Montpensier, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, duchesse de [key], 1627–93, French princess, called Mademoiselle and La Grande Mademoiselle; daughter of Gaston d'Orléans, the brother of Louis XIII. She took an active part on the rebel side in the Fronde of the Princes; in 1652 she relieved the city of Orléans at the head of her troops and opened the gates of Paris to Louis II de Bourbon, prince de Condé, and his army. Exiled with her father (1652), she returned to court in 1657. She fell in love with the duc de Lauzun; the king's permission for their marriage was granted only to be revoked (1670). Shortly thereafter, Lauzun was imprisoned (1671). Mademoiselle bought his release in 1681 and apparently married him, but they soon separated. Mademoiselle spent the rest of her life in pious works and the composition of her memoirs.
See biographies by F. Steegmuller (1955) and V. Sackville-West (1959, repr. 1969).
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