Thérèse of France
Thérèse de France[1] (Marie Thérèse Félicité; 16 May 1736 – 28 September 1744) was a French princess, a fille de France, as the daughter of King Louis XV of France and Marie Leszczyńska.
| Thérése of France | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princess of France | |||||
 Posthumous portrait by Jean-Marc Nattier. The dark sky and black veil on her hair may symbolize death. | |||||
| Born | 16 May 1736 Palace of Versailles, Versailles, Kingdom of France | ||||
| Died | 28 September 1744 (aged 8) Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, Kingdom of France | ||||
| Burial | Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, Kingdom of France | ||||
| |||||
| House | Bourbon | ||||
| Father | Louis XV | ||||
| Mother | Marie Leszczyńska | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
Biography
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Princess Marie Thérèse Félicité of France was born at the Palace of Versailles in France. She was the seventh daughter and ninth child of King Louis XV of France and his Polish-born consort Marie Leszczyńska. Known as Madame Sixième from her birth, she was later baptised Marie-Thérèse-Félicité and was known as Madame Thérèse.
As the daughter of a king of France, she was a fille de France (daughter of France). This rank allowed her the style of Royal Highness, and she was the most important lady at court after her mother and her elder sisters. However, daughters of the king were usually known as Madame followed by their baptismal name. In the case of Louis XV's daughters, when they were young, their baptismal name was replaced by an ordinal number as per their "arrival"; accordingly, Madame Thérèse was Madame Sixième, as the sixth daughter.
When she was barely two years old, Thérése was taken to the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud in the Anjou province of France. This was done because Cardinal Fleury, the king’s chief minister, thought that the cost of raising them in Versailles would be too expensive with all the luxuries they were entitled to.[2] She left with her sisters Princess Victoire of France (1733–1799), Princess Sophie of France (1734–1782) and Princess Louise of France (1737–1787). The princesses left Versailles on 6 June 1738, accompanied by a furniture and military escort.
During her childhood, Thérése was often ill, and her governess noted that it was probably due to the warm climate of the region. In mid-September 1744, Thérése fell ill with smallpox. On 27 September, she was baptised. Her nurse and valet stood in as godparents. She died the following day. She was eight years old and had never seen her parents since her arrival at Fontevraud.
Madame Thérèse was buried at the Abbey of Fontevraud, which, in earlier times, had been the traditional burial place of members of the House of Plantagenet.
Ancestry
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References
- For "baptismal name" followed by "de France" see Nicolas Louis Achaintre's Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon, Vol. 2, pp. 153, 154, 155.
- Latour, Louis Therese (1927). Princesses Ladies and Salonnières of the Reign of Louis XV. Translated by Clegg, Ivy E. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. pp. n37.
- Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 12.
- Żychliński, Teodor (1882). Złota księga szlachty polskiéj: Rocznik IVty (in Polish). Jarosław Leitgeber. p. 1. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
Further reading
- Zieliński, Ryszard (1978). Polka na francuskim tronie. Czytelnik.