Elizabeth-Angelica de Montmorency-Butville

The youngest daughter of the famous Breter Francois de Montmorency-Butville , executed by Cardinal Richelieu , and Elizabeth-Angelique de Vienne, sister of the Marshal of Luxembourg .

Bussy-Rabuten , who in his book brought this lady under the name of Angeli, describes her as follows:

Angeli (...) was the owner of lively black eyes, a low forehead, a regular nose and a small mouth with full bright red lips. The complexion of the beauty of the woman changed at her discretion, but usually it was a combination of pale with pink. Adorable laughter aroused tenderness in the depths of hearts. The beauty was distinguished by blue-black hair, high growth, good-natured appearance, long, dry and dark hands; equally swarthy and angular hands made unflattering assumptions about what remained hidden to the eye. Angeli’s disposition was soft, affable and insinuatingly affectionate. Treacherous by nature, she vomited profit in everything and did not know friendly feelings. But no matter how well anyone was aware of her evil qualities, the only time she wanted to like it was not impossible to fall in love with her. Her circumvention fascinated. However, some of her habits caused general contempt: for money and honors, she was ready to sacrifice her honor, sacrifice her father, mother, and lover.

- Bussy-Rabuten R. de, Love story of the Gauls, p. 48

Madame de Mottville gives a similar image:

This lady was beautiful, gallant, ambitious and bold, capable of any enterprise to satisfy her passions (...) she knew how to decorate the name of Montmorency with such grace and pleasantness in communication that this would make her worthy of all respect, if in all her words, feelings and deeds did not show pretense and hypocrisy, which people who value sincerity never like.

- Motteville F. de, Mémoires sur Anne d'Autriche et sa cour. T. II, p. 330

Coligny and Conde

In 1645 she became the wife of Gaspard IV de Coligny , the Marquis d'Andelot, who received the title of Duke de Chatillon in 1646.

The provisions of the Paris Parliament put obstacles to marriage. The groom's father, Marshal Chatillon, and the mother of the bride, Mrs. de Butville, turned to Queen Anne of Austria for help, but she refused to intervene in this matter. The Marquis d'Andelo overcame difficulties, in 1644, abducting the bride with her consent, which was a common way to solve intricate marriage problems, but due to various formalities, the wedding took place only on February 26, 1645 ^[1] .

At the same time, Elizabeth-Angelica was carried away by Prince Conde , however, the question of the degree of their closeness by historians is not completely clarified. Bussy-Rabutin writes that Mademoiselle Butville was driven by greed, and the prince of vanity, Madame de Mottville claims that Conde only pretended to be in love with Elizabeth-Angelique in order to hide from the light his true passion for Martha du Vizhan ^[2] .

According to the Duke de Saint-Simon , the prince managed to secure the location of Mademoiselle de Boutville, from which her brother, who was a loyal supporter of Conde and his protege, "being just as legible in means as his sister, brought considerable benefits for both of them" ^{[ 3]} .

Saint-Simon also believes that it was Conde who arranged the marriage of Butville with Coligny, since he was betrayed to him, “he was a kind and complaisant husband,” which made it possible to keep the illegal love affair a secret ^[4] .

Duke of Nemours. Fronta

In September 1648, as Mademoiselle de Montpensier reports, the Duke of Nemours began to look after Elizabeth Angelique, who had a genuine passion for her, and since Coligny was carried away by the court lady of Anna of Austria, Mademoiselle de Gershey, the Duchess de Chatillon did not find too much so unpleasant ^[5] .

After leaving Paris, the courtyard moved to Saint-Germain-en-Le , and there the young king Louis XIV first drew attention to the Duchess de Chatillon.

“Among the other people with whom he loved to play, the Duchess de Chatillon took one of the first places, which is why Benserad composed a song verse as if on behalf of her husband”: ^{[6] [7]}

The Duke of Chatillon died February 9, 1649 from a mortal wound received the day before at the Battle of Charenton , where the royal troops defeated the forces of Parliament.

In Saint Germain everybody was happy on the occasion of the victory; only Madame de Chatillon was suppressed. Her grief was somewhat drowned out by the friendly feelings that her husband had for Mademoiselle de Gershey: even in the battle, her garter was on his arm . ”

- Mémoires de Mlle de Montpensier, petite-fille de Henri IV. T. I, p. 203

According to Bussy-Rabutin, Madame de Chatillon “tore her hair and depicted the greatest despair in the world” ^[8] , completely feigned, and Saint-Simon adds that “the lovers ^{[K 1]} did not grieve too much about this loss” ^{[4 ]} .

The only child from this marriage, Henri-Gaspard de Coligny, was born after the death of his father, July 11, 1649, and died October 25, 1657.

According to Bussy-Rabuten, after the death of her husband, Elizabeth-Angelique lost to the harassment of the Duke of Nemours ^[9] . Having become pregnant from the duke, she could hardly etch the fetus ^[10] .

On May 18, 1650, Madame de Chatillon left Paris with the Dowager Princess de Condé , whom she had brought to her castle, Chatillon-sur-Luan . On October 31, 1650, the princess wrote a will to the will, according to which Elizabeth-Angelica, caring for the patient, received the right to use the seigneur Marla, located near Chantilly , and she also inherited a pearl and diamond necklace ^[11] .

Madame de Chatillon was in political rivalry with the Duchess de Longville , complicated by the fact that Longville sought the favor of the Duke of Nemours. For his sake, she abandoned her former lover - Duke Francois VI de Larochefoucault , and he, in order to take revenge, was blocked against her with Elizabeth-Angelica. With the help of Larochefoucault, Chatillon received from Conde Marlu in full ownership, and managed to secure the removal of the Duchess de Longville from negotiations with the government ^{[12] [13] [14]} .

Laroshfuko in his memoirs boasts that he

... persuaded Ms. de Châtillon to live in harmony with both the Prince and Mr. de Nemours, so as to keep both of them with him, and he persuaded Mr. de Nemours to approve of this relationship of theirs, which did not should inspire him with suspicion, since Ms. de Chatillon is ready to give him the full report and use it only to provide him with decisive participation in the management of affairs.

- Laroshfuko . Memoirs, p. 134

Madame de Chatillon arrived from the Conde party in negotiations with Mazarin, “with such wide powers that they considered it rather the fruit of his desire to please her and the desire to amuse her vanity than evidence of a genuine intention to come to an agreement” ^[15] .

The cardinal also only wanted to gain time, while the loyal troops of Tyurenn and Okenkur conquered the territories captured by the rebels, and therefore negotiations did not lead to anything ^[15] .

The Duke of Nemours was for some time connected with the Duchess de Longville, but only for political reasons (according to Bussy-Rabutin, this lady “was not very neat, and exuded not the best smell in the world” ^[13] ), and threw as soon as possible her, after which Laroshfuko could consider himself avenged.

Suffering from jealousy, Nemur, according to Bussy-Rabutin, “was about twenty times ready to cross swords with the prince” ^[16] , and only the famous duel on swords and pistols ^{[K 2]} with the brother-in-law, Duke de Beaufort , prevented from fulfilling this intention. July 30, 1652 due to rivalry for leading positions in the party and the love of Madame de Chatillon. The Duke de Beaufort killed his son-in-law. Upon learning of the death of her lover, Elizabeth-Angelique "came into genuine despair" ^[16] , in which, according to Mademoiselle de Montpensier, there was a considerable share of comedy ^[17] .

After the death of the Duke, Conde cooled to Madame de Chatillon, because she “began to appear to him not so attractive, only the need to fight for her with a worthy rival” ^[18] disappeared.

Exile Conde. King English

On October 13, Conde, having lost in the fight against Mazarin, left Paris, and on the 21st the king returned to the capital. The most ardent supporters of the Fronde, nicknamed the "Amazons," including Madame de Chatillon, were expelled from the capital on October 26 ^[19] .

According to Bussy-Rabutin, Charles II of England , who was in exile in France, was visiting one of his friends on the estate adjacent to Maroux and was so carried away by the duchess that he was ready to marry her, but well-wishers prevented him from explaining to the monarch that this the lady is.

When love is still at the very beginning, not a single person who at least treasures his good fame is not without reason enough to marry a woman who has lost her honor. As soon as the king of England learned this news, he left Marlou's environs, not wanting to risk it: after all, it is not known how the battle between his feelings and mind would end at the sight of Angela.

- Bussy-Rabuten R. de, Love story of the Gauls, p. 67

According to Mademoiselle de Montpensier, gossip about the intentions of the English king did not correspond to reality, and Madame de Chatillon herself dissolved them ^[20] .

Abbot Fouquet. Marshal Okencourt. Arrest and Release

Elizabeth-Angelica, who received a pension from Spain, where Conde took refuge, continued to weave intrigues against the cardinal. The man of Prince Jean de Riquet, wheeled on October 11, 1653, during interrogation under torture, showed that Madame de Chatillon, after exile from Paris, offered him 10 thousand ecu ^{[K 3]} for the murder of Mazarin ^[21] . According to Mademoiselle de Montpensier, the duchess, put on the wanted list by the cardinal, fled to Marloux, hid in various places, then found refuge in Mobyuisson Abbey ^[22] .

December 5, 1654 she again appeared at court. Marshal Okencourt, who commanded troops on the Spanish border and was of interest to the Conde party, made contact with Elizabeth-Angelica, who was trying to use him in political intrigues.

Reconciliation with the authorities was short-lived, and on November 8, 1655, Madame de Chatillon was arrested by order of Mazarin. The cardinal intended to put her in the Bastille , but the head of his secret police, Abbot Bazil Fouquet (his brother Nicola Fouquet ), who was in love with Elizabeth-Angelica, confined himself to house arrest and spent most of the time with the detainee, which caused various rumors ^[23] .

Marshal Okencourt obtained from the cardinal the liberation of Elizabeth-Angelica, who was exiled to Marla, where abbot Fouquet continued to visit her.

Anticipating the return of Conde after the conclusion of the Iberian Peace , Madame de Chatillon decided to break up with Fouquet, and, in order to avoid persecution on his part, penetrated his house during the absence of the owner, and stole letters that could compromise her.

Returning to his home and finding what was happening there, Fukville rushed to Angela and immediately threatened to cut off her nose, then broke a crystal candlestick and a large mirror, his present, and, showering her with abuse, left.

- Bussy-Rabuten R. de, Love story of the Gauls, p. 73

This anecdotal incident made a lot of noise in the world, but after a while the lovers reconciled (for about six months) with the mediation of the queen ^[24] .

The return of Conde. Duke of Mecklenburg

The return of Conde made Madame de Chatillon finally break off relations with Fouquet, and returned her influence at court ^[4] . Having achieved together with Prince Conde, using the dubious fraud, granting her brother the title of Duke Peer of Pine-Luxembourg ( Emil Man calls their plan “diabolical” ^[25] , she herself married on November 2, 1663 for Duke Christian Ludwig I of Mecklenburg-Schwerinsky , Prince vandals, who passed that year to Catholicism and a divorce from his first wife. Marriage German prince with Madame de Chatillon was part of a political combination of Louis XIV and his Secretary of state for foreign Affairs of the South de Lyon , which had the aim of goodbye anit French influence to the Baltic Sea coast ^[26] .

Elizabeth-Angelica did not want to go with her new husband to Mecklenburg, rightly fearing to meet a hostile reception in Germany, since the divorce case of Christian Ludwig was not quite finished: his first wife did not reconcile, declared the procedure illegal, and with the support of relatives, her and her husband , sent protests to the courts of the emperor and king of France. Stating that she was expecting a baby, Elizabeth-Angelica left for Merlu, but the pregnancy turned out to be false ^[27] .

The Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerinsky several times came to France, to Paris and his wife's estate, but relations between the spouses were strained. The duchess, without much success, tried to represent her husband’s interests at court, and also took part in the intrigues of the Duchess of Orleans and the Marquis de Ward , who almost ended in disgrace for her ^[28] .

An attempt to secure a vacant captain’s position for Christian Ludwik for one of the royal musketeers ’companies also failed, because Louis XIV was so afraid of bringing a foreign prince so close that he couldn’t be sure of his loyalty. To get rid of the annoying supplicant, he gave the duke a strange order to deliver the Order of St. Michael to the French ambassador to the imperial court de Gravel ^[29] .

After escorting her husband to the border, the duchess returned to Paris, where she spent time at court and in salons. According to Madame de Lafayette, she was seen selflessly trying a certain broth, which, by all accounts, was poisoned by her friend the Duchess of Orleans ^[30] .

Elizabeth-Angelica continued to maintain contact with the Conde family. The prince himself by the end of the 1660s lost interest in her, but his nephews Louis-Armand and Francois-Louis , princes de Conti, became interested in the 40-year-old beauty ^[31] .

Mecklenburg-Schwerin Regency

With the outbreak of the Dutch war in 1672, the duchess finally went to Mecklenburg, where she helped her husband overcome the resistance of the state council, which opposed the duke's desire to join the French troops. Leaving for war, Christian Ludwig left his wife in Schwerin as regent. ^[32]

At this post, the Duchess launched an active diplomatic activity with the aim of drawing the neighboring German princes to France and stopping the aggression from Brandenburg, which she partially succeeded ^[33] .

Acting as the undercover agent of Foreign Minister Arno de Pomponn , Elizabeth-Angelique informed the French representatives in Germany about the movements of the troops and the intentions of the opponents ^[34] .

Louis XIV expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the actions of Christian Ludwig, who had come not so much to fight as to indulge in pleasures in the company of associates, whom the Duchess called “parasites” in letters. The Mecklenburg troops, left without leadership, lost discipline, and were engaged in robberies and violence. Elisabeth-Angelica’s attempts to influence her husband had unpleasant consequences for her, especially since the duke became aware of the affair of his wife with 24-year-old chamber junk Andreas Gottlieb von Bernstorf ^[35] .

Christian Ludwig ordered the arrest of both, but Bernstorf managed to escape. He later became prime minister in Celle , and ended his career as minister in England ^[35] .

The arrested duchess asked for help from Louis XIV and Charles II. The king of France demanded the release of the captive. The duke agreed to let Elizabeth-Angelica go home, for insurance, offering to sign a certificate that she was leaving "in good health." The duchess refused to do this, and at the end of April 1673 left Schwerin, escorted by cannon fireworks ^[36] .

In early June, she arrived in Tongeren , where the king’s headquarters was located, intending to take Maastricht ^[37] , then returned to France, and the next year participated in the tonsure ceremony for the nun Louise de Lavalier , who received her final resignation ^[38] .

Mission to Germany

At the end of the Dutch war, in 1678, the duchess, who considered herself a specialist in German affairs, was sent with a secret diplomatic mission to Germany to help the French representatives in order to persuade the princes of Braunschweig to join the alliance with France. She herself was rushing with the idea to propose to Ernst Augustus , Bishop of Osnabruck , the marriage of his daughter Sofia-Charlotte to the Dauphin . On the way, she visited her brother’s troops in Flanders, having been there, according to Madame de Sevigne , “for three days, like Armida among the silent soldiers” ^[39] .

Rumor preceded her; More than twenty carriages met the duchess at Leagues from Lübeck , and at the entrance to the city they greeted her with salute, a crowd gathered in the streets, wanting to gaze at the woman who was able to impress even more than fifty years old and exclaim, exclaiming: “How beautiful this Frenchwoman. " As a joke, the duchess wrote to Pomponna that she was afraid that she would not be forced to “drink all the wines of France and Germany for her health” ^[40] .

At the cheerful оснаnabrück court, Elizabeth-Angelica was received with the same honor by Ernst Augustus and his wife, “Madame Bishop” Sofia of Hanover. ^[41]

Through Celle and the lands of Luneburg devastated by the war, the duchess arrived in Hanover , where she tried to reconcile the Duke Georg Wilhelm with his brothers so that the whole Braunschweig house could serve the interests of the king ^[42] .

In Celle, she met Bernstorf, who became the first minister of the Duke Georg-Wilhelm, who had a cold welcome to his former lover and opposed her political proposals. Ruler of Kalenberg Johann Friedrich , who seized the duchy of Bremen belonging to the Swedes, was the main problem, because of all the brothers he was most irreconcilable. In addition, the opposition of the Danish and Imperial ambassadors had to be overcome ^[43] .

Through promises and bribery, the Dukes of Brauns were persuaded to sign the Zell Treaty on January 26, 1679. The Braunschweig House pledged to remain neutral, to return the Duchy of Bremen to the Swedes, and not to let troops hostile to France and Sweden through its territory. In exchange, the king gave them 300 thousand ecu ^[44] .

The French ambassador Ribenac specifically noted in conveying the duchess merits in concluding the treaty, but Louis XIV was dissatisfied with her actions, especially since Marshal Kreki soon defeated the Elector of Brandenburg and the signing of the Nimwegen Peace made the agreement with the Welsh unnecessary. The king called her journey “close to madness,” and for some time the duchess was afraid that the sovereign would remember her past transgressions of the times of the Fronde ^[45] .

She took advantage of her stay in Germany to initiate proceedings in Speyer’s Imperial Chamber against her husband, who refused to transfer her property under the conditions of the marriage contract and ignored the decision made several years earlier in the Chatelet . The trial went so slowly that the Duchess was inclined to think of hiring troops and herself to take a campaign in Mecklenburg, but then turned to the Reichstag in Frankfurt . Трирский архиепископ Иоганн Гуго фон Орсбек , первый имперский судья, представил собранию Элизабет-Анжелику как сестру. Князья (в их числе даже политический противник курфюрст Бранденбургский) поддержали её, но Кристиан Людвиг не считался ни с какими постановлениями ^[46] .

Взяв с собой принцессу Софию-Шарлотту, герцогиня через Амстердам и Брюссель вернулась Францию.

Recent years

Дипломатические заслуги Элизабет-Анжелики с некоторым запозданием были признаны королём, и она заняла почетное место при дворе, но 1680-е годы стали для семьи временем испытаний. Герцог Люксембург вместе с другими вельможами оказался замешан в дело о ядах , был вынужден давать показания, при этом, по словам Сен-Симона, унизив своё достоинство пэра, был заключен в Бастилию, едва избежал эшафота, и, наконец, приговорен к изгнанию. Принц Конде был тяжело болен и также вышел из фавора, чем воспользовались многочисленные враги Люксембургов ^[47] .

Лишь с началом войны Аугсбургской лиги король вновь испытал необходимость в военном гении Люксембурга, которому вернул маршальский жезл. Радость герцогини была недолгой, так как вскоре она перенесла черную оспу , уничтожившую остатки былой красоты. Один из корреспондентов Конде сообщал со злорадством, что «мадам де Мекленбург лишилась человеческого лица. Её облик внушает страх» ^[48] .

Герцогиня удалилась от двора, и её уход совпал с началом заката Великого века . Безудержная агрессия Людовика XIV оттолкнула германские государства, отмена Эдикта милости привела к массовой эмиграции гугенотов, которых зазывали в свои владения брауншвейгские князья, решившие порвать союз с Францией. Маршал Люксембург одержал еще несколько тяжелых и кровавых побед, но силы антифранцузской коалиции были слишком велики. Герцогиня предложила Помпонну хитроумный план взаимного обмена владениями, основанный на договоре о взаимном наследовании, существовавшем между Мекленбургом и Веттинами , и способный вернуть Брауншвейгский дом в число союзников короля, но из-за смерти Кристиана Людвига в 1692 году он не был реализован ^[49] .

Пришедший к власти в Мекленбурге Фридрих Вильгельм I отказался выплатить герцогине вдовью долю, и король Франции в последний раз встал на её защиту. Слава больше не имела значения для Элизабет-Анжелики, и она думала только о накопительстве. Переступив через родовую гордость, она выдала свою племянницу де Валансе за некоего Горжа, сына сапожника из Ренна , ставшего миллионером, и предложившего ей за устройство брака 400 тыс. ливров. Другую племянницу, мадмуазель де Люксембург , выдала за «темного бастарда последнего графа де Суассона», которому покровительствовала герцогиня Мария Немурская , завещавшая супругам поистине королевское наследство ^[50] .

Остаток дней Элизабет-Анжелика делила между коллекционированием редкостей и заботами о спасении души ^[51] . Бюсси-Рабютена, разоблачившего неприглядный моральный облик герцогини, и доживавшего свой век в ссылке, она так и не простила ^[52] .

Когда маршал Люксембург умирал от плеврита, сестра неотлучно находилась при нем ^[53] . По словам Сен-Симона,

...герцогиня Мекленбургская скончалась в том же месяце и от той же болезни через несколько дней после смерти брата, не получив ни духовной, ни, можно сказать, физической помощи, оставив все, что имела, графу де Люссу, второму сыну своего брата.

— Сен-Симон . Мемуары. 1691—1701, с. 169

Элизабет-Анжелика де Монморанси-Бутвиль является героиней дилогии Жюльетты Бенцони «Война герцогинь»: романов «Дочь приговоренного» (2012) и «Принцесса вандалов» (2013).

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