only one of the sisterhood to marry.

Louise-Elisabeth was married to one of her Spanish Bourbon cousins, the Infante Felipe, in 1739, when she was just 12 years old. The Infante was a younger son of King Felipe V, himself a grandson of Louis XIV, by his second wife, Isabel Farnese. Isabel was the heiress of the Farnese dukes of Parma, but the duchy had been conquered by the Austrians during the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713). Her claim passed to Felipe’s elder brother Carlos, who won the duchy back from the Austrians during the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1736), only to exchange it (understandably) for the Kingdom of Naples.

The new Infanta, stagnating in the dull court of Madrid, where she and her husband were minor figures outranked by Felipe’s older brothers and their wives, determined to secure Parma. Her biggest asset was of course her father’s support. She embarked on a letter-writing campaign to enlist it. After the next round of warfare, namely the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), Louis XV saw to it that the duchy was assigned to the Infante Felipe at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

The new duke and duchess triumphantly took possession of their duchy, or rather Felipe took possession of it while Louise Elisabeth journeyed to Versailles to thank her father for his support. She would now be known there as Madame de Parme. After a stay of 10 months, she finally made her way to Parma.

Once settled in her new capital, Louise-Elisabeth became bored. She made two further visits to Versailles, staying a year each time. The first was after the death of her twin Henriette, who succumbed to small pox in 1752. During the second visit, in 1759, Louise-Henriette herself contracted the disease and died on 6 December. She was buried next to her sister in the royal necropolis at St. Denis.

Louise-Elisabeth and Duke Felipe had 3 surviving children. The eldest, Isabel (1741-1763), married the future Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, but died before his election. They had no children. The younger two were twins: Ferdinand (1751-1802) and Marie-Louise (1751-1819). It’s their descendants who have transmitted the blood of Louis XV to all the Catholic royal houses of Europe.

Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Élisabeth_of_France .

Image: Louise-Elisabeth of France, Duchess of Parma, by an unknown artist after Nattier. Credit — WikiCommons.

Birth of a Portuguese Princess (Who Married Her Nephew) on 25 July, 1746

It was on this day 273 years ago that the Infanta Maria Francisca Benedita of Portugal was born in Lisbon. She was the last born of the children of the then heir to the Portuguese throne, the Infante José, Prince of Brazil, and his Spanish Bourbon wife.

Now pay attention, good reader, because the story might get confusing.

After José became king in 1750, his only surviving children were 4 daughters: Maria Francisca (b. 1734), Maria Ana (b. 1736), Maria Dorotea (b. 1739) and Maria Benedita herself. The middle 2 girls never married, but the eldest and youngest ended up contracting incestuous marriages. Maria Francisca, now heiress presumptive to the throne and titled Princess of Brazil, married her paternal uncle, the Infante Pedro, in 1760. They had 6 children, including 2 surviving sons. The elder of them was the Infante José, Prince of Beira. When he was 15, in 1777, he was married off to his 30-year-old youngest aunt, Maria Benedita. Three days later, King José died, Maria Francisca succeeded as Queen Maria I, and young José became heir to the throne as Prince of Brazil, thus making his wife/aunt Princess of Brazil.

Got that?

Unfortunately, there would never be any children. Maria Benedita miscarried twice, and then her much-younger husband died in 1791. The Queen, already mentally unstable, was completely undone by the death of her beloved eldest son. She was declared insane in 1792 and her younger son, the Infante João, became Prince Regent for the rest of her reign, which ended on her death in 1816.

Maria Benedita, now Dowager Princess of Brazil, was also much affected by her husband/nephew’s death. She lived quietly for the rest of her long life, devoting herself to good works. In 1808, when the court was evacuated to Rio de Janeiro in the midst of the Napoleonic wars, she went along and remained in Brazil until her brother, now King João VI, returned to Lisbon in 1821. In her final years, she founded a military hospital for veterans at Runa, which still exists and where there is a museum in her honour in her former rooms.

Maria Benedita died in Lisbon on 18 August, 1829.

Birth of the Artist and Architect Giuseppe Castiglione on 19 July, 1688

It was on this day 331 years ago that the Italian missionary, painter, composer, and architect Giuseppe Castiglione was born in Milan. He showed artistic promise in childhood and was given training in painting and music. Aged 19, he joined the Society of Jesus as a lay brother. Soon after, he set off to join the Jesuit missions in China, where artists had been requested.

Arriving in Beijing in 1715, Castiglione served the Kangxi (r. 1661-1722), Yongzheng (r. 1722-1735), and Qianlong (r. 1735-1796) emperors as a court artist for the rest of his life. He never saw his native Italy again.

Melding European painting techniques, such as perspective, with Chinese linear techniques, Castiglione pioneered a new, hybrid school of painting. In addition, he also designed a complex of Baroque-styled buildings and gardens for the Qianlong Emperor in one of the old Summer Palace gardens. He was assisted in this work by other Jesuits skilled in engineering and the arts. The Grand Trianon is said to have been one of the inspirations for the complex, which was named Xiyang Lou in Chinese. Sadly, little remains of the complex, which was burned by the invading Anglo-French forces in 1860 during the Second Opium War.

Castiglione, whose Chinese name was Láng Shìníng (郎世寧), died in Beijing in 1766. The Qianlong Emperor personally wrote his favourite artist’s obituary and commissioned his gravestone.

Much has been written about the vogue for Chinoiserie in the 18th century European courts, but the full story of the European vogue at the contemporary Chinese court remains to be told.

Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Castiglione_(Jesuit_painter)

Image: The Haiyantang pavilion designed by Castiglione for the Changchun Garden of the old Summer Palace in Beijing,1750s.

BIRTH OF MARIE LECZINSKA ON 23 JUNE, 1703

It was on this day 316 years ago that Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczynska, better known as Marie Leczinska, future consort of Louis XV, was born in Poland.

Her father, Stanislas Leszczynski, was a noble Polish landowner who was set up as King of Poland between 1704 and 1709 by the force of Charles XII of Sweden’s arms. When the latter was defeated by Peter the Great at Poltava, Stanislas and his family were forced to flee to Germany. They lived in Zweibrücken and later in Wissembourg, Alsace, where they were reduced to very unroyal circumstances.

By a stroke of unbelievable good fortune, Marie Leczinska was selected in 1725 as the bride of Europe’s richest and handsomest monarch, Louis XV. The youthful king’s chief minister, the Duc de Bourbon, influenced by his mistress Madame du Prie, reckoned that as an impoverished exile Marie Leczinska came with no political strings attached and was no threat to anyone at the French court, since she had no power base of her own. In other words, the duke and du Prie calculated that Marie would be beholden to them and under their control. She was indeed grateful to them, but Louis XV had no intention of allowing his wife any political influence and the plan backfired. Bourbon was soon dismissed from his post and exiled to his country estates, as was du Prie, who died soon after.

Marie Leczinska went on to be the longest-serving queen consort of France, giving her 7-years-younger husband 8 children and tolerating his numerous mistresses. Charitable, devout, and kind, she was popular and respected until her death in 1768.

The pictured portrait is an enlarged copy of the original one by Nattier, which he painted sometime in the 1750s. It can be seen at Versailles. I photographed this copy at the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris at Easter, 2018.

Marie-Antoinette Takes Possession of the Petit Trianon on 6 June, 1774

It was on this day 245 years ago that Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France for hardly a month, took possession of the Petit Trianon. It was a gift from her husband, the freshly proclaimed Louis XVI. She celebrated the event with a housewarming party, the guest list of which included the King, his brothers, the Counts of Provence and Artois, their wives, and his sister Madame Clothilde, soon to become Queen of Sardinia.

The acquisition of the Petit Trianon fulfilled the young queen’s wish to have a private country residence of her own. None of her predecessors had ever had such a thing except in widowhood. To mark the occasion, the King presented her with a symbolic key set with 531 diamonds. To complete her satisfaction, the king also gave her the authority to issue orders in her own name within the domain.

The little palace had been commissioned by Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour in 1763. The marquise didn’t live to see it finished, but Louis XV spent increasing amounts of time there in the final years of his reign, sometimes with Madame du Barry. In fact, it was while staying at the Petit Trianon in April of 1774 that he came down with the small pox that would kill him on 10 May.

Death of the Writer Vauvenargues on 28 May, 1747

It was on this day 272 years ago that the writer and soldier Louis de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues, died in Paris.

Born into a noble but poor Provençal family in 1715, he first sought to make his way in the army. Since his family could not afford to buy a commission for him, he had to start at the bottom as a cadet in one of the royal regiments. By the time France became involved in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), he had become a lieutenant. During the war, he was promoted to captain. During the Siege of Prague in the winter of 1742/43, Vauvenargues suffered severe frostbite and the death of his greatest emotional attachment, a much younger officer named Paul-Hippolyte Emmanuel de Seytres, to whom he would later dedicate two works. In the following year, he contracted smallpox. His health ruined, he retired from the army and moved to Paris.

In the final years of his life, Vauvenargues took up the pen and struck up a friendship with Voltaire. The great author encouraged the younger man to publish a volume of his philosophical writings. It appeared in 1746 under the title Introduction à la connaissance de l’esprit humain, with appendices entitled Réflexions and Maxims. It was the latter that would eventually make his name, albeit posthumously, becoming popular in the 19th century. A sample: “Clarity is the good faith of philosophers.”

Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_de_Clapiers,_marquis_de_Vauvenargues

Image: A posthumous engraved portrait of Vauvenargues. Credit — By Charles Amedée Colin (1808-1873) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LucdeClapiers-marquisdeVauvenarges.jpg. Upload: Mathsci, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11272592

It was on this day in the Versailles Century (1682-1789), 16 December 1740, that Frederick II of Prussia, not yet called ‘the Great,’ invaded the Austrian-held duchy of Silesia, thus launching the First Silesian War, which formed one theatre of the wider  War of the Austrian Succession.

Silesia, which bordered Prussia, Saxony, and Poland, had hitherto belonged to the crown of Bohemia, i.e. to the Habsburgs. On the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in late October without a male heir, Frederick — himself only King of Prussia for less than half a year — saw his chance. Without a declaration of war, the invasion was a complete surprise and a complete success, blindsiding both the Austrians and the Saxons, who also had their eyes on the duchy. Within weeks, Frederick established complete control over the largely Protestant territory. Though a freethinker himself, he was not above posing as the protector of his nominal co-religionists, who welcomed his rule.

Meanwhile, the Habsburg heiress, Maria Theresa, was outraged by the highjacking of her duchy. Unfortunately, she was facing opposition on all fronts and could not properly respond to Frederick’s aggression. Gritting her teeth, she signed the Treaty of Breslau in 1742, recognizing Frederick’s sovereignty over most of Silesia in exchange for his support of her husband’s candidacy to the imperial throne and some financial considerations.

Needless to say, the story does not end here. It took 2 further wars to settle the matter. Maria Theresa started the Second Silesian War (1745-1748) in attempt to win the duchy back after she had gotten her consort, Francis Stephen of Lorraine, elected Holy Roman Emperor as Francis I, and established control over Bohemia.  The Third Silesian War (1756-1763), which was the local name for the global Seven Years War,  finally forced her to renounce her claim to Silesia forever. It seems she never got over it.

It was on this day 300 years ago, on 30 November, 1718, that Charles XII of Sweden, one of the heroes of the Versailles Century (1682-1789), was killed in action. He was only 36.

Charles XII came to the throne early, succeeding his father, Charles XI, in 1697. He was only fifteen at the time. As a young man, we was nordically handsome, with a lush mane and piercing blue eyes. Charles initially reigned under a regency, but only 7 months after his accession he assumed full power.

Charles XII in his youth. Credit — by Michael Dahl — Nationalmuseum, Domaine public, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52121845

Charles XII was a dedicated soldier who soon led Sweden into the Great Northern War (1700-1721), a lengthy and ultimately ruinous conflict. In the early stages, it went well for Charles and Sweden. The young king won a number of brilliant victories and managed to impose the king of his choice on Poland — Louis XV’s future father-in-law Stanislas Lesczcynski — as well as strengthening his position in the Baltics. In 1709, however, he was decisively defeated by Peter the Great at Poltava, in what we now call Ukraine. This defeat was to mark a watershed in the history of eastern and northern Europe: the Swedish empire, which had dominated the lands around the Baltic Sea for 200 years, came to end, and the Russian empire took its place as the regional hegemon.

Wedding of the Future Charles X on 16 November, 1773

It was on this day 245 years ago that Charles-Philippe de France (b. 1757) married Marie-Thérèse de Savoie (b. 1756) in the royal chapel at Versailles.

The groom, styled Comte d’Artois, was the youngest grandson of Louis XV. The bride was a daughter of Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia and head of the house of Savoy. Two of the teenaged newlyweds’ elder siblings had already been joined in matrimony; Louis-Stanislas de France, Comte de Provence, the next elder brother of the Comte d’Artois, had married Marie-Thérèse’s elder sister, Marie-Joséphine, on 14 May, 1771. The eldest brother, the Dauphin Louis-Auguste, having married Marie-Antoinette d’Autriche-Lorraine in 1770, the set was now complete, so to speak.

Unlike her sisters-in-law, Marie-Thérèse started producing heirs very soon. The first 3 children of the Artois family appeared within 5 years: Louis-Antoine, Duc d’Angoulême, in 1775; a girl never baptized but referred to as Sophie, in 1776; and Charles-Ferdinand, Duc de Berri, in 1778. A fourth child, a baby girl who died in the cradle, was born in 1783. Since the Artois were said to have stopped living as man and wife after the birth of the Duc de Berri, it was rumoured that the last child’s father was one of the many guardsmen whose company Marie-Thérèse was reputed to enjoy. On hearing that Louis XVI had sent one particular guardsman off to service in a distant colony after the news of the Comtesse d’Artois’s final pregnancy broke, Madame Adélaïde, Louis XV’s favourite daughter, remarked, “Whole companies would have to be sent away.”

Marie-Thérèse survived the Revolution, escaping France with her husband in 1791. Their flight, however, marked the beginning of their true separation. Marie-Thérèse did not live to become queen, dying alone in Graz in 1805. The Comte d’Artois eventually succeeded as Charles X in 1824, but was driven off the throne in 1830.  The only grandson of Charles and Marie-Thérèse, who died in 1883 having never reigned, was the last Bourbon of the male line of Louis XV.