Ruth Paget: Visiting Louis XIV's Niece's Chateau in Lorraine (France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting Louis XIV's Niece's Chateau in Lorraine (France) at Luneville with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

France’s château at Lunéville has royal connections not only through the Polish king Stanislaus Leszcynski (1677 – 1766), but also through his predecessor at Lunéville Elisabeth-Charlotte d’Orléans (1676 – 1744), who was the niece of Louis XIV.

The château was designed by Germain Boffrand (1667 – 1754), but it is the people who lived at Lunéville that made his designs come to life. A provincial château could not compete with Versailles. However, Elisabeth-Charlotte grew up with the royal family and passed on the culture that she acquired in Versailles to her children in Lunéville.

Much is known about Charlotte-Elisabeth from her correspondence, which helped form the research base for the book Eclat et Scintillement: Lumière sur le décor de la chamber de la duchesse à Lunéville (not translated in English). This book, which is ostensibly about the interior decoration of the duchess Elisabeth-Charlotte’s bedroom, contains much information about raising aristocratic children in Germany.

The Germanic connection is easy to understand as Elisabeth-Charlotte’s mother came from the Palatinate region in modern-day Germany. Her mother also named Elisabeth-Charlotte was the second wife of Louis XIV’s brother, Philippe d’Orléans.

Elisabeth’s German mother is recorded as saying in the Eclat et Scintillement that she always spoke to her children with reason. She showed them what is good and bad. Her mother did not accept any naughtiness. The young Elisabeth-Charlotte was told not to follow bad examples. She could not have a bad attitude. Her mother praised virtue and taught her daughter to be horrified by vice.

When Elisabeth-Charlotte raised her own children, she taught these same things to them. She also shared with them those things she had come to love at Versailles such as theatre, music, poetry, literature, nature, and animals. Elisabeth-Charlotte also loved cooking and was very involved in her children’s studies.

Elisabeth-Charlotte was a mother, educator, and regent of Lorraine for nine years. As part of a political treaty, she had to leave Lunéville so the deposed Polish king Stanislas could live at Lunéville. Duke Stanislas of Lorraine was the father-in-law of Louix XV. When Elisabeth-Charlotte moved to Commercy with all of her belongings, the era of Duke Stanislas began.

Under Duke Stanislas, Lunéville became known as a cultural center while the duke maneuvered to regain his Polish throne. Stanislas sought to ally himself with the Turkish Ottoman Empire to regain his throne and had several portraits of himself painted in Turkish Dress. The book Turqueries et Autres Chinoiseries: L’Exotisme en Lorraine au XVIIIème Siècle documents the many portraits. This may have irritated Lorraine’s aristocratic families who had Turkish inspired artwork commissioned to commemorate Duke Charles V (1643 – 1690), who fought the Turks at Vienna.

Today, the gardens are a family to place to visit in addition to the château. The day my husband and I visited drops of spring rain greeted us in the garden. However, we could see the hedge embroidery that outlined the flower beds with a few blooms peeking out.

A visit to Lunéville coupled with a visit to Nancy is a nice weekend outing.