Ludwika Maria Gonzaga

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Polish Queen Ludwika Maria Gonzaga

Ludwika Maria Gonzaga de Nevers was the Queen consort of two Polish kings: Władysław IV and Jan II Kazimierz. She was born on 18 August 1611 in Paris (or Nevers) to Prince Charles Gonzaga and Catherine de Guise, princess of the French province of Maine.

After having spent her childhood with her mother, she was to marry Gaston, Duke of Orléans in 1627, but the King of France opposed the marriage and subsequently imprisoned her in the Vincennes fortress and later in a monastery. The first proposition of her marrying the King of Poland, Władysław IV, was made in 1634, but Władysław eventually married Cecilia Renata of Austria.

In 1640, she met Władysław's brother, Jan Kazimierz, and started her literary salon in Paris. Cecilia Renata died in 1644, and on 5 November 1645 Ludwika Maria married Władysław IV per procura (Jan Kazimierz represented his brother). She actually had to change her name from Maria to Ludwika Maria in order for the marriage to take place, as in Poland the name Maria was at that time considered reserved for only Mary, Mother of Jesus. The proper wedding of Ludwika Maria and Władysław IV took place in Warsaw, on 10 March 1646. Two years later, on 20 May 1648, Ludwika Maria became a widow. Jan Kazimierz was eventually elected the next King of Poland, and married her on the 30 May 1649. She died in Warsaw on 10 May 1667 and was buried in Kraków at Wawel. Jan Kazimierz abdicated from the Polish throne a year later.

Ludwika Maria was an active and energetic woman, with ambitious economic and political plans. The Polish nobility were scandalized at the Queen's meddling into politics, nevertheless she played an instrumental role in repulsing the Swedish forces during the Deluge. She also founded the first Polish newspaper, Merkuriusz Polski, in 1652 and founded the first convent of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary in Poland in 1654.