La duchesse de Berry, veuve royale et porteuse d’espoir, entre tradition et innovation / The Duchess of Berry, royal widow and symbol of hope, between tradition and innovation.
Abstract
Cet article analyse comment la grossesse inattendue d’une princesse qui n’est ni dauphine, ni veuve du roi porte tous les espoirs de la dynastie des Bourbons. La duchesse de Berry, enceinte au moment de l’assassinat de son époux, est placée, par la propagande royale, au centre d’un cycle allant de la mort de son époux à son accouchement. Devenue à la fois une héroïne douloureuse et courageuse, elle est aussi inscrite dans la lignée des souveraines veuves. La Restauration, au travers de la figure de la princesse, s’inscrit dans le temps long de la monarchie et entretient une forme de sentimentalisme autour de la dynastie.
This article analyses how the unexpected pregnancy of a princess who is neither dauphin nor widow of the king carries all the hopes of the Bourbon dynasty. The Duchess of Berry, pregnant at the time of her husband's assassination, was placed by the royal propaganda at the centre of a cycle from the death of her husband to his delivery. She became both a painful and courageous heroine, and was also included in the line of widowed sovereigns. The Restoration, through the figure of the princess, takes its place in the long history of the monarchy and maintains a form of sentimentality around the dynasty.
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