Background
Suzanne Henriette was the penultimate daughter of Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf and his third wife Françoise de Montault de Navailles.
Suzanne Henriette was the penultimate daughter of Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf and his third wife Françoise de Montault de Navailles.
Her husband Ferdinand Charles Gonzaga was the last Gonzaga Duke of Mantua. Her two older half brothers, Henri and Emmanuel Maurice were successively Dukes of Elbeuf. Although the Lorraine-Elbeufs were reckoned among the princes etrangers at the court of France, as a cadet branch (Elbeuf) of a non-reigning cadet branch (Guise) of the House of Lorraine, it was not their custom to marry crowned heads.
Nevertheless, Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat sought Suzanne Henriette"s hand in pursuit of a dynastic alliance with another reigning ducal house under French influence.
Gonzaga however did have illegitimate children with his mistress Eleonora Parma, a line which died out in the mid 18th century and were not able to inherit Mantua. The couple were married in Milan on 8 November 1704.
Her husband died on 5 July 1708 leaving her a widow at the age of 22. Suzanne Henriette returned to France and was later involved in a lawsuit between Leopold, Duke of Lorraine and Anne of Bavaria, Princess of Condé over inheritance of the Guise fortune.
Residing in Paris, she died there in 1710 at the age of 24.
Saint-Simon noted that she died in the flower of her youth after a long illness and was considered to have been a beauty at the time. He also wrote that her "bizarre" marriage had been the cause of her sad life. Titles and styles
1 February 1686 – 8 November 1704 "Mademoiselle d"Elbeuf"
8 November 1704 – 5 July 1708 Her Highness The Duchess of Mantua
5 July 1708 – 19 October 1710 Her Highness The Dowager Duchess of Mantua.