Marie Ludovica (Escape to Metz)

Marie Ludovica (12 December 1791-17 December 1847) was the daughter of Emperor Francis II and Maria Teresa. She was the wife of King Louis XVII of France who was the King of France between 1812 and 1873. Maire was married off to Louis to make sure that the Austrian alliance was still ongoing. Despite the marriage, many people that lived in both Austria and France seemed to think that the alliance was fading, soon after the couple married.

Marriage
Marie married Louis in 1807 when she was 15 years old, and when he was 22.

Her father pressured her to produce an heir that would benefit France and the Franco-Austrian alliance. She soon got pregnant in April of 1808 just months after her wedding. Francis wrote to Marie to congratulate her on the pregnancy.

It was not long after April, that she experienced severe cramps in her stomach and it was discovered that the unborn fetus died. Her miscarriage was mourned by mainy including Louis XVIthe current King of France, father to Marie's husband.

It took a long time before Marie wanted to even try having children again but she later on grew determined to bare healthy children. Her second pregnancy was annonced to the public on Christmas Day 1809. The child was a boy that they named Louis XVIII.

Motherhood
Marie-Ludovica miscarried in 1811 and also in 1812. These two miscarriages made her feel more lucky to have her son Louis. She spent a great deal of time with her son, which was not something expected of a French Royal mother.

She became the Queen Consort of France and Navarre when her husband became the King of France on 23 December 1812. Her son Louis became the Dauphin of France. King Louis decided to move away from Versailles to the Tulleries Palace of France were they would be closer to the people. The couple made it law that at the begining of a King's reign they can chose to either live in the Palace of Versailles, the Tulleries Palace, or the Bagnols Castle.

She had another miscarriage in 1814 then in 1815 found out she was pregnant with twins. Fear grew inside Marie constantly worrying that she would die in labor. On 14 January she quickly gave birth to a girl named Elisabeth-Mary. However, for two whole days she was in increasing pain as the other child would not come out. The doctors wanted to perform a C-section but both Louis and Marie agreed they wanted a natural birth since that could harm both Marie and the baby as well. Eventually, the child was born and named Louis-Henri. That same month the two twins died and it was clear Marie, due to her prolonged labor, could no longer produce children.

Marie developed colitis when she was either 47 or 48. She died on 17 December 1847 after quickly falling ill and fainting. She never woke up after fainting and was buried at the Royal Crypt that was just built in Paris.