Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon
Encyclopedia
Louis Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon, Prince of Condé (Louis Henri Joseph; duc de Bourbon, duc d'Enghien, duc de Guise, duc de Bellegarde, comte de Sancerre; 18 August 1692 – 27 January 1740) was head of the cadet Bourbon-Condé
branch of the French royal House of Bourbon
from 1710 to his death, and served as prime minister to his kinsman Louis XV
from 1723 to 1726.
Despite succeeding to the House of Condé in 1709, he never used the title preferring to be known by the title Duke of Bourbon; he was also known as Monsieur le Duc. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince du Sang
.
, the eldest son of Louis de Bourbon
and Louise Françoise de Bourbon, the eldest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV
and his favourite
, Madame de Montespan.
He was the great-grandson of Louis de Bourbon, le Grand Condé
, who died in 1686, and was addressed to as Monsieur le Duc
, this style applying specifically the head of the House of Bourbon-Condé.
Following the death one after the other of the heirs to the throne of France in the early 18th century, except for the young duc d'Anjou, the great-grandson of Louis XIV, and future Louis XV
, Bourbon was next behind the young dauphin, and Philippe d'Orléans, in hereditary line to the throne of France. He was Louis XV's Prime Minister (Premier Ministre) from 1723 to 1726.
The following is a contemporary description of him:
Regarding this and other contemporary information, satirical pamphlets directed against royalty were a common form of literature, and the chronicles left by courtiers were influenced by rivalries or prejudice. In other words, he might not have looked so bad. Based on collaborating evidence from other sources, however, it is probably safe to assume that he was tall, and not plump.
It is fairly certain he only had the use of one eye:
This probably happened before he was twenty five.
for the 5-year-old king Louis XV, appointed the then 23-year-old duc de Bourbon to his first Regency Council. The Regency Council was the highest consultative body in the French government during the Regency, equivalent to the Conseil d'en-haut (Conseil du Roi
) which was appointed by the King.
In 1718, he supplanted the duc du Maine
in the position of superintendent of the king's education. This happened at the Regency Council meeting of 26 August, at which Maine and the comte de Toulouse
, legitimised sons (princes légitimés de France) of the late king Louis XIV
, were demoted to the same rank as dukes and peers. The actual teaching of the young king was not much disturbed however, since it was mostly done by his old and trusted tutor, André-Hercule de Fleury, bishop of Fréjus, who remained in place.
Many of the surviving descriptions of the duke's personality are highly uncomplimentary. They fall under the general categories greed, bad manners, stupidity. As mentioned earlier, one must be wary of the sources. For example, Barbier said he "had a very limited mind, knows nothing, and only likes pleasure and hunting." But then we are relieved to find, in an indictment for toadyism, that he didn't like hunting: he pretended to like it to ingratiate himself with the king.
, who had been the Regent's Premier Ministre, remained in that capacity for the king. However, Dubois died in August 1723. Thereupon the former Regent became the king's Premier Ministre, until his own death (of a stroke) the following 2 December. Bourbon rushed to see the king that very evening and requested the Prime Ministership, which was granted immediately. He was an intimate of Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
.
The Cardinal de Fleury, who was present at the meeting, recommended acceptance, and Louis XV indicated his assent by a silent nod. Guizot says that Louis "sought in his perceptor's [tutor's] eyes the guidance he needed". Gooch and Perkins also say that Fréjus acquiesced in the appointment. Jones, on the other hand, says that Fréjus was not there; also that after the meeting, in order to protect his own influence with the king, which was great, Fréjus got the king to agree never to hold discussions with Bourbon unless he too was present.
There is not much disagreement on this latter point: all sources say that throughout his premiership, Bourbon could never get an audience with Louis XV without Fréjus being there. This was an unusual, and for Bourbon, eventually an intolerable situation. Orléans had been able to see the king whenever he wanted. It illustrates the power of Fréjus, who in a few years was to assume control of the government himself.
To assess why the king — or Fréjus — chose, or allowed, Bourbon to become Premier Ministre, says the French lawyer and writer d'Angerville, writing in 1781:
One of Bourbon's first moves as Prime Minister was to replace d'Argenson, the minister of police, with Nicolas Ravot d'Ombreval
, who was a relative of the marquise de Prie
. This gave Bourbon control of press censorship, and also gave him control of much of the mail.
He announced a new promotion of the Marshals of France — the first since 1715 — and made some new appointments to France's highest chivalric order, the Order of the Holy Spirit
(Ordre du Saint-Esprit). The conferees were almost all supporters of Monsieur le Duc.
, Louis III de La Vergne de Tressan, Grand Almoner of France
(Grand Aumônier de France) during the Regency. He argued with both the Regent and his most influential minister, Cardinal Dubois
, in favour of severe measures against the Protestants. They rejected his ideas.
When Bourbon came to be Prime Minister, however, the bishop found in him a more receptive audience, and he was given the go-ahead to draw up a general law against heresy.
, the infanta of Spain, daughter of the Spanish King, in 1721, when she was just three years old, and the King only eleven. By 1724, the King was fourteen, and well-grown for his age, but the infanta was still a decade away from child-bearing age. Some felt that this was too long for France to wait for an heir. This was especially so because, if Louis XV died without an heir, it was feared that, armed with a hereditary right he had renounced when he became king of Spain, Philip V of Spain
would ignore the Treaty of Utrecht
, claim the French throne, thus plunging France and Spain into a terrible conflict into which the other European powers would be dragged.
It appears that by the summer of 1724, the marquise de Prie, and possibly also Monsieur le Duc, were considering breaking Louis XV's engagement with the infanta, despite the great offence this would cause Spain, and finding him a wife who might provide the country with an heir at the earliest date. Despite this, it appears that Monsieur le Duc would have been quite willing to leave the infanta in place if Philippe V had granted him a certain personal favour; of all our sources only Perkins mentions this, but he appears to have ample substantiation:
By, at latest, the winter of 1725, replacement of the infanta was being considered. Candidates included the Duke's sisters, especially Mademoiselle de Vermandois
. Mme de Prie was opposed to this choice because it would give the Duchesse de Bourbon, Vermandois and the Duke's mother too much influence. The duchesse and Mme de Prie did not like each other. Furthermore, Fréjus was opposed to Louis marrying anyone from the Bourbon-Condé branch of the royal family.
In April 1725, the seven-year-old infanta was sent back to Madrid — Louis did not even say goodbye to her. A new candidate was sought urgently
because, should Louis die with no heir, and assuming Philippe V of Spain did not seize the throne, then it would pass to the new duc d'Orléans, son of the deceased Regent; the House of Orléans
and the House of Condé were rivals, so this would cast Monsieur le Duc into the political wastelands.
Prominent among these was a daughter of George I of England. The prize was offered to her if she would consent to become a Catholic. However that would have caused great difficulties for her father, as he was occupying the throne mainly because he was Protestant, whereas his rival, James Stuart
, was Catholic; he had to politely decline the offer of France to his daughter.
Another prominent contender was the grand duchess, later empress, Elizabeth of Russia.
Others on the list included the daughter of the duc de Lorraine
; a princess of Savoy who was Louis XV's first cousin, and the princess of Hesse-Rheinfels
.
. He lost it after five years because his sponsor was beaten by Peter the Great of Russia, at Poltava
. Stanislaus had found refuge, first in Germany, then in France, where the Regent had given him a house at Wissembourg
in Alsace, a pension of fifty thousand livres, irregularly paid, and, as a sign of respect, a few regiments of soldiers as companions; they, along with a handful of retainers who had followed the forsaken king in his wanderings, comprised his bare little court. "His property in Poland had been confiscated and his wife's jewels pawned."(Gooch)
Marie did not have a reputation for great beauty or intelligence, but she was not ugly, and was healthy and had a very agreeable character: kind, generous, and calm. She had already been thought of as a wife for the duc de Bourbon. Now he and Mme de Prie decided she would be ideal for the King. On 31 March 1725, the Council met and agreed that the offer would go to Marie Leczińska. On 27 May, the name of the Queen-to-be was made public.
The young duc d'Orléans, who was angry at not having been consulted about the marriage plans, was placated by standing for the bridegroom in the marriage by procuration, which took place in the cathedral of Strasbourg
, and was officiated by the Cardinal de Rohan
, bishop of Strasbourg
and Grand Almoner of France. Marie was dressed in a grand habit de cérémonie "made of silver brocade and embroidered with precious stones." The true wedding which followed took place at Fontainebleau
.
Bourbon remained Prime Minister of France
until his dismissal, in 1726, in favour of the young king's tutor, Cardinal Fleury.
Saint-Simon
, the famous French memoirs writer known for his acid portraits of grandees, described the Duke of Bourbon as a man with "an almost stupid foolishness, an indomitable obstinacy, an insatiable self-interest". On the other hand, the Cardinal de Fleury said that he found in the Duke of Bourbon "goodness, probity, and honour" and that he considered himself one of the duke's friends.
, some 40 kilometers northeast of Paris
). It was during this time the château went under a sort of renaissance. He redecorated the building along with the grounds and entertained there when he could making sure to stay away from the parisian set which had exiled him. He died in his favourite home on 27 January. He was aged 47. The titles of the Bourbon-Condé family then passed onto his 4-year-old son who was to hold the title of prince de Condé for over a period of over 7 decades.
During the Regency he made large amounts of money by speculating in the financial Système (1716–20) of John Law
. He bought paper notes, waited for their value to rise, then, before the Système failed in 1720, took them to Law's bank (which had become the national bank) and traded them in for gold. On 3 March 1720, following the example of the Prince de Conti who the day before had gone to Law's bank and withdrawn fourteen million livres in gold, which he took away in several large carts, de Bourbon went to the bank and took away twenty-five million. The bank closed later that year due to lack of reserves. De Bourbon made 40 million livres off the Système, or perhaps 20 million. Good timing might not have been the only reason for his success in exploiting the Système; his high position in aristocracy and government was an advantage. Historian James Breck Perkins says, "he asked enormous advantages in return for the protection he extended [to John Law and his associates], and the unfortunate adventurer [Law] was not in a position to say no to so powerful a nobleman." After the Système went under, "the government compelled some humbler speculators to disgorge their gains, but no one ventured to disturb the head of the house of Condé."
. His younger sister Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon, known as Mademoiselle de Bourbon, married the brother of Marie Anne, Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti.
They had no children and the couple both had affairs which they openly showed at court. At her death, Marie Anne gave all her property to her sister Mademoiselle de La Roche-sur-Yon
.
On 23 July 1728, he married Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Rotenburg
a daughter of Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg
.
They had one son,
Caroline had been on a list of possible wives for Louis XV of France
but she had been removed on account of her bad temper. Caroline was described as a pretty girl when she arrived at court. Her husband was pardoned by Louis XV in 1730; this was regarding his exile to the Château de Chantilly
in 1725. The couple are known to have lived together quietly at the Palais Bourbon
which had been built by her mother-in-law Louise Françoise de Bourbon.
In addition, Louis Henri had an illegitimate daughter with Armande Félice de La Porte Mazarin (1691–1729), the wife of Louis de Mailly, marquis de Nesle et de Mailly, Prince d'Orange (1689–1767), that he officially recognized,
Prince of Condé
The Most Serene House of Condé is a historical French house, a noble lineage of descent from a single ancestor...
branch of the French royal 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...
from 1710 to his death, and served as prime minister to his kinsman Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
from 1723 to 1726.
Despite succeeding to the House of Condé in 1709, he never used the title preferring to be known by the title Duke of Bourbon; he was also known as Monsieur le Duc. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, 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...
.
Early years
Louis Henri was born at VersaillesPalace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, the eldest son of Louis de Bourbon
Louis III, Prince of Condé
Louis de Bourbon, , was Prince of Condé for less than a year, following the death of his father Henry III, Prince of Condé in 1709...
and Louise Françoise de Bourbon, the eldest legitimised daughter of 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...
and his favourite
Maîtresse-en-titre
The maîtresse-en-titre was the chief mistress of the king of France. It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartments. The title really came into use during the reign of Henry IV and continued until the reign of Louis XV....
, Madame de Montespan.
He was the great-grandson of Louis de Bourbon, le Grand Condé
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé was a French general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien...
, who died in 1686, and was addressed to as Monsieur le Duc
Duke of Bourbon
Duke of Bourbon is a title in the peerage of France. It was created in the first half of the 14th century for the eldest son of Robert of France, Count of Clermont and Beatrice of Burgundy, heiress of the lordship of Bourbon...
, this style applying specifically the head of the House of Bourbon-Condé.
Following the death one after the other of the heirs to the throne of France in the early 18th century, except for the young duc d'Anjou, the great-grandson of Louis XIV, and future Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
, Bourbon was next behind the young dauphin, and Philippe d'Orléans, in hereditary line to the throne of France. He was Louis XV's Prime Minister (Premier Ministre) from 1723 to 1726.
The following is a contemporary description of him:
Regarding this and other contemporary information, satirical pamphlets directed against royalty were a common form of literature, and the chronicles left by courtiers were influenced by rivalries or prejudice. In other words, he might not have looked so bad. Based on collaborating evidence from other sources, however, it is probably safe to assume that he was tall, and not plump.
It is fairly certain he only had the use of one eye:
This probably happened before he was twenty five.
La Régence
In September 1715, Philippe d'Orléans, who had just become RegentRegent
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 the 5-year-old king Louis XV, appointed the then 23-year-old duc de Bourbon to his first Regency Council. The Regency Council was the highest consultative body in the French government during the Regency, equivalent to the Conseil d'en-haut (Conseil du Roi
Conseil du Roi
The Conseil du Roi or King's Council is a general term for the administrative and governmental apparatus around the king of France during the Ancien Régime designed to prepare his decisions and give him advice...
) which was appointed by the King.
In 1718, he supplanted the duc du Maine
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine
Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Legitimé de France was the eldest legitimised son of the Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan...
in the position of superintendent of the king's education. This happened at the Regency Council meeting of 26 August, at which Maine and the comte de Toulouse
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse , duc de Penthièvre , d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet , , was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Madame de Montespan...
, legitimised sons (princes légitimés de France) of the late 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...
, were demoted to the same rank as dukes and peers. The actual teaching of the young king was not much disturbed however, since it was mostly done by his old and trusted tutor, André-Hercule de Fleury, bishop of Fréjus, who remained in place.
Many of the surviving descriptions of the duke's personality are highly uncomplimentary. They fall under the general categories greed, bad manners, stupidity. As mentioned earlier, one must be wary of the sources. For example, Barbier said he "had a very limited mind, knows nothing, and only likes pleasure and hunting." But then we are relieved to find, in an indictment for toadyism, that he didn't like hunting: he pretended to like it to ingratiate himself with the king.
Premier Ministre
The Regency ended when Louis XV reached the age of majority, thirteen, in February 1723. Cardinal DuboisGuillaume Dubois
Guillaume Dubois was a French cardinal and statesman.-Early years:Dubois, the third of the four great Cardinal-Ministers , was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in Limousin...
, who had been the Regent's Premier Ministre, remained in that capacity for the king. However, Dubois died in August 1723. Thereupon the former Regent became the king's Premier Ministre, until his own death (of a stroke) the following 2 December. Bourbon rushed to see the king that very evening and requested the Prime Ministership, which was granted immediately. He was an intimate of Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, comtesse de Verrue was a French noblewoman and the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia.-Biography:...
.
The Cardinal de Fleury, who was present at the meeting, recommended acceptance, and Louis XV indicated his assent by a silent nod. Guizot says that Louis "sought in his perceptor's [tutor's] eyes the guidance he needed". Gooch and Perkins also say that Fréjus acquiesced in the appointment. Jones, on the other hand, says that Fréjus was not there; also that after the meeting, in order to protect his own influence with the king, which was great, Fréjus got the king to agree never to hold discussions with Bourbon unless he too was present.
There is not much disagreement on this latter point: all sources say that throughout his premiership, Bourbon could never get an audience with Louis XV without Fréjus being there. This was an unusual, and for Bourbon, eventually an intolerable situation. Orléans had been able to see the king whenever he wanted. It illustrates the power of Fréjus, who in a few years was to assume control of the government himself.
To assess why the king — or Fréjus — chose, or allowed, Bourbon to become Premier Ministre, says the French lawyer and writer d'Angerville, writing in 1781:
One of Bourbon's first moves as Prime Minister was to replace d'Argenson, the minister of police, with Nicolas Ravot d'Ombreval
Nicolas Ravot d'Ombreval
Nicolas Jean-Baptiste Ravot, seigneur d'Ombreval was a French magistrate and administrator who served as Lieutenant General of Police of Paris from 1724 to 1725.-Biography:...
, who was a relative of the marquise de Prie
Jeanne Agnès Berthelot de Pléneuf, marquise de Prie
Jeanne Agnès Berthelot de Pléneuf, marquise de Prie , was a French noblewoman notable for her intriguing during the reign of Louis XV.She was the daughter of the rich but unscrupulous financier Étienne Berthelot de Pléneuf...
. This gave Bourbon control of press censorship, and also gave him control of much of the mail.
He announced a new promotion of the Marshals of France — the first since 1715 — and made some new appointments to France's highest chivalric order, the Order of the Holy Spirit
Order of the Holy Spirit
The Order of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit, was an Order of Chivalry under the French Monarchy. It should not be confused with the Congregation of the Holy Ghost or with the Order of the Holy Ghost...
(Ordre du Saint-Esprit). The conferees were almost all supporters of Monsieur le Duc.
Persecution of Protestants
The persecution of the Huguenots under the reign of Louis XIV was stopped by the Regent. Nevertheless, there remained those who advocated rigour in the treatment of the Protestants. Prominent among these was the Archbishop of RouenArchbishop of Rouen
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen is an Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the ecclesiastical province of the archdiocese comprises the majority of Normandy....
, Louis III de La Vergne de Tressan, Grand Almoner of France
Grand Almoner of France
The Grand Almoner of France was an officer of the French monarchy and a member of the Maison du Roi during the Ancien Régime...
(Grand Aumônier de France) during the Regency. He argued with both the Regent and his most influential minister, Cardinal Dubois
Guillaume Dubois
Guillaume Dubois was a French cardinal and statesman.-Early years:Dubois, the third of the four great Cardinal-Ministers , was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in Limousin...
, in favour of severe measures against the Protestants. They rejected his ideas.
When Bourbon came to be Prime Minister, however, the bishop found in him a more receptive audience, and he was given the go-ahead to draw up a general law against heresy.
The King’s affairs
One of the greatest achievements of the Duke's premiership was the arrangement of the King's marriage. The King had been betrothed to Mariana VictoriaMariana Victoria of Spain
Mariana Victoria of Spain was an Infanta of Spain and Queen consort of Portugal as wife of King Joseph I. The mother of Queen Maria I of Portugal, she also acted as Regent of Portugal during the last months of her husband's life and advisor to her daughter during her reign.-Background:Mariana...
, the infanta of Spain, daughter of the Spanish King, in 1721, when she was just three years old, and the King only eleven. By 1724, the King was fourteen, and well-grown for his age, but the infanta was still a decade away from child-bearing age. Some felt that this was too long for France to wait for an heir. This was especially so because, if Louis XV died without an heir, it was feared that, armed with a hereditary right he had renounced when he became king of Spain, Philip V of Spain
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...
would ignore the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
, claim the French throne, thus plunging France and Spain into a terrible conflict into which the other European powers would be dragged.
By, at latest, the winter of 1725, replacement of the infanta was being considered. Candidates included the Duke's sisters, especially Mademoiselle de Vermandois
Henriette Louise de Bourbon
Henriette Louise de Bourbon was a French Princess by birth and a member of the House of Bourbon...
. Mme de Prie was opposed to this choice because it would give the Duchesse de Bourbon, Vermandois and the Duke's mother too much influence. The duchesse and Mme de Prie did not like each other. Furthermore, Fréjus was opposed to Louis marrying anyone from the Bourbon-Condé branch of the royal family.
In April 1725, the seven-year-old infanta was sent back to Madrid — Louis did not even say goodbye to her. A new candidate was sought urgently
because, should Louis die with no heir, and assuming Philippe V of Spain did not seize the throne, then it would pass to the new duc d'Orléans, son of the deceased Regent; the House of Orléans
House of Orleans
Orléans is the name used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. It became a tradition during France's ancien régime for the duchy of Orléans to be granted as an appanage to a younger son of the king...
and the House of Condé were rivals, so this would cast Monsieur le Duc into the political wastelands.
Prominent among these was a daughter of George I of England. The prize was offered to her if she would consent to become a Catholic. However that would have caused great difficulties for her father, as he was occupying the throne mainly because he was Protestant, whereas his rival, James Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
, was Catholic; he had to politely decline the offer of France to his daughter.
Another prominent contender was the grand duchess, later empress, Elizabeth of Russia.
Others on the list included the daughter of the duc de Lorraine
Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine
Anne Charlotte of Lorraine was the Abbess of Remiremont, Mons and Essen. She was the youngest daughter and the youngest of thirteen children of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, and his spouse Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans...
; a princess of Savoy who was Louis XV's first cousin, and the princess of Hesse-Rheinfels
Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Rotenburg
Princess Caroline of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the consort of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon.-Biography:Born at Rotenburg an der Fulda in Hesse, Germany, she was the daughter of Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg, head of the Roman Catholic branch of the House of Hesse, by his wife...
.
Marie Leszczynska
The choice finally made was the daughter of the deposed king of Poland. Her name was Marie Leszczyńska; her father, Stanislaus, had occupied the Polish throne from 1704 with the backing of Charles XII of SwedenCharles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
. He lost it after five years because his sponsor was beaten by Peter the Great of Russia, at Poltava
Battle of Poltava
The Battle of Poltava on 27 June 1709 was the decisive victory of Peter I of Russia over the Swedish forces under Field Marshal Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld in one of the battles of the Great Northern War. It is widely believed to have been the beginning of Sweden's decline as a Great Power; the...
. Stanislaus had found refuge, first in Germany, then in France, where the Regent had given him a house at Wissembourg
Wissembourg
Wissembourg is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in northeastern France.It is situated on the little River Lauter close to the border between France and Germany approximately north of Strasbourg and west of Karlsruhe. Wissembourg is a sub-prefecture of the department...
in Alsace, a pension of fifty thousand livres, irregularly paid, and, as a sign of respect, a few regiments of soldiers as companions; they, along with a handful of retainers who had followed the forsaken king in his wanderings, comprised his bare little court. "His property in Poland had been confiscated and his wife's jewels pawned."(Gooch)
Marie did not have a reputation for great beauty or intelligence, but she was not ugly, and was healthy and had a very agreeable character: kind, generous, and calm. She had already been thought of as a wife for the duc de Bourbon. Now he and Mme de Prie decided she would be ideal for the King. On 31 March 1725, the Council met and agreed that the offer would go to Marie Leczińska. On 27 May, the name of the Queen-to-be was made public.
The young duc d'Orléans, who was angry at not having been consulted about the marriage plans, was placated by standing for the bridegroom in the marriage by procuration, which took place in the cathedral of Strasbourg
Strasbourg Cathedral
Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, France. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely consideredSusan Bernstein: , The Johns Hopkins University Press to be among the finest...
, and was officiated by the Cardinal de Rohan
Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan
Armand de Rohan was a French churchman and politician. He became bishop of Strasbourg in 1704, Cardinal in 1712 then grand almoner of France in 1713 and member of the regency council in 1722....
, bishop of Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
and Grand Almoner of France. Marie was dressed in a grand habit de cérémonie "made of silver brocade and embroidered with precious stones." The true wedding which followed took place at Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
.
Bourbon remained Prime Minister of France
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
until his dismissal, in 1726, in favour of the young king's tutor, Cardinal Fleury.
Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy commonly known as Saint-Simon was a French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born in Paris...
, the famous French memoirs writer known for his acid portraits of grandees, described the Duke of Bourbon as a man with "an almost stupid foolishness, an indomitable obstinacy, an insatiable self-interest". On the other hand, the Cardinal de Fleury said that he found in the Duke of Bourbon "goodness, probity, and honour" and that he considered himself one of the duke's friends.
Later life
After his spell in the government if France, Bourbon was exiled to his country estate of the Château de ChantillyChâteau de Chantilly
The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...
, some 40 kilometers northeast of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
). It was during this time the château went under a sort of renaissance. He redecorated the building along with the grounds and entertained there when he could making sure to stay away from the parisian set which had exiled him. He died in his favourite home on 27 January. He was aged 47. The titles of the Bourbon-Condé family then passed onto his 4-year-old son who was to hold the title of prince de Condé for over a period of over 7 decades.
Wealth
He was wealthy, and kept a "splendid residence at Chantilly.". During the Regency his several pensions, together with the income from his extensive estates, gave him an income of 1.8 million livres. To make this figure meaningful to the modern reader, the historian Bernier, writing in 1984, says: "Although it is very difficult to equate money in the preindustrial era with our own, the best possible equivalence would be about $4.50 to the livre.During the Regency he made large amounts of money by speculating in the financial Système (1716–20) of John Law
John Law (economist)
John Law was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange that did not constitute wealth in itself and that national wealth depended on trade...
. He bought paper notes, waited for their value to rise, then, before the Système failed in 1720, took them to Law's bank (which had become the national bank) and traded them in for gold. On 3 March 1720, following the example of the Prince de Conti who the day before had gone to Law's bank and withdrawn fourteen million livres in gold, which he took away in several large carts, de Bourbon went to the bank and took away twenty-five million. The bank closed later that year due to lack of reserves. De Bourbon made 40 million livres off the Système, or perhaps 20 million. Good timing might not have been the only reason for his success in exploiting the Système; his high position in aristocracy and government was an advantage. Historian James Breck Perkins says, "he asked enormous advantages in return for the protection he extended [to John Law and his associates], and the unfortunate adventurer [Law] was not in a position to say no to so powerful a nobleman." After the Système went under, "the government compelled some humbler speculators to disgorge their gains, but no one ventured to disturb the head of the house of Condé."
Marriages and Issue
On 9 July 1713 at Versailles, he married Marie Anne de Bourbon who died in 1720. Marie Anne was the eldest daughter of the pious Marie Thérèse de Bourbon and her promiscuous husband, François Louis, Prince of ContiFrançois Louis, Prince of Conti
François Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was Prince de Conti, succeeding his brother Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti in 1685. Until this date he used the title of Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon. He was son of Armand de Bourbon and Anne Marie Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Jules Mazarin...
. His younger sister Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon, known as Mademoiselle de Bourbon, married the brother of Marie Anne, Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti.
They had no children and the couple both had affairs which they openly showed at court. At her death, Marie Anne gave all her property to her sister Mademoiselle de La Roche-sur-Yon
Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon (1696–1750)
Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon was a French princess of the Blood. She had no children and thus no descendants.-Biography:...
.
On 23 July 1728, he married Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Rotenburg
Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Rotenburg
Princess Caroline of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the consort of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon.-Biography:Born at Rotenburg an der Fulda in Hesse, Germany, she was the daughter of Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg, head of the Roman Catholic branch of the House of Hesse, by his wife...
a daughter of Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg
Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg
Ernst Leopold of Hesse-Rotenburg was landgrave of Hessen-Rheinfels-Rotenburg between 1725 and 1749.Born in Langenschwalbach, he was a son of landgrave William of Hesse-Rotenburg and Maria Anna of Löwenstein-Wertheim .He died in Rotenburg in 1749.-Marriage and issue:He married his first cousin...
.
They had one son,
- Louis Joseph de BourbonLouis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de CondéLouis Joseph de Bourbon was Prince of Condé from 1740 to his death. A member of the House of Bourbon, he held the prestigious rank of Prince du Sang.-Biography:...
(9 August 1736 - 13 May 1818), who led the Army of CondéArmy of CondéThe Army of Condé was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had been formed by the Comte d'Artois and Mirabeau-Tonneau...
during the French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary WarsThe French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
.
Caroline had been on a list of possible wives for Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
but she had been removed on account of her bad temper. Caroline was described as a pretty girl when she arrived at court. Her husband was pardoned by Louis XV in 1730; this was regarding his exile to the Château de Chantilly
Château de Chantilly
The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...
in 1725. The couple are known to have lived together quietly at the Palais Bourbon
Palais Bourbon
The Palais Bourbon, , a palace located on the left bank of the Seine, across from the Place de la Concorde, Paris , is the seat of the French National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French government.-History:...
which had been built by her mother-in-law Louise Françoise de Bourbon.
In addition, Louis Henri had an illegitimate daughter with Armande Félice de La Porte Mazarin (1691–1729), the wife of Louis de Mailly, marquis de Nesle et de Mailly, Prince d'Orange (1689–1767), that he officially recognized,
- Henriette de Bourbon (1725–1780), Mademoiselle de Verneuil, who married Jean de Laguiche, marquis de Laguiche, comte de Serignon, baron du Rousset (1719–1770) in 1740.
Ancestry
Titles and styles
- 18 August 1692 – 4 March 1710 His Serene Highness the Duke of Enghien
- 4 March 1710 – 27 January 1740 His Serene Highness the Duke of Bourbon (Monsieur le Duc)
Titles
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