Clotilde de France

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotilde_de_France Clotilde de France From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Clotilde de France Queen consort of Sardinia Tenure 1796-1802 Spouse Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia Full name Marie Adélaïde Clotilde Xavière de France House House of Savoy House of Bourbon Father Louis, Dauphin of France Mother Maria Josepha of Saxony Born 23 September 1759(1759-09-23) Died 7 March 1802 (aged 42) Burial Church of Santa Caterina a Chiaia

Marie Adélaïde Clotilde Xavière de France [1] (23 September 1759 – 7 March 1802) was a French princess who became Queen consort of Sardinia in 1796. She was the younger sister of Louis XVI of France. Contents [show]

   * 1 Biography

   * 2 References

   * 3 Ancestry

   * 4 Titles, styles, honours and arms

         o 4.1 Titles and styles

   * 5 See also

[edit] Biography

Born in Versailles, Clotilde was the elder daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France, the only son of King Louis XV, and of the Dauphin's wife, Princess Marie-Josèphe of Saxony. As the granddaughter of the king, she was a Petite-Fille de France. Upon the death of their grandfather in May 1774, Clotilde's oldest brother, Louis Auguste, became king Louis XVI of France.

Because she was overweight, Clotilde was nicknamed Gros Madame in her youth. She and her younger sister, Élisabeth were raised by Madame de Marsan after the death of their father in 1765 and their mother in 1767.

Since she married and left France soon after Louis XVI acceded to the throne, Clotilde did not have enough time to form a close relationship with her sister-in-law, Queen Marie Antoinette.

On 27 August 1775, Louis XVI married his sister Clotilde in Versailles by procuration to Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia, the eldest son of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and of his wife Maria Antonietta of Spain. Then Clotilde traveled to Turin, met her husband on the way at Pont-de-Beauvoisin and finally her father-in-law and the rest of the Sardinian court at Chambéry, where the real wedding ceremony took place.

Charles Emmanuel's younger sister, Marie Josèphe, had married Clotilde's older brother, the comte de Provence in 1771. In 1773, another of Charles Emmanuel's sisters, Marie Thérèse, had married Clotilde's youngest brother, the comte d'Artois. Clotilde as the Princess of Piedmont. C.1780.

Although the union was arranged for political reasons, Clotilde and Charles Emmanuel became devoted to each other, united in their piety and a strong belief in the Roman Catholic faith. The marriage, however, was to stay without children.

She was close to her sisters-in-law, the Duchess of Aosta and the Duchess of Chablais.

After her marriage, Clotilde, never returned to France. The French Revolution proved to be a disaster for her family. Her oldest brother, King Louis XVI, his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, and her younger sister, Madame Élisabeth were all guillotined. Her youngest brother, the comte d'Artois, escaped from France in 1789 and fled to Turin to stay under the protection of her father-in-law, the king of Sardinia.

Clotilde also harboured her aunts, Madame Adélaïde and Madame Victoire, after they too managed to escape.

In 1796, upon the accession of her husband to the throne, Clotilde became the Queen of Sardinia. On 6 December 1798, the French First Republic declared war on Sardinia. Charles Emmanuel was forced to abdicate all his territories on the Italian mainland and to withdraw to the island of Sardinia. As Charles Emmanuel took little interest in the rule of what was left of his kingdom, he and Clotilde lived in Rome and then in Naples as guests of the wealthy Colonna family.

On 7 March 1802, Clotilde died from disease. Charles Emmanuel was so moved by her death that he abdicated on 4 June 1802 in favour of his younger brother, Victor Emmanuel.

Clotilde de France was buried in the Church of Santa Caterina a Chiaia in Naples.

Pope Pius VII, who had personally known Clotilde, declared her venerable on 10 April 1808, the first step to her beatification.

When the House of Bourbon, was restored after the fall of Napoleon in 1814, her two surviving brothers acceded to the throne of France: the comte de Provence as King Louis XVIII from 1814 to 1824, and the comte d'Artois as King Charles X from 1824 to 1830. [edit] References

  1. ^ Achaintre, Nicolas Louis, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon, Vol. 2, (Publisher Mansut Fils, 4 Rue de l'École de Médecine, Paris, 1825), 168.

Titles and styles

   * 23 September 1759 - 27 August 1775 Her Royal Highness Princess Clotilde of France, Petite-fille de France

   * 27 August 1775 - 16 October 1796 Her Royal Highness the Princess of Piedmont

   * 16 October 1796 - 7 March 1802 Her Majesty The Queen of Sardinia

This page was last modified on 21 July 2010 at 12:56.