Louis-Philippe of France
Encyclopedia
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy
. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution
but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the United States. He was proclaimed king in 1830 after King Charles X
was forced to abdicate. Louis Philippe himself was forced to abdicate in 1848 and lived out his life in exile in England. He was the last king to rule France, although Emperor Napoleon III would serve as its last monarch.
(also known as "Philippe Égalité" during the French Revolution), and Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon
, he was a prince du sang
.
Louis Philippe was the eldest of three sons and a daughter, a family that was to have erratic fortunes from the beginning of the French Revolution
to the Bourbon Restoration
.
The elder branch of the House of Bourbon, to which the kings belonged, deeply distrusted the intentions of the cadet branch, which would succeed to the throne of France should the senior branch die out. Louis Philippe's father was exiled from the royal court, and the Orléans confined themselves to studies of the literature and sciences emerging from the Enlightenment.
, beginning in 1782. She instilled in him a fondness for liberal
thought; it is probably during this period that Louis Philippe picked up his slightly Voltaire
an brand of Catholicism. When Louis Philippe's grandfather died in 1785, his father succeeded him as Duke of Orléans and Louis Philippe succeeded his father as Duke of Chartres.
In 1788, with the Revolution
looming, the young Louis Philippe showed his liberal sympathies when he helped break down the door of a prison cell in Mont Saint-Michel
, during a visit there with the Countess of Genlis. From October 1788 to October 1789, the Palais-Royal was a meeting-place for the revolutionaries.
, a move that his father supported.
With war on the horizon in 1791, all proprietary colonels were ordered to join their regiments. Louis Philippe showed himself to be a model officer, and he demonstrated his personal bravery in two famous instances. First, three days after Louis XVI's flight to Varennes
, a quarrel between two local priests and one of the new constitutional vicars became heated, and a crowd surrounded the inn where the priests were staying, demanding blood. The young Colonel broke through the crowd and extricated the two priests, who then fled. At a river crossing on the same day, another crowd threatened to harm the priests. Louis Philippe put himself between a peasant armed with a carbine
and the priests, saving their lives. The next day, Louis Philippe dived into a river to save a drowning local engineer. For this action, he received a civic crown
from the local municipality. His regiment was moved north to Flanders
at the end of 1791 after the Declaration of Pillnitz
.
Louis Philippe served under his father's crony, the Duke of Biron, along with several officers who later gained distinction in Napoleon's empire and afterwards. These included Colonel Berthier
and Lieutenant Colonel Alexandre de Beauharnais
(husband of the future Empress Joséphine
). Louis Philippe saw the first exchanges of fire of the Revolutionary Wars at Boussu
and Quaragnon and a few days later fought at Quiévrain
near Jemappes
, where he was instrumental in rallying a unit of retreating soldiers. Biron wrote to War Minister de Grave
, praising the young colonel, who was then promoted to brigadier
, commanding a brigade of cavalry in Lückner's Army of the North.
In the Army of the North, Louis Philippe served with four future Marshals of France: Macdonald
, Mortier
(who would later be killed in an assassination attempt on Louis Philippe), Davout
, and Oudinot
. Dumouriez
was appointed to command the Army of the North in August 1792. Louis Philippe commanded a division under him in the Valmy
campaign.
At Valmy, Louis Philippe was ordered to place a battery of artillery on the crest of the hill of Valmy. The battle of Valmy was inconclusive, but the Austrian-Prussia
n army, short of supplies, was forced back across the Rhine. Once again, Louis Philippe was praised in a letter by Dumouriez after the battle. Louis Philippe was then recalled to Paris to give an account of the Battle at Valmy to the French government. There he had a rather trying interview with Danton
, Minister of Justice, which he later fondly re-told to his children.
While in Paris, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. In October he returned to the Army of the North, where Dumouriez had begun a march into Belgium. Louis Philippe again commanded a division. Dumouriez chose to attack an Austrian force in a strong position on the heights of Cuesmes and Jemappes
to the west of Mons
. Louis Philippe's division sustained heavy casualties as it attacked through a wood, retreating in disorder. Louis Philippe rallied a group of units, dubbing them "the battalion of Mons" and pushed forward along with other French units, finally overwhelming the outnumbered Austrians.
Events in Paris undermined the budding military career of Louis Philippe. The incompetence of Jean-Nicolas Pache
, the new Girondist
appointee, left the Army of the North almost without supplies. Soon thousands of troops were deserting the army. Louis Philippe was alienated by the more radical policies of the Republic. After the National Convention decided to put the deposed King
to death – Louis Philippe's father – by then known as Philippe Égalité – voted in favour of that act, Louis Philippe began to consider leaving France.
Louis Philippe was willing to stay in France to fulfill his duties in the army, but he was implicated in the plot Dumouriez had planned to ally with the Austrians, march his army on Paris, and restore the Constitution of 1791
. Dumouriez had met with Louis Philippe on 22 March 1793 and urged his subordinate to join in the attempt.
With the French government falling into the Reign of Terror
, he decided to leave France to save his life. On 4 April, Dumouriez and Louis Philippe left for the Austrian camp. They were intercepted by Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Nicolas Davout
, who had served at Jemappes
with Louis Philippe. As Dumouriez ordered the Colonel back to the camp, some of his soldiers cried out against the General, now declared a traitor by the National Convention
. Shots rang out as they fled towards the Austrian camp. The next day, Dumouriez again tried to rally soldiers against the Convention; however, he found that the artillery had declared for the Republic, leaving him and Louis Philippe with no choice but to go into exile. At the age of nineteen, Louis Philippe left France; it was some twenty-one years before he again set foot on French soil.
, condemning his son for his actions, asserting that he would not spare his son, much akin to the Roman consul Brutus
and his sons. However, letters from Louis Philippe to his father were discovered in transit and were read out to the Convention
. Philippe Égalité was then put under continuous surveillance. Shortly thereafter, the Girondists moved to arrest him and the two younger brothers of Louis Philippe, Louis-Charles and Antoine Philippe
; the latter had been serving in the Army of Italy
. The three were interned in Fort Saint-Jean
in Marseille.
Meanwhile, Louis Philippe was forced to live in the shadows, avoiding both pro-Republican revolutionaries and Legitimist French émigré centres in various parts of Europe and also in the Austrian army. He first moved to Switzerland under an assumed name, and met up with the Countess of Genlis and his sister Adélaïde
at Schaffhausen
. From there they went to Zürich
, where the Swiss authorities decreed that to protect Swiss neutrality, Louis Philippe would have to leave the city. They went to Zug
, where Louis Philippe was discovered by a group of émigrés.
It became quite apparent that for the ladies to settle peacefully anywhere, they would have to separate from Louis Philippe. He then left with his faithful valet Baudouin for the heights of the Alps
, and then to Basel
, where he sold all but one of his horses. Now moving from town to town throughout Switzerland, he and Baudouin found themselves very much exposed to all the distresses of extended travelling. They were refused entry to a monastery by monks who believed them to be young vagabonds. Another time, he woke up after spending a night in a barn to find himself at the far end of a musket, confronted by a man attempting to keep away thieves.
Throughout this period, he never stayed in one place more than 48 hours. Finally, in October 1793, Louis Philippe was appointed a teacher of geography, history, mathematics, and modern languages at a boys' boarding school. The school, owned by a Monsieur Jost, was in Reichenau, a village on the upper Rhine, across from Switzerland. His salary was 1,400 francs and he taught under the name Monsieur Chabos. He had been at the school for a month when he heard the news from Paris: his father had been guillotine
d on 6 November 1793 after a trial before the revolutionary Tribunal.
where the child was born in December 1794, and then placed in an orphanage.
After Louis Philippe left Reichenau, he separated the now sixteen-year-old Adélaïde from the Countess of Genlis, who had fallen out with Louis Philippe. Adélaïde went to live with her great-aunt the Princess of Conti
at Fribourg, then to Bavaria
and Hungary and, finally, to her mother who was exiled in Spain.
Louis Philippe travelled extensively. He visited Scandinavia in 1795 and then moved on to Finland. For about a year, he stayed in Muonio
(in the valley of Tornio river), a remote village at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia
, living in the rectory
under the name Müller as a guest of the local Lutheran
vicar. Here he met the vicar's wife's sister, Beata Caisa Wahlbom, who was a housekeeper in the rectory. The 22-year-old single sympathetic world-experienced prince charmed the 28-year-old inexperienced girl and she fell in love with him. Not long after Louis Philippe left Scandinavia, Beata Caisa Wahlbom gave birth to a son, whom she named Erik.
Louis Philippe also visited the United States for four years, staying in Philadelphia (where his brothers Antoine
and Louis Charles were in exile), New York City (where he most likely stayed at the Somerindyck family estate on Broadway and 75th Street with other exiled princes), and Boston
. In Boston, he taught French for a time and lived in lodgings over what is now the Union Oyster House
, Boston's oldest restaurant. During his time in the United States, Louis Philippe met with American politicians and people of high society, including George Clinton
, John Jay
, Alexander Hamilton
, and George Washington
.
His visit to Cape Cod
in 1797 coincided with the division of the town of Eastham into two towns, one of which took the name of Orleans, possibly in his honour. During their sojourn, the Orléans princes travelled throughout the country, visiting as far south as Nashville
and as far north as Maine
. The brothers were even held in Philadelphia briefly during an outbreak of yellow fever
. Louis Philippe is also thought to have met Isaac Snow of Orleans
, Massachusetts, who had escaped to France from a British prison hulk during the American Revolution
. In 1839, while reflecting on his visit to the United States, Louis Philippe explained in a letter to Guizot
that his three years there had a large influence on his later political beliefs and judgments when he became king.
In Boston, Louis Philippe learned of the coup of 18 Fructidor (4 September 1797) and of the exile of his mother to Spain. He and his brothers then decided to return to Europe. They went to New Orleans, planning to sail to Havana
and thence to Spain. This, however, was a troubled journey, as Spain and Great Britain were then at war. While in Louisiana in 1798, they were entertained by Julian Poydras in the town of Point Coupee.
They sailed for Havana in an American corvette, but the ship was stopped in the Gulf of Mexico
by a British warship. The British seized the three brothers, but took them to Havana anyway. Unable to find passage to Europe, the three brothers spent a year in Cuba, until they were unexpectedly expelled by the Spanish authorities. They sailed via the Bahamas
to Nova Scotia
where they were received by the Duke of Kent, son of King George III
and later father of Queen Victoria
. Louis Philippe struck up a lasting friendship with the British royal. Eventually, the brothers sailed back to New York, and, in January 1800, they arrived in England, where they stayed for the next fifteen years.
. They had the following ten children:
of Napoleon, Louis Philippe, known as Louis Philippe III, Duke of Orléans, returned to France during the reign of his cousin Louis XVIII
, at the time of the Bourbon Restoration
. Louis Philippe had reconciled the Orléans family with Louis XVIII in exile, and was once more to be found in the elaborate royal court. However, his resentment at the treatment of his family, the cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
under the Ancien Régime, caused friction between him and Louis XVIII, and he openly sided with the liberal opposition.
Louis Philippe was on far friendlier terms with Louis XVIII's brother and successor, Charles X
, who acceded to the throne in 1824, and with whom he socialised. However, his opposition to the policies of Villèle and later of Jules de Polignac caused him to be viewed as a constant threat to the stability of Charles' government. This soon proved to be to his advantage.
overthrew Charles X, who abdicated in favour of his 10-year-old grandson, Henri, Duke of Bordeaux
, and, naming Louis Philippe Lieutenant général du royaume, charged him to announce to the popularly elected Chamber of Deputies
his desire to have his grandson succeed him. Louis Philippe did not do this, in order to increase his own chances of succession. As a consequence, because the chamber was aware of Louis Philippe's liberal policies and of his popularity with the masses, they proclaimed Louis Philippe, who for eleven days had been acting as the regent
for his small cousin, as the new French king, displacing the senior branch of the House of Bourbon
.
Charles X and his family, including his grandson, went into exile in Britain
. The young ex-king, the Duke of Bordeaux, who, in exile, took the title of comte de Chambord, later became the pretender
to the throne of France and was supported by the Legitimists.
Upon his accession to the throne, Louis Philippe assumed the title of King of the French – a title already adopted by Louis XVI in the short-lived Constitution of 1791
. Linking the monarchy to a people
instead of a territory (as the previous designation King of France and of Navarre) was aimed at undercutting the legitimist claims of Charles X and his family.
By an ordinance he signed on 13 August 1830, the new king defined the manner in which his children, as well as his "beloved" sister, would continue to bear the surname "d'Orléans" and the arms of Orléans, declared that his eldest son, as Prince Royal
(not Dauphin), would bear the title Duke of Orléans, that the younger sons would continue to have their previous titles, and that his sister and daughters would only be styled Princesses of Orléans, not of France.
In 1832, his daughter, Princess Louise-Marie, married the first ruler of Belgium, Leopold I, King of the Belgians
. Their children included Leopold II of Belgium
and Empress Carlota of Mexico.
In July 1835, Louis Philippe survived an assassination attempt by Giuseppe Mario Fieschi on the boulevard du Temple
in Paris.
In 1842, his son and heir, Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans, died in a carriage accident.
Louis Philippe ruled in an unpretentious fashion, avoiding the pomp and lavish spending of his predecessors. Despite this outward appearance of simplicity, his support came from the wealthy bourgeoisie
. At first, he was much loved and called the "Citizen King" and the "bourgeois monarch," but his popularity suffered as his government was perceived as increasingly conservative and monarchical, despite his decision of having Napoleon's remains
returned to France. Under his management, the conditions of the working classes deteriorated, and the income gap widened considerably. An economic crisis in 1847 led to the 1848 Revolutions, and Louis Philippe's abdication.
. Fearful of what had happened to Louis XVI, Louis Philippe quickly left Paris under disguise. Riding in an ordinary cab under the name of "Mr. Smith", he fled to England. According to The Times
of 6 March 1848, the King and Queen were received at Newhaven, East Sussex
before travelling by train to London.
The National Assembly
initially planned to accept young Philippe as king, but the strong current of public opinion rejected that. On 26 February, the Second Republic
was proclaimed. Prince Louis Napoléon Bonaparte was elected President on 10 December of the same year; on 2 December 1851, he declared himself president for life
and then Emperor Napoleon III
in 1852.
Louis Philippe and his family remained in exile in England in Claremont
, Surrey, where he died on 26 August 1850. In 1876, his remains and those of his wife were taken to France and buried at the Chapelle royale de Dreux
, the Orléans family necropolis his mother had built in 1816, and which he had enlarged and embellished after her death.
s over who was the rightful monarch were resumed in the 1870s. After the fall of the Second Empire
, a monarchist-dominated National Assembly offered a throne to the Legitimist pretender, Henri de France, comte de Chambord
, as Henri V. As he was childless, his heir was (except to the most extreme Legitimists) Louis Philippe's grandson, Philippe d'Orléans, comte de Paris
. Thus the comte de Chambord's death would have united the House of Bourbon and House of Orléans.
However, the comte de Chambord refused to take the throne unless the Tricolor
flag of the Revolution was replaced with the fleur-de-lis
flag of the Ancien Régime. This the National Assembly was unwilling to do. The Third Republic
was established, though many intended for it to be temporary, and replaced by a constitutional monarchy after the death of the comte de Chambord. However, the comte de Chambord lived longer than expected. By the time of his death in 1883, support for the monarchy had declined, and public opinion sided with a continuation of the Third Republic, as the form of government that, according to Adolphe Thiers
, "divides us least". Some suggested a monarchical restoration under a later comte de Paris after the fall of the Vichy regime but this did not occur.
Most French monarchists regard the descendants of Louis Philippe's grandson, who hold the title Count of Paris, as the rightful pretender
s to the French throne; others, the Legitimists, consider Don Luis-Alfonso de Borbón, Duke of Anjou
(to his supporters, "Louis XX") to be the rightful heir. He is descended in the male line from Philippe, Duke of Anjou
, the second grandson of the Sun-King, Louis XIV
. Philippe (King Philip V of Spain), however, had renounced his rights to the throne of France to prevent the much-feared union of France and Spain.
The two sides challenged each other in the French Republic's law courts in 1897 and again nearly a century later. In the latter case, Henri, comte de Paris, duc de France
, challenged the right of the Spanish-born "pretender" to use the title Duke of Anjou. The French courts threw out his claim, arguing that the legal system had no jurisdiction over the matter.
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July Monarchy
The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...
. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the United States. He was proclaimed king in 1830 after King Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
was forced to abdicate. Louis Philippe himself was forced to abdicate in 1848 and lived out his life in exile in England. He was the last king to rule France, although Emperor Napoleon III would serve as its last monarch.
Early life
Louis Philippe d'Orléans was born at the Palais-Royal, the Orléans family residence in Paris, to Louis Philippe Joseph, Duke of Chartres, who became Louis Philippe II, Duke of OrléansLouis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror...
(also known as "Philippe Égalité" during the French Revolution), and Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, Duchess of Orléans, , was the daughter of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre and of Princess Maria Theresa Felicitas of Modena. At the death of her brother, Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, prince de Lamballe, she became the wealthiest heiress in France...
. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
, he was a prince du sang
Prince du Sang
A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
.
Louis Philippe was the eldest of three sons and a daughter, a family that was to have erratic fortunes from the beginning of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
to the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
.
The elder branch of the House of Bourbon, to which the kings belonged, deeply distrusted the intentions of the cadet branch, which would succeed to the throne of France should the senior branch die out. Louis Philippe's father was exiled from the royal court, and the Orléans confined themselves to studies of the literature and sciences emerging from the Enlightenment.
Education
Louis Philippe was tutored by the Countess of GenlisStéphanie Félicité Ducrest de St-Albin, comtesse de Genlis
Madame de Genlis, full name Stéphanie Félicité Ducrest de St-Aubin, comtesse de Genlis, or Madame Brûlart, was a French writer, harpist and educator.-Biography:...
, beginning in 1782. She instilled in him a fondness for liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
thought; it is probably during this period that Louis Philippe picked up his slightly Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
an brand of Catholicism. When Louis Philippe's grandfather died in 1785, his father succeeded him as Duke of Orléans and Louis Philippe succeeded his father as Duke of Chartres.
In 1788, with the Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
looming, the young Louis Philippe showed his liberal sympathies when he helped break down the door of a prison cell in Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometre off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches...
, during a visit there with the Countess of Genlis. From October 1788 to October 1789, the Palais-Royal was a meeting-place for the revolutionaries.
Revolution (1789–1793)
Louis Philippe grew up in a period that changed Europe as a whole and, following his father's strong support for the Revolution, he involved himself completely in those changes. In his diary, he reports that he himself took the initiative to join the Jacobin ClubJacobin Club
The Jacobin Club was the most famous and influential political club in the development of the French Revolution, so-named because of the Dominican convent where they met, located in the Rue St. Jacques , Paris. The club originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles from a group of Breton...
, a move that his father supported.
Military service
In June 1791, Louis Philippe got his first opportunity to become involved in the affairs of France. In 1785, he had been given the hereditary appointment of Colonel of the 14th Regiment of Dragoons.With war on the horizon in 1791, all proprietary colonels were ordered to join their regiments. Louis Philippe showed himself to be a model officer, and he demonstrated his personal bravery in two famous instances. First, three days after Louis XVI's flight to Varennes
Flight to Varennes
The Flight to Varennes was a significant episode in the French Revolution during which King Louis XVI of France, his wife Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family attempted unsuccessfully to escape from Paris in order to initiate a counter-revolution...
, a quarrel between two local priests and one of the new constitutional vicars became heated, and a crowd surrounded the inn where the priests were staying, demanding blood. The young Colonel broke through the crowd and extricated the two priests, who then fled. At a river crossing on the same day, another crowd threatened to harm the priests. Louis Philippe put himself between a peasant armed with a carbine
Carbine
A carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....
and the priests, saving their lives. The next day, Louis Philippe dived into a river to save a drowning local engineer. For this action, he received a civic crown
Civic Crown
The Civic Crown was a chaplet of common oak leaves woven to form a crown. During the Roman Republic, and the subsequent Principate, it was regarded as the second highest military decoration to which a citizen could aspire...
from the local municipality. His regiment was moved north to Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
at the end of 1791 after the Declaration of Pillnitz
Declaration of Pillnitz
The Declaration of Pillnitz was a statement issued on 27 August 1791 at Pillnitz Castle near Dresden by the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Frederick William II of Prussia...
.
Louis Philippe served under his father's crony, the Duke of Biron, along with several officers who later gained distinction in Napoleon's empire and afterwards. These included Colonel Berthier
Louis Alexandre Berthier
Louis Alexandre Berthier, 1st Prince de Wagram, 1st Duc de Valangin, 1st Sovereign Prince de Neuchâtel , was a Marshal of France, Vice-Constable of France beginning in 1808, and Chief of Staff under Napoleon.-Early life:Alexandre was born at Versailles to Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Baptiste Berthier ,...
and Lieutenant Colonel Alexandre de Beauharnais
Alexandre, vicomte de Beauharnais
Alexandre François Marie de Beauharnais, Vicomte de Beauharnais was a French political figure and general during the French Revolution...
(husband of the future Empress Joséphine
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she had been imprisoned in the Carmes prison until her release five days after Alexandre's...
). Louis Philippe saw the first exchanges of fire of the Revolutionary Wars at Boussu
Boussu
Boussu is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. As of January 1, 2006, Boussu had a total population of 20,058. The total area is 20.01 km², which gives a population density of 1,002 inhabitants per km²....
and Quaragnon and a few days later fought at Quiévrain
Quiévrain
Quiévrain is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On 1 January 2006, the municipality had 6,559 inhabitants. The total area is 21.22 km², giving a population density of 309 inhabitants per km²....
near Jemappes
Jemappes
Jemappes is a Walloon town in south-western Belgium, province Hainaut. Since 1976, it is part of the city Mons...
, where he was instrumental in rallying a unit of retreating soldiers. Biron wrote to War Minister de Grave
Pierre Marie de Grave
Pierre Marie, Marquis de Grave was the French Minister of War in 1792, from 9 March to 9 May.-References:...
, praising the young colonel, who was then promoted to brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
, commanding a brigade of cavalry in Lückner's Army of the North.
In the Army of the North, Louis Philippe served with four future Marshals of France: Macdonald
Étienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald
Étienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre MacDonald, 1st duke of Taranto was a Marshal of France and military leader during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Family background:...
, Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, 1st Duc de Trévise was a French general and Marshal of France under Napoleon I.-Biography:...
(who would later be killed in an assassination attempt on Louis Philippe), Davout
Louis Nicolas Davout
Louis-Nicolas d'Avout , better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Era. His prodigious talent for war along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian, earned him the title "The Iron Marshal"...
, and Oudinot
Nicolas Oudinot
Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Comte Oudinot, 1st Duc de Reggio , was a Marshal of France.-Early life:...
. Dumouriez
Charles François Dumouriez
Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. He shared the victory at Valmy with General François Christophe Kellermann, but later deserted the Revolutionary Army and became a royalist intriguer during the reign of Napoleon.-Early life:Dumouriez...
was appointed to command the Army of the North in August 1792. Louis Philippe commanded a division under him in the Valmy
Battle of Valmy
The Battle of Valmy was the first major victory by the army of France during the French Revolution. The action took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris...
campaign.
At Valmy, Louis Philippe was ordered to place a battery of artillery on the crest of the hill of Valmy. The battle of Valmy was inconclusive, but the Austrian-Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n army, short of supplies, was forced back across the Rhine. Once again, Louis Philippe was praised in a letter by Dumouriez after the battle. Louis Philippe was then recalled to Paris to give an account of the Battle at Valmy to the French government. There he had a rather trying interview with Danton
Georges Danton
Georges Jacques Danton was leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution and the first President of the Committee of Public Safety. Danton's role in the onset of the Revolution has been disputed; many historians describe him as "the chief force in theoverthrow of the monarchy and the...
, Minister of Justice, which he later fondly re-told to his children.
While in Paris, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. In October he returned to the Army of the North, where Dumouriez had begun a march into Belgium. Louis Philippe again commanded a division. Dumouriez chose to attack an Austrian force in a strong position on the heights of Cuesmes and Jemappes
Battle of Jemappes
The Battle of Jemappes took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons. General Charles François Dumouriez, in command of the French Revolutionary Army, defeated the greatly outnumbered Austrian army of Field Marshal Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his second-in-command...
to the west of Mons
Mons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
. Louis Philippe's division sustained heavy casualties as it attacked through a wood, retreating in disorder. Louis Philippe rallied a group of units, dubbing them "the battalion of Mons" and pushed forward along with other French units, finally overwhelming the outnumbered Austrians.
Events in Paris undermined the budding military career of Louis Philippe. The incompetence of Jean-Nicolas Pache
Jean-Nicolas Pache
Jean-Nicolas Pache was a French politician.-Biography:Pache was born in Verdun, but grew up in Paris, of Swiss parentage, the son of the concièrge of the hotel of Marshal de Castries...
, the new Girondist
Girondist
The Girondists were a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution...
appointee, left the Army of the North almost without supplies. Soon thousands of troops were deserting the army. Louis Philippe was alienated by the more radical policies of the Republic. After the National Convention decided to put the deposed King
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
to death – Louis Philippe's father – by then known as Philippe Égalité – voted in favour of that act, Louis Philippe began to consider leaving France.
Louis Philippe was willing to stay in France to fulfill his duties in the army, but he was implicated in the plot Dumouriez had planned to ally with the Austrians, march his army on Paris, and restore the Constitution of 1791
French Constitution of 1791
The short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution of France. One of the basic precepts of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty, following the steps of the United States of America...
. Dumouriez had met with Louis Philippe on 22 March 1793 and urged his subordinate to join in the attempt.
With the French government falling into the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
, he decided to leave France to save his life. On 4 April, Dumouriez and Louis Philippe left for the Austrian camp. They were intercepted by Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Nicolas Davout
Louis Nicolas Davout
Louis-Nicolas d'Avout , better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Era. His prodigious talent for war along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian, earned him the title "The Iron Marshal"...
, who had served at Jemappes
Battle of Jemappes
The Battle of Jemappes took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons. General Charles François Dumouriez, in command of the French Revolutionary Army, defeated the greatly outnumbered Austrian army of Field Marshal Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his second-in-command...
with Louis Philippe. As Dumouriez ordered the Colonel back to the camp, some of his soldiers cried out against the General, now declared a traitor by the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
. Shots rang out as they fled towards the Austrian camp. The next day, Dumouriez again tried to rally soldiers against the Convention; however, he found that the artillery had declared for the Republic, leaving him and Louis Philippe with no choice but to go into exile. At the age of nineteen, Louis Philippe left France; it was some twenty-one years before he again set foot on French soil.
Exile (1793–1815)
The reaction in Paris to Louis Philippe's involvement in Dumouriez's treason inevitably resulted in misfortunes for the Orléans family. Philippe Égalité spoke in the National ConventionNational Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
, condemning his son for his actions, asserting that he would not spare his son, much akin to the Roman consul Brutus
Lucius Junius Brutus
Lucius Junius Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first consuls in 509 BC. He was claimed as an ancestor of the Roman gens Junia, including Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Caesar's assassins.- Background :...
and his sons. However, letters from Louis Philippe to his father were discovered in transit and were read out to the Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
. Philippe Égalité was then put under continuous surveillance. Shortly thereafter, the Girondists moved to arrest him and the two younger brothers of Louis Philippe, Louis-Charles and Antoine Philippe
Antoine Philippe, Duke of Montpensier
Louis Antoine Philippe d'Orléans, duc de Montpensier was a son of Louis Philippe d'Orléans and his duchess Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon...
; the latter had been serving in the Army of Italy
Army of Italy (France)
The Army of Italy was a Field army of the French Army stationed on the Italian border and used for operations in Italy itself. Though it existed in some form in the 16th century through to the present, it is best known for its role during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic...
. The three were interned in Fort Saint-Jean
Fort Saint-Jean (Marseille)
Fort Saint-Jean is a fortification in Marseille, built in 1660 by Louis XIV at the entrance to the Old Port. Fort Saint-Nicolas was constructed at the same time on the opposite side of the harbour. Commenting on their construction, Louis XIV said, "We noticed that the inhabitants of Marseille were...
in Marseille.
Meanwhile, Louis Philippe was forced to live in the shadows, avoiding both pro-Republican revolutionaries and Legitimist French émigré centres in various parts of Europe and also in the Austrian army. He first moved to Switzerland under an assumed name, and met up with the Countess of Genlis and his sister Adélaïde
Louise Marie Adelaide Eugènie d'Orléans
Louise Marie Adélaïde Eugénie d'Orléans was one of the twin daughters of Louis Philippe II d'Orléans, known as Philippe Égalité during the French Revolution, and his wife, Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre...
at Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
. From there they went to Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, where the Swiss authorities decreed that to protect Swiss neutrality, Louis Philippe would have to leave the city. They went to Zug
Zug
Zug , is a German-speaking city in Switzerland. The name ‘Zug’ originates from fishing vocabulary; in the Middle Ages it referred to the right to ‘pull up’ fishing nets and hence to the right to fish.The city of Zug is located in the Canton of Zug and is its capital...
, where Louis Philippe was discovered by a group of émigrés.
It became quite apparent that for the ladies to settle peacefully anywhere, they would have to separate from Louis Philippe. He then left with his faithful valet Baudouin for the heights of the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, and then to Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, where he sold all but one of his horses. Now moving from town to town throughout Switzerland, he and Baudouin found themselves very much exposed to all the distresses of extended travelling. They were refused entry to a monastery by monks who believed them to be young vagabonds. Another time, he woke up after spending a night in a barn to find himself at the far end of a musket, confronted by a man attempting to keep away thieves.
Throughout this period, he never stayed in one place more than 48 hours. Finally, in October 1793, Louis Philippe was appointed a teacher of geography, history, mathematics, and modern languages at a boys' boarding school. The school, owned by a Monsieur Jost, was in Reichenau, a village on the upper Rhine, across from Switzerland. His salary was 1,400 francs and he taught under the name Monsieur Chabos. He had been at the school for a month when he heard the news from Paris: his father had been guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
d on 6 November 1793 after a trial before the revolutionary Tribunal.
Travels
In early 1794, Louis Philippe began courting Marianne Banzori, the cook of the Reichenau schoolmaster. In late 1794, Jost discovered that Marianne was pregnant. This ended Louis Philippe's academic career and Jost sent Marianne to MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
where the child was born in December 1794, and then placed in an orphanage.
After Louis Philippe left Reichenau, he separated the now sixteen-year-old Adélaïde from the Countess of Genlis, who had fallen out with Louis Philippe. Adélaïde went to live with her great-aunt the Princess of Conti
Maria Fortunata d'Este
Maria Fortunata d'Este was a Modenese princess by birth and a princess of the blood of France by marriage. By her marriage to a second cousin Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, she became the Countess of La Marche and later the Princess of Conti and was a member of the French court...
at Fribourg, then to Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
and Hungary and, finally, to her mother who was exiled in Spain.
Louis Philippe travelled extensively. He visited Scandinavia in 1795 and then moved on to Finland. For about a year, he stayed in Muonio
Muonio
Muonio is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...
(in the valley of Tornio river), a remote village at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...
, living in the rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
under the name Müller as a guest of the local Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
vicar. Here he met the vicar's wife's sister, Beata Caisa Wahlbom, who was a housekeeper in the rectory. The 22-year-old single sympathetic world-experienced prince charmed the 28-year-old inexperienced girl and she fell in love with him. Not long after Louis Philippe left Scandinavia, Beata Caisa Wahlbom gave birth to a son, whom she named Erik.
Louis Philippe also visited the United States for four years, staying in Philadelphia (where his brothers Antoine
Antoine Philippe, Duke of Montpensier
Louis Antoine Philippe d'Orléans, duc de Montpensier was a son of Louis Philippe d'Orléans and his duchess Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon...
and Louis Charles were in exile), New York City (where he most likely stayed at the Somerindyck family estate on Broadway and 75th Street with other exiled princes), and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. In Boston, he taught French for a time and lived in lodgings over what is now the Union Oyster House
Union Oyster House
Ye Olde Union Oyster House, open to diners since 1826, is the oldest restaurant in the United States of America. It is located at 41-43 Union Street, Boston, Massachusetts. The building was listed as a National Historic Landmark on May 27, 2003....
, Boston's oldest restaurant. During his time in the United States, Louis Philippe met with American politicians and people of high society, including George Clinton
George Clinton (vice president)
George Clinton was an American soldier and politician, considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was the first Governor of New York, and then the fourth Vice President of the United States , serving under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. He and John C...
, John Jay
John Jay
John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
, Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
, and George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
.
His visit to Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
in 1797 coincided with the division of the town of Eastham into two towns, one of which took the name of Orleans, possibly in his honour. During their sojourn, the Orléans princes travelled throughout the country, visiting as far south as Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and as far north as Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. The brothers were even held in Philadelphia briefly during an outbreak of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
. Louis Philippe is also thought to have met Isaac Snow of Orleans
Orleans, Massachusetts
Orleans is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Barnstable County is coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 5,890 at the 2010 census....
, Massachusetts, who had escaped to France from a British prison hulk during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. In 1839, while reflecting on his visit to the United States, Louis Philippe explained in a letter to Guizot
François Guizot
François Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, a conservative liberal who opposed the attempt by King Charles X to usurp legislative power, and worked to sustain a constitutional...
that his three years there had a large influence on his later political beliefs and judgments when he became king.
In Boston, Louis Philippe learned of the coup of 18 Fructidor (4 September 1797) and of the exile of his mother to Spain. He and his brothers then decided to return to Europe. They went to New Orleans, planning to sail to Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
and thence to Spain. This, however, was a troubled journey, as Spain and Great Britain were then at war. While in Louisiana in 1798, they were entertained by Julian Poydras in the town of Point Coupee.
They sailed for Havana in an American corvette, but the ship was stopped in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
by a British warship. The British seized the three brothers, but took them to Havana anyway. Unable to find passage to Europe, the three brothers spent a year in Cuba, until they were unexpectedly expelled by the Spanish authorities. They sailed via the Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
to Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
where they were received by the Duke of Kent, son of King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
and later father of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. Louis Philippe struck up a lasting friendship with the British royal. Eventually, the brothers sailed back to New York, and, in January 1800, they arrived in England, where they stayed for the next fifteen years.
Marriage
In 1809, Louis Philippe married Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, daughter of King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Maria Carolina of AustriaMaria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
. They had the following ten children:
| Name | Picture | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans | 3 September 1810 | 13 July 1842 | Married Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had issue. | |
| Louise d'Orléans Louise of Orléans Louise of Orléans was born a Princess of Orléans and was Queen consort of the Belgians as the wife of King Leopold I... |
3 April 1812 | 11 October 1850 | Married Leopold I of Belgium Leopold I of Belgium Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha... , had issue. |
|
| Princess Marie d'Orléans |  |
12 April 1813 | 6 January 1839 | Married Duke Alexander of Württemberg, had issue. |
| Prince Louis d'Orléans |  |
25 October 1814 | 26 June 1896 | Married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, had issue. |
| Françoise Louise Caroline d'Orléans | 26 March 1816 | 20 May 1818 | Died aged two. | |
| Princess Clémentine d'Orléans |  |
6 March 1817 | 16 February 1907 | Married Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, had issue. |
| Prince François d'Orléans Prince François, Prince of Joinville François-Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis-Marie d'Orléans, prince de Joinville was the third son of Louis Philippe, duc d'Orléans, afterwards king of the French and his wife Marie Amalie of Bourbon-Sicilies. He was notable as an admiral of the French Navy.-Life:He was born at the Château de Neuilly, in... |
 |
14 August 1818 | 16 June 1900 | Married Princess Francisca of Brazil Princess Francisca of Brazil Francisca of Brazil was a princess of Brazil. She was a daughter of Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal and his first wife Maria Leopoldina of Austria... , had issue. |
| Prince Charles d'Orléans Prince Charles, Duke of Penthièvre Charles d'Orléans was the eighth child of the Duke and Duchess of Orléans, future Louis Philippe I and la Reine Marie Amélie... |
1/16 January 1820 | 25 July 1828 | Died aged eight. | |
| Prince Henri d'Orléans | 16 January 1822 | 7 May 1897 | Married Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, had issue. | |
| Prince Antoine d'Orléans Antoine, Duke of Montpensier - Titles and styles:/*13 July 182421 September 1824: His Serene Highness Prince Antoine d'Orléans*21 September 18249 August 1830: His Royal Highness Prince Antoine d'Orléans... |
31 July 1824 | 4 February 1890 | Married Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier Infanta María Luisa Fernanda of Spain was Infanta of Spain and Duchess of Montpensier. She was the youngest daughter of king Ferdinand VII of Spain and his fourth wife Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, the queen-regent, who was also his niece.-Biography:-Heiress-presumptive:When her elder... , had issue. |
Bourbon Restoration (1815–1830)
After the abdicationAbdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
of Napoleon, Louis Philippe, known as Louis Philippe III, Duke of Orléans, returned to France during the reign of his cousin Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
, at the time of the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
. Louis Philippe had reconciled the Orléans family with Louis XVIII in exile, and was once more to be found in the elaborate royal court. However, his resentment at the treatment of his family, the cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
under the Ancien Régime, caused friction between him and Louis XVIII, and he openly sided with the liberal opposition.
Louis Philippe was on far friendlier terms with Louis XVIII's brother and successor, Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
, who acceded to the throne in 1824, and with whom he socialised. However, his opposition to the policies of Villèle and later of Jules de Polignac caused him to be viewed as a constant threat to the stability of Charles' government. This soon proved to be to his advantage.
King of the French (1830–1848)
In 1830, the July RevolutionJuly Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
overthrew Charles X, who abdicated in favour of his 10-year-old grandson, Henri, Duke of Bordeaux
Henri, comte de Chambord
Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such...
, and, naming Louis Philippe Lieutenant général du royaume, charged him to announce to the popularly elected Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of France
Chamber of Deputies was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.*...
his desire to have his grandson succeed him. Louis Philippe did not do this, in order to increase his own chances of succession. As a consequence, because the chamber was aware of Louis Philippe's liberal policies and of his popularity with the masses, they proclaimed Louis Philippe, who for eleven days had been acting as the regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
for his small cousin, as the new French king, displacing the senior branch of the House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
.
Charles X and his family, including his grandson, went into exile in Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. The young ex-king, the Duke of Bordeaux, who, in exile, took the title of comte de Chambord, later became the pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
to the throne of France and was supported by the Legitimists.
Upon his accession to the throne, Louis Philippe assumed the title of King of the French – a title already adopted by Louis XVI in the short-lived Constitution of 1791
French Constitution of 1791
The short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution of France. One of the basic precepts of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty, following the steps of the United States of America...
. Linking the monarchy to a people
Popular monarchy
Popular monarchy is a system of monarchical governance in which the monarch's title is linked with a popular mandate rather than a constitutional state. It was the norm in some places from the Middle Ages, and was occasionally used in 19th- and 20th-century Europe, often reflecting the results of...
instead of a territory (as the previous designation King of France and of Navarre) was aimed at undercutting the legitimist claims of Charles X and his family.
By an ordinance he signed on 13 August 1830, the new king defined the manner in which his children, as well as his "beloved" sister, would continue to bear the surname "d'Orléans" and the arms of Orléans, declared that his eldest son, as Prince Royal
Prince Royal
Prince Royal may refer to the Crown Prince in the following monarchies:* Prince Royal of Portugal, the Prince Royal of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves* Prince Royal of Haiti, see Jacques-Victor Henry, Prince Royal of Haiti...
(not Dauphin), would bear the title Duke of Orléans, that the younger sons would continue to have their previous titles, and that his sister and daughters would only be styled Princesses of Orléans, not of France.
In 1832, his daughter, Princess Louise-Marie, married the first ruler of Belgium, Leopold I, King of the Belgians
Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
. Their children included Leopold II of Belgium
Leopold II of Belgium
Leopold II was the second king of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865 and remained king until his death.Leopold is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free...
and Empress Carlota of Mexico.
In July 1835, Louis Philippe survived an assassination attempt by Giuseppe Mario Fieschi on the boulevard du Temple
Boulevard du Temple
The Boulevard du Temple is a thoroughfare in Paris that separates the 3rd arrondissement from the 11th. It runs from the Place de la République to the Place Pasdeloup, and its name refers to the nearby Knights Templars' Temple where they established their Paris priory.-History:The Boulevard du...
in Paris.
In 1842, his son and heir, Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans, died in a carriage accident.
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
. At first, he was much loved and called the "Citizen King" and the "bourgeois monarch," but his popularity suffered as his government was perceived as increasingly conservative and monarchical, despite his decision of having Napoleon's remains
Retour des cendres
The retour des cendres was the return of the mortal remains of Napoleon I of France from the island of St Helena to France and their burial in the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris in 1840, on the initiative of Adolphe Thiers and King Louis-Philippe.-Previous attempts:In a codicil to his will, written...
returned to France. Under his management, the conditions of the working classes deteriorated, and the income gap widened considerably. An economic crisis in 1847 led to the 1848 Revolutions, and Louis Philippe's abdication.
Abdication and death (1848–1850)
On 24 February 1848, during the February 1848 Revolution, King Louis Philippe abdicated in favour of his nine-year-old grandson, Philippe, comte de ParisPhilippe, Comte de Paris
Philippe d'Orléans, Count of Paris was the grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. He was a claimant to the French throne from 1848 until his death.-Early life:...
. Fearful of what had happened to Louis XVI, Louis Philippe quickly left Paris under disguise. Riding in an ordinary cab under the name of "Mr. Smith", he fled to England. According to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
of 6 March 1848, the King and Queen were received at Newhaven, East Sussex
Newhaven, East Sussex
Newhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...
before travelling by train to London.
The National Assembly
National Assembly
National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. The best known National Assembly, and the first legislature to be known by this title, was that established during the French Revolution in 1789, known as the Assemblée nationale...
initially planned to accept young Philippe as king, but the strong current of public opinion rejected that. On 26 February, the Second Republic
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
was proclaimed. Prince Louis Napoléon Bonaparte was elected President on 10 December of the same year; on 2 December 1851, he declared himself president for life
President for Life
President for Life is a title assumed by some dictators to remove their term limit, in the hope that their authority, legitimacy, and term will never be disputed....
and then Emperor Napoleon III
Napoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
in 1852.
Louis Philippe and his family remained in exile in England in Claremont
Claremont (country house)
Claremont, also known historically as 'Clermont', is an 18th-century Palladian mansion situated less than a mile south of Esher in Surrey, England...
, Surrey, where he died on 26 August 1850. In 1876, his remains and those of his wife were taken to France and buried at the Chapelle royale de Dreux
Chapelle royale de Dreux
The Chapelle royale de Dreux, situated in Dreux, France, is a Chapel and burial site of the Royal House of Orléans. The House of Orléans was founded by Philippe de France, duc d'Orléans - the younger brother of Louis XIV of France...
, the Orléans family necropolis his mother had built in 1816, and which he had enlarged and embellished after her death.
The clash of the pretenders
The clashes of 1830 and 1848 between the Legitimists and the OrleanistOrléanist
The Orléanists were a French right-wing/center-right party which arose out of the French Revolution. It governed France 1830-1848 in the "July Monarchy" of king Louis Philippe. It is generally seen as a transitional period dominated by the bourgeoisie and the conservative Orleanist doctrine in...
s over who was the rightful monarch were resumed in the 1870s. After the fall of the Second Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
, a monarchist-dominated National Assembly offered a throne to the Legitimist pretender, Henri de France, comte de Chambord
Henri, comte de Chambord
Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such...
, as Henri V. As he was childless, his heir was (except to the most extreme Legitimists) Louis Philippe's grandson, Philippe d'Orléans, comte de Paris
Philippe, Comte de Paris
Philippe d'Orléans, Count of Paris was the grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. He was a claimant to the French throne from 1848 until his death.-Early life:...
. Thus the comte de Chambord's death would have united the House of Bourbon and House of Orléans.
However, the comte de Chambord refused to take the throne unless the Tricolor
Flag of France
The national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured royal blue , white, and red...
flag of the Revolution was replaced with the fleur-de-lis
Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...
flag of the Ancien Régime. This the National Assembly was unwilling to do. The Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
was established, though many intended for it to be temporary, and replaced by a constitutional monarchy after the death of the comte de Chambord. However, the comte de Chambord lived longer than expected. By the time of his death in 1883, support for the monarchy had declined, and public opinion sided with a continuation of the Third Republic, as the form of government that, according to Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
, "divides us least". Some suggested a monarchical restoration under a later comte de Paris after the fall of the Vichy regime but this did not occur.
Most French monarchists regard the descendants of Louis Philippe's grandson, who hold the title Count of Paris, as the rightful pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
s to the French throne; others, the Legitimists, consider Don Luis-Alfonso de Borbón, Duke of Anjou
Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou
Prince Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou was not originally among his given names ; born 25 April 1974, Madrid) is a member of the historically royal dynasty of the House of Bourbon, and one of the current pretenders to the defunct crown of France...
(to his supporters, "Louis XX") to be the rightful heir. He is descended in the male line from Philippe, Duke of Anjou
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
, the second grandson of the Sun-King, Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. Philippe (King Philip V of Spain), however, had renounced his rights to the throne of France to prevent the much-feared union of France and Spain.
The two sides challenged each other in the French Republic's law courts in 1897 and again nearly a century later. In the latter case, Henri, comte de Paris, duc de France
Henri, comte de Paris, duc de France
Henri d'Orléans is a member of the former French ruling dynasty of the House of Bourbon, and one of the current pretenders to the defunct French crown. A descendant of King Louis-Philippe , he is the current head of the Orléans line of the Bourbon dynasty...
, challenged the right of the Spanish-born "pretender" to use the title Duke of Anjou. The French courts threw out his claim, arguing that the legal system had no jurisdiction over the matter.
Ancestors
See also
- In France, a museum is dedicated to king Louis Philippe and his family Louis-Philippe Museum of Château d'Eu in Normandy The Lafitte Family.* Members of the French Royal FamiliesMembers of the French Royal FamiliesThis is a list of non-ruling members of the French royal family. It includes royal consorts, children, and some grandchildren, as well as more recent members of the French Royal House....
External links
- La Caricature Gallery: Caricatures of Louis Philippe and others, published in La Caricature 1830–1835
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