Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Clothilde of France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clothilde of France (Versailles, September 23, 1759 – Turin, March 7, 1802) was a granddaughter of Louis XV and Queen Consort of Piemont-Sardinia.
She was a daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France and Princess Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, and sister of King Louis XVI of France. Nicknamed "Gros Madame", she and her younger sister Madame Elisabeth (born in 1764), were raised by Madame de Marsan after the death of her father in 1765 and her mother in 1767.
In 1775 she was married to Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia, the eldest son of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and his wife Maria Antonietta of Spain. Although the union was arranged for political reasons, Charles Emmanuel and his wife became devoted to each other, united in their piety and strong belief in the Roman Catholic faith. Their attempts to have children, however, were unsuccessful.
The French Revolution a disaster for Clothilde: her brother King Louis XVI and her sister Élisabeth were guillotined. Here younger brother Charles-Philippe, Comte d'Artois, the future king Charles X, had escaped France in 1789 and was welcomed in Turin. She also harboured her aunts Marie Adélaïde and Princess Victoire of France.
In 1796 Clothilde became Queen Consort of Piemont-Sardinia. At that time Sardinia was at war with the French Republic. By 1798 Charles Emmanuel had been forced to abdicate all his territories on the Italian mainland and to withdraw to the island of Sardinia. Charles Emmanuel and Clothilde lived in Rome and in Naples as guests of the wealthy Colonna family.
On March 7, 1802 Clothilde died from disease. Charles Emmanuel was so moved by her death that he decided to abdicate, June 4, 1802 in favour of his brother Victor Emmanuel.
Clothilde of France was buried in the Santa Caterina a Chiaia church in Naples.
| Preceded by Maria Antonietta of Spain |
Queen Consort of Sardinia 1796-1802 |
Succeeded by Maria Theresa of Austria-Este |