Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans
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| Louis d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans | |
 Louis d'Orléans
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| Born | August 4, 1703 Palace of Versailles, France |
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| Died | February 4, 1752 (aged 48) Paris, France |
| Spouse | Auguste Marie Johanna of Baden-Baden |
| Children | 1 Louis Philippe II d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans 2 Louise Marie d'Orléans, Madmoiselle. |
| Parents | Philippe II d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon |
Louis d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans, (August 4, 1703 – February 4, 1752) was the only son of Philippe II, duc d'Orléans, Regent of France and of his wife, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, the second Mademoiselle de Blois. Often nicknamed Louis le Pieux or Louis le Génovéfain, as a member of the House of Bourbon he was a Prince du Sang. From his fathers death in 1723, he succeded to the head of the House of Orléans and was the Premier Prince du Sang.
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[edit] Early Life
Louis was born at the Palace of Versailles in 1703 to the duc d'Orléans and his wife, the youngest illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV and Athénaïs de Montespan. A pious, charitable and cultured prince, he took very little part in the politics of the time, although he was conspicuous for his hostility to Cardinal Dubois in 1723. He was bought up little by his mother and his grandmother and was taught most by Nicolas-Hubert Mongault, who like his mother, was an illegitimate child. He was very close to his younger sister Louise Elisabeth d'Orléans - later the Queen of Spain.[1]
[edit] Youth
Although he was never to play an overly public or political role, during his fathers regency of the young Louis XV, he was formaly admitted to the Conseil de Régence on the idea that he was the "third man in the kingdom" after the young Louis XV and his father. This happened in 1718. The next year he was made the Governor of Dauphiné but did not live in the provence and later gave the title back to the crown. 1720 saw the duc de Chartres take on the title of grand-maître de l'ordre de Saint-Lazare et de Jérusalem (grand master of the Order of Saint-Lazare and Jerusalem) Then, in 1721, under his fathers influence he became the Colonel général de l'Infanterie and held that post till 1730.
At the death of his father (December 23, 1723) he then succeded to the title of duc d'Orléans; the huge wealth of the House of Orléans; was then the head of the household, became the 'Premier Prince du Sang' allowing him the style of address of Monsieur le Prince. He was also in line of succesion to the throne of France as his Spanish relatives had renounced thier rights to France at the accession of [[Philip V of Spain|Philippe, duc d'Anjou. As his father had wanted him to play a high role in the country as he and his grandfather did, he had tried to make sure his son played an active public role; unfortunatly at the Régents death, the post of Prime Minister went to the cousin of Louis, the duc de Bourbon known as Monsieur le Duc.
[edit] Marriage
As he was the only son out of 8 children, he was the heir to the House of Orléans from his birth. By 1723, he was the only child from the Orléans family not to be married (apart from his 7 year old sister Louise Diane d'Orléans) and as the only male it was vital to do so. In 1721, the Ambassador of France in Russia suggested that there be a union between Louis and a daughter of Peter I of Russia. The only daughters he had that was still alive were Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia (known for her very fluent french) and her junior Grand Duchess Natalia Petrovna of Russia.
Later a marriage with a russian Grand Duchess was no longer dicussed as religion and issues with address were a problem; Louis was only a genuine Great-Grandson of France via Louis XIII, and as a result he was addressed as Your Serene Highness and a Russian princess was addressed as Your Imperial Highness.
Later on in 1723 a Princess of Baden-Baden was suggested. She was the daughter of Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden and his wife Sibylle Auguste of Saxe-Lauenburg. The marriage occurred in 1724 when he married Auguste Marie Johanna of Baden-Baden, (1704–1726). At first they were married by proxy; he on June 14 and her at Rastatt on June 18 1724[2]. The couple met at Sarry in Marne on July 13 1724[3] and were married in person. Given a small dowry of 80,000 livres, at the French court, she was known as Auguste Marie Jeanne de Bade.
[edit] Children
From the marriage, the ducal couple had two children, one of which survived infancy:
- Louis Philippe I d'Orléans (May 12, 1725 – November 18, 1785);
- Born at Versailles;
- duc de Chartres, who succeeded his father as duc d'Orléans;
- Louise Marie d'Orléans (August 5, 1726 - May 14, 1728);
- Known as Mademoiselle or Mademoiselle d'Orléans
[edit] Later life
In 1725, the court celebrated the marriage of Louis XV to Maria Leszczyńska at Fontainebleau. that happened 5 months after the birth of the couple first son the duc de Chartres. In 1726, after the birth of Louise Marie at the Palais Royal in Paris, the duchesse d'Orléans died on August 8.
After the early death of his wife, Louis led a life of strict rules which did not stop till 1740. In 1730 Cardinal Fleury secured the duke's dismissal from the position of colonel-general of the infantry, a post he had held for nine years. It was around 1740, that he ordered the employment of a High Priest at the Palais Royal to stay with him while he was in ill health. Despite his temporary illness, he later decided to go join the Abbaye Sainte-Geneviève de Paris. As he retired into private life, Louis spent his time mainly in translating the Psalms and the Pauline epistles.
In 1743, his son married the daughter of the princesse de Conti (she introduced Madame de Pompadour to court), Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti at Versailles. Louis had chosen her for her convent education and thought that she would lead her son into a less libertine way of life that he had been living prior to his engagement. His son had wanted to marry the daughter of Louis XV, Henriette de France but Louis XV refused as he did not want to give the House of Orléans the power it had had during the regency of the Louis' father Philippe II d'Orléans.
He would also see the birth of his grandchildren later known as Philippe Égalité (b 1747) and the Citoyenne Vérité (b 1750). Like his cousin, the duc de Penthièvre he was often prasied for his charitable works. The latter was called père des pauvres [4] and was so popular with Paris it is often said that is why the French Revolutionaries spared him and not his son-in-law (and Louis' grandson Philippe Égalité) or daughter-in-law the princesse de Lamballe.
In 1749, he would see the death of his mother the dowager duchesse d'Orléans.
He died in the abbey of Ste Genevieve in Paris where he had lost some sanity; according to Besenval, he refused to have the last rights of the catholic religion as he did not acknowledge the legitimacy of his grandchildren and refused to recognise them. He was 48 and had outlived all his siblings apart from the duchesse de Modène et Reggio.
[edit] Ancestors
[edit] References
[edit] Sources
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- This article is based on the current French Louis d'Orléans (1703-1752) page
- Marie-Estelle Gordien, Louis d'Orléans (1703-1752), premier prince du sang et mystique érudit, Thèse Sorbonne, 2002.
[edit] Titles
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Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans
Born: August 4 1703 Died: February 4 1752 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Philippe II d'Orléans |
duc de Chartres 1703–1723 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe I d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Philippe II d'Orléans |
duc de Montpensier 1723–1752 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe I d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Philippe II d'Orléans |
duc de Saint-Fargeau 1723–1752 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe I d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Philippe II d'Orléans |
duc de Nemours 1723–1752 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe I d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Philippe II d'Orléans |
duc d'Orléans 1723–1752 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe I d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Philippe II d'Orléans |
prince de Joinville 1723–1752 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe I d'Orléans |
| Royal titles | ||
| Preceded by Philippe II d'Orléans |
Monsieur le Prince 1723–1752 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe I d'Orléans |
