Marie Clotilde of France (Marie Adélaïde Clotilde Xavière; 23 September 1759 – 7 March 1802), known as Clotilde in Italy, was Queen of Sardinia by marriage to Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia. She was a 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. She has been declared venerable by Pope Pius VII.
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Princess of France
Born in Versailles, Clotilde was the elder daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France, the only son of King Louis XV and his wife, Queen Marie Leszczyńska, and Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony. As the daughter of the Dauphin, she was a Fille de France (Daughter of France), and as the granddaughter of Louis XV, she was also a Petite-fille de France (Granddaughter of France). Upon the death of their grandfather in May 1774, Clotilde's oldest brother, Louis-Auguste, became King Louis XVI.
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. They were given the usual education of royal princesses in that time, focusing upon accomplishments, religion and virtue, an education to which Clotilde 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 Clotilde 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 Élisabeth, preferred Clotilde, which made Élisabeth jealous and created a rift between the sisters. Their relationship improved when Élisabeth fell ill and Clotilde insisted upon nursing her; during that time, Clotilde taught Élisabeth the alphabet and gave her an interest in religion. Clotilde came to be Élisabeth's good friend, tutor and counselor.
Clotilde did not have a good relationship with her sister-in-law Marie Antoinette, who reportedly demonstrated too openly that she preferred her sister Élisabeth, which caused some offense at court.
Marriage
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. Clotilde 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, Clotilde 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 Clotilde 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, 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.
Clotilde departed from Versailles on 27 August and separated from the King, Queen and her sister at Choisy, before continuing with her brother the Count of Provence. The farewell between the sisters was described as intense, with Élisabeth hardly able to tear herself from the arms of Clotilde; Queen Marie Antoinette commented: "My sister Élisabeth 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. The poor little girl was in despair, and as her health is very delicate, she was taken ill and had a very severe nervous attack. I own to my dear mamma that I fear I am getting too attached to her, feeling, from the example of my aunts, how essential it is for her happiness not to remain an old maid in this country."
Princess of Piedmont
Clotilde established a good relationship to her new family and became popular with the public. Her father-in-law came to refer to her as an angel of peace because of her frequent mediating between quarreling family members, particularly between him and her spouse. She quickly and successfully adapted to the strict court rules of her fervently Catholic mother-in-law Queen Maria Antonia, dutifully participated in all representational activities expected of her in her role as crown princess, and demonstrated that the strict morals at court would be as stringently upheld in her future tenure as queen as they were by the current queen. She was close to her sisters-in-law, the Duchess of Aosta and the Duchess of Chablais. She was well liked by the members of her household for her consideration for them, and her piety and frequent private worship established her reputation of piety among the public.
During her first years in Savoy, she enjoyed fashion and entertainment and, despite her saintly reputation, her spouse himself said that it was in fact not her nature to be humble and submissive, and that she had to struggle to achieve this.
Although the union was arranged for political reasons, Clotilde and Charles Emmanuel became devoted to each other, united in their piety and a strong belief in the Catholic faith. She played the guitar to his singing, they studied religious texts together, and enjoyed spending time at Moncalieri Castle and the Palace of Venaria to relax from the court etiquette.
The marriage was to be childless. Concerns was raised that her difficulty to conceive was due to her weight, and during the course of her first years of marriage, she was subjected to a number of fertility treatments, among those being a diet that caused her to lose a great deal of weight. In 1779, there was a sign of pregnancy that proved to be false, and in 1783, after eight years of attempts to have issue, Clotilde asked Charles Emmanuel to end sexual relations and live in chastity as uti frater et soror, a request he willingly agreed to.
Charles Emmanuel, being of passive character, leaned on Clotilde as a stronger personality, and she came to have a great influence upon him as a stabilizing factor and adviser, and she acted as a mediator during his conflicts with his father the King, often caused by Charles Emmanuel's nervous difficulties, a condition Clotilde took it upon herself to hide from others and stabilize.
Queen of Sardinia
In 1796, upon the accession of her husband to the throne, Clotilde became the Queen of Sardinia. Charles Emmanuel was described as apathetic, insecure and incapable of acting, and the stress of the grave situation of the kingdom made his nervous condition worse and made it difficult for him to rule. He preferred to have Clotilde receive the reports from ministers and diplomats, read them, summarize them for him, and advise him how to act. Clotilde followed these instructions, consulted the ministers before she made recommendations to her husband, and also made sure to await the right moment to involve him in state affairs so as not to cause him more stress or make the public aware of his nervous condition. This method of conducting the affairs of state caused disruption and delays and made the governing inefficient and slow in a very critical situation for Piedmont, and although Clotilde was careful not to appear to involve herself in politics, her great influence was too apparent not to cause criticism. The King and Queen were also accused of devoting too much time to their religious devotions, causing all the more delays for the government work. During their reign in Turin, one of the most important affairs was the confiscation of church property, which was necessary for state economy, but Clotilde insisted on a lengthy (and successful) procedure of obtaining permission and blessings from the Pope for religious reasons before proceeding.
On 6 December 1798, the French First Republic declared war on Sardinia. Charles Emmanuel was forced to abdicate all his territories on the Italian mainland and to withdraw to the island of Sardinia. The royal family was ordered to leave Turin immediately after the abdication, and as the King had a nervous attack, the departure was organized by Clotilde. Upon the wish of the Duchess of Aosta, Clotilde successfully asked General Bertrand Clausel to allow the Duke of Aosta to accompany the rest of the family rather than to stay as a French hostage. She left the crown jewels behind, but took all jewels defined as private property and accepted a sum of money from the Finance Minister after having been assured by a priest that it would be in accordance with religious principles to do so. The family departed from the royal palace during the night, escorted by 30 Italian and 30 French soldiers and a French commissionaire to the border: when the wagon was temporarily delayed on their way from Turin by protesting crowds, Charles Emmanuel commented to Clotilde that this incident of loyalty would comfort him in exile.
During their reign in exile from mainland Sardinia, the couple traveled between the Italian states as well as their own provinces and upheld diplomatic relations with the hope of being restored to Turin. They traveled from Parma, Bologna and Florence to Sardinia, where they arrived in Cagliari on 3 March 1799, welcomed with a Te Deum and settled in the Royal Palace of Cagliari, where they held a reception for the local nobility.
Beatification process
Clotilde's beatification process was opened on 10 April 1808, granting her the title of Servant of God. She was later declared venerable.