From France to Florence : Marriage Strategies, Political Education and Raison d’État in the Case of Marguerite-Louise d’Orléans

This essay examines the figure of the Grand Duchess Marguerite-Louise d’Orléans and her unhappy marriage. Inserted within the rationale of raison d’état, her biographical narrative reveals important aspects of this royal princess’s political education. The decisions she took relate back to the peculiarities related to her education and upbringing during the events of the Fronde. Further, the close bond with her mother, Marguerite of Lorraine, duchess of Orléans, and her mother’s interventions during the Florentine period, help us to understand the political dimensions of the actions Marguerite-Louise subsequently undertook. Several contemporary sources, notably a lengthy letter from an anonymous former spiritual guide, provide a deeper understanding of her rank and her cultural milieu, the product of a princess’s education in an era of political turmoil and changing attitudes towards elite women’s behaviour.