Christine of France | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christine Marie in 1633 holding onto the Savoyard Coronet; in the background is the Castello del Valentino where she lived from 1630
|
|||||
Duchess of Savoy | |||||
Reign | 26 July 1630 – 7 October 1637 | ||||
Born |
Palais du Louvre, Paris, France |
10 February 1606||||
Died | 27 December 1663 Palazzo Madama, Turin, Savoy |
(aged 57)||||
Burial | Basilica of Sant'Andrea, Vercelli, Savoy | ||||
Spouse | Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy | ||||
Issue Detail |
Princess Louise Christine Francis Hyacinth, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy Margaret Yolande, Duchess of Parma Henrietta Adelaide, Electress of Bavaria |
||||
|
|||||
House | House of Bourbon | ||||
Father | Henry IV of France | ||||
Mother | Marie de' Medici | ||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
Signature |
Full name | |
---|---|
Christine Marie |
Christine Marie of France (10 February 1606 – 27 December 1663) was the sister of Louis XIII and the Duchess of Savoy by marriage. At the death of her husband Victor Amadeus I in 1637, she acted as regent of Savoy between 1637 and 1648.
Christine was born in 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 France. She was also an older sister of Nicholas Henri, Duke of Orléans, Gaston, Duke of Orléans and Henrietta Maria of France. Christine was a sister-in-law of Philip IV of Spain through Élisabeth and of Charles I of England through Henrietta Maria.
After the marriage of her older sister Elisabeth in 1615 to the future Philip IV of Spain, Christine took on the honorary 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 Henrietta Maria of France.
She married Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy, on 10 February 1619 at the Louvre in the capital. From 1619 till her husband's accession, she was known as the Princess of Piedmont. He was a son of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain. Caterina Micaela was in turn a daughter of Philip II of Spain and Elisabeth of Valois. Elisabeth was a daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. She was said to be volatile and frivolous. Educated at the French court, she introduced French culture to the court of Savoy; she later lived at the Palazzo Madama which she had rebuilt. She was also the driving force for the reconstruction of the Castello del Valentino as well as the additions to the Royal Palace of Turin. She would also later own Vigna di Madama Reale, old residence of her brother in law Maurice of Savoy.