Élisabeth of France (Élisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène; 3 May 1764 – 10 May 1794), also known as Madame Élisabeth, was a French princess. She was the youngest child of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Duchess Maria Josepha of Saxony, and she was a sister of King Louis XVI. Élisabeth's father, the Dauphin, was the son and heir of King Louis XV and his popular wife, Queen Marie Leszczyńska. Élisabeth remained beside her brother and his family during the French Revolution, and she was executed during the Reign of Terror at the Place de la Révolution. The cause for her beatification and canonization has been introduced by the Catholic Church, and she has been declared a Servant of God by Pope Pius XII.
Early life
thumb|200px|left|Élisabeth as a child (portrait by [[Joseph Ducreux, 1768)]]
Élisabeth Philippe Marie Hélène was born on 3 May 1764 in the Palace of Versailles. She was the youngest child of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Marie-Josèphe of Saxony. Her paternal grandparents were King Louis XV and Queen Marie Leszczyńska. As the daughter of the Dauphin, she was a fille de France.
At the sudden death of her father in 1765, Élisabeth's oldest surviving brother, Louis-Auguste (later to be Louis XVI) became the new Dauphin (the heir apparent to the French throne). Their mother Marie Josèphe died in March 1767 from tuberculosis. This left Élisabeth an orphan at just two years old, along with her older siblings: Louis-Auguste, Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, Charles Philippe, Count of Artois, and Marie Clotilde of France.
thumb|200px|right|Élisabeth Philippe Marie Helene de France (engraving by [[Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, c. 1775)]]
Élisabeth and her elder sister, Clotilde of France, were raised by Madame de Marsan, Governess to the Children of France. They were given the usual education of contemporary royal princesses, focusing upon accomplishments, religion and virtue, an education to which Clotilde reportedly willingly subjected herself. They were tutored in botany by M. Lemonnier, in history and geography by M. Leblond, and in religion by Abbé de Montigat, Canon of Chartres, and they followed the court among the royal palaces, with their days divided between studies, walks in the Park, and drives in the forest. Madame de Marsan would often take her to visit the students at St. Cyr, where select young ladies were presented to be introduced to the princess.
Louis XVI
thumb|Madame Élisabeth with harp
On 10 May 1774, her grandfather, King Louis XV, died, and her elder brother Louis-Auguste ascended the throne as Louis XVI.
In August 1775, her sister Clotilde left France for her marriage to the Crown Prince of Sardinia. The farewell between the sisters was described as intense, with Élisabeth hardly able to tear herself from Clotilde’s arms. Queen Marie Antoinette commented:
:"My sister Elisabeth is a charming child, who has intelligence, character, and much grace; she showed the greatest feeling, and much above her age, at the departure of her sister. The poor little girl was in despair, and as her health is very delicate, she was taken ill and had a very severe nervous attack. I own to my dear mamma that I fear I am getting too attached to her, feeling, from the example of my aunts, how essential it is for her happiness not to remain an old maid in this country." The ceremony was described: "Mme Élisabeth accompanied by the Princesse de Guéménée, the under governesses, and the ladies in attendance, went to the King's apartments, and there Mme de Guéménée formally handed over her charge to His Majesty, who sent for Mme la Comtesse Diane de Polignac, maid of honour to the Princess and Mme la Marquise de Sereat, her lady-in-waiting, into whose care he gave Mme Élisabeth." and the latter view was shared by Élisabeth who, as a monarchist, regarded the queen's disregard of etiquette as a threat to the monarchy, and once remarked in connection to it: "if sovereigns descended often to the people, the people would approach near enough to see that the Queen was only a pretty woman, and that they would soon conclude that the King was merely the first among officials." Élisabeth refused to emigrate when the gravity of the events set in motion by the French Revolution became clear.
On 5 October 1789, Élisabeth saw the Women's March on Versailles from Montreuil and immediately returned to the Palace of Versailles. She advised the king to carry out "a vigorous and speedy repression of the riot"
Trial
Élisabeth was not regarded as dangerous by Robespierre, and the original intention had been to banish her from France. In the order of 1 August 1793, which stated for the removal and trial of Marie Antoinette, it was in fact stated that Élisabeth should not be tried, but exiled: "All the members of the Capet family shall be exiled from the territory of the Republic, with the exception of Louis Capet's children, and the members of the family who are under the jurisdiction of the Law. Élisabeth Capet cannot be exiled until after the trial of Marie Antoinette."
On 9 May 1794, Élisabeth, referred to only as "sister of Louis Capet", was transferred to the Conciergerie by a delegation of commissaries headed by Monet acting upon the orders of Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville. Élisabeth embraced Marie-Therese and assured her that she would return. When Commissary Eudes stated that she would not return, she told Marie-Therese to show courage and trust in God. One of her co-accused was reprieved from execution because of pregnancy. In the notes of the trial of Nicolas Pasquin, her valet of the chambers, she is referred to as the sister of the tyrant Capet. Pasquin, at the age of 36 years, was also sentenced to death for his own alleged part in the conspiracy of 10 August 1792, and executed on 6 February.
When she left court, Fouquier-Tinville remarked to the President: "One must allow that she has not uttered a complaint", upon which Dumas replied: "Of what should Elizabeth of France complain? Have we not today given her a court of aristocrats worthy of her? There will be nothing to prevent her fancying herself still in the salons of Versailles when she sees herself, surrounded by this faithful nobility, at the foot of the holy guillotine." Near the Pont Neuf, the white kerchief which covered her head was blown off, and thus being the only person with a bare head, she attracted special attention from the spectators, and witnesses attested that she was calm during the whole process. At the time of the Restoration, her brother Louis XVIII searched for her remains, only to discover that the bodies interred there had decomposed to a state where they could no longer be identified. Élisabeth's remains, with that of other victims of the guillotine (including Robespierre, also buried at the Errancis Cemetery) were later placed in the Catacombs of Paris. A medallion represents her at the Basilica of Saint Denis.
Cause of beatification and canonization
The beatification process was introduced in 1924 In 1953, Pope Pius XII recognized by decree the heroic nature of Elisabeth's virtues. On 15 November 2017, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, the Archbishop of Paris, promulgated the edict that officially opened the cause. The investigation on diocesan level was opened on 2 May 2024.
In 2016, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, reactivated the cause of Princess Élisabeth's beatification. Xavier Snoëk, a former parish priest of the Parish of Sainte-Élisabeth de Hungary, being appointed postulator for the cause (church located in the former Temple district where the princess was imprisoned), and in May 2017 recognized the association faithful promoters of her cause.
On 15 November 2017, Vingt-Trois, after consulting the Conference of Bishops of France and the nihil obstat of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome, hopes that the process will lead to the canonization of Princess Elisabeth, sister of Louis XVI.
Snoëk has suggested an alternate path for the beatification of Élisabeth based on the motu proprio Maiorem hac dilectionem promulgated by Pope Francis on 11 July 2017. Because her indictment made no reference to her religion, she was not killed in 'odium fidei' (hatred of the faith) and therefore might not be considered a martyr. If she is not considered a martyr, Snoëk points out that a miracle that occurred after Élisabeth's death and obtained through her intercession remains necessary.
Snoëk for Élisabeth's cause promotes that she could be a patron saint for single people, as she found meaning in her life through her commitment and faith, rather than a romantic relationship.
Assessment
Élisabeth, who had turned thirty a week before her death, was executed essentially because she was a sister of the king; however, the general consensus of the French revolutionaries was that she was a supporter of the ultra-right royalist faction. There is much evidence to suggest that she actively supported the intrigues of the Comte d'Artois to bring foreign armies into France to crush the Revolution. In monarchist circles, her exemplary private life elicited much admiration. Élisabeth was much praised for her charitable nature, familial devotion and devout Catholic faith. There can be no question that she saw the Revolution as the incarnation of evil on earth and viewed civil war as the only means to drive it from the land.
Several biographies have been published of her in French, while extensive treatment of her life is given in Antonia Fraser's biography of Marie Antoinette and Deborah Cadbury's investigative biography of Louis XVII.
Ancestors
References
Sources
Primary sources
- Duchess of Angoulême's Memoirs on the Captivity in the Temple (from the autograph manuscript; see in particular Part 3)
- Duchess of Angoulême's Memoirs on the Captivity in the Temple, (1823 English translation of a slightly redacted French edition; see in particular Part 3)