The Planström daughters
The French visitors enjoyed their stay in Tornio. During the winter
the socialised a lot with the local burghers and their families. In
the families they also made acquaintance with local young ladies. These
encounters could sometimes have consequences, even dramatic ones. History
knows about the destiny of the daughters of alderman Planström
and their connections with the expedition members even after their return
to Paris.
Elisabeth and Christine Planströn travelled to France together
with the expedition or slightly later. They both converted to Catholicism
and in Paris Christine took the veil at the convent of Notre Dame du
Trésor. Her mental health was shaken for reasons that can not
be confirmed. It was Christine to whom Maupertuis wrote a love poem.
The place of death of Christina Planström is not known. The demolition
of the convent of du Trésor was started in 1793.
Elisabeth Planström spent secular life and married a Frenchman,
Mr de Pelletot. The protector the Frenchmen had arranged for Christine,
Mme d'Aiguillon, accepted the marriage though she did not fully trust
the future husband. Elisabeth received a substantial dowry. The marriage
did not take a happy course but ended in a divorce in 1761. In the divorce
trial Elisabeth was condemned into four years' imprisonment. In addition
to her sentence she fought many years for her right to a pension of
which she finally was granted an amount of 3000 livres. In the end also
Elisabeth retreated into monastic life at the convent of Holy Sacrament
in Rouen and she lived there as a lay sister up to her death. Elisabeth
had one son from the marriage with de Pelletot.
The destiny of the Planström sisters gives testimony of the status
of the women in those days. An unmarried woman had no chance to manage
in life alone. Life in a convent was the only possibility to retain
one's honour. The protocols of Elisabeth Planström-Pelletot's trial
case on the other hand witness of her perseverance and her courage to
claim her rights, even in a foreign country.
|
The
Planström daughters
