Marie Jeanne of Savoy - Wife and Duchess of Savoy

Wife and Duchess of Savoy

In Savoy her name was Italianised to Maria Giovanna Batista di Savoia and was known as Madama Reale. This name was a reference to the style Madame Royale which was from her native France and used by the late Christine Marie. Marie Jeanne was praised as being an attractive and intelligent woman. Almost a year after the marriage the 21-year-old duchess gave birth to a son on 14 May 1666 who was named Victor Amadeus in honour of Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy the child's grandfather and husband of Christine Marie. In the same year her sister Marie Françoise married Afonso VI of Portugal. The two sisters remained close all their lives. Prior to her husband's death, Marie Jeanne played little part in the politics of the time. In his reign, her husband carried out various improvements to the royal residences and left a great architectural legacy in Savoy. The couple also ordered the construction of various churches in Turin.

Her husband also had various illegitimate children and mistresses who Marie Jeanne was obliged to ignore. In 1672 Hortense Mancini, on the run from her husband, sought the protection of Charles Emmanuel II who granted it. Much to Marie Jeanne's annoyance, she became a feature at court and was given the Château de Chambéry, but was obliged to leave when Marie Jeanne took power at the death of her husband. On 12 June 1675 her husband suddenly died in Turin at the age of forty after a series of convulsive fevers. On his death bed he pronounced his wife Marie Jeanne to become Regent of Savoy at his death.