Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine

Élisabeth of Lorraine
Princess of Epinoy
File:Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine, princesse d'Epinoy Demahis Etienne-Achille.jpg Élisabeth Thérèse after Etienne Achille Demahis
Born	(1664-05-04)May 4, 1664 France
Died	Hôtel de Mayenne, Paris, France
Spouse	Louis de Melun, prince of Epinoy
Issue Detail	Louis, Duke of Joyeuse Anne Julie, Princess of Soubise
Full name Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine
House	House of Lorraine
Father	François Marie de Lorraine
Mother	Anne of Lorraine

Élisabeth of Lorraine (Élisabeth Thérèse; 5 April 1664 – 7 March 1748) was a French noblewoman and the Princess of Epinoy by marriage. She is often styled as the princesse de Lillebonne. She was the mother of Louis de Melun, Duke of Joyeuse who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1724 and of Anne Julie de Melun, princesse de Soubise.

Biography

A member of a cadet branch of the House of Guise, her father was the youngest son of Charles II de Lorrain, Duke of Elbeuf and Catherine Henriette de Bourbon, a natural daughter of Henry IV of France and Gabrielle d'Estrées. Her mother, Anne, was her father's distant cousin and was the only daughter of Charles IV of Lorraine and his secret wife Béatrice de Cusance.

The fifth of her parents' nine children, she was the only one of her siblings to marry or have children. She was styled Mademoiselle de Commercy at the French royal court, the princedom of Commercy being a subsidiary domain of the House of Lorraine.

On 7 October 1691, Mademoiselle de Commercy married Louis de Melun, Prince of Epinoy and Duke of Joyeuse, who was nine years younger than his bride). The couple had two children, one son born in 1694 and a daughter born in 1698. Only the latter would have issue.

Élisabeth Thérèse was the Duchess of Luxembourg-Saint-Pôl in her own right. She bought the duchy from Marie d'Orléans

She was a lady in waiting to Marie Anne de Bourbon, Princess of Conti (1666–1739), a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France.

She and her sister were said, by Saint-Simon, to be spies for Madame de Maintenon. While in the circle of the Grand Dauphin, she became close to his other half sister Louise Françoise de Bourbon known as Madame la Duchesse. She was also close to her uncle Charles Henri, Prince of Vaudémont and to Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme.

In 1721, at the death of her great-aunt, Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Élisabeth Thérèse was designated her heiress, despite Marguerite Louise having allegedly promised that she would make her children her heirs.

She lost both her children in 1724: Louis, having secretly married Marie Anne de Bourbon (1697–1741), disappeared while at a ball at the Château de Chantilly in July. Anne Julie had died earlier from smallpox, leaving five young children.

She and her husband died on 7 March 1748 at the Hôtel de Mayenne. She was aged eighty-three.

Through her daughter, she is an ancestor of the present Duke of Montbazon of the House of Rohan.

Issue

• Louis de Melun, Duke of Joyeuse (October 1694 – 31 July 1724) married first to Armande de La Tour d'Auvergne, no issue; married secondly to Marie Anne de Bourbon (1697–1741), no issue;
• Anne Julie de Melun (1698 – 18 May 1724) married Jules de Rohan, Prince of Soubise and had issue; was grandmother of Charlotte de Rohan, wife of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé.

Ancestry

Family of Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine

16. René de Lorraine, Marquis of Elbeuf               8. Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf                       17. Louise de Rieux               4. Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf                             9. Marguerite de Rohan                       2. François Marie de Lorraine, Prince de Lillebonne                                   20. Antoine de Bourbon, King-Consort of Navarre               10. Henry IV of France                       21. Jeanne III of Navarre               5. Catherine Henriette de Bourbon, légitimée de France                             22. Antoine d'Estrées               11. Gabrielle d'Estrées                       23. Françoise Babou de La Bourdaisière               1. Élisabeth Thérèse of Lorraine                                         24. Charles III, Duke of Lorraine               12. Francis II, Duke of Lorraine                       25. Claude of Valois               6. Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine                             13. Countess Christina of Salm                       3. Anne de Lorraine                                   7. Béatrice de Cusance

Titles and styles

• 5 April 1664 – 7 October 1691 Her Highness Mademoiselle de Commercy
• 7 October 1691 – 7 March 1748 Her Highness Madame d'Epinoy