Charles de Bourbon, Duc de Berry
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Charles de France (31 July 1686 – 5 May 1714) was Duke of Berry from birth.
He was the youngest son of Louis, le Grand Dauphin and Maria Anna of Bavaria, and therefore a grandson of Louis XIV of France.
He married Marie Louise Elisabeth d'Orléans (20 August 1695 – 21 July 1719) on 6 July 1710. She was the daughter of Philip II, Duke of Orléans, future Regent of France. The marriage was unhappy and after a miscarriage during Marie Louise Elisabeth's first pregnancy, she never gave birth to a child that lived for more than a day.
Following the death of his eldest brother, the Dauphin Louis, duc de Bourgogne in 1712, it appeared likely that Berry would be a future regent of France, in light of the advancing years of Louis XIV, and the youth of his nephew, the future Louis XV. Accordingly, Berry, who until then had been largely untutored in the ways of statecraft, began to attend the councils of state, in preparation for this role. Berry, however, died from internal injuries sustained in a hunting accident in May 1714, leaving his grandfather with the choice of devolving the regency upon his legitimate nephew, Orleans, or his illegitimate son, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duc du Maine.
In 1714 he also became Duke of Alençon and Angoulême, but he continued to use the title of Berry.
He was also Count of Ponthieu.
[edit] References
- Mitford, Nancy, The Sun King
