Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Encyclopedia
Louis Philippe d'Orléans known as le Gros (the Fat) (12 May 1725 – 18 November 1785), was a French nobleman, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
, the dynasty then ruling France. The First Prince of the Blood after 1752, he was the most senior male at the French court after the immediate royal family. He was the father of Philippe Égalité
. He greatly augmented the already huge wealth of the House of Orléans
.
on 12 May 1725. As the only son of Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans and his wife Johanna of Baden-Baden, he was titled Duke of Chartres
at birth. He was one of two children; his younger sister Louise Marie d'Orléans
died at Saint-Cloud in 1728 aged a year and eight months. His father, who had been devoted to his German wife became a recluse and pious as he grew older.
Louise Marie was known as Mademoiselle
in her short lifetime.
Louis Philippe was hardly fifteen when he and his young cousin Princess Henriette of France (1727–1752), the second daughter of King Louis XV
and Queen Marie Leszczyńska, fell in love.
After considering the possibility of such a marriage, Louis XV and his chief minister, Cardinal Fleury, decided against it because this union would have brought the House of Orléans
too close to the throne.
the formidable Dowager Duchess of Orléans, and Louise Élisabeth, Dowager Princess of Conti arranged his marriage to his seventeen-year old cousin, Louise Henriette de Bourbon (1726–1759), a member of the House of Boubon-Conti, another cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. It was hoped this marriage would close a fifty year old family rift.
Louis Philippe's father, Louis le Pieux, gave his consent to the union in the belief that because the young bride had been brought up in a convent, she would be a paragon of virtue and as such be an ideal wife for his son. Louise Henriette was the only daughter of Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and the earlier mentioned Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon. Louise Henriette was a Princess of the Blood (princesse du sang
) and was known at court as Mademoiselle de Conti.
The couple was married on 17 December 1743 in the chapel of the Palace of Versailles
.
After a few months of a passion that surprised everyone at court, the couple started to drift apart as the young Duchess of Chartres began to lead a scandalous life. This caused her father-in-law to refuse to recognise the legitimacy of his grandchildren.
The couple had three children:
Because he knew that Louise Henriette was having affairs during her marriage and felt that Louis Philippe was physically incapable of having children, Louise Henriette's father-in-law refused to acknowledge any of her children as legitimate.
, he distinguished himself in the campaigns of 1742, 1743 and 1744, and at the Battle of Fontenoy
in 1745. After the death of his first wife, he retired to his château at Bagnolet
, where he occupied his time with theatrical performances and the society of intellectuals. Louise Henriette accompanied her husband to the field despite being pregnant.
Upon the death of his father in Paris on 4 August 1752, Louis Philippe became Duke of Orléans and head of the House of Orléans
. He also became First Prince of the Blood
, Duke of Valois, Nemours
and Montpensier. His father was buried at the Abbaye-Sainte-Geneviève where he had lived since 1740.
In 1769, Louis Philippe sold Bagnolet and bought the Château du Raincy
, located less than ten miles east from the center of Paris. The same year, his son Louis Philippe
, married Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
, heiress to the fortune of her father, the Duke of Penthièvre. Louis Philippe had wanted his son to have a prestigious marriage with the Polish princess Maria Kunigunde, the youngest daughter of Augustus III of Poland
and Maria Josepha, Archduchess of Austria
. Princess Maria Kunigunde was the sister of the deceased Dauphine of France (1731–1767), mother of Louis XVI
.
It was the King Louis XV who opposed this marriage on the pretence that the princess was to old for the young Duke of Chartres
. This caused the Duke of Penthièvre to ask if the Duke of Orléans if he would allow a union with the Orléans family. Louis Philippe is said to have rejected the idea of his son marrying Mademoiselle de Penthièvre due to her bastard race; this is an irony in itself due to Louis Philippe and the Duke of Penthièvre were both descended from two daughters of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan.
, in today's Seine-et-Marne
department of France.
(1740), the county of Soissons
(1751), the seigneuries of La Fère, Marle, Ham, Saint-Gobain, the Ourcq canal and the hôtel Duplessis-Châtillon in Paris (1766).
In 1773, Orléans added to his residences a magnificent hôtel built at Chaussée d'Antin, the new elegant quarter of Paris.
In 1780, Louis Philippe gave his son the Palais-Royal, a gift that was to mark their reconciliation after the rift provoked by the Duke's second marriage.
In Sainte-Assise, Le Raincy and Paris, the couple received nobles, intellectuals, playwrights, scientists, such as the Duchess of Lauzun, the Countess of Egmont, the Marquis of Lusignan, the Marquis of Osmond, the mathematician d'Alembert, the German writer Melchior Grimm, the mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon de Laplace, the chemist Claude Louis Berthollet
, the composer Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
, and the playwright Louis Carrogis Carmontelle
. The couple also gave theatrical presentations, some of which were written by the Marquise of Montesson.
In February 1785, upon the insistence of Louis XVI
, and with some help from Madame du Barry
, the Duke of Orléans sold the magnificent château de Saint-Cloud
, which had been in the Orléans family's possession since 1658, to Queen Marie Antoinette
, for six million livres, a much reduced price than the original cost. The beautiful château had been ignored after the death of his wife Louise Henriette.
Surrounded by all the members of his immediate family, even his three children by Etiennette Le Marquis, Louis-Philippe died on 18 November 1785, at Sainte-Assise at the age of sixty.
He was buried at the Val-de-Grâce
convent in Paris, built by his ancestor Anne of Austria
to celebrate the birth of Louis XIV of France, Louis Philippe's great grandfather.
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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...
, the dynasty then ruling France. The First Prince of the Blood after 1752, he was the most senior male at the French court after the immediate royal family. He was the father of Philippe Égalité
Louis 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...
. He greatly augmented the already huge wealth of 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...
.
Biography
Louis Philippe d'Orléans was born at the Palace of 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....
on 12 May 1725. As the only son of Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans and his wife Johanna of Baden-Baden, he was titled Duke of Chartres
Duke of Chartres
Originally, the Duchy of Chartres was the comté de Chartres, an Earldom. The title of comte de Chartres thus became duc de Chartres. This duchy–peerage was given by Louis XIV of France to his nephew, Philippe II d'Orléans, at his birth in 1674...
at birth. He was one of two children; his younger sister Louise Marie d'Orléans
Louise Marie d'Orléans
Louise Marie d'Orléans was a French princess by birth.-Biography:Louise Marie d'Orléans was born at the Palais-Royal to Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans and his Duchess, the Margravine Johanna of Baden-Baden, who died three days after giving birth.Her father was a second cousin of the then King...
died at Saint-Cloud in 1728 aged a year and eight months. His father, who had been devoted to his German wife became a recluse and pious as he grew older.
Louise Marie was known as Mademoiselle
Fils de France
Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...
in her short lifetime.
Louis Philippe was hardly fifteen when he and his young cousin Princess Henriette of France (1727–1752), the second daughter of King 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...
and Queen Marie Leszczyńska, fell in love.
After considering the possibility of such a marriage, Louis XV and his chief minister, Cardinal Fleury, decided against it because this union would have brought 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...
too close to the throne.
First marriage
In 1743, his paternal grandmother, Françoise-Marie de BourbonFrançoise-Marie de Bourbon
Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Originally known as the second Mademoiselle de Blois, that style eventually gave way to the name Françoise Marie de...
the formidable Dowager Duchess of Orléans, and Louise Élisabeth, Dowager Princess of Conti arranged his marriage to his seventeen-year old cousin, Louise Henriette de Bourbon (1726–1759), a member of the House of Boubon-Conti, another cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. It was hoped this marriage would close a fifty year old family rift.
Louis Philippe's father, Louis le Pieux, gave his consent to the union in the belief that because the young bride had been brought up in a convent, she would be a paragon of virtue and as such be an ideal wife for his son. Louise Henriette was the only daughter of Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and the earlier mentioned Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon. Louise Henriette was a Princess of the Blood (princesse 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...
) and was known at court as Mademoiselle de Conti.
The couple was married on 17 December 1743 in the chapel of the Palace of Versailles
Chapels of Versailles
The present chapel of the Palace of Versailles is the fifth in the history of the palace. These chapels evolved with the expansion of the château and formed the focal point of the daily life of the court during the Ancien Régime .-First chapel:The château's first chapel dated from the time of...
.
After a few months of a passion that surprised everyone at court, the couple started to drift apart as the young Duchess of Chartres began to lead a scandalous life. This caused her father-in-law to refuse to recognise the legitimacy of his grandchildren.
The couple had three children:
- A daughter (Château de Saint-CloudChâteau de Saint-CloudThe Château de Saint-Cloud was a Palace in France, built on a magnificent site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 10 kilometres west of Paris. Today it is a large park on the outskirts of the capital and is owned by the state, but the area as a whole has had a large...
, 12 or 13 July 1745 – 14 December 1745, Château de Saint-Cloud); - Louis Philippe Joseph d'OrléansLouis Philippe II, Duke of OrléansLouis 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...
(Château de Saint-CloudChâteau de Saint-CloudThe Château de Saint-Cloud was a Palace in France, built on a magnificent site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 10 kilometres west of Paris. Today it is a large park on the outskirts of the capital and is owned by the state, but the area as a whole has had a large...
, 13 April 1747, – 6 November 1793, Place de la RévolutionPlace de la ConcordeThe Place de la Concorde in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.- History :...
, Paris (executed)), who succeeded his father as Duke of Orléans in 1785,- Duke of Montpensier at birth,
- Duke of Chartres at the death of his grandfather in 1752,
- Duke of Orléans at the death of his father in 1785,
- known as Philippe-Égalité during the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe 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...
; - possible husband for Princess Maria Kunigunde of Saxony (1740–1826), youngest daughter of Augustus III of PolandAugustus III of PolandAugustus III, known as the Saxon ; ; also Prince-elector Friedrich August II was the Elector of Saxony in 1733-1763, as Frederick Augustus II , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1734-1763.-Biography:Augustus was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector...
; - married Louise Marie Adélaïde de BourbonLouise Marie Adélaïde de BourbonLouise 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...
, Mademoiselle de Penthièvre, and was the father of Louis-Philippe King of the French;
- Louise Marie Thérèse Bathilde d'OrléansBathilde d'OrléansLouise Marie Thérèse Bathilde d'Orléans, Princess of Condé , was a French princess. She was sister of Philippe Égalité, the mother of the executed duc d'Enghien and aunt of Louis-Philippe King of the French...
(Château de Saint-Cloud, 9 July 1750 – 10 January 1822, Paris), the last princesse de Condé,- possible bride for Ferdinand, Duke of ParmaFerdinand, Duke of ParmaFerdinand Maria Philip Louis Sebastian Francis James of Parma was Duke of Parma from 1765 to 1802. He was the second child and only son of Philip, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise-Élisabeth of France, eldest daughter of Louis XV of France and Maria Leszczyńska...
, - married Louis Henry II, Prince of CondéLouis Henry II, Prince of CondéLouis Henri de Bourbon was the Prince of Condé from 1818 to his death.-Life:He was the only son of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé and his wife, Charlotte de Rohan....
, - known as Mademoiselle at court prior to her marriage,
- known as Citoyenne Vérité during the French Revolution.
- possible bride for Ferdinand, Duke of Parma
Because he knew that Louise Henriette was having affairs during her marriage and felt that Louis Philippe was physically incapable of having children, Louise Henriette's father-in-law refused to acknowledge any of her children as legitimate.
Military achievements and succession as Duke of Orléans
Serving with the French armies in the War of the Austrian SuccessionWar of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
, he distinguished himself in the campaigns of 1742, 1743 and 1744, and at the Battle of Fontenoy
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Allies – comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops under the nominal command of the Duke of Cumberland – and a French army under Maurice de...
in 1745. After the death of his first wife, he retired to his château at Bagnolet
Château de Bagnolet, Paris
The Château de Bagnolet was a small château situated in the Paris suburb of Bagnolet, France, 5.2 km from the center of the city. The property was part of the biens de la maison d'Orléans, private property of the House of Orléans from 1719 till 1769....
, where he occupied his time with theatrical performances and the society of intellectuals. Louise Henriette accompanied her husband to the field despite being pregnant.
Upon the death of his father in Paris on 4 August 1752, Louis Philippe became Duke of Orléans and head of 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...
. He also became First Prince of the Blood
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...
, Duke of Valois, Nemours
Duke of Nemours
In the 12th and 13th centuries the Lordship of Nemours, in the Gatinais, France, was in possession of the house of Villebeon, a member of which, Gautier, was marshal of France in the middle of the 13th century...
and Montpensier. His father was buried at the Abbaye-Sainte-Geneviève where he had lived since 1740.
Étiennette Le Marquis
After the death of Louise Henriette on 9 February 1759 at the Palais-Royal, the Orléans residence in Paris, Louis Philippe took as his mistress Étiennette Le Marquis, a former dancer who liked to act in comedy plays, and who introduced him into the world of the theater. At that time, the château de Bagnolet, which he had inherited from his father, became his favorite residence. Louis Philippe had three children with Étiennette; they were raised under the care of the Orléans family:- Louis Étienne d'Orléans, (21 January 1759 – 24 July 1825), Count-abbé of Saint-Phar
- Louis Philippe d'Orléans, (7 July 1761 – 13 June 1829), Count-abbé of Saint-Albin,
- Marie Étiennette Perrine d'Auvilliers, (7 July 1761 -), who married François-Constantin, Count of Brossard, a dragon regiment officer.
In 1769, Louis Philippe sold Bagnolet and bought the Château du Raincy
Château du Raincy
The Château du Raincy was constructed between 1643 and 1650 by Jacques Bordier, indendant des finances, on the site of a Benedectine priory on the road from Paris to Meaux, in the present-day commune of Le Raincy in the Seine-Saint-Denis department of France.-The Château:Louis Le Vau was put in...
, located less than ten miles east from the center of Paris. The same year, his son Louis Philippe
Louis 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...
, married 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...
, heiress to the fortune of her father, the Duke of Penthièvre. Louis Philippe had wanted his son to have a prestigious marriage with the Polish princess Maria Kunigunde, the youngest daughter of Augustus III of Poland
Augustus III of Poland
Augustus III, known as the Saxon ; ; also Prince-elector Friedrich August II was the Elector of Saxony in 1733-1763, as Frederick Augustus II , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1734-1763.-Biography:Augustus was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector...
and Maria Josepha, Archduchess of Austria
Maria Josepha of Austria
Maria Josepha of Austria was born an Archduchess of Austria, and from 1711 to 1713 was heiress presumptive to the Habsburg Empire...
. Princess Maria Kunigunde was the sister of the deceased Dauphine of France (1731–1767), mother of Louis XVI
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....
.
It was the King Louis XV who opposed this marriage on the pretence that the princess was to old for the young Duke of Chartres
Duke of Chartres
Originally, the Duchy of Chartres was the comté de Chartres, an Earldom. The title of comte de Chartres thus became duc de Chartres. This duchy–peerage was given by Louis XIV of France to his nephew, Philippe II d'Orléans, at his birth in 1674...
. This caused the Duke of Penthièvre to ask if the Duke of Orléans if he would allow a union with the Orléans family. Louis Philippe is said to have rejected the idea of his son marrying Mademoiselle de Penthièvre due to her bastard race; this is an irony in itself due to Louis Philippe and the Duke of Penthièvre were both descended from two daughters of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan.
Second marriage
In spite of his liaison with Étiennette, Louis Philippe had several other mistresses until he met, in July 1766, Charlotte Jeanne Béraud de La Haye de Riou, Madame de Montesson, a witty but married twenty-eight year old. After the death of the Marquis of Montesson in 1769, Louis Philippe tried to obtain Louis XV's authorisation to marry the young widow. Finally, in December 1772, the King gave his consent on the condition that the Marquise of Montesson would never become Duchess of Orléans or succeed to any other Orléans titles. In addition, the couple was to live a quiet life away from the court. The morganatic wedding took place on 23 April 1773 "dans la plus stricte intimité". As a wedding gift, the Duke of Orléans gave his new wife the château de Sainte-Assise at Seine-PortSeine-Port
Seine-Port is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* * * *...
, in today's Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.- History:Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789...
department of France.
Later life
Louis XV had added to the appanage of the House of Orléans the hôtel de Grand-Ferrare in FontainebleauFontainebleau
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...
(1740), the county of Soissons
Soissons
Soissons is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France, located on the Aisne River, about northeast of Paris. It is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital of the Suessiones...
(1751), the seigneuries of La Fère, Marle, Ham, Saint-Gobain, the Ourcq canal and the hôtel Duplessis-Châtillon in Paris (1766).
In 1773, Orléans added to his residences a magnificent hôtel built at Chaussée d'Antin, the new elegant quarter of Paris.
In 1780, Louis Philippe gave his son the Palais-Royal, a gift that was to mark their reconciliation after the rift provoked by the Duke's second marriage.
Claude Louis Berthollet
Claude Louis Berthollet was a Savoyard-French chemist who became vice president of the French Senate in 1804.-Biography:...
, the composer Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny was a French composer and a member of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts .He is considered alongside André Grétry and François-André Danican Philidor to have been the founder of a new musical genre, the opéra comique, laying a path for other French composers such as...
, and the playwright Louis Carrogis Carmontelle
Louis Carrogis Carmontelle
Louis Carrogis Carmontelle was a French dramatist, painter, architect, set designer and author, and designer of one of the earliest examples of the French landscape garden, Parc Monceau in Paris...
. The couple also gave theatrical presentations, some of which were written by the Marquise of Montesson.
In February 1785, upon the insistence of Louis XVI
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....
, and with some help from Madame du Barry
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
, the Duke of Orléans sold the magnificent château de Saint-Cloud
Château de Saint-Cloud
The Château de Saint-Cloud was a Palace in France, built on a magnificent site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 10 kilometres west of Paris. Today it is a large park on the outskirts of the capital and is owned by the state, but the area as a whole has had a large...
, which had been in the Orléans family's possession since 1658, to Queen Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, for six million livres, a much reduced price than the original cost. The beautiful château had been ignored after the death of his wife Louise Henriette.
Surrounded by all the members of his immediate family, even his three children by Etiennette Le Marquis, Louis-Philippe died on 18 November 1785, at Sainte-Assise at the age of sixty.
He was buried at the Val-de-Grâce
Val-de-Grâce
This article describes the hospital and former abbey. For the main article on Mansart and Lemercier's central church, see Church of the Val-de-Grâce....
convent in Paris, built by his ancestor Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
to celebrate the birth of Louis XIV of France, Louis Philippe's great grandfather.
Ancestors
Titles and styles
- 12 May 1725 – 4 August 1752 His Serene Highness the Duke of Chartres (Monseigneur le duc de Chartres)
- 4 August 1752 – 18 November 1785 His Serene Highness the Duke of Orléans (Monseigneur le duc d'Orléans)
Military ranks
- 1744 created Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant GeneralLieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
(due to partaking in the War of the Austrian SuccessionWar of the Austrian SuccessionThe War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
)
Honours
- 1752 created Governor of DauphinéDauphinéThe Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....
- 5 June 1740 Knight of the Order of the Holy SpiritOrder of the Holy SpiritThe 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...
(22rd Promotion at Versailles)
Sources
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