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Princesse Marie-Jeanne de Savoie-Soissons
(1665–1705)

Other names: Marie-Jeanne-Baptiste, Mademoiselle de Soissons

Biographical

Marie-Jeanne led a life considered scandalous, and was forbidden by Louis XIV to be present at his court. When she did travel to Paris in 1696, she was snubbed by her cousin, Adelaide of Savoy, wife of the dauphin. Her sister, Louise, lived a similar life and was also shunned. In 1697 Jeanne expressed her desire to become abbess of Ruelle, near Brussels, but her wish was denied. She was arrested in 1698 and incarcerated at the in the convent of Figlie di Santa Maria delle Visitazioni, but was later freed and allowed to live with her mother at Brussels. Later she then allegedly had an affair with a Swiss colonel, Johann Ludwing von Fleckenstein, and then, it was said, she eloped with the libertine and adventurer, Antoine de Guiscard, abbot of La Bourlie, and they went to Lausanne. Marie-Jeanne died from tuberculosis in the following year.

Place of birth: Morges
Place of death: Morges
Place of burial: Thonon

Daughter of Eugène-Maurice de Savoie-Carignano and Olimpia Mancini.

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