Marguerite of Lorraine

Marguerite de Vaudémont (1615 † 1672), girl of François, count de Vaudémont, was called Marguerite of Lorraine when her father became duke of Lorraine in 1625, at once followed by the older brother of Marguerite who became the duke Charles IV. Benjamine of the children of the Duke François II, it lost his mother, Christine de Salm in 1627, and was high at his/her aunt, Catherine of Lorraine, abbess of Remiremont, of which it was soon elected coadjutrice.

In July 1629, it made the meeting with Nancy of Gaston de France, duke of Orleans and heir apparent to his brother, the king of France Louis XIII which, of health precarious and living separated from his wife seemed to have to die without descent. Widower since two years of Marie de Montpensier, of which it had had celebrates it " Large Miss " , the son of Henri IV was dazzled by the princess of Lorraine and did not call any more it from now on but " the ange" or " small the angélique". Politically, the prince had carried out a " sortie" kingdom to prevent his/her brother from taking share with the war of Italy, which succeeds perfectly. He spent six months to Lorraine and returned to France only on January 30th, 1630, having gained substantial advantages.

Constrained with the exile after the Day of Dupes, he again sought asylum near the Duke of Lorraine and to be made accept by this one, asked, as a heir to the throne of France, the hand of the Marguerite princess, sister of the sovereign.

Louis XIII invades Lorraine then but with the agreement of his/her mother, Marie de Médicis, in exile in Brussels, Gaston married Marguerite secretly, in the night from January 2nd to 3rd 1632. As of the following day, the Duke of Lorraine sent his new brother-in-law to put himself in safety in Brussels, then possession of the Habsbourg.

The Parliament of Paris, under pretext of fight against the clandestine marriages, refused to record the marriage and condemned to death in absentia if not the princess at least her brother, Charles IV, as vassal of the king (for part of sound Duché of Bar). Disguised as a soldier, the Marguerite princess flees towards Thionville in Luxembourg, also possession of Habsbourg. Reconciled seemingly with his brother, the duke of Orleans could again return to France in 1634 but without Marguerite. The king thought of breaking the marriage by obtaining from his brother an action for annulment. On his side, Gaston hoped to make recognize his marriage by his brother. The birth of the future Louis XIV in 1638 and the death of the cardinal of Richelieu in 1642 untied the situation: also near to the tomb, " travaillé" by his brother and his wife, Louis XIII agrees, on May 6th, 1643 to receive his sister-in-law. He dies shortly after. After 11 years of marriage and as much of fight, Marguerite can finally appear at the court as a princess of France.

Marguerite according to the use was called Madam . From this love match will be born 5 children, of which only one son, died in low age (see the genealogy of the Bourbons: descendants of Henri IV):

Marguerite-Louise (1645+1721), which not having been able to marry Louis XIV, was married with the Large Duke of Tuscany, Cosme III of Médicis,
Elisabeth (1646+1696), counterfeited (?), of Remiremont then created duchess of Alençon was an Abbesse time, was married with the duke Louis Joseph de Guise, chief of the French branch of the house of Lorraine.
Francoise-Madeleine (1648+1664) which was married with the Duke of Savoy, Charles-Emmanuel II.
Jean-Gaston, duke of Valois (1650+1652)
Marie-Anne (1652+1656)

At the court of France, Marguerite of Lorraine had to undergo the acrimony of her daughter-in-law, Miss de Montpensier, and was protective of the young person the Fountain, whose mother had already been one of her ladies of atours. She supported her husband during the Fronde without forgetting Lorraine occcupée by the French troops.

Widow in 1660, it survived twelve years the duke of Orleans and lived with the Palais of Luxembourg. She left two surviving girls: the Large-Duchess of Tuscany and the duchess of Own way. His/her tumultuous daughter-in-law also survived to him.

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