Maria Fortunata d'Este

Maria Fortunata d'Este
Maria Fortunata by an unknown artist.
Princess of Conti
Reign	2 August 1776 – 21 September 1803
Born	(1731-11-24)24 November 1731 Ducal Palace, Modena
Died	21 September 1803(1803-09-21) (aged 71) Venice, Italy
Burial	Convent of the Visitation, Venice
Spouse	Louis François Joseph de Bourbon
Full name Maria Fortunata d'Este
Father	Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena
Mother	Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans
Religion	Roman Catholicism
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Maria Fortunata d'Este (24 November 1731 – 21 September 1803) was a Modenese princess by birth and a princess of the blood of France by marriage. By her marriage to a second cousin Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, she became the Countess of La Marche and later the Princess of Conti and was a member of the French court of Louis XV and Louis XVI. She was the last Princess of Conti and died without issue.

She was born at the Ducal Palace of Modena, the fourth daughter and eighth child of Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena, the Sovereign Duke of Modena and his young wife Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, Mademoiselle de Valois — granddaughter of Louis XIV of France and Madame de Montespan. Her older sister Maria Teresa was her eldest surviving sibling followed by her brother the future Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Modena. The rest of her siblings would die unmarried.

Maria Fortunata was known to have been very pious and at the same time rather timid but charming. Her mother separated from her father in the 1740s after an affair with the Duke of Richelieu was discovered at the Modenese court. Exiled to France, Charlotte Aglaé still managed to help arrange the marriages of two of her daughters. The eldest Maria Teresa Felicitas married her second cousin, the Duke of Penthièvre, the wealthiest man in France and the future in laws of Philippe Égalité. Maria Fortunata also married a cousin, Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, the heir to the Prince of Conti.