99 Brides of Louis XV

It was an elective monarchy, and Marie Leszczynska's father had tried to supplant Augustus of Saxony and was later supplanted himself.  I don't know much about his ancestry, except that he was a nobleman, but not of royal blood. 

True,her ancestors were all Polish Princes and Counts with a dash of German blood,the most famous being Counts von Dönhoff-Kotz and von der Osten-Sacken...

Do you know if existed "love" between Marie L. and Louis XV? I doubt so. Just political interests

I personally think it was more of a friendship than love, they did have an affection for eacthother maybe, but not love unfortunately. If Louis did love her, he probably wouldn't of had that many mistresses.

I agree, perhaps the fact that several kings of different places have lots of mistresses
was a form to prove that the majority of that marriages just were related to politic

Thanks, CountessKate.

I've always wondered how she got her great position, all things considered.  I guess Louis XV was young enough to be persuaded into this marriage and perhaps that flattering portrait of her clinched it. I've read that Queen Maria was taught by her father to be extremely grateful for her position and had little political influence whatsoever. Her failed attempt at politics seems quite humiliating.  Her life at Versailles seems  tedious to me, but then she might not have wanted anything more exciting, challenging or interesting or perhaps it just suited her.  Does anyone know if Louis XV preferred some other princess as his bride?  

I've never read anything to indicate that Louis XV expressed any opinion of, or interest in any of the candidates.  He knew it was his duty to be married, and was genuinely prepared to love his bride, provided she was not actually hideous or had a horrible temper (or was a little girl for whom he would have to wait years to consumate a marriage).  His marriage was a matter of state, and it wasn't for him to go against his chief minister in the busines unless he had very cogent political reasons which he certainly didn't seem to put forward. 

The consensus seemed to be that Louis XV did love Marie Leszczynska at the beginning.  Since every royal marriage at that time was made for political reasons, that was not a reason in itself why the marriage shouldn't have turned out well.  Both parties were committed to making a go of it, and Louis XV was not a Louis XIV who strayed from the start.  If Marie Leszczynska had had a bit more savvy, she could have developed a strong marital partnership which could have withstood any number of mistresses - for example, George II had various extra-marital activities himself, but there was no doubt that his wife Caroline was Queen and had a vigorous role to play in the state which no one else had the temerity to interfere with. 

Whatever Marie Leszczynska's problems and humiliations at Versailles might have been, it was probably infinitely preferable to being stuck in exile in Sweden or Germany with absolutely no money and the only option probably a convent of the less superior sort.  She had her children, and although Louis XV wasn't very considerate of her, she had a role to play at Versailles and servants and appartments, and money even at the worst of times in which to make charitable donations.  Her father was nearby, well-provided for as a result of her marriage, and it could all have been much, much worse. 

Thanks again, CountessKate!  It's always good and interesting to hear facts together with the contextualization....

I agree that Queen Marie had some things to console her in the light of her humiliations and problems at Versailles. I wonder if she ever admitted to herself that she had contributed to her marital problems and subsequent problems arising from such.  I agee that her life could've been worse had she ended up elsewhere..

Marriage in the eighteenth century is always a difficult concept to grasp in our own times because it is so very different.  You have to keep in mind all the time that the choice of a partner was a complex affair of family, money, property, politics, and bloodlines.  Even at the very poor level these considerations were important, and at the other end of the scale, for royalty they were paramount.  While the mutual attraction of parties was agreed to be important, since a couple who loathed each other were not likely to produce an effective partnership or family, provided there was nothing absolutely wrong with your spouse you were supposed to get on with it and make the best of things.  And indeed, most managed it. 

Wow!!! Thank you very much for all the information CountessKate, indeed true and complete.

She learned her lesson, was submissive and dutiful, but when she ceased to want to sleep with him he lost interest in her entirely.

Somewhere I read that her last pregnancy almost killed her and that the Doctor told her to get pregnant again would be her death. Does anyone else know this in other sources?
I have this down as a source:
Zieliński, Ryszard (1978). Polka na francuskim tronie. Czytelnik.

Somewhere I read that her last pregnancy almost killed her and that the Doctor told her to get pregnant again would be her death. Does anyone else know this in other sources?
I have this down as a source:
Zieliński, Ryszard (1978). Polka na francuskim tronie. Czytelnik.

In 'La reine et la favorite' Simone Bertiere also suggests that as a reason why Marie Leszczynska basically shut the door in Louis XV's face in 1737 - i.e. the doctors had told her that her next pregnancy would be the death of her, but gives no references for it.   She also wrote that it was unlikely that Marie actually said "Toujours coucher, toujours accoucher!" ("always going to bed, always being brought to bed") as she felt it was not the sort of thing a woman of her personality would say.   

However, if the doctors had genuinely given her advice to have no further children, it would not have been something Louis XV and his whole court would not have known about - the Queen's pregnancies were a matter of state, and Versailles was not the sort of place you could keep information like that to yourself - the King would have been told, Marie's servants and Ladies in Waiting would have known, they would have told their husbands, and so it would have gone on - but diarists like the Duc de luynes makes no mention of such a thing happening.  And I cannot see any doctor in his right mind explaining to the King of France (who only had one son and heir after the death of the duc d'Anjou) that the Queen shouldn't do her duty and produce another son because it might kill her (especially since she'd not died herself had a healthy girl in her last pregnancy - was medical knowledge really that good in the eighteenth century?).  They might advise that it would be better to wait a while - but again, there is no evidence that they did this, and it would be a state matter of such importance it wouldn't have been secret.  Everyone knew when the King went to sleep with the Queen (or was turned away) - how could they not know if a doctor had advised her to shun the royal marital bed?

I have always thought that after 11 pregnancies in 10 years, Marie Leszczynska was utterly fed up with the whole business, and sex was not so alluring that she wanted to put up with the inevitable consequences again (even if she didn't actually say "Toujours coucher, toujours accoucher!").   She might also have been frightened - she was getting older, and her pregnancies weren't getting easier.   She might well have feared the outcome of further pregnancies.  But in the eighteenth century, and with the dynasty so close to extinction - if the Dauphin had died, Louis XV's next heirs were the princes of the house of Orleans - a direct refusal to have more children would have been seen as a dereliction of duty.  Hence the excuse she had used all along - that she would not sleep with the King on major saints' days - became extended to minor saints' days, until he got the message.   But I think by then, when he finally took off and didn't return, the marriage was in a rocky way (the Comtesse de Mailly had been his mistress for years albeit unofficially, as it were).  Louis XV was 27, very vigorous, loved hunting and intimate supper parties with his friends, and was keen on sex.  Marie Leszczynska was 34, exhausted with childbearing, not particularly keen on sex (or at least, afraid of the consequences), was interested in improving books and didn't seem to have any friends in common with her husband.  Not really a surprise that it all fell apart when the last tie, of sexual intimacy, was severed.  In this last I believe that Marie Leszczynska for once took the initiative - though I can see some writers prefer to believe that a woman so dutiful must have had some greater reason for refusing to sleep with her husband other than exhaustion and fear of constant childbirth.