François Louis, Prince of Conti

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Prince of Conti

François Louis de Bourbon (April 30, 1664 - February 9, 1709) was Prince de Conti, succeeding his brother Louis Armand I de Bourbon in 1685. Until this date he used the title of Prince of la Roche-sur-Yon. He was son of Armand de Bourbon and Ana Maria Martinozzi. He is the most famous member on the Bourbon-Conti family. a younger branch of the Bourbon-Condé line.

François was considered an intelligent child and received an excellent education. In court he was distinguished both for the independence of his mind and the popularity of his manners. On this account he was not received with favor by Louis XIV of France. In 1683 he assisted the Imperialists in Hungary, and while there he wrote some letters in which he referred to Louis XIV as le roi du theatre; because of this and because of an early engagement at the side of the Turks in 1685, on his return to France he was temporarily banished to Chantilly.

Conti was the protégé of his uncle Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé "the Great Condé" whose grand-daughter Marie Therese de Bourbon-Condé (1666-1732) he married in 1688 (she bore him seven children). He served in the French army. but he never managed to get a higher grade as lieutenant-general. In 1689 he accompanied his intimate friend Marshal Luxembourg to the Netherlands, and shared in the French victories at Fleurus, Steinkirk and Neerwinden. On the death of his cousin, Jean Louis Charles, Duke of Longueville (1646-1694) and in accordance to his will, Conti claimed the principality of Neuchâtel against Marie, Duchesse of Nemours, (1625-1707), a sister of the duke. He failed to obtain military assistance from the Swiss, and by the kings command yielded the disputed territory to Marie, although the courts of law had decided in his favor.

In 1697 Louis XIV offered him the Polish crown, and by means of bribes the abbé de Polignac secured his election. June 27, 1697 he was formally proclaimed as a King of Poland by primate Michał Radziejowski. Conti started rather unwillingly for his new kingdom, probably, as St Simon remarks, owing to his affection for Françoise, wife of Philip II, Duke of Orleans, and daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. When he reached Gdansk and found his rival Augustus II, elector of Saxony, already in possession of the Polish crown, he returned to France, where he was graciously received by Louis, although St Simon says the king was vexed to see him again. But the misfortunes of the French armies during the earlier years of the war of the Spanish Succession compelled Louis to appoint Conti, whose military renown stood very high, to command the troops in Italy.

He fell ill before he could take the field, and died on the February 9, 1709, his death calling forth exceptional signs of mourning from all classes. He died from a combination of gout and syphilis. He was buried alongside his mother at his property in L'Isle d'Adam near Paris.

He was succeeded as prince de Conti by his eldest son, Louis Armand (1696 - 1727).