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Dowager-Duchess of Savoy Christina of Bourbon

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House of Bourbon
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Catherine, duchesse de Lorraine
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Elisabeth, Queen of Spain
Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy
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French monarchy, 843-1870
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Christine Marie de France (Italian: Maria Cristina di Francia, Madama Reale), (February 10, 1606 - December 27, 1663) was Regent of Savoy between 1637 and 1663.

[edit] Life

Born in at the Palais du Louvre in Paris, she was the third child and second daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, the Italian Marie de' Medici. As a daughter of the king, she was a Fille de France.

She was a younger sister of Louis XIII of France and Elisabeth of Bourbon. She was also an older sister of Nicholas Henri de France, duc d'Orléans, Gaston de France, duc d'Orléans and Henrietta Maria of France. Christine was a sister-in-law of Philip IV of Spain through Elisabeth and of Charles I of England through Henrietta Maria.

After the marriage of her older sister Elisabeth in 1615 to the Prince of Asturias, Christine took on the honourary title of Madame Royale indicating her status as the eldest and most senior unmarried daughter at the court of her father. After her marriage, the style went to her younger sister, the beautiful Henriette Marie de France.

[edit] Marriage

She married Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy, on February 10, 1619 in Paris. He was a son of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Caterina Micaela of Spain. Caterina Micaela was in turn a daughter of Philip II of Spain and Elisabeth of Valois. Elizabeth was a daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.

[edit] Children

Victor Amadeus became Duke after the death of his father in 1630.

[edit] Regent

Christine Marie of France, a strong, confident woman assumed the Regency for her two sons, Francis Hyacinth and Charles Emmanuel II.

Both Maurice of Savoy and his younger brother Thomas disputed the power of their sister-in-law, and her French entourage. When the first heir Francis Hyacinth died in 1638, both brothers started the Piedmontese Civil War, with Spanish support. The two parties were called "principisti" (supporters of the Princes) and "madamisti" (supporters of Madama Reale).

After four years of fighting, Christine Marie was victorious, thanks to French military support. Not only did she keep the Duchy for her son, she also prevented France getting too much power in the Duchy. When peace was concluded in 1642 , Maurice married his fourteen-year old niece Louise Christine, abandoning the title of cardinal and asking dispensation from Pope Paul V. Maurice became governor of Nice. Christine Marie of France stayed in firm control of the Duchy of Savoy, until her son could follow in her footsteps.

[edit] Death

She died in Turin in 1663 at the age of 57. She had outlived 4 of her seven children. 17 years after her death, in 1680, her granddaughter Victoria of Bavaria via her third daughter Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, would marry her older brother's grandson Louis de France known as 'the Fat' and Monseigneur. Christine Marie thus became a direct ancestress of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon via Victoria's second son Philip V of Spain.

[edit] Ancestors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Antoine of Navarre
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Françoise d'Alençon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Henry IV of France
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Henry II of Navarre
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Jeanne III of Navarre
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Marguerite de Navarre
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Christine Marie de France
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Eleonora di Toledo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Marie de' Medici
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Johanna of Austria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[edit] Titles

Christine Marie of France
Born: February 10 1606 Died: December 27 1663
French nobility
Preceded by
Elisabeth de France
Madame Royale
1615-1619
Succeeded by
Henriette Marie de France
Italian royalty
Preceded by
Catherine Michelle of Spain
Duchess Consort of Savoy
1630-1637
Succeeded by
Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans

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Annotations

  • Christine Bourbon, Duchess of Savoy is mentioned in Pepys’s diary under January 1664 when the English Court is mourning her death.The exact date of her death is however not clear from the text- can we find it out?

  • Christine-Marie of Bourbon (February 10, 1606 - December 27, 1663) was the Regent of Savoy who ruled in the name of her son, Charles Emmanuel, between 1637 and 1663.

    She was the daughter of Henry IV of France, and sister of Louis XIII of France. Christine-Marie married Victor Amadeus, the son of Duke of Savoy, in 1619. In 1630, Victor Amadeus became Duke of Savoy, but upon his death in 1637, Christine-Marie became regent in the name of her young son.

    During her regency, she had to fight a civil war started by two brothers of her late husband who were attempting to claim the Duchy for themselves. Thanks to French military support, she emerged victorious. Her son, after becoming an adult, was uninterested in ruling, so let Christine-Marie continue acting as regent until her death.

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References in the diary

1664
Jan: 18, 20