Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France
| Louis Joseph | |||||
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| Dauphin of France | |||||
 Portrait by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun | |||||
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| Father | Louis XVI of France | ||||
| Mother | Marie Antoinette | ||||
| Born |
22 October 1781 Palace of Versailles, France | ||||
| Died |
4 August 1789 (aged 7) Château de Meudon, France | ||||
Louis Joseph de France (Louis Joseph Xavier François; 22 October 1781 – 4 June 1789) was the second child and elder son of King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette. As the heir apparent to the French throne, he was called the twenty-sixth Dauphin of France—the hereditary "crown prince" title of the Capetian and Bourbon Monarchies as well as of medieval and early-modern France.
As the eldest son of the king he was a "Fils de France", literally a "Son of France". Louis Joseph died at age seven of tuberculosis of the spine amidst the political turmoil and power machinations surrounding the Estates-General of 1789, for which period his parents' actions were so heavily criticized, giving rise to the deterioration of relations with the Estates.
Other historians have more recently suggested their grief at his illness and passing were causal—major contributing factors in the political events in which case, their grief, at least, in part exculpates the resultant events with a sympathy for their all too human grief, worry, and overall preoccupations during that crisis since they were accustomed to absolute rule.
Regardless of causality, the Dauphin's death bookends a chain of events leading up to the further sliding crash of the French economy, the disrepute and eventual dissolution of the French Monarchy, and beyond to the many excesses of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars—the beginning epoch of which is dated from about two weeks after the prince's death with the very first meeting of the National Assembly on June 17 independent of permissions from the King or other authorities, and three days later, the Tennis Court Oath.
Louis Joseph was succeeded as the French crown prince by his four-year-old brother Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France who eventually became the imprisoned and uncrowned king Louis XVII of France, who also died of illness during the period accounted that of the French Revolution — though he would die of a lingering illness suffered over years of captivity as the heir of their executed father.
Biography
Louis Joseph Xavier François de France was born at the Palace of Versailles on 22 October 1781; he was the long awaited Dauphin of France. His elder sister, Princess Marie Thérèse Charlotte, was not allowed to succeed to the throne due to the Salic Law. The birth of Louis Joseph at that point ruined his uncle's hopes of becoming the King of France[1]
His private household was created upon his birth and he was put into the care of Geneviève Poitrine, one of his wet nurses. It was Geneviève that was later accused of transmitting tuberculosis to the young Dauphin. His Sous gouverneur was Maréchal de camp Antoine Charles Augustin d'Allonville. Another member of his household was his mother's great friend, Yolande de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac.
Legacy
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, is named for him[2] (Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France). The Pennsylvania legislature, meeting in Philadelphia in 1785, to thank France for helping America win her independence from Great Britain, named the newly formed county, "Dauphin", northwest of Lancaster and north of York, in which Harrisburg is located. The borough of Dauphin, so named when it was incorporated in 1845, is also located in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It is also, at least indirectly, named for him.
| The Royal Family of France, 1787 |
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 Queen Marie Antoinette with her children, 1787 at Versailles; (L-R); Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, known as Madame Royale at court; the Queen with the Duke of Normandy on her lap; the Dauphin is on the right pointing into an empty cradle; the cradle used to show Madame Sophie; she died later in the year and had to be painted out; by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun; the Fleur-de-lis of France and the Bourbons can be seen behind on the cabinet |
Ancestry
References
- ↑ Later Louis XVIII of France; he married Princess Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy but had no issue
- ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 100.
Bibliography
History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Historical Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
| Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty Born: 22 October 1781 Died: 4 June 1789 | ||
| French royalty | ||
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| Preceded by Vacant Louis Auguste |
Dauphin of France 22 October 1781 – 4 June 1789 |
Succeeded by Louis Charles |
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