Ritual , Secrecy , and Civil Society
of the outrageous and a desire to know everything that made her a prime candidate for freemasonry . Although she was lovely and wealthy , she was also somewhat unbridled in temperament and of a brilliance that probably set her apart from many of her contemporaries . She had , in the words of the Baroness d ’ Oberkirch , “ a troubled and searching mind .” 18
The second princess of the blood attracted to masonry and arriving at the lodge of La Candeur with the Grand Master , the Duke de Chartres , on that celebrated occasion in 1777 was Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan , the Princess de Lamballe . 19 As the Superintendent of the Queen ’ s Household , she was in a position of great power in the Court , which made her the target of such critical writers as Mme . de Genlis , who accused her of faking her many fainting spells , failing to understand serious discussions , and having no mind of her own . 20 She was constantly a focus of Court gossip and speculation , especially when she fell from favor ; and she died a violent death during the Revolution . In general she has been portrayed as a kind but passive and not-too-bright puppet of the Queen . 21 With respect to her involvement in freemasonry , her various biographers have generally regarded this part of her life as anomalous , something into which she must have fallen by accident or as a result of someone else ’ s persuasion . Given this perspective , they have never been able to reconcile all aspects of her personality . Only when takes into account the Princess de Lamballe ’ s involvement with masonry do her personality and actions appear fully integrated .
The Princess de Lamballe affiliated with the lodge La Candeur in 1777 and was elected Grand Mistress of the Mère Loge Écossaise ( Saint-Jean d ’ Écosse du Contrat Social ) in 1781 . As with the Duchess de Bourbon , the dates of the princess ’ s involvement are significant , for those days mark a particularly trying time of her life . Like the Duchess de Bourbon , the Princess de Lamballe had an unhappy marital life . The fourth daughter of Louis-Victor de Savoie-Carignan and Christine-Henriette of Hesse-Rhinfelds-Rothembourg , she had come to Paris from Savoy to become the wife of Louis-Alexandre-Joseph-Stanislas de Bourbon , the Prince de Lamballe , only son of the Duke de Penthièvre , a prince of the blood . They were married in 1767 , but after a year of marriage , filled with infidelities on the part of the Prince de Lamballe , he died at age twenty . She was eighteen . Rather than return to her native Savoy , she chose to enter a convent , the Abbey of Saint-Antoine des Champs . Two years later , she left the convent to live with her father-in-law , the Duke de Penthièvre , who was alone himself after the death of his son and the marriage of his daughter . With this new life and the financial security afforded by her wealthy father-in-law , she became active at Court and , soon , a favorite of the Queen , which led to her controversial appointment as Superintendent of the Queen ’ s Household . So
18
Ibid ., 2:19
19
A richer account of the views I express here is in “ Freemasonry , Friendship and Noblewomen : the Role of the Secret Society in Bringing Enlightenment Thought to Pre-Revolutionary Women Elites ,” The History of European Ideas , vol . 10 , No . 33,1989 , pp . 283-293 .
20
Mme . La comtesse de Genlis , Mémoires Inédites ( Paris : Ladvocat , 1825 ), pp . 283-286 .
21
See , for example , Michel de Decker , La Princesse de Lamballe ( Paris : Perrin , 1979 ); M . de Lescure , La Princesse de Lamballe ( Paris : Plon , 1864 ); Georges Bertin , Mme . de Lamballe ( Paris : n . p ., 1888 ); and Albert-Emile Sorel , La Princesse de Lamballe ( Paris : Hachette , 1933 ).
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