Louis François II de Bourbon, prince de Conti

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Louis François II de Bourbon, Prince of Conti

Louis François Joseph de Bourbon (September 1, 1734 - March 13, 1814) was Prince of Conti, succeeding his father Louis François I. His mother was Louise Diane d'Orléans, the youngest daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the regent of France during the minority of King Louis XV. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince du Sang.

He was married to his first cousin, Marie Fortunée d'Este (1734 - 1803), a daughter of Francesco III d'Este, the Duke of Modena, and his wife, Charlotte Aglaé of Orléans, who was his mother's sister. Through Marie Fortunée, he was the brother-in-law of the duc de Penthièvre, the richest man in France.

Louis François possessed considerable talent as a soldier, and distinguished himself during the Seven Years' War. He took the side of Maupeou in the struggle between the chancellor and the parlements, and in 1788 declared that the integrity of the constitution must be maintained. He emigrated following the French Revolution, but refused to share in the plans for the invasion of France. He returned to his native country in 1790.

Arrested by order of the National Convention in 1793, he was acquitted, but was reduced to poverty by the confiscation of his possessions. He afterwards received a pension. In 1797, however, the Directoire decided to exile the last of the Bourbons still living in France. He was sent in exile to Spain along with his few remaining relatives who still lived in France and had not already been killed in the Revolution, including the duchesse de Bourbon. Relegated to a place near Barcelona, he lived in poverty. Refusing to share in the plots of the Royalists, he lived an isolated existence in Barcelona until his death in 1814, when the House of Bourbon-Conti became extinct.