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ria was chosen as the bride of king louis xv of france devoid of political connections his daughter was viewed by the french as being free from the burden of international alliances she was born in trzebnica in lower silesia the year before her father was made king of poland by charles xii of sweden who had invaded the country in 1704 in 1709 her father was deposed when the swedish army lost the military upper hand in poland and the family was granted refuge by charles xii in the swedish city of kristianstad in scania 3 during the escape maria was separated from the rest of her family she was later found with her nurse hiding in a crib in a stable although another version claims it was actually a cave in an old mineshaft 3 in sweden the family was welcomed by the queen dowager hedwig eleonora of holstein gottorp and became popular members of society life on the estates of the nobility around kristianstad in 1712 they made an official visit to medevi the spa of the queen dowager 3 during this period in her life maria began speaking swedish with a scanian accent as queen of france she was known to welcome swedish ambassadors to france with the phrase welcome dearest heart in swedish in 1714 charles xii gave them permission to live in his fiefdom of zweibrücken in the holy roman empire where they were supported by the income of zweibrücken they lived there until the death of charles xii in 1718 3 zweibrücken then passed to a cousin of his these lands were parallel to the confiscated polish properties of stanislaus stanislaus appealed to the regent of france the duke of orléans and the duke of lorraine for help with the queen of sweden acting as his mediator 4 in 1718 with the support of the duke of lorraine the family was allowed to settle in wissembourg in the province of alsace which had been annexed by france a place suggested by philippe ii duke of orléans a nephew of louis xiv and regent of the kingdom of france during louis xv s minority the family lived a modest life in a large town house at the expense of the french regent their lifestyle in wissembourg was regarded as very below standard for a royal at that time they lived in a small house and could not pay the salary of their small retinue from which a few served as an apology for a guard of honour and the jewels of the former queen catherine were reportedly held as security by a moneylender 5 while her mother catherine and grandmother anna leszczyńska reportedly suffered from a certain degree of bitterness over their exile and loss of position which worsened their relationship with stanislaus whom they occasionally blamed for their exile maria was close to her father and spent a lot of time conversing with him though she was evidently of a different nature as she possessed the gift of suffering in silence and of never wearying others with her troubles and was said to have developed a profound and intense piety which gave to her youthful mind the maturity of a woman who no longer demands happiness 5 marriage edit the young marie known at the time as princess maria in 1712 portrait by johan starbus early negotiations edit maria was not described as a beauty instead her characteristics in the marriage market were stated as those of being pleasant well educated and graceful in manner and movement 4 in 1720 she was suggested as a bride to louis henri de bourbon prince of condé who preferred to be known as the duke of bourbon rather than prince of condé but her intended mother in law louise françoise de bourbon refused to give her consent 4 the cavalry regiment provided by the regent for the family s protection included the officer marquis de courtanvaux who fell in love with maria and asked the regent to make him a duke so that he might ask for her hand but the regent refused and because of his low rank the marriage was impossible 4 louis george margrave of baden baden and the third prince of baden were suggested but these suggestions came to nothing because of her insufficient dowry stanislaus unsuccessfully tried to arrange a marriage for her with the count of charolais brother of the duke of bourbon 4 in 1724 count d argensson proposed she marry the new duke of orléans but her intended mother in law françoise marie de bourbon wished for a dynastic match with political advantage 4 marie leszczyńska on a coin maria leszczyńska pictured in 1725 the year she became queen of france portrait by jean baptiste van loo in 1723 the duke of bourbon had become the regent of france during the minority of louis xv the regent was dominated by his lover madame de prie there were lengthy negotiations for a marriage between maria and the now widowed duke of bourbon madame de prie favored the match as she did not perceive the reputedly unattractive maria as a threat to her 4 the marriage negotiations however were soon overshadowed when a marriage for king louis xv then aged fifteen was given priority that year he fell ill and fearing the consequences of the unmarried king dying without an heir the duc suggested getting him married as soon as possible he was already engaged to infanta mariana victoria of spain who had been brought to france as his future wife some years earlier as she was only five years old there would be no issue expected for many years 4 when the king became sick it was feared he might die without an heir and that the throne would pass to the orléans line this was an undesirable prospect for the duke of bourbon who preferred that the throne should pass to the spanish line rather than to the orléans line 4 louis xv s engagement was broken off and the infanta was sent back to spain to the chagrin of the spanish the duke of bourbon and madame de prie began negotiations for the immediate marriage of the king to maria negotiations for marriage to the king edit maria leszczyńska was on a list of 99 european princesses considered eligible to marry the young king maria was not the first choice on the list she had been placed there initially because she was a catholic princess and therefore fulfilled the minimum criteria but was removed early on when the list was reduced from 99 to 17 for being too poor 4 however the candidates preferred to her were all eventually discarded from the list for a number of different reasons among the serious candidates were landgravine caroline of hesse rotenburg removed on account of her bad temper elizabeth of russia removed because of her mother s commoner background barbara of portugal removed because of the bad health of her family princess charlotte amalie of denmark removed because it could cause conflict with france s ally sweden elisabeth therese of lorraine removed because the house of lorraine was too closely related to the habsburgs and enrichetta d este removed because of the disorderly situation within her family 6 when the list of 17 was further reduced to four the preferred choices still presented numerous problems anne and amelia of great britain who were considered with the understanding that they would convert to the catholic faith upon marriage were favored by the duke of bourbon and madame de prie because they were supported by their political financiers the firm of paris brothers cardinal fleury easily prevented the british match because of religious reasons the other two women on the list were the sisters of the duke of bourbon henriette louise and élisabeth alexandrine whom the king refused to marry because of the disapproval of cardinal fleury 4 cardinal fleury favored a match with princess charlotte of hesse rheinfels rotenburg which was supported by the maternal grandfather of louis xv the king of sardinia through his spy maria vittoria of savoy princess of carignan in these complicated disputes over the choice of a royal marriage partner maria leszczyńska eventually emerged as a choice acceptable to both the party of the duke of bourbon and madame de prie as well as the party of cardinal fleury mainly because she was politically uncontroversial and lacked any of the alliances which could harm either party 4 at this point there were already negotiations of marriage between maria and the duke of bourbon the duke of d argensson had already left a favorable report of her and the groundwork had been done cardinal fleury accepted the choice as maria posed no threat to him because of her lack of connections while the duke of bourbon and madame de prie precisely because she lacked any personal power base expected her to be indebted to them for her position maria was finally chosen because she was a healthy adult catholic princess ready to procreate immediately after the wedding reportedly madame de prie had a flattering portrait painted of maria in which she was deliberately made to look like the king s favorite portrait of his mother when he was shown the portrait he was impressed and exclaimed she is the loveliest of them all and became enthusiastic of the match an episode which attracted some attention 5 portrait by alexis simon belle the formal proposal was made on 2 april 1725 the announcement of the wedding was not received well at the royal court maria s father stanislaus had been a monarch for only a short time and she was thought to be a poor choice and of inferior status not worthy of being queen of france 4 the duchess of lorraine sister of the former duke of orléans was also insulted that her own daughter elisabeth therese had not been chosen the nobility and the court looked upon the future queen as an upstart intruder the ministers as a cause to diplomatic trouble with spain and russia whose princesses had been refused in favor of maria and the general public was also reportedly initially dissatisfied with the fact that france would gain from this marriage neither glory nor honor riches nor alliances 5 there were rumors before the wedding that the bride was ugly epileptic and sterile on 6 may 1725 maria was forced to undergo a medical examination which ruled out epilepsy and also gave reassuring reports about her menstruation and ability to procreate 4 in the marriage contract the same terms were given to her as were previously given to the spanish infanta and she was thus guaranteed fifty thousand crowns for rings and jewelry two hundred and fifty thousand crowns upon her wedding and the further guarantee of an annual widow allowance of twenty thousand crowns 5 private relationship to louis xv edit the marriage by proxy took place on 15 august 1725 in the cathedral of strasbourg louis xv being represented by his cousin the duke of orléans louis le pieux for her marriage maria s polish name was changed to the french marie despite her surname being difficult for the french to pronounce it was still often used by commoners she was escorted by mademoiselle de clermont seven ladies in waiting two maids of honour numerous equerries and pages in a long train of coaches however she was not welcomed by triumphal entries diplomatic greetings or the other official celebrations as was normally the custom upon the arrival of a foreign princess for a royal marriage 5 marie made a good impression upon the public from the beginning such as when she handed out largesse on her way to her wedding in fontainebleau louis and marie first met on the eve of their wedding on 4 september 1725 at the château de fontainebleau marie was twenty two years old and louis fifteen the couple were reported to have fallen in love at first sight based on eyewitness accounts such as those of cardinal de rohan s letter and that of the duke de bourbon who were present when they met their relationship was very happy and idyllic at first and for eight years louis xv was faithful to his wife and even compared marie s beauty to that of blanche of castile the duke de richelieu best friend of the king noted in his memoirs that louis xv had a true passion for marie leczinska and at first resisted the idea of taking a mistress while his wife was pregnant he had been impatient to marry her was reportedly flattered to have a twenty two year old wife and refused to allow criticism of her appearance 5 in august 1727 at versailles marie gave birth to twins named louise élisabeth and anne henriette the king was delighted declaring that after it had been said that he could not become a father he had become the father of two his first minister cardinal fleury however was displeased and decided that until the queen had given birth to a son she could not be allowed to accompany the king on his trips but had to stay at versailles 5 a year later to the king s disappointment another daughter marie louise was born the long awaited dauphin louis was born on 4 september 1729 to the relief of a country whose royal family had had a history of failing to establish a secure male line of succession marie had ten live children seven of whom survived to adulthood they all regarded her as a model of virtue particularly her daughters marie being of a phlegmatic nature was not known to show them much affection 5 however numerous contemporary accounts such as her own children s letters show a caring and attentive mother close friends such as the duke de luynes and lady in waiting marechale de mouchy or the barrister barbier noted in their memoirs that the queen loved her children tenderly and was said to be giving them hugs and kisses and supervise their education she would also conduct and regularly send gifts and write letters to her younger daughters whom she was forbidden to see at fontevraud according to the diaries marie leczinska consoled her children on their personal problems and physically nursed them whenever they were ill marie was regarded as plain and slender in appearance by her contemporaries but with a fresh and healthy complexion that faded with age but piety precluded her from using artificial means to make herself look attractive 5 she was described as shy and reserved in the company of her husband she considered it her duty to show him gratitude and reverence but was unable to relax enough to entertain him or to flirt with him 5 once for example she could find no other way to entertain him than to suggest that he kill the flies in the window panes 5 louis xv who suffered from melancholy and boredom became inclined to listen when marie was unfavorably compared to other women and cardinal fleury who wished to prevent marie from eventually getting any influence over the king favored the idea of the king taking a mistress as long as she was apolitical 5 la reine de france marie leszczynska en grand costume de cour this portrait exhibits queen marie attired in a gold brocade gown wearing a fleur delysé coat portrait by françois albert stiémart louis xv eventually became a notorious womanizer in 1733 he entered into his first affair with louise julie de mailly until 1737 this relationship was not official and she was known at court as the fair unknown 5 during these years marie unsuccessfully tried to figure out who the mistress was and did display her disple...