Princess Maria Christina of Saxony (1735–1782)

Princess Maria Christina
Abbess of Remiremont
Maria Christina by Maurice Quentin de La Tour
Born(1735-02-15)15 February 1735
Wilanów Palace, Warsaw, Poland
Died19 November 1782(1782-11-19) (aged 47)
Château de Brumath, Brumath, France
Burial15 December 1782
Église des Dames, Remiremont, France
Names
Maria Christina Anna Theresa Salomea Eulalia Francisca Xaveria
HouseWettin
FatherAugustus III of Poland
MotherMaria Josepha of Austria
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Princess Maria Christina of Saxony (Maria Christina Anna Theresa Salomea Eulalia Francisca Xaveria; 12 February 1735 – 19 November 1782) was a Princess of Saxony and later Abbess of Remiremont.

Life

She was the daughter of Augustus III of Poland, Elector of Saxony (as Frederick Augustus II), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (as Augustus II), and Maria Josepha of Austria, first cousin of Empress Maria Theresa.

Maria Christina was born at the Wilanów Palace in Poland. She came from a close family and her parents made sure they put emphasis on a good education. She was educated in Latin, French, Polish, philosophy, geography, religion, drawing, music and dance.

Her older sister Maria Josepha married Louis, Dauphin of France in 1747.[1]

Abbess

In 1764, Maria Christina was sent to France to become a Coadjutorice at the Abbey of Remiremont in Remiremont, northern France. Her position was thanks to the personal intervention of Louis XV himself.[1]

At the time of her arrival, the abbey was under control of Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine, sister of the Holy Roman Emperor and aunt of the future Marie Antoinette.[2]

In France, she was known as Marie Christine de Saxe. In 1773, at the death of Anne Charlotte, Maria Christina was named Abbess, a position she would keep until her death.

Remiremont had seats and votes in the Reichstag including all rights and obligations of an Imperial Princess (such as low justice, tax, legislation, coinage and military service), and enjoyed immunity against temporal power.

She was a frequent visitor to Paris and was fond of the Theatre and the city's social life. She spent a great deal of money, the payment of which was made by Stanisław Leszczyński (Duke of Lorraine until his death in 1766) and after that the king Louis XV. Her correspondence with her brother Francis Xavier, Regent of Saxony was preserved at Trojes.

She was created a Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross.

Maria Christina bought the Château de Brumath in the town of Brumath[3] in the Alsace region of France. Purchased in 1775,[3] she chose the building for its location in the country and for its natural setting. She lived a lavish lifestyle at the château which far outdid her revenues.

Dying at the château on 19 November 1782, her nephew King Louis XVI was obliged to pay her debts in the amount of 136,876 livres for his dead aunt.[3]

She was buried at the abbey in its église des Dames on the 15 December 1782. She was praised for her intelligence, her conversation and for being a cultivated woman for her age. The château de Brumath, later abandoned, was pillaged in the French Revolution.[4]

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ a b Christensen, Martin K.I. "Women in Power 1770-1800". www.guide2womenleaders.com. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
  2. ^ Marie Antoinette would come to France in 1770 to wed the Duke of Berry, future Louis XVI
  3. ^ a b c "Historique de Brumath". www.brumath.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  4. ^ "Brève histoire de Brumath". www.prixeuropeendelitterature.eu. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  5. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 100.