Clotilde of France (1721 - 1799). Marie Clotilde of France, known as Clotilda in Italy, was Queen of Sardinia by marriage to Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia. She was the younger sister of Louis XVI of France. She was politically active and acted as the de facto first minister of her spouse during his reign. Born in Versailles, Clotilde was the elder daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France, the only son of King Louis XV, and Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony. As the granddaughter of the king, she was a Petite-Fille de France. Upon the death of their grandfather in May 1774, Clotilde's oldest brother, Louis Auguste, became king Louis XVI of France. Clotilde and her younger sister Élisabeth were raised by Madame de Marsan, Governess to the Children of France. The sisters were considered much dissimilar in personality. Because she was overweight, Clotilde was nicknamed Gros-Madame in her youth. While her sister Elisabeth was described as proud, inflexible, and passionate, Clothilde was in contrast estimated to be endowed with the most happy disposition, which only needed guiding and developing. They were given the usual education of royal princesses in that time, focusing upon accomplishments, religion and virtue, an education to which Clothilde reportedly willingly subjected herself. They were tutored botany by M. Lemonnier, history and geography lessons by M. Leblond, and religion by Abbe de Montigat, Canon of Chartres, and they followed the court between the royal palaces with their days divided between studies, walks in the park, or drives in the forest. While Clothilde was described as a docile pupil, who made herself loved by all who approached her, Élisabeth long refused to study, stating that there were always people at hand whose duty it was to think for Princes, and treated her staff with impatience. Because of their difference, Madame de Marsan, who was not able to handle Elisabeth, preferred Clothilde, which made Elisabeth jealous and created a rift between the sisters. Their relationship improved when Elisabeth fell ill and Clothilde insisted upon nursing her; during that time, Clothilde taught Elisabeth the alphabet and gave her an interest in religion. Clothilde came to be Elizabeth's good friend, tutor and counselor. Clothilde did not have a good relationship with her sister-in-law Marie Antoinette, who reportedly demonstrated too openly that she preferred her sister Elisabeth, which caused some offense at court. Clotilde adapted herself to strict Catholic devotion early on and had the wish to follow the example of her aunt, Madame Louise, and join the Order of the Carmelites.Instead, however, Clotilde was in February 1775 officially engaged by her brother King Louis XVI to Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont, eldest son of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. The match between Clotilde and Charles Emmanuel was part of a wider series of Franco-Savoyard dynastic marriages taking place in a time span of eight years: after the wedding between Charles Emmanuel's cousin Princess Marie Louise of Savoy and her relative Louis Alexandre, Prince of Lamballe in 1767, Charles Emmanuel's sister Marie Joséphine, had married Clotilde's older brother, the Count of Provence in 1771, and another of Charles Emmanuel's sisters, Marie Thérèse, had married Clotilde's youngest brother, the Count of Artois in 1773. Clothilde did not wish to marry, but adjusted herself to the will of her brother. She asked the Princess de Lamballe about the personality of her intended spouse, and was taught Italian in order to fulfill her role as eventual Queen of Sardinia. On 12 June 1775, Clothilde attended the coronation of her brother Louis XVI in Reims. On 8 August, the ambassador of Sardinia, count de Viry, presented the official proposal to Clothilde from Charles Emmanuel, and on the 16th, the official engagement was announced to the royal court. On 21 August 1775, Louis XVI had his sister Clotilde married in Versailles by procuration to Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont, eldest son of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, with her second eldest brother the count of Provence as proxy for the groom, and with Cardinal de la Roche-Aymon officiating at the ceremony. Clothilde departed from Versailles on 27 August and separated from the king, queen and her sister in Choisy, before continuing with her brother the Count of Provence. The farewell between the sisters was described as intense, with Elisabeth hardly able to tear herself from the arms of Clothilde; 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.
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