Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
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Louis Philippe, duc d'Orléans (May 12, 1725 – November 18, 1785), son of Louis, duc d'Orléans, was born at Versailles, and was known as the duc de Chartres until his father's death in 1752.
Serving with the French armies in the War of Austrian Succession, he distinguished himself in the campaigns of 1742, 1743 and 1744, and at the battle of Fontenoy in 1745, retiring to Bagnolet in 1757, and occupying his time with theatrical performances and the society of men of letters.
The duke married Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti (1726–1759), who bore him a son Philip (Égalité), duke of Orléans, and a daughter Bathilde (1750–1822), who married the last duke of Bourbon. His second, morganatic wife, Charlotte-Jeanne Béraud de la Haye de Riou, marquise de Montesson, whom he married secretly in 1773, was a clever woman and an authoress of some repute. As a wedding gift she received the Château de Sainte-Assise [1]. There they received men of letters the duchesse de Lauzun, the comtesse d'Egmont, the marquis de Lusignan, the marquis d'Osmond and d'Alembert, Melchior Grimm, Pierre-Simon de Laplace, the chemist Claude Louis Berthollet, the composer Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny, Carmontelle, and gave theatrical presentations, some of which were written by her. Two wings were added to the corps de logis and a proper cour d'honneur established, with a pair of small pavilions. There the duc d'Orléans died in 1785.
He had two natural sons, known as the abbé de Saint-Far and the abbé de Saint-Albin.
See L'Automne d'un prince, a collection of letters from the duke to his second wife, edited by J Hermand (1910).
| Preceded by: Louis |
Duke of Orléans, Chartres, Valois, Nemours and Montpensier 1752–1785 |
Succeeded by: Louis Philippe II |
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
