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Marie Anne de La Trémoille, ''princesse des Ursins'' (1642 – December 5, 1722), lady of the Spanish court, was the daughter of the duc de Noirmoutier and his wife Renée Julie Aubri. Dying at the age of 80, she played a central role at the Spanish Royal Court during the first years of the reign of Philip V before her ousting from the country following a power struggle with Elisabeth of Parma with whom there was a 50-year difference in age. ==Life== She was married young to Adrien Blaise de Talleyrand, prince de Chalais. Her husband, having been concerned in the duel of four against four, in which the duke of Beauvilliers was killed in 1663, was compelled to flee France. He died soon afterward in Spain, and his widow established herself in Rome. In 1675 she married Flavio Orsini, duke of Bracciano. The marriage was far from harmonious, but her husband left her his fortune (popular imagination thought it to be huge, in reality, the duke was almost bankrupt) and the leadership of the French party in Rome. It brought her a series of lawsuits and troubles with Livio Odescalchi, nephew of Pope Innocent XI, who claimed that he had been adopted by the duke. At last the widow sold the title and estates to Odescalchi. She then assumed the title of Princesse des Ursins, a corruption of Orsini, and was tacitly allowed to use it, though it had no legal existence. The Princesse des Ursins had indulged in a great deal of unofficial diplomacy at Rome, more particularly with Neapolitans and Spaniards of rank, whom it was desirable to secure as French partisans in view of the approaching death of Charles II of Spain, and the plans of Louis XIV for placing his family on the Spanish throne. Her services in favour of France were rewarded in 1699 by a pension which her problematic financial situation made necessary to her. When Philip de France, ''duc d'Anjou'', grandson of the French king, was declared heir by the will of Charles II, the princess took an active part in arranging his marriage with Princess Maria Luisa of Savoy, a daughter of the duke of Savoy. Her ambition was to secure the post of ''Camarera mayor de Palacio'', or chief of the household to the young queen, a child of barely thirteen. By quiet diplomacy, and the help of Madame de Maintenon, she succeeded, and in 1701 she accompanied the young queen to Spain. Till 1714, the year of the decease of the queen, she was the most powerful person in the country. Her functions about the king and queen were almost those of a nurse. Her letters show that she had to put them to bed at night, and get them up in the morning. She gives a most amusing description of her embarrassments when she had to enter the royal bedroom, laden with articles of clothing and furniture. But if the ''Camarera mayor de Palacio'' did the work of a domestic servant, it was for a serious political purpose. She was expected to look after French interests in the palace, and to manage the Spanish nobles, many of whom were of the Austrian party, and who were generally opposed to foreign ways, or to interferences with the absurdly elaborate etiquette of the Spanish court. Madame des Ursins was resolved not to be a mere agent of Versailles. During the first period of her tenure of office she was in frequent conflict with the French ambassadors, who claimed the right of sitting in the council and of directing the government. Madame des Ursins wisely held that the young king should rely as much as possible on his Spanish subjects. In 1704 her enemies at the French court secured her recall. But she still had the support of Madame de Maintenon, and her own tact enabled her to placate Louis XIV. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Marie Anne de La Trémoille, princesse des Ursins」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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