:''Note that this name is very often misspelled in various ways.''
'Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska' (
June 23,
1703 –
June 24,
1768) was a
queen consort of
France and a
Polish princess. She was a daughter of King
Stanisław Leszczyński of Poland (later
Duke of Lorraine) and Katarzyna Opalińska. She married King
Louis XV of France and was a grandmother of
Louis XVI,
Louis XVIII, and
Charles X.
Early life and royal marriage
According to
Polski Słownik Biograficzny her name was Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska h. Wieniawa, which agrees with the entry for Louis XV in Burke's Royal Families of the World, where she appears as Marie-Caroline-Sophie-Félicité.
Marie's early life was troubled by her father's political misfortune. Ironically, King Stanisław's hopeless political career was eventually the reason that his daughter Marie became queen of France.
Cardinal Fleury,
Louis XV's Prime Minister, wanted to find his king a royal bride who would not drag France into any complicated political alliances. Since Stanisław's royal power no longer existed, Marie was chosen to marry the young French king.
Their marriage was initially happy and they had many children, most of whom were incredibly loyal to their mother. Louis XV was a notorious womanizer, and several of his mistresses—particularly the glamorous
Madame de Pompadour—eventually eclipsed Queen Marie's social status at
Versailles. Most of his affairs were with her knowledge, and she either simply accepted them, or was powerless to stop them.
Marie was a devout
Roman Catholic. Her major contribution to life at Versailles was the weekly event of Polish Choral Concerts. She also met the young
Mozart, whom she found very charming.
Her son Louis was married to
Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, the daughter of her father Stanislaws' rival -
August III of Poland, which caused initial friction, but was soon overcome, reportedly because the young princess was an admirer of the romantically unlucky former king of Poland. Marie's several grandsons received the name Stanislas among their christened names.
Marie died in 1768, six years before her husband. His new mistress was a former prostitute,
Madame du Barry. Marie's children and grandchildren sincerely grieved at Marie's death. Two years later, her grandson Louis-Auguste (Louis XVI) was married to a young
Austrian archduchess,
Marie Antoinette, who was destined to become the last legitimate queen of France.
Two of Marie's grandchildren met their deaths on the
guillotine during the
French Revolution:
Princess Élisabeth and
Louis XVI (as well as the latter's wife Marie Antoinette). Another two grandchildren, Louis XVIII and Charles X, became kings of France (after the restoration of the monarchy in
1814).
Marie is a major character in the
novel ''The Royal Merry-Go-Round'', the story of Louis XV's adventurous love life. In the anime
Le Chevalier D'Eon she is one of the characters manipulating many of the events in the story.
Though presumed to be not too clever, Maria Leszczyńska was an author of at least a few quips. It is said that following the death of the Protestant marshall
Maurice de Saxe she remarked: "How sad, that we cannot sing "
De Profundis", for a man thanks to whom we sung so often "
Te Deum""
Marriage and children
★ On
September 4,
1725 she married
Louis XV of France. They had ten children:
★
★
Louise-Elisabeth (
August 14,
1727 -
December 6,
1759), Duchess of Parma
★
★
Henriette-Anne (August 14, 1727 -
February 10,
1752)
★
★ Marie-Louise (
July 28,
1728 -
February 19,
1733)
★
★
Louis, Dauphin of France (
September 4,
1729 -
December 20,
1765)
★
★ Philippe (
August 30,
1730 -
April 17,
1733)
★
★
Adélaïde (
March 23,
1732 -
February 27,
1800)
★
★
Victoire-Louise (
May 11,
1733 -
June 7,
1799)
★
★
Sophie-Philippine (
July 17,
1734 -
March 3,
1782)
★
★
stillborn child (
March 28,
1735)
★
★ Thérèse-Félicité (
May 16,
1736 -
September 28,
1744)
★
★
Louise-Marie (
July 5,
1737 -
December 23,
1787)
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