Suzanne Henriette | |||||
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Portrait by Rigaud
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Duchess of Mantua and Montferrat | |||||
Tenure | 8 November 1704 – 5 July 1708 | ||||
Born |
France |
1 February 1686||||
Died | 19 October 1710 Paris, France |
(aged 24)||||
Burial | Carmel du faubourg Saint-Germain, Paris | ||||
Spouse | Ferdinand Charles Gonzaga | ||||
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House | House of Lorraine | ||||
Father | Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf | ||||
Mother | Françoise de Montault de Navailles |
Full name | |
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Suzanne Henriette de Lorraine |
Suzanne Henriette of Lorraine (1 February 1686 – 19 October 1710) was a member of the House of Lorraine and was the Duchess of Mantua by marriage. Her husband Ferdinand Charles Gonzaga was the last Gonzaga Duke of Mantua.
Suzanne Henriette was the penultimate daughter of Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf and his third wife Françoise de Montault de Navailles. Her two older half brothers, Henri and Emmanuel Maurice were successively Dukes of Elbeuf. She was known as Mademoiselle d'Elbeuf, derived from her fathers title.
Although the Lorraine-Elbeufs were reckoned among the princes etrangers at the court of France, as a cadet branch (Elbeuf) of a non-reigning cadet branch (Guise) of the House of Lorraine, it was not their custom to marry crowned heads. Nevertheless, Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat sought Suzanne Henriette's hand in pursuit of a dynastic alliance with another reigning ducal house under French influence. She married Gonzaga in Milan on 8 November 1704 accompanied by her grandmother Catherine Henriette de Bourbon. To the French, her husband was known as Charles de Gonzagne.