to include the stronghold-castle of Pignerol in her dowry. For similar reasons, an offer made by the Duke of Lorraine was broken off as well. Failed marriage On 1 March 1661, fourteen-year-old Hortense was married to one of the richest men in Europe, Armand Charles de La Porte de La Meilleraye. Upon marriage to Hortense, he was granted the title of duc Mazarin. On the death of Cardinal Mazarin soon after, he gained access to his wife's huge inheritance, which included the Palais Mazarin in Paris, home to many pieces of fine art. The marriage was not a success. Hortense was young, bright, and popular; Armand-Charles was miserly and extremely jealous, not to mention mentally unstable. His strange behaviour included preventing milkmaids from going about their job (to his mind, the cows' udders had strong sexual connotations), having all of his female servants' front teeth knocked out to prevent them from attracting male attention, and chipping off and painting over all the "dirty bits" in his fantastic art collection. He forbade his wife to keep company with other men, made midnight searches for hidden lovers, insisted she spend a quarter of her day at prayer, and forced her to leave Paris and move with him to the country. Despite their differences, Hortense and her husband had four children: Marie Charlotte de La Porte Mazarin (28 March 1662 – 13 May 1729), who married Louis Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, comte d'Agénias, duc d'Aiguillon, Marie Anne de La Porte Mazarin (1663 – October 1720), who became an abbess, Marie Olympe de La Porte Mazarin (1665 – 24 January 1754), who married Louis Christophe Gigault, marquis de Bellefonds et de Boullaye, Paul Jules de La Porte, duc Mazarin et de La Meilleraye (25 January 1666 – 7 September 1731), who married Félice Armande Charlotte de Durfort. Flight from marriage Leaving her small children behind, Hortense finally made a bid to escape from her hellish marriage on the night of 13 June 1668, with help from her brother, Philippe, Duc de Nevers, who procured horses and an escort to help her travel to Rome, where she counted on being able to take refuge with her sister Marie Mancini, now the Princess Colonna. Under the protection of Louis XIV and of the Duke of Savoy The French king Louis XIV declared himself her protector and granted an annual pension of 24 thousand livres. Her