Duchess Maria Anna of Bavaria
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| Duchess Maria Anna of Bavaria | |
|---|---|
| Dauphine of Viennois | |
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| Spouse | Louis, Dauphin of France |
| Issue | |
| Louis of France, Duke of Burgundy Philip V of Spain Charles, Duke of Berry |
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| Full name | |
| Maria Anna Christine Victoria | |
| House | House of Bourbon House of Wittelsbach |
| Father | Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria |
| Mother | Henriette Adelaide of Savoy |
| Born | November 28, 1660 Munich, Bavaria |
| Died | April 20, 1690 (aged 29) Versailles, France |
Duchess Maria Anna Christina Victoria of Bavaria (28 November 1660 – 20 April 1690) was Dauphine of France as spouse of Louis, le Grand Dauphin, son and heir of Louis XIV of France, and thereafter was known as Dauphine Victoire.
She was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and his wife Adelaide Henriette of Savoy. Her maternal grandparents were Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy and Christine Marie of France. Christine Marie was the second daughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
She married Louis, Monseigneur, son and heir of Louis XIV of France, on 7 March 1680 in Chalons-sur-Marne. Her husband predeceased his father.
She became the mother of the Dauphin Louis, Philip V of Spain and Charles de Bourbon, Duc de Berry. The dauphin, her first son, was father to Louis XV of France.
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[edit] Biography
She was betrothed to the Dauphin in 1668, at the age of eight, and carefully educated; she could speak several languages. She was said to look forward to the fate of becoming Dauphine of France.
When she arrived in France, she made a good impression with her good French. At her arrival in Strasbourg, she was addressed in German, but interrupted the greeting by saying: "Gentlemen, I speak French!" The impression of her appearance, however, was not as good, and she was called "Terribly ugly". Others said, that although she may not have been beautiful, she did have personal charm.
After the death of the Queen (1683), the King expected her to perform the functions of the first lady at court. Her ill health made her unsuitable for such duties, and she lost the favour of the King, who thought that she failed to do her duty. Her husband took mistresses, and she lived an isolated life in her apartments where she spoke with her friends in German, a language her husband could not understand. She was said to suffer that she was not beautiful in a court where beauty was important, which made her depressed. She died in 1690.
Issue
- Louis, duc de Bourgogne, (later Dauphin of France), father of Louis XV of France;
- Philippe, duc d'Anjou, (later King of Spain); and
- Charles, duc de Berry, d'Alençon et d'Angoulême, comte de Ponthieu.
[edit] Ancestors
[edit] References
- Simone Bertière, Les Femmes du Roi-Soleil, Éditions de Fallois, 1998, ISBN 2-253-14712-5
[edit] Succession
| French royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mary I of Scotland |
Dauphine of France 7 March 1680–20 April 1690 |
Succeeded by Princess Maria Adelaide of Savoy |
