Saint Marie Clotilde

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 is venerated in the Catholic Church, having been declared Venerable by Pope Pius VII. 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.