Marie Sacré-Cœur du Pré

## Occupations

### Court Posts

Enfant d'Honneur à Princesse de la Porphyre (1705–1712)Fille d'Honneur à Princesse de la Porphyre (1712–1715)

Fille d'Honneur à Impératrice Consort Justine-Isabelle (1715–1717)

Dame d'Honneur à Impératrice Consort Justine-Isabelle (1717–1720)

Dame d'Honneur à Impératrice Mère Marie-Catherine (1720–1722)

Dame d'Honneur à Impératrice Consort Constantine-Marie (1722–1728)

Dame d'Honneur à Impératrice Mère Marie-Catherine (1728–1729)

Dame d'Honneur à Impératrice Marie-Barbe (1729–1729)

Grande Gouvernante des Enfants Nés Pourpre (1729–1729)

Dame d'Honneur à Impératrice Marie-Barbe (1729–Present)

## Biography

### House

Pré (1700–Present)Sainte-Maure (1717–1729)

Neufville de Villeroy (1729–1729)

### Born

23 June 1700, Château de Cossigny, Cossigny, Île-de-France, Grandelumière

### Spouse

Charles-Abel de Sainte-Maure, Duc de Montausier † (1717–1721)Louis-François Anne de Neufville de Villeroy, Duc de Beaupréau † (1729–1729)

### Issue

Charles-Marie Noël de Sainte-Maure, Duc de Montausier

### Romantic Interests

Jacques de Bragelongue, Chevalier de Bragelongue (1715–1715)

### Father

Hercule-Monique du Pré, Seigneur de Cossigny

### Mother

Madeleine-Alphonsine de Lenoncourt, Dame de Bardilly † Marie-Toussaint d'Avaugour, Dame de Cossigny (belle-mère)

### Religion

Roman Catholicism

**Marie du Pré** (*Marie Sacré-Cœur*; 23 June 1700–Present), formerly Mademoiselle du Pré (1700–1717), Duchesse de Montausier (1717–1721), Duchesse-Douairière de Montausier (1721–1729), is the current Duchesse de Beaupréau (1729–1729), is the current Duchesse-Douairière de Beaupréau (1729–Present). Marie served the former Princesse de la Porphyre and current Reine d'Espagne Constantinia-Casimira, former Souveraine-Duchesse de Bretagne and former Impératrice Consort Justine-Isabelle, former Archiduchesse de Constantinople and current Impératrice-Mère Marie-Catherine, former Souveraine-Duchesse de Bretagne and former Impératrice Consort Constantine-Marie, and currently former Infanta de Portugal and current Impératrice Consort Marie-Barbe. In 1729, Marie became Grande Gouvernante des Enfants Nés Pourpre. Following her widowhood, she was removed from her position.

According to La Gazette, Marie possesses "all the Christian and moral virtues" as well as a "sweet and affable character." Charming and cultured, Marie is a well-liked personality both at Court and in Paris. She is remarked for her charity towards the poor.

Marie du Pré, nicknamed 'Vanille' by Constantin XI & XXII, was born in 1700 to Hercule-Monique du Pré and Madeleine-Alphonsine de Lenoncourt. She came from a stout royalist family, minor nobility from the small parish of Cossigny. In 1705, Marie would serve 'Madame,' future Reine d'Espagne, which, coupled with her service for two successive Impératrice Consort and the Impératrice-Mère, would grant her considerable acclaim and recognition for her loyalty to the Crown. As such, during the Civil War of 1709, Marie would neither side with the House Rochechouart de Mortemart de Viennois or the House Anjou de Lorraine, but rather with Constantin XI & XXII. Marie married in 1717 to the Duc de Montausier. The couple were unconventionally and hopelessly in love. A child and heir would be produced in 1720. Following the passing of the Duc de Montausier in 1721, Marie married the Duc de Beaupréau in 1729. Their marriage, however, was an average one but happier than most arranged marriages. Afterwards, Marie would be appointed Grande Gouvernante des Enfants Nés Pourpre. However, following her appointment, Marie became widowed for a second time when her husband died from a supposed heart attack.

## Early Life

### **Family**

Hazy in origin, the House Pré can roughly be traced back to the 12th-century. Their rank came from holding certain judicial or administrative posts in the Empire de Grandelumière from the 14th-century–18th-century. The House Pré, considered to be one of the most distinguished of the *noblesse de robe*, held the seigneuries de Cossigny, de Passy, ​​de Bardilly, de Cerny, de Cherelles, de Créteil en Brie, de Lieusault, de Saint-Maur, de Grange-Bléneau, de Restenau, and de Courpalais.

Excluding the House Pré, Marie would be descended from the House Lenoncourt (originating from Lorraine), House Laval-Montmorency (merging of House Montmorency and House Laval when Guy VII de Montmorency-Laval, son of Mathieu II de Montmorency, Seigneur de Montmorency, and Emma de Laval, heiress of Guy V de Laval, Seigneur de Laval, inherited the seigneurie de Laval), and House Rohan-Gié (formed by Pierre de Rohan-Guéméné, son of Louis I de Rohan-Guéméné, Seigneur de Guéméné, and Marie de Montauban, member of the House Rohan-Guéméné, itself a younger branch of the House Rohan).

In May 1658, Marie's maternal grandfather, Henri III de Lenoncourt (c.1637–1684), Seigneur Lenoncourt and Coupvray, married Françoise de Laval-Montmorency (1640–1715). They bore one child: Madeleine-Alphonsine (1676–1702). In July 1658, Marie's paternal grandfather, Louis VI du Pré (1640–1711), Seigneur de Cossigny, married Éléonore de Rohan-Gié (1639–1683). Their children were: Renée (1658–1716), Lucrèce (1660–1677), Isabelle (1661–1695), Louis (VII) (1662–1689), Pierre (1667–1722), Hercule-Monique (1668–Present), Sylvie (1670–Present), Marguerite (1674–1718), Alexandre (1678–Present), Charles (†), Philippe (†), François (†), Jacques (†), and Léonor (†). Following the death of both Éléonore de Rohan-Gié (1683) and Henri III de Lenoncourt (1684), widower Louis VI du Pré married widow Françoise de Laval in February 1686. Unusually, in the same month and year, Louis VII du Pré married his *belle-sœur* Madeleine-Alphonsine de Lenoncourt. The marriage was not consummated. In November 1689, Louis VII du Pré died without children. Pierre du Pré would inherit the seigneurie de Passy. In October 1694, somewhat unhealthily, Hercule-Monique du Pré married Madeleine-Alphonsine de Lenoncourt. They produced: Louis-Abel (VIII), and Marie herself.

### **Birth**

Marie Sacré-Cœur du Pré, styled Mademoiselle du Pré, born on 23 June 1700 (Fête du Sacré-Cœur), in the Château de Cossigny, Cossigny, Île-de-France, Grandelumière, was the second child and only daughter of Hercule-Monique du Pré, Seigneur de Bardilly, Gouverneur du Château de Houilles, and Madeleine-Alphonsine de Lenoncourt. Marie was baptized in the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Yerres.

### **Childhood and Education**

When Madeleine-Alphonsine de Lenoncourt died suddenly in August 1702, Marie and her brother were brought up by their aunt. In September 1705, Hercule-Monique du Pré called Marie and her brother to live with him in the Maison du Gouverneur de Houilles, Houilles, north-west of Paris, were he governed the Domaine de Houilles, the former *sanctum sanctorum* of Justin Pétrone Auguste d'Anjou de Grandelumière, Archiduc de Constantinople, and his homosexual lover Louis-Victor Jules de Rochechouart de Mortemart de Viennois, Marquis de Belle-Île.

In October 1705, Marie was appointed Enfant d'Honneur to Constantine Marie Augustine Élisabeth Euphraise Casimire d'Anjou de Grandelumière, Princesse de la Porphyre, called 'Madame,' surviving daughter of the aforementioned Archiduc de Constantinople and Marie Amélie Élisabeth Catherine d'Évreux de Bretagne, Archiduchesse de Constantinople. Both Madame and Marie were almost of the same age and soon become friends and confidants. The children were co-governed with Madame's younger brother Constantin Marie Germain Romain Francois Victor Euthyme Casimir d'Anjou de Grandelumière, Archiduc de Constantinople following the death of Archiduc Auguste in May 1705. Both Madame and the new Archiduc Constantin were physically crippled and mentally retarded, and both were prone to physically abusing each other. As such, Marie learned how to deal with their madness. Sharing their lives, Marie would be educated and co-governed by Marie-Fleur Raphaëlle de Rochechouart de Mortemart de Viennois, Électrice du Palatin, maîtresse-en-titre of Constantin X & XXI, Empereur de Grandelumière, and even more to the point, she was instructed in Imperial ways.

### **Adolescence and Adulthood**

In September 1709, Constantin X & XXI, Empereur de Grandelumière, died of smallpox, and Archiduc Constantin, now Constantin XI & XXII, became Empereur de Grandelumière. Philippe II d'Anjou de Lorraine, Électeur de Lorraine, would be appointed 'Monsieur le Régent.' Not everyone was keen on Monsieur le Régent, especially House Rochechouart de Mortemart de Viennois who openly opposed him.

In October 1709, Marie attended the funeral of Constantin X & XXI where, upon leaving the Notre-Dame de Paris, an angry mob (organized by House Rochechouart de Mortemart de Viennois) attacked the funeral cortège. Madame du Palatin carried off Constantin XI & XXII, and Marie-Dominique Hortense de Rochechouart de Mortemart de Viennois, Duchesse de Wurtembergoise, carried off Madame and Marie. House Rochechouart de Mortemart de Viennois were committed to a coup d'état against Monsieur le Régent, where they planned to keep control of Constantin XI & XXII and have Marie-Marguerite Laurène de Rochechouart de Mortemart de Viennois, Électrice-Douairière de Lorraine, and mother of Monsieur le Régent, appointed Madame la Régente. However, the regency wouldn't last. Following the Bataille de Conde-sur-Marne, where both House Rochechouart de Mortemart de Viennois and House Anjou de Lorrainer came vis-à-vis, Monsieur le Régent ended up overthrowing Madame la Régente.

In October 1715, Madame was married to Philip V d'Anjou de España, Rey de España. Following her handover, which took place on the Île des Faisans, Pyrénées, Grandelumière/España the Court travelled to Hamelin, Normandie, Grandelumière/Bretagne where Justine Constantine Michèle Marie Ambroisie Catherine Isabelle d'Évreux de Bretagne, Souveraine-Duchesse de Bretagne, would be handed over to Grandelumière. Immediately, Marie was made her Fille d'Honneur. The Court in Brittany would be dismissed, bringing forth an entire wave of Breton nobility. This would include her aunt Renée, who, in 1678, had married Jean V de Coëtquen, Comte de Combourg.

In January 1717, following the death of Monsieur le Régent and the coronation of Constantin XI & XXII, Marie married Charles de Sainte-Maure, Duc de Montausier, Commandant du Grand Palais de Roumansalle et Conseiller, and Grand Falconer de Grandelumière. Now Duchesse de Montausier, Marie was promoted from Fille d'Honneur to Dame d'Honneur. In March 1720, Impératrice Consort Justine-Isabelle died in childbirth, and her household dismissed. Marie would be made a Dame d'Honneur to the Impératrice-Mère. In December 1720, Marie gave birth to Charles-Marie Noël de Sainte-Maure. However, the following year in December 1721, Monsieur de Montausier died of scarlet fever. In March 1722, Marie attended the handover of another Souveraine-Duchesse de Bretagne, Constantine Michèle Antoinette Marguerite Madeleine Anne Marie d'Évreux de Bretagne. Following Constantine-Marie's marriage to Constantin XI & XXII, Marie would be appointed her Dame d'Honneur. In December 1722, Marie's uncle Pierre du Pré, having become Seigneur de Cossigny in 1711 upon the death of Marie's grandfather, died without male issue. As such, Marie's father Hercule du Pré became the Seigneur de Cossigny.

In March 1728, Hercule-Monique du Pré remarried. He married Marie-Toussaint d'Avaugour, a Breton noblewoman who was illegitimately descended from Souverain-Duc François II de Montfort de Bretagne. Embarrassingly for Marie, her new *belle-mère* was her junior (b.1710). In August 1728, Impératrice Consort Constantine-Marie died from a heart attack brought on by heat exhaustion, which meant Marie would once more serve the Impératrice-Mère while another replacement was found. Marie remarried in February 1729, to Louis-François Anne de Neufville de Villeroy, Duc de Beaupréau. In June 1729, an accidental fire badly damaged the Grand Palais de Roumansalle which left many dead or severely injured. Happily, Marie and her husband had been dining in the Maison du Gouverneur de Houilles with Hercule-Monique du Pré, Marie-Toussaint d'Avaugour, Louis-Abel du Pré, and Anne de Rohan-Guéméné, her cousin/belle-sœur. Following the evacuation of the Grand Palais de Roumansalle, and temporary dissolution of the Court, Marie joined Constantin XI & XXII who had escaped to the Palais Cardinal. Initially uncertain on where to go, Constantin XI & XXII took his Court to the Château d'Argenteuil, on the outskirt of the Domaine de Houilles.

Marie attended another handover of another Impératrice Consort, Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa de Portugal, Infanta de Portugal, handed over on the Île des Faisans, Pyrénées, Grandelumière/España, where her childhood companion Madame had been handed over in October 1715. Soon afterwards, Marie would be appointed Grande Gouvernante des Enfants Nés Pourpre. However, following her appointment, Marie became widowed for a second time when her husband died from a supposed heart attack. Following her widowhood, she was removed from her position as Grande Gouvernante des Enfants Nés Pourpre.

### **Issue**

With Charles-Abel de Sainte-Maure, Duc de Montausier:

* Charles-Marie Noël de Sainte-Maure (1720–Present), Duc de Montausier

## Honours, Titles and Styles

* **1700–1717** *Mademoiselle du Pré*
* **1717–1721** *Sa Grâce, Madame la Duchesse de Montausier*
* **1721–1729** *Sa Grâce, Madame la Duchesse-Douairière de Montausier*
* **1729–1729** *Sa Grâce, Madame la Duchesse de Beaupréau*
* **1729–Present** *Sa Grâce, Madame la Duchesse-Douairière de Beaupréau*