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Marie Anne Mancini, duchesse de Bouillon (1649 in Rome – June 20, 1714 in Clichy, Paris, France), was a niece of Cardinal Mazarin and the youngest of the five famous Mancini sisters.
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Family
The parents of Marie Anne Mancini were Michele Lorenzo Mancini, a Roman baron, necromancer and astrologer, and Geronima Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal Mazarin.
Her four famous sisters were:
- Laura (1636 - 1657), the eldest, who married Louis II de Bourbon-Vendôme, heir to Henri IV's legitimized natural son, and became the mother of the famous general Louis Joseph de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme,
- Olympia (1638 - 1708), who married Eugène-Maurice of Savoy-Carignano and became the mother of the famous general Prince Eugene of Savoy,
- Marie (1639 - 1715), the third sister, was considered the least beautiful of the sisters but she snagged the biggest prize of all: Louis XIV. He was so besotted with her that he wanted to marry her. In the end he was made to give her up and she married Prince Lorenzo Colonna who remarked that he was surprised to find her a virgin as one does not expect to find 'innocence among the loves of kings'. (from Antonia Fraser's book Love and Louis XIV)
- Hortense (1646 - 1699), the beauty of the family, escaped her abusive husband, Armand-Charles de la Porte, duc de La Meilleraye, and went to London, where she became the mistress of King Charles II.
The Mancinis were not the only female family members that Cardinal Mazarin brought to the French court. The others were Marie Anne's first cousins, daughters of Mazarin's eldest sister. The elder, Laura Martinozzi, married Alfonso IV d'Este, duke of Modena and was the mother of Mary of Modena, second wife of James II of England. The younger, Anne Marie Martinozzi, married Armand, Prince de Conti. Altogether, the seven girls were referred to as the Mazarinettes.
The Mancini also had three brothers: Paul, Philippe, and Alphonse.
Early life
Marie Anne reached Paris much later than her sisters, in 1655, when she was a mere child of six. The last Mazarinette became the "spoiled darling" of the French court and of her uncle, who was greatly amused by the literary six-year-old's verses and bon mots. She was considered a wit and a beauty, even more than her sister Hortense, Mazarin's favorite niece — Marie Anne is often referred to as "the wittiest and most vivacious of the sisters," and according to a contemporary, "is said to be quite divine, having infinite appeal." She excelled at courtly diversions, such as dancing and plays, and had great self-possession.
Her uncle died when she was thirteen. The evening but one before his death, Turenne (de la Marck) came to his bedside to ask the hand of Marie Anne for his nephew, the Duc de Bouillon. About a year later, on April 22, 1662, Marie Anne wed the duke at the Hotel de Soissons, in the presence of the king and the two queens. The duke was a good soldier, but a bad courtier, and still less of a literary man, so the duchess of fifteen years of age had to uphold alone her courtly and literary connexions, and to preside at the Hotel de Bouillon — her little academy.
Husband and children
In 1662 she married Godefroy Maurice de la Tour d'Auvergne, Duc de Bouillon, who was the nephew of the famous field marshal Turenne.
They had ten children, including:
- Louis-Charles de la Tour d'Auvergne (1665-1692), who married Anne Geneviève de Levis, daughter of Charlotte de La Mothe-Houdancourt
- Emmanuel-Théodose de la Tour d'Auvergne (1668-1730), Duc de Bouillon
- Frédéric-Jules (1672-1733), Chevalier de Bouillon, then Prince d'Auvergne
- Louis Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne (1679-1753), Comte d'Évreux, Lieutenant-General of the King's Armies
- Louis-Julie de la Tour d'Auvergne (1679-1750), wife of François-Armand de Rohan, Duc de Montbazon
- Mme Bouillon
She also raised the three sons of her older sister Laura, who died in childbirth at the age of 21. The third child, Jules César, died three years later. Marie Anne was only a few years older than her nephews, the surviving sons being Louis Joseph, who became a famous general, and Philippe, the "Grand Prior."
Later life
Marie Anne is remembered for her literary pursuits and for her patronage of the young La Fontaine.
Compromised in the notorious Affaire des Poisons, allegedly for planning to poison her husband in order to marry her nephew the duc de Vendôme, she was rehabilitated, unlike her older sister, Olympe, Comtesse de Soissons, who was forced to flee to Spain and never returned to France.
References
- Pierre Combescot, Les Petites Mazarines, 1999, Grasset/Livre de Poche. ISBN 2-253-14982-9
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