Call for papers for the international symposium “Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier (1627-1693)”

Despite the fact that the Œuvres complètes of La Grande Mademoiselle have just been published for the first time (three volumes edited by Jean Garapon for éditions Honoré Champion, 2020-2024), and that she was the subject of twelve biographies published in the 20^th century, the only symposium (or study day, rather) about her that has ever been held took place over thirty years ago (Actes de la Journée sur la Grande Mademoiselle, Saint-Fargeau 15 May 1993, Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature, Biblio 17, n°42, vol. XXII, January 1995).

Since then, historiographical research regarding her fortune or her châteaux, for example, new knowledge about networks of influential women, studies of Ancien Régime memorialists, advances in the history of books, and the epistemological shift brought about by the concept of gender, have all significantly refreshed approaches. The coming celebrations in honour of the fourth centenary of the birth of Mademoiselle, on 29 May, 2027, are therefore an excellent opportunity to take stock of what we know of this unique princess, who was truly one of a kind, determinedly unmarried before making (perhaps) a bad marriage, both unbelievably rich and robbed, wise and capricious, born into the heart of the monarchy yet rebellious.

Papers for this multidisciplinary symposium might therefore focus, for example, on:

• As the first-born grandchild of Henri IV, the princess was heiress to one of Europe’s greatest fortunes and a dynastic position placing her at the very heart of political intrigue. What do we learn from how she managed her inheritance? What was her role in politics, aside from the guns of the Bastille episode? Did she have networks in France, in Europe, linking her with other princesses for instance, and, if so - how did she manage them?
• She was the daughter of Gaston d’Orléans, himself a great patron of the arts and collector, but what do we know about her patronage, her foundations, her residences (Paris, Choisy, Blois, Eu, Saint-Fargeau, etc.), her collections of objets d’art and books? She had a theatre built at Saint-Fargeau : what do we know of her taste in theatrical productions or music?
• Mademoiselle and her family: the only daughter of Gaston d’Orléans and Marie de Bourbon, Duchesse of Montpensier, whose illustrious name she inherited, her place and role in society were radically different from those of her half-sisters. What do we know of her education, her culture? What was her relationship with her father, her half-sisters, her friends and family, her court, the rest of the royal family… ?
• Mademoiselle de Montpensier has retained her image of being a rebel princess, preferring exile to marriage. What does this reputation - that of a princess who could or would not be married - tell us? Could we interpret her refusal to make a diplomatic match as a political choice, or even a desire to retain her independence as a woman?
• Like the writer-princesses, Marguerite de Navarre and Marguerite de Valois, the Duchesse of Montpensier left a sizeable (nearly 2,000 pages in the recent edition of her Œuvres complètes) and diverse body of work (memoirs, of course, but also fictional works, portraits, religious writings, and so on). How do we interpret her taste for writing? How did she identify with the role of writer? What do we know of her correspondence, her style, the language she used? What ideas did her writing convey? What was her secretaries’ role?
• While the princess kept the circulation of her writings very much under her personal control during her lifetime, what do we know about their circulation following her death? In her case, her writings were subjected to evaluation not only by publishers and critics but also by her biographers, as her life had given rise to so many accounts.
• It was under her patronage that the first collection of portraits was published in France (Divers Portraits, 1659) and, as a princess and patron of the arts, throughout her life, she never stopped posing for her portrait in order to leave a lasting image. What can we learn from the iconography of the time? And, now that she also appears in fictional works, how is she represented in novels, television series, documentaries and films?

How to submit your work

Please send your submission proposals to the two following addresses simultaneously before 29 May, 2026:

• Nathalie Grande, Nantes Université : nathalie.grande@univ-nantes.fr
• Mathieu da Vinha, Centre de recherche du château de Versailles : mathieu.da-vinha@chateauversailles.fr