Madeleine Angélique de Neufville

Madeleine Angélique de Neufville
Duchess of Boufflers Duchess of Luxembourg
Portrait of the Marechale of Luxembourg, 18th century
Full name	Madeleine Angélique de Neufville
Born	1 October 1707 Paris, France
Died	24 January 1787 (aged 80) Paris, France
Spouse(s)	Joseph Marie de Boufflers, Duke of Boufflers (September 15, 1721) Charles II François Frédéric de Montmorency-Luxembourg (June 29, 1750)
Father	Louis Nicolas de Neufville, 3rd Duke of Villeroy
Mother	Marguerite Le Tellier

Madeleine Angélique de Neufville (1 October 1707 – 24 January 1787), known as duchesse de Boufflers from 1721 and as la maréchale de Luxembourg from 1750, was a French noblewoman, courtier and salonnière.[1][2]

Biography

Madeleine Angélique de Neufville was the daughter of Louis Nicolas de Neufville de Villeroy, 3rd Duke of Villeroy and Marguerite Le Tellier. In 1722, at the age of 15, she married her first husband Joseph Marie de Boufflers, Duke of Boufflers.[1] Their only son, Charles Joseph de Boufflers, married Marie Anne Philippine Thérèse de Montmorency in 1747; their daughter was Amélie de Boufflers.

Between 1734 and 1749 she served as a Dame du Palais to Marie Leszczyńska at Versailles. Villeroy's first husband died in 1747, at which point she purchased the impressive hôtel particulier Hôtel de Besenval. In 1750, she married Charles II François Frédéric de Montmorency-Luxembourg, a Marshal of France and owner of Château de Montmorency.[3] During Villeroy's residence at the chateau she allowed it to become a refuge for Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Following the death of the Marshal-Duke of Luxembourg in 1764, Villeroy opened her Paris house to the great noble, artistic and literary names of the city, using her enormous fortune from her two marriages to become a major patron of the arts.[4] She died in 1787.[1]

References

1. de Lescure, M. (1865). Correspondance Complète de la Marquise du Defand. Paris: Henri Plon. p. cxiii.
2. Madeleine Angélique Neufville de Villeroy, in Pierre Larousse, Grand dictionnaire universel du xixe siècle, Paris, Administration du grand dictionnaire universel, 15 vol., 1863-1890.
3. "La maréchale de Luxembourg". British Museum Catalogue. The British Museum. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
4. "Madeleine Angélique de Neufville-Villeroy, duchesse de Luxembourg". Electronic Enlightenment Biographical Dictionary. Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. 2008–2022. Retrieved 4 August 2023.