Maria Josepha Of Saxony - Daughter In Law Of Louis XV

maria josepha of saxony was born to king august iii of poland and of arch duchess maria josepha of austria on november 4 1739 in dresden maria josepha was the eight of fifteen children and the fourth born daughter her older sister maria amalia married the future charles iii of spain in 1738. her second sister maria margarita died in infancy and her sister maria ana sophia became electros of bavaria by marriage in 1747. her older brother frederick christian became the elector of saxony in 1763 and reigned for only 74 days her sisters maria christina and maria kunigunda chose a religious life and became embassies of prestigious religious institutions the dothan france louis ferdinand had been happily married to the infanta maria teresa rafaela du bourbon since february 1745. the couple was very much in love but sadly on july 22 1746 maria teresa died after giving birth to a baby girl king ferdinand vi of spain who was a half-brother of the late maria teresa offered to dofan the hand of the infanta maria antonia fernandia of spain but his union was snubbed by louis xv as incest and never took place other proposals came from savoir in the form of princess eleonora of savoia or her sister princess maria luiza of savoia both were rejected louis xv and madame de pompadour had their eye on maria josefa the marriage between maria josefa and the dofen louis ferdinand had been suggested by maurice of saxony who was an uncle of maria josefa and the illegitimate son of her grandfather august ii of poland louis xv and his mistress were convinced that a marriage would be advantageous for france as it would forge an alliance between france and saxony who had been on opposite sides during the recent war of the austrian succession however a problem arose when it became clear that maria josefa was the granddaughter of august ii of poland the latter had dethroned the father of the reigning queen of france maria lezinska from the polish throne luis ferdinand and maria josefa were married on february 9 1747 and maria josefa became the new dolphin of france before the marriage the tradition of the time required that the bride would wear a bracelet that had a portrait of her father on it when the queen asked to see maria josefa's bracelet the ingenious maria josefa showed her the bracelet with a portrait of the queen's father stanislas lezinski maria josefa explained to the queen that the portrait represented the fact that stanislas lozinski was now maria josefa's grandfather by marriage the queen and the court were impressed by the attack shown by the 15 year old maria josefa and her actions would earn her the friendship of the queen and her father-in-law louis xv at the time of the marriage louis ferdinand was still grieving the death of his first wife maria josepha tried her best to conquer the heart of the dolphin but matters worsened in april 1748 when the daughter of louis ferdinand and the infanta marie teresa died as well at the age of two eventually harriet of france the sister of louis ferdinand had to intervene on behalf of maria josefa later on the soft-hearted maria josefa commissioned a painting of the little girl to be placed on top of her crib the portrait of the child has unfortunately been lost maria josefa was very grateful to madame de pompadour for helping her organize her marriage and she always maintained a good relationship with the royal mistress despite her husband's hatred for the pompadour although the marriage between louis ferdinand and maria josefa was an arranged one eventually the couple fell deeply in love for more information about the children born from the union between louis ferdinand and maria josefa please check my video of last week about louis ferdinand like her husband maria josepha was very devoted and along with her husband and queen maria lezinska she opposed the libertine behavior at court the couple was not very fond of the various entertainments held in versailles each week and they preferred to stay in their chambers as maria josefa was close to both her husband and king louis xv she was able to help soften the tense relationship between father and son [Music] her husband's death on december 20 1765 delivered a devastating blow to maria josefa from which she never recovered and she sank into a deep depression for the rest of her life to save her from the grief she suffered from in the apartments where her life and marriage took place her father-in-law louis xv allowed her to move into the apartments of madame de pompadour who died in 1764. there louis xv often visited her and discussed with her the marriage plans of the new dolphin louis augusta the later louis xvi maria josefa was not very happy with the marriage plans made for her son to the archduchess marie antoinette of austria but as negotiations with vienna began in 1766 maria josefa's health started to deteriorate she suffered from the same illness as her late husband tuberculosis maria josefa finally died on march 13 1767 and was interred in the cathedral of santi tian in song alongside her husband her son's marriage to the archduchess marie antoinette of austria was sealed three years later on march 16 1717. this concludes today's video next week we'll talk about the second restoration king charlotte 10th of france who was the brother of louis the 16th and louis the 18th i hope to see you then