Marriages between cousins were the norm rather than the exception for centuries; it was therefore not considered unusual and is still practiced in some areas today. Likewise, having official or public extramarital affairs were not necessarily scoffed at either.
However, even in such a society there were relations that caused starched eyebrows to be raised - and the Duc de Bouillon is a good example of that.
Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne was the result of a union between the houses of La Tour d'Auvergne and La Trémoille. As the son of a duke, he found himself at the very pinnacle of French society, even more so after the premature deaths of his two elder brothers which made him the heir. He was married to a Polish noblewoman in 1724. Her name was Maria Karolina Sobieska and she was nine years his senior which was quite unusual.
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| Charles Godefroy |
What was even more unusual was the fact that she happened to be the widow of his late brother, Frédéric Casimir, who had died at just 20 - in 1723. That meant that immediately upon his death, arrangements were made for the young widow to be remarried to her brother-in-law. Sadly, the marriage between Maria Karolina and Frédéric Casimir must be amongst the shortest at Versailles. They had been married on 20th September 1723; ten days later, the bridegroom was dead, allegedly from the aftermath of a serious horse-riding accident. The fact that he also contracted smallpox - which he infected his new bride with - did not help matters.
The union between Maria Karolina and Charles Godefroy would have needed a papal dispensation as the governing law of the catholic church considered them to be already related. Maria's own relative, Clementina, personally wrote to the pope and was apparently successful. However, her father had not even been informed of the new match which left a deep rift between father and daughter. Their marriage would result in two children: Marie Louise and Godefroy Charles Henri. To make matters even more complicated, Maria had initially been considered as a bride for the brothers' father, Emmanuel Théodose.
The marriage was a disaster. The couple were not well-suited for each other which finally resulted in a public separation in the early 1730's. It is rather sad to think that Maria Karolina went to such great lengths to obtain the marriage only for it to turn out so poorly.
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| Maria Karolina |
Having married his brother's widow, Charles Godefroy made another (more dubious) decision which would come dangerously close to incest. As was almost expected, Charles took a mistress. That in itself would not have raised many eyebrows if the object of his affection had not been his own step-mother!
Louise Henriette Françoise de Lorraine was notoriously beautiful with piercing dark eyes, an oval face and red lips. She had married Emmanuel Théodose in 1725 which made her the stepmother of a man who was a year older than herself. Five years later, her husband was dead which left her widowed at just 23 years old. She herself would die at 30 having made a name for herself as a woman with many lovers and few scruples.
Their affair was a massive scandal which garnered plenty of attention; after all, Emmanuel Théodose had only just died before his son and his widow got together. Their liaison caused considerable damage to the already terribly strained marriage of Charles Godefroy and Maria Karolina. It is said that the latter coolly commiserated with her husband on the loss of his "dear stepmother" - although the same letter also mused that her husband would surely not be too heartbroken.
The entire absurd family history ended somewhat tragically for most parties. Louise Henriette Françoise died young, Maria Karolina died alone in Poland (little regretted by her husband) and Charles Godefroy continued on in his debauched life.
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