(254)

Principessa Maria Adelaide di Savoia
(1685–1712)

Biographical

Maria Adelaide's union with Louis, Duke of Burgundy, was considered after her birth, and was made possible through an article of the Franco-Savoy peace treaty of June 1696. When she left for France in October that year, her father had wanted her to be accompanied by ladies of his choosing to watch over her, and a doctor, but Louis XIV refused, mindful of the intrigues brought to Versailles by members of the entourage of foreign princesses and queens. Her wedding ceremony was celebrated at Versailles in December 1697, although the actual marriage was delayed for two years due to the age of Maria Adelaide and Louis (she was twelve, and he was fifteen). Marie Adelaide was kept under the protection and guidance of Madame de Maintenon, and she quickly earned the affection of the royal family, and almost the entire court. In 1711, her father-in-law, le Grand Dauphin, died from smallpox and she and her husband suddenly found themselves heirs to the throne of France, but in 1712, Maria Adelaide was struck with measles and died. Her husband contracted the disease after assisting his wife during her illness, and he followed her to the grave six days later. There were rumours of poisoning, but with no basis.

Place of birth: Turin
Place of marriage: Versailles
Place of death: Versailles
Place of burial: Saint-Denis, Paris (her heart was placed in the chapel of Sainte-Anne at the abbey of Val-de-Grace)

Daughter of King Vittorio Amedeo II of Sardinia and Princesse Anne Marie d'Orléans. She married Prince Louis, Duke of Burgundy (Bourbon) in 1697 and had issue.

© 2024 The Universal Compendium