Louis, Duke of Orléans(4 August 1703 – 4 February 1752) was a member of theHouse of Bourbon,and as such was aprince du sang.At his father's death, he became theFirst Prince of the Blood(Premier Prince du Sang) andDuke of Orléans.Known asLouis le Pieuxand also asLouis le Génovéfain,Louis was apious,charitable and cultured prince, who took very little part in the politics of the time.
| Louis | |
|---|---|
| First Prince of the Blood Duke of Orléans | |
 Portrait byCharles Antoine Coypel,c. 1730 | |
| Born | Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres 4 August 1703 Palace of Versailles,France |
| Died | 4 February 1752(aged 48) Abbaye de Sainte Geneviève,Paris, France |
| Burial | Val-de-Grâce,Paris, France |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| House | Orléans |
| Father | Philippe II, Duke of Orléans |
| Mother | Françoise Marie de Bourbon |
| Signature |  |
Early years
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Louisd'Orléanswas born at thePalace of Versaillesin 1703 toPhilippe II, Duke of Orléansand his wife,Françoise Marie de Bourbon,the youngest legitimised daughter ofLouis XIVand of his mistressMadame de Montespan.He was the only son of eight children, and at his birth, he was given the courtesy title ofDuke of Chartresas the heir to the Orléans fortune and titles. His maternal grandfather, KingLouis XIV of France,in addition gave him the allowance reserved for the First Prince of the Blood, a rank he was not yet eligible to hold.
He was brought up by his mother and his grandmother,Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate,and tutored by Nicolas-Hubert Mongault, the illegitimate son of Jean-Baptiste Colbert de Saint-Pouange, a cousin ofJean-Baptiste Colbert,Louis XIV's minister. He was very close to his mother, the two remaining close until her death in 1749.
Louis was very close to his younger sisterLouise Élisabeth d'Orléans,who was to becomequeen consortof Spain for seven months in 1724.[1]He was not, however, close to his elder sister,Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans,the wife ofFrancesco d'Este, Duke of Modena.They were in frequent conflict during her many return visits to the French court fromModena.[2]
Regency
editUpon the death of his maternal grandfather Louis XIV in 1715, his father, the former king's nephew, was selected to be the regent of the country for the five-year-old new king,Louis XV.The court was moved to Paris so his father could govern the country with the young king close by his side. Louis XV was installed in thePalais des Tuileries,opposite of thePalais-Royal,the Paris home of the Orléans family. During the regency, Orléans was seen as the "third personage of the kingdom" immediately after Louis XV and his own father, the regent. He was formally admitted to theConseil de Régenceon 30 January 1718. Despite his father's wishes, though, the Orléans household was never to play an overly public or political role in France. The following year, he was made the governor of theDauphiné.He was not forced to move there in order to fulfill his new duties. Later, he resigned.
In 1720, he becameGrand Master of the Order of Saint-Lazare and Jerusalem.In 1721, under his father's influence, he was namedColonel général de l'Infanterie,and post he held until 1730.
Duke of Orléans
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Upon the death of his father on 2 December 1723, the twenty-year-old Louis assumed the hereditary title ofDuke of Orléansand became the head of the House of Orléans. He also became the next in line to the throne of France until the birth of Louis XV's first-born son in 1729. This was because KingPhilip V of Spain,the second son of theGrand Dauphinand uncle of the young king, had renounced his rights to the French throne for himself and his descendants upon his accession to the throne of Spain in 1700. Although the regent had hoped that his son would assume a prominent role in the government as he had, the post of prime minister went to Louis' elder cousin,Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon,when the regent died. Constantly trying to consolidate and maintain his power at court, the Duke of Bourbon was always suspicious of Louis' motivations and was frequently opposed to him.
In 1723, the Orléans household was conspicuous for his hostility to the former prime minister,Cardinal Dubois.The Orléans also worked withClaude le BlancandNicolas Prosper Bauyn d'Angervilliersin the post ofSecretary of State for War;Louis himself worked in this position from 1723 to 1730.
Marriage
editThe fifth child and only son out of eight children, he was still not married at the death of his father. In 1721, the ambassador of France to Russia suggested a marriage between him and one of the two unmarried daughters ofPeter I of Russia:theGrand Duchess Anna Petrovna(known for her fluency in French) or her younger sister,Grand Duchess Yelizaveta Petrovna.But the idea of a marriage with a RussianGrand Duchesshad to be abandoned as there soon arose difficulties relative to religion and order of precedence. Louis was a great-grandson of the king of France and as such was entitled to the style ofSerene Highness.A Russian Grand Duchess, however, as a daughter of the tsar, was entitled to the style ofImperial Highness.Anna Petrovna later married theDuke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp.
Another possible bride that was considered for him was his first cousinÉlisabeth Alexandrine de Bourbon.She was the youngest daughter of his mother's elder sister,Louise Françoise de Bourbon.Élisabeth Alexandrine was also the younger sister of his main rival, the Duke of Bourbon.
In 1723, a German princess was suggested. She wasAuguste of Baden-Baden,the daughter ofLouis William, Margrave of Baden-Badenand his wifeSibylle Auguste of Saxe-Lauenburg.The marriage was agreed upon by his mother, and the bride's small dowry set at 80,000livres.The marriage by proxy took place on 18 June 1724 atRastatt,inBaden-Württemberg,Germany,[3]then on 13 July in the town ofSarry(Marne), in France.[4]It was at Sarry that the couple first met. They fell in love at first sight.[5]At the French court, the new Duchess of Orléans was known asAuguste de Bade.
The ducal couple had two children, but only one survived infancy.
Later life
editOn 5 September 1725, the court celebrated the marriage ofLouis XVto the Polish princessMarie LeszczyńskaatFontainebleau.Earlier, the Orléans had represented Louis XV at the proxy marriage ceremony, which had taken place the previous 15 August atStrasbourg.[6]The young queen would later have a lot of sympathy for the quiet and pious Duke.[citation needed][clarification needed]
The following year, on 8 August 1726, the duke's young wife died three days after the birth of her second child, Louise Marie, at thePalais-Royalin Paris. After the early death of his wife, and until his own death in 1752, Louis lived by strict rules.[clarification needed]
His aunt,Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans,Duchess of Lorraine, proposed her two daughtersÉlisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine[7]andAnne Charlotte de Lorraineas possible wives; Louis refused outright.
In 1730,Cardinal Fleurysecured the duke's dismissal from the position of colonel-general of the infantry, a post he had held for nine years. Afterwards, he became increasingly religious. Around 1740, he ordered the employment of a priest at the Palais Royal to stay with him during ill health. He later decided to retire at the Abbaye Sainte-Geneviève de Paris.[8]From then on, he became known asLouis le Génovéfain.[9]As he retired into private life, Louis spent his time translating thePsalmsand thePauline epistles,protecting men of science and managing his wealth.[10]Like his cousin, theDuke of Penthièvre,he was praised for his charitable works. After the birth of his son, Orléans was often preoccupied with the education of his son.
His son,Louis Philippe,would have liked to have marriedMadame Henriette,the second daughter of Louis XV, but Louis XV refused. The king did not want the House of Orléans to be as powerful as it had been during the regency of his Orléans' father.[11]In 1737 he, along with his aunt, the Dowager Duchess of Bourbon, were asked to be godparents of the king's son,Louis de France,Dauphin of France.
On 17 December 1743, his son marriedLouise Henriette de Bourbon,the daughter ofLouis Armand, Prince of Contiand his wife,Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon.The Condé and Orléans families had been at odds since the Orléans had assumed the rank ofFirst Prince of the Bloodin 1709, and it was hoped that the marriage would settle theirmésentente.Although passionate at first, the marriage soon proved unhappy because of the young bride's débaucherie.[12]
Louis Philippe d'Orléans would see the birth of his grandchildrenLouis PhilippeandBathilde,who, during theFrench Revolutionof 1789, would be known respectively asPhilippe ÉgalitéandCitoyenne Vérité.Because of the scandalous behaviour of their mother, he refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of his grandchildren.
In 1749, his mother died; he soon died in 1752, at the age of forty-eight, at theAbbaye de Sainte Geneviève,having lost most of his sanity. On his deathbed, on suspicion ofJansenistviews, he was refused communion by the Abbé Bouettin of theSaint-Étienne-du-Montchurch, but was given the last rites by his own chaplain.[13]Louis d'Orléans had outlived all his siblings apart fromCharlotte Aglaé,the Duchess of Modena and Reggio.
He was buried at theVal-de-Grâcein Paris.
Legacy
editLouis was praised as a very charitable man; in Versailles, the now destroyedCollege d'Orléans,was named after him due to his generous patronage of the college's construction.[14]He also remodelled the gardens at thePalais-Royalas well as the Orléans country residence, theChâteau de Saint-Cloud(c. 1735). Louis was also praised for giving generous financial aid to victims of floods in theLoirein 1731, and again in 1740.
Issue
edit| Name | Portrait | Lifespan | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Philippe d'Orléans Duke of Orléans |
|
12 May 1725 – 18 November 1785 |
Born at Versailles, he was titled Duke of Chartres (duc de Chartres) at birth; became Duke of Orléans (duc d'Orléans) upon his father's death in 1752; marriedLouise Henriette de Bourbonin 1743 and had issue; | |
| Louise Marie d'Orléans Mademoiselle |
|
5 August 1726 – 14 May 1728 |
Born at the Palais Royal, she was known asMademoiselletill her early death at Saint Cloud |
Ancestors
edit| Ancestors of Louis, Duke of Orléans (1703–1752)[15] |
|---|
References
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- ^Gordien, Marie-Estelle,Louis d'Orléans (1703–1752), premier prince du sang et mystique érudit.Thèses de l'École nationale des chartes,France (2002).
- ^Marie-Estelle Gordien (2002)."Louis d'Orléans (1703–1752), premier prince du sang et mystique érudit".RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
- ^Antoine de Nadaillac,Généalogie et Dynasties Européennes: La Dynastie des Capétiens: La Maison d'Orléans:"Maison d'Orléans".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-05-03.Retrieved2008-06-10.
- ^ib. de Nadaillac, AntoineArchived2008-05-03 at theWayback Machine
- ^Claude Dufresne,Les Orléans,Critérion, Paris, 1991, chapterUn prince par trop dévot,p. 181.
- ^Ferdinand), Hoefer (M, Jean Chrétien (1862).Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours: Nic-Oze(in French). Firmin Didot frères, fils et cie.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^Later wife ofCharles Emmanuel III of Sardinia.
- ^in French:http:// pierre-abelard /itin-Genevieve.htm
- ^Member of the Saint Genevieve congregation (of the Augustine order), from the LatinGenovefa:Genevieve. Saint Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris.
- ^ib. Dufresne, pp. 177-188.
- ^ib. Dufresne, chapter:Un "bon gros prince",pp. 189 & 192.
- ^ib. Dufresne, chapterUn "bon gros prince",p. 191-195.
- ^ib. Firmin Didot Frères,Nouvelle biographie générale...,p. 823-824.
- ^Louis was a great believer of education in the country.
- ^For ancestors up to #15:Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans[Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 89.
Sources
edit- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Orleans, Louis, Duke of (1703-1752)".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 284.
- Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours,Firmin Didot Frères, Paris, 1862, Tome 38.
- Dufresne, Claude,Les Orléans,Critérion, Paris, 1991.
- Gordien, Marie-Estelle,Louis d'Orléans (1703–1752), premier prince du sang et mystique érudit,Thèse Sorbonne, 2002.
