Surrounding the central green space and basin on raised balustrated terraces are twenty figures of French queens and saints standing on pedestals. King Louis-Philippe I chose the women to be placed on the terrace of the garden and in 1848 commissioned a different sculptor for each woman. Each statue is made of marble, and each one is unique. They all look like strong, purposeful, sometimes formidable, women who have been honored in their own right, independent of their marital status. Learning about them is like a mini-history lesson on French royalty. The order of the statues starts on the right, facing the Palace, and continues clockwise around the garden.
Sainte Bathilde (626-680) was an Anglo-Saxon who was originally of elite birth. She was sold into slavery as a young girl and served in the household of the mayor of the palace of Clovis, king of Burgundy. She was beautiful, intelligent, modest and attentive to the needs of others. Clovis noticed her and asked for her hand in marriage. Even as queen, Bathilde remained humble and modest. She is famous for her charitable service and generous donations.
Berthe de Laon (710-783), called Bertha Broadfoot, was a Frankish queen who was the wife of Pepin the Short and the mother of Charlemagne, Carloman and Gisela. The exact reason that Berthe was given her nickname is unclear. It is possible that she was born with a clubfoot. Many myths and legends exist in Europe and Asia, in which clubfooted people are described as the link between the world of the living and the spirit world. She is holding a small statue of what looks like a king sitting on his throne. It may be a reference to Berthe as “kingmaker,” because her son Charlemagne has been called the "Father of Europe," as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire.
Reine Mathilde de Flandre (1031-1083) was the wife of William the Conqueror and Queen of England. Matilda of Flanders was of grander birth than William, who was illegitimate, and she initially refused his proposal on this account. According to legend, William waylaid her on the way home from church and dragged her off her horse by her long braids. For such audacity, she took him to be a daring and courageous man and agreed to marry him. When William embarked on the Norman conquest of England and became the first Norman king of England, Matilda governed the Duchy of Normandy in his absence. She bore William ten children who survived to adulthood, including two kings, William II and Henry I. All later sovereigns of England and the United Kingdom are directly descended continuously from her, including Queen Elizabeth II. She is holding a scepter in one hand and a sword in the other. Her braids are a prominent feature of the statue.
Sainte Geneviève (423-512) dedicated herself to God at a very young age. She committed her life to prayer, practices of devotion and acts of penance. When Attila and his army of Huns came upon Paris, the Parisian Christians were prepared to run, but Geneviève convinced them to stay within their homes, fast and pray to the Lord. She assured them God would protect them. Her prediction came true as Attila suddenly changed his path and turned away from Paris. St. Geneviève is the patron saint of Paris. She is always depicted wearing a long flowing gown along with a mantle, (sleeveless cloak-like garment) over her shoulders.
Marie Stuart (1542-1587) was the Queen of Scots, from her birth until 1567; she was Queen consort of France by marriage; and claimant to the throne of England by bloodline. She was a potential threat to the stability of the English crown, so Mary was held captive by her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. After eighteen and a half years in custody, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth, and was subsequently beheaded. The queen wore a red gown under her cloak for her execution; red is the liturgical color of martyrdom in the Catholic church. By wearing red, Mary declared herself a Catholic martyr executed for her beliefs. Her statue shows her holding a bible to her heart in her left hand and a cloth in her right. The cloth may represent the gold-trimmed Corpus Christi cloth her lady-in-waiting, Jane Kennedy, put over Mary’s face right before the beheading. (my speculation about the cloth - a Corpus Christi cloth is a veil used to cover a monstrance holding Holy Communion wafers on the altar--the cloth she is holding had to be something special.)
Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (1528-1572) was the queen regnant (ruling queen, not the wife of a king) of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. She was the mother of Henry of Bourbon, who became King Henry IV of France, the first Bourbon king of France. Jeanne was the leader of the French Huguenot movement, and a key figure in the French Wars of Religion. (war between Catholics and Protestant Huguenots.) In 1572 Jeanne agreed to a marriage between Marguerite Valois, Catholic daughter of Catherine de Medici and female heir to the Valois house, and Henry of Navarre, Jeanne’s son. The marriage was meant to bind the relationship between the Valois and Bourbon families and cement an unsteady truce in France between the Catholic and Huguenot factions. In August, 1572, Catherine de Medici used the wedding of her daughter to Jeanne's son as an opportunity to kill the assembled Huguenot leaders in what history knows as the St. Bartholomew Massacre. Mercifully, Jeanne had died suddenly in June, 1572, while planning her son’s wedding. Rumor had it that Catherine de Medici poisoned Jeanne, but an autopsy proved otherwise--Jeanne had died of natural causes.
Clémence d’Isaure (1464 -?) is a legendary medieval figure whose beauty and talent were rare and inspiring. Raoul, her troubadour lover, praised her through his beautiful songs. Clémence replied, not with words, but with flowers, to his declarations of love for her. Raoul, the natural son of Count Raymond of Toulouse, and his father were slain in the war against the Emperor Maximilian. Clémence resolved to enter a convent. Before doing so, she established a poetic festival for the city of Toulouse as a noble tribute to the memory of her troubadour. The “Jeux Floraux” (Floral Games) awarded five different flowers to the winners of poetic contests. The flowers, wrought in gold and silver, had been the same as the ones she gave in reply to her lover. Whether or not she really existed, Clémence will remain the feminine ideal who was an inspiration to poets. Her posture seems languid rather than dynamic and has a feminine sensuality that sets her apart from the other women.
Duchess de Montpensier, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans (1627-1693), known as La Grande Mademoiselle, was one of the greatest heiresses in history and a cousin of Louis XIV; however, she died unmarried and childless, leaving her vast fortune to her cousin, Philippe of France. She received many proposals from members of European ruling families but fell in love with a high-ranking soldier in the court of Louis XIV, Antoine Nompar de Caumont, and wanted to marry him, a union viewed by the court of France as a “misalliance,” nowadays known as “marrying down.” She is best remembered for her Mémoires, which may be indicated by the scroll she is holding.
Louise de Savoie (1476-1531) was a French noblewoman, Duchess sue jure (in her own right) of Auvergne and Bourbon, and mother of King Francis I of France. When she was widowed at the young age of 19, she moved her family to the court of King Louis XII, her husband's cousin. Her son Francis became a favorite of the king, who gave him his daughter Claude de France in marriage, thereby designating Francis as his heir. With the death of Louis XII in 1515, Francis became king of France. Louise served as the Regent of France in 1515, in 1525–1526 and in 1529.( A regent is a person appointed to administer a state because the monarch is a minor, is absent or is incapacitated.)Through her daughter Margaret of Angoulême and her granddaughter Jeanne d'Albret, she is the ancestress of the Bourbon kings of France, as her great-grandson, Henry of Navarre, succeeded as Henry IV of France. Her statue looks very stern, and she is pointing downward, as if she is giving an order to a child.
Marguerite d’Anjou (1429-1482) was the wife of King Henry VI of England. As such, she was Queen of England from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Owing to her husband's mental instability, Margaret ruled the kingdom in his place. She was a principal figure in the civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses, fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne; at times, she personally led the army of the House of Lancaster. The civil conflict lasted for over thirty years and caused the deaths of thousands of men, including her only son at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. Margaret was taken prisoner by the victorious Yorkists after the Lancastrian defeat at this battle. In 1475, she was ransomed by her cousin, King Louis XI of France. She went to live in France as a poor relation of the French king, and she died there at the age of 52. She is represented with her son Edward as a child, clinging to his mother.
Laure de Noves (1310-1348) was the poet Francesco Petrarch’s inspiration and muse. He fell in love with her at first sight and was haunted by her beauty for the rest of his life. Laura was born six years after Petrarch in 1310 in Avignon, the daughter of a knight, Audibert de Noves and his wife Ermessenda. She married at the age of 15 in 1325. Petrarch saw her for the first time two years later on April 6 (Good Friday) in 1327 at Easter mass in the church of Sainte-Claire d'Avignon. Not much is known about her other than she had a large family, was a virtuous wife, and died in 1348. She is represented with her head lowered, lost in her reveries. The paper she holds in her right hand is most certainly one of Petrarch’s poems. If she was real, and this is not a certainty, it is unknown if they ever spoke, or if she ever knew of his feelings for her.
Marie de Médicis (1575-1542) was Queen of France as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. Born in Florence, Italy, she was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici in Tuscany. Upon the assassination of Henry IV (May 14, 1610), she acted as regent for her son, King Louis XIII of France, until he came of age. She commissioned the building of the Palais du Luxembourg in 1615 and installed her household in 1625. The construction and furnishing of the Palais du Luxembourg, which she referred to as her "Palais Médicis," formed her major artistic project during her regency. Marie took part in political intrigues at the French court but was not known for her political acumen. Her son Louis XIII, once into his legal majority, asserted his authority by overturning the foreign policy pursued by his mother and exiled the queen to the Chateau de Blois. In 1619 she escaped and although she mounted a rebellion along with another son, Gaston d’Orléans, Cardinal Richelieu intervened with the king, and she was readmitted to the king’s council in 1622. By 1628, Marie was at odds with the Cardinal and lost a power struggle with him. Marie was banished again and fled to Brussels in 1631. She never returned to France and died eleven years later, destitute. In the sculpture, she is dressed regally and elaborately. Having the statue of Marie de Medici, Queen of France, within the Jardin du Luxembourg is very appropriate, considering that it was she who had the Palais du Luxembourg constructed and the gardens originally laid out back in the early 1600s.
Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) was the princess of France, Queen of Navarre, and Duchess of Alençon and Berry. She was married to Henry II of Navarre. Her brother became King of France, as Francis I, and the two siblings sponsored the celebrated intellectual and cultural salons of their day in France. After the death of her first husband, Charles, duc d’Alencon, in 1525, she married Henry II of Navarre (Henry d’Albret). Although she bore Henry a daughter, Jeanne d’Albret (mother of the future Henry IV of France), the couple was soon estranged. Margaret was, on the other hand, always devoted to her brother and is credited with saving his life when he became ill in a Madrid prison after his capture during the disastrous French expedition into Italy in 1525. Marguerite is the ancestress of the Bourbon kings of France, being the mother of Jeanne d’Albret, whose son, Henry of Navarre, succeeded as Henry IV of France. As an author and a patroness of the arts, she was an outstanding figure of the French Renaissance. Samuel Putnam (1892-1950, American scholar of romance languages) called her "The First Modern Woman".
Marie de Médicis (1575-1542) was Queen of France as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. Born in Florence, Italy, she was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici in Tuscany. Upon the assassination of Henry IV (May 14, 1610), she acted as regent for her son, King Louis XIII of France, until he came of age. She commissioned the building of the Palais du Luxembourg in 1615 and installed her household in 1625. The construction and furnishing of the Palais du Luxembourg, which she referred to as her "Palais Médicis," formed her major artistic project during her regency. Marie took part in political intrigues at the French court but was not known for her political acumen. Her son Louis XIII, once into his legal majority, asserted his authority by overturning the foreign policy pursued by his mother and exiled the queen to the Chateau de Blois. In 1619 she escaped and although she mounted a rebellion along with another son, Gaston d’Orléans, Cardinal Richelieu intervened with the king, and she was readmitted to the king’s council in 1622. By 1628, Marie was at odds with the Cardinal and lost a power struggle with him. Marie was banished again and fled to Brussels in 1631. She never returned to France and died eleven years later, destitute. In the sculpture, she is dressed regally and elaborately. Having the statue of Marie de Medici, Queen of France, within the Jardin du Luxembourg is very appropriate, considering that it was she who had the Palais du Luxembourg constructed and the gardens originally laid out back in the early 1600s.
Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) was the princess of France, Queen of Navarre, and Duchess of Alençon and Berry. She was married to Henry II of Navarre. Her brother became King of France, as Francis I, and the two siblings sponsored the celebrated intellectual and cultural salons of their day in France. After the death of her first husband, Charles, duc d’Alencon, in 1525, she married Henry II of Navarre (Henry d’Albret). Although she bore Henry a daughter, Jeanne d’Albret (mother of the future Henry IV of France), the couple was soon estranged. Margaret was, on the other hand, always devoted to her brother and is credited with saving his life when he became ill in a Madrid prison after his capture during the disastrous French expedition into Italy in 1525. Marguerite is the ancestress of the Bourbon kings of France, being the mother of Jeanne d’Albret, whose son, Henry of Navarre, succeeded as Henry IV of France. As an author and a patroness of the arts, she was an outstanding figure of the French Renaissance. Samuel Putnam (1892-1950, American scholar of romance languages) called her "The First Modern Woman".
In 1389, Valentine de Milan (1370-1408), Duchesse d’Orléans, married her first cousin, Louis de Valois, who was the younger brother of King Charles VI of France. Because of intrigues at the court of Charles VI and the enmity of Queen Isabeau of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, Valentina was exiled from the court and had to leave Paris. There were rumors at the time that Isabeau was having an affair with Louis and that Valentina was very close to the King, who was going through a period of madness. Louis de Valois was murdered by his cousin and political rival, John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy in 1407. Valentina outlived her husband by only a little over a year, dying at Blois at the age of 38. Her son Charles, Duke of Orléans, became a renowned medieval French poet, having produced more than 500 poems, written in both French and English, during his 25 years spent as a prisoner of war in England. He was also the father of King Louis XII of France. The marble sculpture depicts Valentina, looking very young, wearing a long dress which she lifts slightly with her right hand as she looks off in the distance to her left. She wears a crown with a trailing veil. In her left hand, Valentina is holding a large volume--possibly foreshadowing a collection of poetry by her son.
Anne de Beaujeu (1461-1522) was the eldest daughter of Louis XI by his second wife, Charlotte of Savoy. Anne was the sister of Charles VIII, for whom she acted as regent during his minority. During the regency she was one of the most powerful women of late fifteenth-century Europe and was referred to as "Madame la Grande". Anne was an extremely intelligent, shrewd and energetic woman. Her father had termed her "the least foolish woman in France." Anne wrote an instruction book for her daughter. It is called Lessons for My Daughter. In it she advises her daughter to surround herself with frugal people and that true nobility comes from being humble, benign and courteous. Absent these, other virtues are worth nothing.
Blanche de Castille (1188-1252) was Queen of France as the wife of Louis VIII.
Blanche of Castile was born in Palencia, Spain, a daughter of Alfonso VIII, king of Castile, and Eleanor of England. Eleven-year-old Blanche married the young son of King Philip II Augustus of France as part of a marriage treaty between England and France. Her husband, who became Louis VIII in 1223, took part in a religious crusade but suffered a fatal attack of dysentery upon returning to the north of France in 1226. Blanche became both guardian of the 12-year-old Louis and regent of France. She had Louis crowned immediately three weeks after Louis VIII’s death. In dealing with a rebellion of the great barons, Blanche was gradually able to subdue the revolt, establish a new truce with England, and, in 1229, pacify the south of France by signing the Treaty of Paris with the count of Toulouse. France then entered an era of domestic stability. According to his vow made after a serious illness, her son vowed to go on a crusade to defeat the Muslims, much against the wishes of Blanche. Louis IX took an active part in the Seventh and Eighth Crusade, in which he died from dysentery. Louis's actions were inspired by Christian values and Catholic devotion, and he was canonized in 1297, the only king of France to be declared a saint.
Blanche of Castile was born in Palencia, Spain, a daughter of Alfonso VIII, king of Castile, and Eleanor of England. Eleven-year-old Blanche married the young son of King Philip II Augustus of France as part of a marriage treaty between England and France. Her husband, who became Louis VIII in 1223, took part in a religious crusade but suffered a fatal attack of dysentery upon returning to the north of France in 1226. Blanche became both guardian of the 12-year-old Louis and regent of France. She had Louis crowned immediately three weeks after Louis VIII’s death. In dealing with a rebellion of the great barons, Blanche was gradually able to subdue the revolt, establish a new truce with England, and, in 1229, pacify the south of France by signing the Treaty of Paris with the count of Toulouse. France then entered an era of domestic stability. According to his vow made after a serious illness, her son vowed to go on a crusade to defeat the Muslims, much against the wishes of Blanche. Louis IX took an active part in the Seventh and Eighth Crusade, in which he died from dysentery. Louis's actions were inspired by Christian values and Catholic devotion, and he was canonized in 1297, the only king of France to be declared a saint.
Anne d'Autriche (Anne of Austria 1601-1666) was queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish and Portuguese Infanta by birth. Leaving her native Spain, Anne of Austria wed King Louis XIII in November of 1615. Both were teen-agers when they married. After nearly twenty-two years of marriage, Anne of Austria finally delivered an heir to the French throne in 1638. Anne was thirty-six years old when her son Louis was born. Without an heir, her position as a queen was tenuous. But her son's arrival helped ensure her place as French royalty. Accounts of French court life of her era describe her difficult marriage to her husband, Louis XIII, her closeness to her son, Louis XIV, and her disapproval of her son's marital infidelity to her niece, Maria Theresa. In late 1665, Anne's health began to decline significantly. She died in Paris, France, on January 20, 1666. The legendary foreign-born queen of France is remembered for her political strategies and personal strength as regent.
Anne de Bretagne (Anne of Brittany 1477-1514) was Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and queen consort of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She is the only woman to have been queen consort of France twice. Anne eventually married Charles VIII in 1491. None of their children survived early childhood, and when the king died in 1498, the throne went to his cousin, Louis XII. Following an agreement made to secure the annexation of Brittany, Anne had to marry the new king. Louis XII was deeply in love with his wife, and Anne had many opportunities to reassert the independence of her duchy. Anne is highly regarded in Brittany as a conscientious ruler who safeguarded the autonomy of Brittany within the kingdom of France. In the period of Romanticism, she became a figure of Breton patriotism and was honored with many memorials and statues.
Sainte Clothilde (c. 474- 545) and her husband King Clovis (c. 466-511) founded the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Franks for over 200 years. They were married in 492 or 493, and she converted him to Christianity in 496. According to tradition, on the eve of the Battle of Tolbiac, Clovis prayed to God, swearing to be baptized if he emerged victorious on the battlefield. When he did triumph, Clovis readily converted to Catholicism. With him in 502, Clotilde built the Church of the Holy Apostles, afterwards known as the Abbey of St Geneviève in Paris. When Clovis died in 511, her sons' quarrels over the kingdom caused her great sorrow. After her failure to prevent civil discord between her children, Clotilde left the royal household and retired to the Abbey of Saint Martin at Tours. She dedicated herself to a saintly life and was known for her almsgiving and works of mercy. Clotilde was buried in the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, the church that she and Clovis founded.
The Abbey was demolished shortly after 1800, except for the bell tower, called the Tour Clovis. The Lycée Henri-IV, built in part with elements of the abbey buildings, occupies the site. Clovis’s remains were relocated to Saint Denis Basilica in the mid- to late-18th century. Clotilde’s relics survived the French Revolution and are housed in the Eglise Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles in Paris. (The source for the location of Clotilde’s relics: Wikipedia; I have been to this church. St Helena, mother of Constantine, has a reliquary here, but I have not seen one for Clotilde. I'll go back to make sure. )
Anne de Bretagne (Anne of Brittany 1477-1514) was Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and queen consort of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She is the only woman to have been queen consort of France twice. Anne eventually married Charles VIII in 1491. None of their children survived early childhood, and when the king died in 1498, the throne went to his cousin, Louis XII. Following an agreement made to secure the annexation of Brittany, Anne had to marry the new king. Louis XII was deeply in love with his wife, and Anne had many opportunities to reassert the independence of her duchy. Anne is highly regarded in Brittany as a conscientious ruler who safeguarded the autonomy of Brittany within the kingdom of France. In the period of Romanticism, she became a figure of Breton patriotism and was honored with many memorials and statues.
Marguerite de Provence (1221-1295) was Queen of France as the wife of King Louis IX.
Blanche de Castille, her future mother-in-law, arranged the marriage of her son Louis IX with Marguerite. In 1234, at the age of thirteen, Margaret married Louis IX of France and became queen consort of France. The marriage was made difficult by Blanche, who still wielded strong influence over her son, and would throughout her life. From the beginning, Margaret resented Blanche and vice versa. Margaret accompanied Louis on the Seventh Crusade (their first). Though initially the crusade met with some success, it became a disaster after the king's brother was killed and the king then captured. Her leadership during the crusade was praiseworthy, and after she returned to France, Margaret was often asked to mediate disputes. After the death of Louis on his second crusade in 1270, during which she remained in France, she returned to Provence. She was devoted to her sister Queen Eleanor of England, and they stayed in contact until Eleanor's death in 1291. Her last years were spent doing pious work, including the founding of the Franciscan nunnery of Lourcines in 1289. Margaret herself died in Paris, at the Poor Clares monastery she had founded.
The Abbey was demolished shortly after 1800, except for the bell tower, called the Tour Clovis. The Lycée Henri-IV, built in part with elements of the abbey buildings, occupies the site. Clovis’s remains were relocated to Saint Denis Basilica in the mid- to late-18th century. Clotilde’s relics survived the French Revolution and are housed in the Eglise Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles in Paris. (The source for the location of Clotilde’s relics: Wikipedia; I have been to this church. St Helena, mother of Constantine, has a reliquary here, but I have not seen one for Clotilde. I'll go back to make sure. )
