Maximilienne Françoise Marguerite de Béthune

Madame la Duchesse de Joyeuse par Louis Tocqué, c. 1726

**Maximilienne de Béthune** (née Maximilienne Françoise Marguerite de Béthune; 8th June 1701—present) was a French aristocrat and courtier. The only daughter of Maximilien V de Béthune, Duc de Sully, she served as primary heir to his estates and as such ruled over the sovereign principalities of Henrichmont and Boisbelle from 1712 onward. Her marriage to Guillaume VII de Joyeuse in 1724 afforded her the styles and title of Duchesse de Joyeuse.

## Biography

### Birth

Delivered on 8th June 1701 at L'Hôtel de Sully in Paris, Maximilienne Françoise Marguerite de Béthune — styled as Mademoiselle d'Henrichmont — was the daughter of Maximilien V, Duc de Sully, and Madeleine Armande du Cambout-Coislin. Though the Duc de Sully and his wife had been married since 1687, it was only fourteen years into their marriage that they produced their only child. At the time of her birth, it was assumed she was to be displaced as heiress to the estates of her father by the birth of a brother. This, however, was not the case — the Duchesse de Sully was urged not to conceieve again lest another childbirth be fatal.

The Mademoiselle d'Henrichmont was the product of two distinguished lines. Through her paternal blood, she was a descendant of the four prior ducs de Sully and their predecessors as holders of the same marquisate. The wives of this esteemed men were predominantly the descendants of famed ministers and *noblesse de robe* — her paternal great-grandfather was the famed financial minister, the Marquis de Sablé, and her great-great-grandfather was the esteemed *Chancelier de France*, Pierre Séguier. Through her maternal blood, she was the descendant of extended relatives of the Chancelier, as well the famed commander, Armand du Cambout.

### Adolescence

#### Education

On the occasion of her baptism, the Mademoiselle d'Henrichmont was baptized in the Église Saint-Sulpice in Paris by the Évêque de Verdun, her cousin. Her name, formally, was Maximilienne Françoise Marguerite de Béthune. Her godparents assigned for the occasion were her uncle, Maximilien-Henri de Béthune, Marquis de Rosny (later Maximilien VI) and her grandaunt, Marguerite-Louise de Béthune.

At the Hôtel de Sully, Maximilienne received the entirety of her education. Primarily, her regimen consisted of the arts and "feminine" skills, including embroidering, drawing, painting, singing, and dancing. She was a proficient flautist and harpsichordist, but it was the cello at which she was most skilled. Academically, like most women of her station, she received a rudimentary education. In particular, she was tutored in reading, writing, general mathematics, Roman Catholic theology (which included minor linguistic studies of Latin), and the languages of Castilian and Italian.

#### Inheritance

Maximilien V died unexpectedly on 24th December 1712 in Paris at the age of forty-eight — Maximilienne was eleven years old. His will, which was registered with the Parlement de Paris, dictated the division of his estates between his only child and his closest male heir, which was his brother. To his daughter, in land assets, he willed the following under a trust-regency managed by her uncle:

* Principauté-Souverain d'Henrichmont
* Principauté-Souverain de Boisbelle
* Marquisat de Rosny
* Marquisat de Nogent (-le-Béthune)

After the death of her father, Maximilienne continued her education in the charge of her widowed mother. Her uncle would marry in 1719 Antoinette-Hippolyte de Boufflers with the intention of continuing on the Béthune line during his tenure as Duc de Sully. With her father deceased and her mother withdrawn from court, Maximilienne had a somber upbringing for the remainder of her childhood.

#### Presentation

At the age of eighteen, Maximilienne was presented to the court at Fontainebleau by her mother just days after the wedding of Maximilien VI and his consort. She frequented the suite of the Duc de Sully while at court but maintained no formal post. Reportedly, she charmed the young Jean IV and his regent, the Duc d'Alençon, upon her presentation. Her grandaunt, Marguerite-Louise de Béthune, wrote of Maximilienne on the occasion of her presentation,

> *"Her gown was a gorgeous cream silk with an opened collar, to which two fresh roses had been clipped by a studded aigrette. First presented to His Majesty then Monseigneur [d'Alençon], she had a gracious humility to her. Her unfortunate childhood was of no secret to anyone gathered, and one gentleman marveled at her come-uppance in an otherwise harsh world." —* Madame la Comtesse Douairière de Guiche to her niece, Louise-Élisabeth de Béthune (c. 1721)
>
>

She regularly visited her mother in Paris — by late 1720, it was clear that the Duchesse Douairière de Sully, her mother, was ill. It was believed that she had contracted cancer of the breast in an advanced form. On 30th January 1721, Madeleine Armand de Cambout died at the Hôtel de Sully with Maximilienne by her side. For the remainder of her mandated mourning, she took refuge at the Hôtel de Sully before making her redebut to court in the spring.

### Marriage

In the first several years after the marriage of her uncle, an heir to the remaining Béthune estates had not yet been secured. Maximilien VI insisted that it was necessary for Maximilienne to marry, urging her to do so to ensure her estates and his own, which would potentially pass to her, would be kept in the immediate Béthune line established by Maximilien I. However, due to her status as a now-independent sovereign princess without the restraint of a regency, she was resentful to the idea of marriage and adamantly refused to agree.

Her uncle persisted with the idea of marriage and brokered an engagement between Maximilienne and Guillaume VII Anne de Joyeuse, Duc de Joyeuse. Descended from the favoured Anne de Joyeuse and his wife, Marguerite de Lorraine, the Duc de Joyeuse had an esteemed pedigree that was a satisfactory prospect to Maximilien VI. Initially, she was horrified and dug her heels in, maintaining her refusal to the idea of matrimony. She was, further, not impressed with the Duc de Joyeuse, pleading with her uncle to cancel the engagement. It was only after he agreed to supplement her with a significant income — in addition to her own revenues from the estates she held *suo jure* [in her own right] — that she relented to the marriage.

Maximilienne and Guillaume VII were wed on 2nd March 1724 at the Château des Ducs de Joyeuse. At the signing of their marriage contract, her husband was permitted the legal right to style himself as the Prince d'Henrichmont, Prince de Boisbelle, Marquis de Rosny, and Marquis de Nogent-le-Béthune *jure uxoris* [in right of his wife]. The pair spent a week in the province of Normandie in the Joyeuse holdings before returning to Fontainebleau.

Their marriage was reportedly not amicable nor warm. The Duc de Joyeuse thought little of the physical appearance of his wife, frequently speaking openly of his disdain for her in the presence of company. The new Duchesse de Joyeuse herself was not particularly fond of her husband, developing a resentment born out of her disinclination toward marriage as well as his "unfavourable" attributes.

### Béthune Estates

To avoid appearing at court with her husband, Maximilienne arranged a flight from court disguised as a political tour of Henrichmont and Boisbelle, neither of which she had properly visited during or prior to her assuming the princely titles therein. Upon her arrival in April 1724, she was appalled to find that coins were still being minted with her uncle as the figurehead as they had been under his regenecy; paperwork and other municipal proclamations were issued under the name of her late father, whose technical authority over any legislation was eternally defunct. Writing to her husband shortly after her arrival, she asserted that her presence in Henrichmont was necessary until a reorganzation of the local proceedings had been established. She resolved to remain in the principalities when otherwise not called for courtly duty.

After two years of legal suits and personal advocacy, Maximilienne oversaw the minting of coins with her personage on back of the currency, Jean IV appearing on the front. All proclamations were made under the authority of "Madame la Princesse-Souveraine d'Henrichmont et de Boisbelle". Her fervent battles in local courts and her reportedly dissatisfactory marriage resulted in her triumphs and tribulations being widely publicized. One publication in Boisbelle referred to her as "Glorianne", a play on the regnal term *gloriana*.

### Courtly Appointments

Despite her presentation to court in 1719, it was not until after her marriage that Maximilienne assumed a position in the royal household. At the handover of Gabrielle Louise de Lorraine, fiancée of Jean IV, Maximilienne attended alongside her husband. She was introduced by the Duc d'Alençon to the new consort, regaling her with the "storied" life of the young Duchesse de Joyeuse. After inquiring as to the nature of her employment at court, the young queen resolved for Maximilienne to assume control of her newly-established household. As such, after the wedding of Jean IV and Reine Louise, Maximilienne was appointed to the position of *Surintendante de la Maison de la Reine* and was formally recalled to court from Henrichmont in December 1726.

## Titles and Styles

**8th June 1701—24th December 1712:** Mademoiselle d'Henrichmont

**24th December 1712—2nd March 1724:** *Son Altesse* Madame la Princesse-Souveraine d'Henrichmont et de Boisbelle, Marquise de Rosny et de Nogent-le-Béthune

* **2nd March 1724—present:** *Son Altesse* Madame la Duchesse de Joyeuse