Christine Marie of France
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House of Bourbon
Henri IV
Sister
Catherine, Duchess of Lorraine
Children
Louis XIII
Elisabeth, Queen of Spain
Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy
Nicholas Henri, duc d'Orléans
Gaston, duc d'Orléans
Henriette-Marie, Queen of England
Louis XIII
Children
Louis XIV
Philippe, duc d'Orléans
Louis XIV
Children
Louis, Dauphin
Anne-Élisabeth
Marie-Anne
Marie-Therèse
Philippe-Charles, duc d'Anjou
Louis-François, duc d'Anjou
Grandchildren
Louis, Dauphin
King Felipe V of Spain
Charles, duc de Berry
Great Grandchildren
Louis, Dauphin
Louis XV
Louis XV
Children
Louise-Elisabeth, duchesse de Parme
Madame Henriette
Louis, Dauphin
Madame Adélaïde
Madame Victoire
Madame Sophie
Madame Louise
Grandchildren
Marie Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia
Louis XVI
Louis XVIII
Charles X
Madame Élisabeth
Louis XVI
Children
Marie-Thérèse, duchesse d'Angouleme
Louis-Joseph, Dauphin
Louis XVII
Sophie-Beatrix
Louis XVII
Louis XVIII
Charles X
Children
Louis XIX
Charles, duc de Berry
Grandchildren
Henri V
Louise, duchesse de Parme
French monarchy, 843–1870
v • d • e

Christine Marie de France (Italian: Maria Cristina di Francia, Madama Reale), (February 10, 1606 - December 27, 1663) was Regent of Savoy between 1637 and 1663.

Life

Born in at the Palais du Louvre in Paris, she was the third child and second daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, the Italian Marie de' Medici. As a daughter of the king, she was a Fille de France.

She was a younger sister of Louis XIII of France and Elisabeth of Bourbon. She was also an older sister of Nicholas Henri de France, duc d'Orléans, Gaston, duc d'Orleans and Henrietta Maria of France. Christine was a sister-in-law of Philip IV of Spain through Elisabeth and of Charles I of England through Henrietta Maria.

After the marriage of her older sister Elisabeth in 1615 to the Prince of Asturias, Christine took on the honourary title of Madame Royale indicating her status as the eldest and most senior unmarried daughter at the court of her father. After her marriage, the style went to her younger sister, the beautiful Henriette Marie de France.

The House of Bourbon after the birth of Nicholas de France in 1607. Christine is on the far right.

Christine as Duchess of Savoy

Christine as Regent of Savoy

Marriage

She married Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy, on February 10, 1619 in Paris. He was a son of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Caterina Micaela of Spain. Caterina Micaela was in turn a daughter of Philip II of Spain and Elisabeth of Valois. Elizabeth was a daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.

Children

• Louis Amadeus (1622 - 1628)
• Louise Christine (July 27, 1629 - May 14, 1692), married her uncle Maurice of Savoy
• Francis Hyacinth (September 14, 1632 - October 4, 1638), Duke of Savoy
• Charles Emmanuel II (June 20, 1634 - June 12, 1675), Duke of Savoy
• Margaret Yolande (November 15, 1635 - April 29, 1663), married Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma
• Adelaide Henrietta (November 6, 1636 - March 18 1676), married Ferdinand Maria of Wittelsbach, Elector of Bavaria
• Catherine Beatrice (November 6, 1636 - August 26, 1637)

Victor Amadeus became Duke after the death of his father in 1630.

Francis Hyacinth, Duke of Savoy

Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy

Henriette Adelaide of Savoy

Regent

Christine Marie of France, a strong, confident woman assumed the Regency for her two sons, Francis Hyacinth and Charles Emmanuel II.

Both Maurice of Savoy and his younger brother Thomas disputed the power of their sister-in-law, and her French entourage. When the first heir Francis Hyacinth died in 1638, both brothers started the Piedmontese Civil War, with Spanish support. The two parties were called "principisti" (supporters of the Princes) and "madamisti" (supporters of Madama Reale).

After four years of fighting, Christine Marie was victorious, thanks to French military support. Not only did she keep the Duchy for her son, she also prevented France getting too much power in the Duchy. When peace was concluded in 1642 , Maurice married his fourteen-year old niece Louise Christine, abandoning the title of cardinal and asking dispensation from Pope Paul V. Maurice became governor of Nice. Christine Marie of France stayed in firm control of the Duchy of Savoy, until her son could follow in her footsteps.

Death

She died in Turin in 1663 at the age of 57. She had outlived 4 of her seven children. 17 years after her death, in 1680, her granddaughter Victoria of Bavaria via her third daughter Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, would marry her older brother's grandson Louis de France known as 'the Fat' and Monseigneur. Christine Marie thus became a direct ancestress of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon via Victoria's second son Philip V of Spain.

Ancestors

Titles