Marguerite Louise d'Orléans

Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, born on July twenty-eighth, sixteen forty-five, was a notable French princess who ascended to the role of grand duchess of Tuscany through her marriage to Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici. Known for her libertine and unruly behavior from a young age, her tumultuous relationship with her husband and his family often led to bitter disputes, prompting numerous appeals for mediation to Louis XIV.

Despite the challenges in her marriage, Marguerite Louise and Cosimo III welcomed three children into the world: Grand Prince Ferdinando, Electress Palatine Anna Maria Luisa, and Grand Duke Gian Gastone. However, in June sixteen seventy-five, five years after her husband took the grand duchy and four years after the birth of their youngest child, the couple separated. Marguerite Louise then retreated to a convent on the outskirts of Paris, where she received a pension.

In France, she displayed a disregard for the social conventions expected of women of her rank, often becoming a source of irritation for both the Tuscan authorities and the French monarchy, despite their indulgence. Over time, she adopted a more conventional lifestyle, engaging in pious works and even reforming the convent that became her second home in the Paris suburbs.

As the years progressed, Marguerite Louise faced significant health challenges and the sorrow of losing her eldest son, Grand Prince Ferdinando, with whom she shared a deep bond. Financially independent due to a legacy, she purchased a house in Paris, where she dedicated her later years to charitable endeavors and maintaining dignified correspondence.