On 9 July 1713 a prestigious marriage took place at Versailles; the bridegroom was a prince of the blood, Louis Armand II, Prince de Conti, while the young bride was Mademoiselle de Bourbon. The young lady's full name was Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon who happened to be the granddaughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan.
Initially, the marriage went on much as usual for the time. The couple did not spent much time together and quickly struck up extramarital affairs. For one, the new Princesse de Conti was known to have taken the Marquis de La Fare as her lover - known that is, to all except her husband. It was not until the Prince de Conti fell seriously ill with smallpox in 1716 that he caught wind of the affair. Despite the notoriously contagious disease, the prince was nursed by his wife herself. As a result, she would also contract the disease but luckily survived.
It is unknown exactly when - or how - the Prince de Conti caught wind of his wife's adultery but when he did he was furious. Taking full advantage of the rights given to him as a husband by the law, he beat her to such an extend that she had to seek medical help - not once, but twice.
Despite his anger at her betrayal, it turned out that the Prince was little better than the Princesse, as he had several mistresses of his own. Louis had even attempted to complain to the Regent but had been informed that such matters were between husband and wife.
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| Louise Élisabeth |
Naturally, after such violent outbursts, the Princesse was not eager to remain with her husband and moved to the Palais-Bourbon which was owned by her mother. At some point around this period, Louise Élisabeth found out that she was pregnant which only reignited tensions between the couple. When she was seven months pregnant her husband paid a surprise visit to her and discovered that she had the company of Comte de Saxe. Even though it was an ordinary social call, the Comte de Saxe's reputation with women made Louis furious once again.
Louis denied that he was the father of the child while his wife insisted that he most certainly was. Yet, it would seem that the words were exchanged in a fit of anger as he was soon before said to have thrown himself at his wife's feet to ask for forgiveness. Despite his contrition, she refused to return to the Hôtel de Conti - even after he sent an official summons to her, asking her to give birth in his hotel. Perhaps her refusal was due to his previous abuse - or perhaps she wished to avoid his new mistress, Mademoiselle de La Porte.
After a while though, the Princesse returned to her husband's roof. It was there that Louise Élisabeth gave birth to a healthy son on 13 August 1717; having thereby produced an heir, she sought to escape her deeply stormy marriage.
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| Louis Armand |
In April 1722, the Princesse de Conti formally submitted her request for separation to the Prèmiere Chambre des Requêtes with a further request of 60.000 livres in allowance while the trial lasted. In return, the Prince de Conti insisted that she removed herself to a convent of her choosing and offered 6.000 livres in silver. It would appear that the Princesse had argued for a separation on the basis of threats, physical injuries, treating her "like a lackey" etc. On his end, the prince merely argued that he had increased her allowance and bought her diamonds worth 100.000 livres.
The court reduced her allowance to 20.000 livres and she consequently went to the convent of the Port-Royal in the faubourg of Saint-Jacques.
On 17 June 1722 the court decided in favour of the Prince de Conti and thus refused the Princesse her request for a separation. The judges decided that she could remain at the Port-Royal for six months but afterwards she was obliged to return to her husband. Amongst the arguments of the court one in particular perfectly captures the conditions imposed on the nobility during the ancien régime: as a princess of the blood the Princesse de Conti could not easily be removed from her husband because she might still deliver heirs to the crown. After all, the couple had only a single surviving son (their first having died in 1717 and their third shortly after her request for divorce) and child mortality was rampant. So, Louise Élisabeth's position as a childbearing princess of the blood outweighed the domestic abuse she experienced at the hands of her husband.
As could well be expected, the Prince de Conti was very well pleased with the decision. To reward his attorney, the prince gifted him a carriage and two horses worth 4.500 livres.
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| Cloister of the Port-Royal where Louise Élisabeth sought refuge |
While her husband was celebrating his victory, Louise Élisabeth was reluctant to leave the convent of the Port-Royal. It was not until the Cardinal Noailles requested an audience with her that she received any guests. Once she had met him in the convent's parlour, he motioned to the door and in came the Prince de Conti, her mother and her two children. They attempted to convince her to return to her husband but she refused - or as Barbier put it "she was being very stubborn about it". One could readily imagine that her reluctance was only heightened when her husband made it clear that he would like more heirs to be certain of his legacy.
Thus, she remained in the convent for the time being. After a year, the prince realised that he was not able to retrieve her with words so he consented to letting her remain at the convent for 4-6 years. However, that meant remain within the convent - he had made remarks that if he saw her outside the convent he would take her back to the Hôtel de Conti whether she wanted to go or not. His threats became ever more increasing as she was noted to be leaving the convent frequently to go visit her brothers. Once again, the Prince de Conti turned to the Regent to complain of this behaviour but was met with indifference. At the time being she was being protected by a cachet du Roi which the prince swore to respect.
Yet, he seemed to have been frustrated by her continued refusal to return of her own accord. When he was heard threatening to kidnap her from the convent - and set it on fire - the king posted a guard by her side. According to some sources that guard counted no less than two sergeants and 50 guardsmen who remained on their watch at all times. Being thus prevented from forcibly "regaining" his wife, Louis withdrew - but not before having complained to the king himself.
As it happened, the king turned out to be providing the Princesse de Conti with more than guards. Having had her request for her allowance drastically reduced, she had applied to the king for a supplement to her income. He granted her 6.000 livres per month in addition to what she already received.
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| The Hôtel de Conti in Paris |
For quite some time the situation remained the same until the Princesse de Conti unexpectedly sent for her husband on 13-14 April 1725. Whatever happened between them can only be known to them - yet the result surprised everyone. After their discussion, Louise Élisabeth left the convent and returned to the Hôtel de Conti with her husband. From there, she would later be sent to the Château d'Isle-Adam. It was not until she conceived their fifth child that she was permitted to return to Paris for her confinement.
It seems quite clear that their relationship would have continued to be entirely dysfunctional if it had not been for the unexpected death of the Prince de Conti. The year after the birth of their fifth child - a daughter - Louis became seriously ill and died at the age of just 31.
The death of her husband left Louise Élisabeth in a remarkably comfortable situation. Of the five children she had borne two remained alive: Louis François (the new Prince de Conti) and Louise Henriette. She could exercise considerable influence over both her children's lives without the threat of physical or emotional violence from her husband. Meanwhile, she enjoyed a very high rank at court as well as a considerable fortune which left her free to do as she pleased. Unsurprisingly, she never remarried and died on 27 May 1775 - 48 years after her husband.
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