Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern - Count Vittorio Alfieri

Count Vittorio Alfieri

In 1774 Charles and Louise moved to Florence. It was there that they began to use the title "Count and Countess of Albany". In 1776 the Italian poet Count Vittorio Alfieri was presented at their palace; he became a frequent visitor. In Rome Louise had had several young men pay court to her, but these relationships had probably not been adulterous. But sometime in 1778 Louise and Alfieri became lovers.

Meanwhile Louise's husband Charles had become a drunkard again as he had been a number of years before. In December 1780 Louise left Charles and took refuge in a convent. She claimed, and it is widely believed to be true, that Charles had become physically abusive to her. Louise received the support of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, the pope, and her brother-in-law the Cardinal Duke of York, all of whom were unaware of Louise's ongoing adulterous relationship with Alfieri.

Within a few weeks Louise moved back to Rome. She lived briefly at the Ursuline Convent before moving to her brother-in-law's official residence, the Palazzo della Cancelleria. Alfieri followed Louise to Rome where for two years they carried on their affair in secret. In April 1783 the Cardinal Duke of York finally discovered the truth. In early May Alfieri left Rome in order to avoid being expelled by force.

In April 1784 Charles was induced by King Gustav III of Sweden to grant Louise a decree of separation. The couple did not divorce (since no such legal procedure existed in the Papal States), but Louise was thereby permitted to live separately from her husband.

In June 1784 Louise left Rome, purportedly to summer at the baths of Baden. In August she was reunited with Alfieri at Colmar. They spent the next two months together at the castle of Martinsburg. In order to continue to keep their meeting secret from the Cardinal-Duke of York (who was the chief source of Louise's income), they separated again, and Louise spent the winter of 1784/1785 in Bologna. She summered in Paris, before returning to Martinsburg where she was joined again by Alfieri in September. After two months Louise returned to Paris.

In 1786 the Cardinal-Duke of York learnt of the ongoing relationship between Louise and Alfieri. This caused a complete rupture between Louise and her brother-in-law. Henceforth she made no attempt to hide her relationship with Alfieri. From December 1786 onwards they lived together as a couple with only occasional and brief separations.

On the last day of January 1788, Louise's husband Charles died. This resulted in a substantial improvement in her financial situation thanks to a previously agreed pension from the King of France. Although Louise now had the freedom to marry Alfieri, they did not regularise their relationship, since Alfieri had always opposed the institution of marriage. They lived at first in Paris. There Louise established a famous salon in her home to which the most important writers, artists, and intellectuals were invited.

In 1791 Louise and Alfieri paid a four-month visit to England. In 1792 the 10th of August insurrection encouraged them to flee from Paris, only two days before the republican authorities went to their home to arrest them.

Louise and Alfieri settled in Florence. In 1793 Alfieri purchased Palazzo Gianfigliazzi, a mansion overlooking the River Arno. Here Louise re-established her famous salon, although perhaps on a somewhat smaller scale than in Paris.

Louise continued to live with Alfieri until his death in 1803.