Landgravine Caroline Of Hesse-Rotenburg
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Princess Caroline of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg (18 August 1714 – 14 June 1741) was Princess of Condé by marriage to Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon.


Early life

Born at
Rotenburg an der Fulda Rotenburg an der Fulda (, ; officially ''Rotenburg a.d. Fulda'') is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, in central Germany, situated, as the name says, on the river Fulda (river), Fulda. Geography Location The town ...
in Hesse, Germany, she was the daughter of Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg, head of the Roman Catholic branch of the
House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Reginar, House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918.Burke's Peerage, Bur ...
, by his wife, Countess Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort. She was one of ten children.


Marriage

On 23 July 1728, she married Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, at Sarry in France. Louis Henri was a French '' prince of the Blood Royal'' and head of the
House of Condé A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
, a branch of the
House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...
. Maternally, he was a grandson of
Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
through his mother, one of the king's legitimated daughters. By the time of his second marriage to Caroline, Louis Henri had lost the sight of one eye and the attractive slenderness his height bestowed upon him in youth.Meyrac's footnote in d'Angerville, p. 33. After marriage she was known at the French court as '' Madame la Duchesse''. The previous Princess of Condé had been Marie Anne de Bourbon, who had died eight years before the marriage between Caroline and Louis Henri. Caroline was alleged to have been pretty and to have been included on a list of possible wives for
Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
, but had been removed on account of her bad temper. When her husband was banished to his estates in 1725, ''Madame la Duchesse'' was obliged to withdraw with him to the ''
Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château, built around 1560 for Anne de Montmore ...
'' until ''Monsieur le Duc'' was pardoned and the couple were allowed to resume attendance at the
royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...
again in 1730, where they lived quietly at the '' Hôtel de Condé''. The couple had one child eight years into their marriage: Louis Joseph de Bourbon. Her husband died at the Château de Chantilly on 27 January 1740, in the same year the future
Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( ; ; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy and pornography ...
was born at the Hôtel de Condé; his mother was Caroline's lady in waiting. Caroline died in Paris one year later, in June 1741, and was buried at the Carmel du faubourg Saint-Jacques in Paris.


Legacy

In 1745, her niece Princess Viktoria of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, would marry
Charles, Prince of Soubise Charles de Rohan, 4th Prince of Soubise (16 July 17151 July 1787), Duke of Rohan-Rohan was a French aristocrat, soldier, and minister to kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was the last male of his branch of the House of Rohan, and was great-grand ...
, head of the junior branch of the
House of Rohan The House of Rohan () is a Bretons, Breton family of viscounts, later dukes and princes in the French nobility, coming from the locality of Rohan, Morbihan, Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët and is said to tr ...
and father of Charlotte de Rohan, who would also marry a
Prince of Condé A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The f ...
. In 1767, one of her nieces, Princess Maria Luisa of Savoy, would come to France to marry the young Louis Alexandre de Bourbon. She would become the great friend of
Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
as the ''princesse de Lamballe'' and be murdered by a revolutionary mob in Paris during the
September Massacres The September Massacres were a series of killings and summary executions of prisoners in Paris that occurred in 1792 from 2 September to 6 September during the French Revolution. Between 1,176 and 1,614 people were killed by ''sans-culottes'' ...
of 1792.


Issue

* Louis Joseph de Bourbon (9 August 1736 – 13 May 1818); next Prince of Condé.


Ancestry


Notes


References

* * Mouffle d'Angerville, ''The Private Life of Louis XV''. "Annotated and amplified by quotations from original and unpublished documents by Albert Mirac." Translated from the French by H.S. Mingard. 1924, New York; Boni and Liveright.  D'Angerville's original title: ''Vie privée de Louis XV, ou principaux évènements, particularités et anecdotes de son règne''. 4 vols. crown 8vo., published in London in 1781. Meyrac says he "extracted these piquant pages" from the original. {{DEFAULTSORT:Caroline Of Hesse-Rheinfels 1714 births 1741 deaths People from Rotenburg an der Fulda House of Hesse-Kassel House of Bourbon-Condé Princesses of Condé Duchesses of Bourbon Burials at the Carmel du faubourg Saint-Jacques Landgravines of Hesse-Rotenburg 17th-century German people 18th-century German people Daughters of monarchs