Orléanist
Encyclopedia
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 economic and foreign policies. The chief leaders included Prime Minister François Guizot
. It went into exile during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III and collapsed with the establishment of the Third Republic
in 1870.
It took its name from the Orléans
branch of the House of Bourbon
(descended from the youngest son of Louis XIII
), who were its leaders. The faction comprised many liberals and intellectuals who wanted to restore the monarchy as a constitutional monarchy with limited powers for the king and most power in the hands of parliament. Orleanists were opposed by the more conservative Bourbon faction, who wanted the heirs of Louis XVI restored to the throne with great powers. Both Orleanists and Bourbons were opposed by republicans who wanted no king at all.
, who disliked King Louis XVI
and Queen Marie Antoinette
, naturally assumed the position of a spokesman of the liberal royalists. It was a short step from this position to the attitude of liberal candidates for the throne, which Philippe's son Louis Philippe
eventually would achieve.
The Orléanists aimed politically to find a common measure for the monarchical principle and the "rights of man" as set forth by the revolutionary leaders in 1789 and the princes of the branch of Orléans became the advocates of this attempted compromise.
The elder Bourbon branch (as represented by Louis XVIII
and later by its last scion, Henri, Comte de Chambord
) was prepared to grant (octroyer) a charter of liberties or constitution, but insisted that they ruled by "divine right
" and conferred these liberties on their subjects of their own free will.
The Bourbons' feudal language offended many Frenchmen, who concluded that rights granted as a favour were always subject to revocation as a punishment. Therefore those of them who considered a monarchical government as more beneficial to France than a republic, but who were not disposed to hold their freedom subject to the pleasure of one man, became either Bonapartist
s who professed to rule by the choice of the nation, or supporters of the Orléans princes who were ready to reign by an "original compact" and by the will of the people
. The difference therefore between the supporters of the elder line, or Legitimists, and the Orléanists became profound, for it went down to the very foundations of government.
Despite this setback, according to Albert Sorel
, the Orléanists subsisted under the First French Empire
, and resurfaced when the revival of liberalism overthrew the restored legitimate monarchy of Louis XVIII and Charles X
.
were identified with the Orléanists, who rejected the legitimism of the elder branch as well as Bonapartism
, which in their view was essentially "democratic Caesarism" - an equal submission of all men to one despot
ic ruler.
As equality before the law and in social life, which had been far dearer to Frenchmen of the revolutionary epoch than political freedom, seemed secured, the next step was aiming as political freedom. This happened under the guidance of men who were Orléanists because the Orléans princes seemed to them to offer the best guarantee for such a government.
The liberals who were Orléanists found their leaders in men eminent in letters and in practical affairs—François Pierre Guillaume Guizot, Adolphe Thiers
, Achille Charles Léon Victor, duc de Broglie and his son Jacques Victor Albert, the banker Jacques Laffitte
and many others.
When the July Revolution
of 1830 resulted in the downfall of the elder Bourbon branch, the Orléanists stepped in. Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who became King, marked a profound change by assuming the title of a "King of the French" (instead of the traditional "King of France and Navarre
". That king appeared as the chief of the people by compact with the people, and not by "divine right".
, which they were convinced would result in Caesarism or a return to Bonapartism
, turned for examples of a free government to Britain, a monarchy governing constitution
ally based on parliamentary representation of the middle classes. They endeavoured to establish the like in France under the name of a juste-milieu, a via media between absolutism and democracy.
The French equivalent for the English middle-class constituencies was to be a pays legal of about a quarter of a million of voters by whom all the rest of the country was to be "virtually represented". Guizot expounded and carried out this doctrine with uncompromising rigour. The Orléanist monarchy became so thoroughly middle-class that the nation outside of the pays legal ended by regarding the government as a privileged class less offensive, but also a great deal less brilliant, than the aristocracy of the old monarchy.
of 1848, partly due to errors of conduct in individual princes and politicians but mainly to the resentment of those excluded from the pays legal, swept the Orléanist party from power after eighteen years. The Orléanists indeed continued throughout the Second Republic
(1848–1852) and the Empire
(1852–1870) to enjoy a marked social and literary prestige, on the strength of the wealth and capacity of some of their members, their influence in the Académie française
and the ability of their organs in the press—particularly the Revue des deux mondes
, the Journal des débats
, and the papers directed by E. Hervé.
. Yet they possessed little hold on the country outside a cultivated liberal circle in Paris.
of 1870-1871, the people, in disgust at the Bonapartists and its fear of the Republicans, chose a great many royalists to represent it in the Assembly
which met in Bordeaux
on 12 February 1872. In this body, the Orléanists again exercised a kind of leadership by virtue of individual capacity, but they were counterbalanced by the Legitimists
.
This enabled President Adolphe Thiers
, himself an Orléanist, to impose the Third Republic
on the unwilling majority of the Assembly. Orléanists and Legitimists cooperated to expel Thiers from power on 24 May 1873.
After this, the Orléanists sought a fusion with the Legitimists to strengthen the royalist cause. As far back as 1850, Guizot had thought of proposing a fusion, but under the condition that the Comte de Chambord would desist from claiming rule by "divine right". When a fusion was arranged in 1873 it stood on quite another footing. After exchanging notes and conferences in committee rooms and drawing-rooms, Philippe, Comte de Paris
, the representative of the Orléanists, sought an interview with Henri, Comte de Chambord
at Frohsdorff, stating that he came not only to pay his respects to the head of his house but also to "accept his principle" (though Orléanists sometimes assert that this statement was given with mental reservations
). However no final agreement was reached.
Republican gains in the elections of 1876 and the crisis of 16 May 1877
ended the royalist dominance. In 1883, the death of the Comte de Chambord ended the elder Bourbon branch and left the Comte de Paris as head of the Royal house of France.
However, the party ceased to exist as an independent political organisation, as many supporters progressively rallied to the Republic, while radical
right wing groups, particularly Action Française
espoused the house of Orléans as the only way to rescue France from what they perceived to be the corruption of the Republic.
Although the Orléanists were given a new vitality, the initiative passed to other organisations who although sincere monarchists also had other agendas. The Orléanist cause ceased to be that of moderation between the extremes of the Bourbons and the Republicans.
and Jacques Chirac
have both been classed on the Orléanist tradition of the three French right-wing families identified by historian René Rémond
(Bonapartism
and Legitimism
being the two others).
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...
. It governed France 1830-1848 in the "July Monarchy
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...
" of king Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe may refer to:*Louis-Philippe I, King of the French, last King of France*Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, called King Louis Philippe II by some factions*Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans*Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans...
. It is generally seen as a transitional period dominated by the bourgeoisie and the conservative Orleanist doctrine in economic and foreign policies. The chief leaders included Prime Minister François 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...
. It went into exile during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III and collapsed with the establishment of 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...
in 1870.
It took its name from the 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...
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...
(descended from the youngest son of Louis XIII
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
), who were its leaders. The faction comprised many liberals and intellectuals who wanted to restore the monarchy as a constitutional monarchy with limited powers for the king and most power in the hands of parliament. Orleanists were opposed by the more conservative Bourbon faction, who wanted the heirs of Louis XVI restored to the throne with great powers. Both Orleanists and Bourbons were opposed by republicans who wanted no king at all.
Origins
During the early period of the French Revolution, Louis Philippe Joseph, 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...
, who disliked King 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 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....
, naturally assumed the position of a spokesman of the liberal royalists. It was a short step from this position to the attitude of liberal candidates for the throne, which Philippe's son Louis Philippe
Louis-Philippe of France
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...
eventually would achieve.
The Orléanists aimed politically to find a common measure for the monarchical principle and the "rights of man" as set forth by the revolutionary leaders in 1789 and the princes of the branch of Orléans became the advocates of this attempted compromise.
The elder Bourbon branch (as represented by 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...
and later by its last scion, Henri, 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...
) was prepared to grant (octroyer) a charter of liberties or constitution, but insisted that they ruled by "divine right
Divine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...
" and conferred these liberties on their subjects of their own free will.
The Bourbons' feudal language offended many Frenchmen, who concluded that rights granted as a favour were always subject to revocation as a punishment. Therefore those of them who considered a monarchical government as more beneficial to France than a republic, but who were not disposed to hold their freedom subject to the pleasure of one man, became either Bonapartist
Bonapartist
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. In a strict sense, this term refers to people who aimed to restore the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis...
s who professed to rule by the choice of the nation, or supporters of the Orléans princes who were ready to reign by an "original compact" and by the will of the people
Popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created and sustained by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and the social contract...
. The difference therefore between the supporters of the elder line, or Legitimists, and the Orléanists became profound, for it went down to the very foundations of government.
French Revolution
The first generation of Orléanists were swamped in the turmoil of the Revolution. Philippe himself, who under the Republic, had assumed the name Philippe Égalité and voted for the King's execution, yet was guillotined himself in 1793.Despite this setback, according to Albert Sorel
Albert Sorel
Albert Sorel , was a French historian. He was born at Honfleur and remained throughout his life a lover of his native Normandy. His father, a rich manufacturer, wanted him to take over the business but his literary vocation prevailed. He went to live in Paris, where he studied law and, after a...
, the Orléanists subsisted under the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
, and resurfaced when the revival of liberalism overthrew the restored legitimate monarchy of Louis XVIII and 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...
.
Restoration (1815-1830)
After the restoration of the Bourbons (1815), the liberalsLiberalism
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,...
were identified with the Orléanists, who rejected the legitimism of the elder branch as well as Bonapartism
Bonapartism
Bonapartism is often defined as a political expression in the vocabulary of Marxism and Leninism, deriving from the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution as well as a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and Second Empire...
, which in their view was essentially "democratic Caesarism" - an equal submission of all men to one despot
Despotism
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy...
ic ruler.
As equality before the law and in social life, which had been far dearer to Frenchmen of the revolutionary epoch than political freedom, seemed secured, the next step was aiming as political freedom. This happened under the guidance of men who were Orléanists because the Orléans princes seemed to them to offer the best guarantee for such a government.
The liberals who were Orléanists found their leaders in men eminent in letters and in practical affairs—François Pierre Guillaume Guizot, 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...
, Achille Charles Léon Victor, duc de Broglie and his son Jacques Victor Albert, the banker Jacques Laffitte
Jacques Laffitte
Jacques Laffitte was a French banker and politician.-Biography:Laffitte was born at Bayonne, one of the ten children of a carpenter....
and many others.
When the July Revolution
July 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...
of 1830 resulted in the downfall of the elder Bourbon branch, the Orléanists stepped in. Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who became King, marked a profound change by assuming the title of a "King of the French" (instead of the traditional "King of France and Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
". That king appeared as the chief of the people by compact with the people, and not by "divine right".
Orléanist rule (1830-1848)
The Orléanists, in their dislike of "divine right" on the one hand, and their fear of democracyDemocracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, which they were convinced would result in Caesarism or a return to Bonapartism
Bonapartism
Bonapartism is often defined as a political expression in the vocabulary of Marxism and Leninism, deriving from the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution as well as a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and Second Empire...
, turned for examples of a free government to Britain, a monarchy governing constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
ally based on parliamentary representation of the middle classes. They endeavoured to establish the like in France under the name of a juste-milieu, a via media between absolutism and democracy.
The French equivalent for the English middle-class constituencies was to be a pays legal of about a quarter of a million of voters by whom all the rest of the country was to be "virtually represented". Guizot expounded and carried out this doctrine with uncompromising rigour. The Orléanist monarchy became so thoroughly middle-class that the nation outside of the pays legal ended by regarding the government as a privileged class less offensive, but also a great deal less brilliant, than the aristocracy of the old monarchy.
Second Republic (1848-1852)
The revolutionFebruary Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1848, partly due to errors of conduct in individual princes and politicians but mainly to the resentment of those excluded from the pays legal, swept the Orléanist party from power after eighteen years. The Orléanists indeed continued throughout 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...
(1848–1852) and the 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:...
(1852–1870) to enjoy a marked social and literary prestige, on the strength of the wealth and capacity of some of their members, their influence in the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
and the ability of their organs in the press—particularly the Revue des deux mondes
Revue des deux mondes
The Revue des deux Mondes is a French language monthly literary and cultural affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829....
, the Journal des débats
Journal des Débats
The Journal des débats was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times...
, and the papers directed by E. Hervé.
Second Empire (1852-1870)
During the Second Empire, which evolved from the Second Republic, the discreet opposition of the Orléanists, exercised for the most part with infinite dexterity and tact, by reticences, omissions, and historical studies in which the Empire was attacked under foreign or ancient names, was a perpetual thorn in the side of Napoleon IIINapoleon 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...
. Yet they possessed little hold on the country outside a cultivated liberal circle in Paris.
Third Republic (1870-1940)
When the Second Empire was swept away by the German WarFranco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870-1871, the people, in disgust at the Bonapartists and its fear of the Republicans, chose a great many royalists to represent it in the Assembly
Deliberative assembly
A deliberative assembly is an organization comprising members who use parliamentary procedure to make decisions. In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the English Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became the basic term for a body of...
which met in Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
on 12 February 1872. In this body, the Orléanists again exercised a kind of leadership by virtue of individual capacity, but they were counterbalanced by the Legitimists
Legitimists
Legitimists are royalists in France who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession of the descendants of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of the July Monarchy of 1830–1848, whose kings were members of the junior...
.
This enabled President 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...
, himself an Orléanist, to impose 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...
on the unwilling majority of the Assembly. Orléanists and Legitimists cooperated to expel Thiers from power on 24 May 1873.
After this, the Orléanists sought a fusion with the Legitimists to strengthen the royalist cause. As far back as 1850, Guizot had thought of proposing a fusion, but under the condition that the Comte de Chambord would desist from claiming rule by "divine right". When a fusion was arranged in 1873 it stood on quite another footing. After exchanging notes and conferences in committee rooms and drawing-rooms, Philippe, 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:...
, the representative of the Orléanists, sought an interview with Henri, 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...
at Frohsdorff, stating that he came not only to pay his respects to the head of his house but also to "accept his principle" (though Orléanists sometimes assert that this statement was given with mental reservations
Doctrine of mental reservation
The doctrine of mental reservation, or the doctrine of mental equivocation, was a special branch of casuistry developed in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and most often associated with the Jesuits.- Secular use :...
). However no final agreement was reached.
Republican gains in the elections of 1876 and the crisis of 16 May 1877
16 May 1877 crisis
The 16 May 1877 crisis was a constitutional crisis in the French Third Republic concerning the distribution of power between the President and the legislature. When the Royalist President Patrice MacMahon dismissed the Opportunist Republican Prime Minister Jules Simon, parliament on 16 May 1877...
ended the royalist dominance. In 1883, the death of the Comte de Chambord ended the elder Bourbon branch and left the Comte de Paris as head of the Royal house of France.
However, the party ceased to exist as an independent political organisation, as many supporters progressively rallied to the Republic, while radical
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
right wing groups, particularly Action Française
Action Française
The Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...
espoused the house of Orléans as the only way to rescue France from what they perceived to be the corruption of the Republic.
Although the Orléanists were given a new vitality, the initiative passed to other organisations who although sincere monarchists also had other agendas. The Orléanist cause ceased to be that of moderation between the extremes of the Bourbons and the Republicans.
Fifth Republic (1958-present)
Under the Fifth Republic, presidents Valéry Giscard d'EstaingValéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
and Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
have both been classed on the Orléanist tradition of the three French right-wing families identified by historian René Rémond
René Rémond
-Biography:Born in Lons-le-Saunier, Rémond was the Secretary General of Jeunesses étudiantes Catholiques and a member of the International YCS Center of Documentation and Information in Paris, presently the International Secretariat of International Young Catholic Students The author of books on...
(Bonapartism
Bonapartism
Bonapartism is often defined as a political expression in the vocabulary of Marxism and Leninism, deriving from the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution as well as a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and Second Empire...
and Legitimism
Legitimists
Legitimists are royalists in France who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession of the descendants of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of the July Monarchy of 1830–1848, whose kings were members of the junior...
being the two others).
Orléanist Principles of Succession
Orléanist claims follow these principles:- The Crown descends to males born in the male line of Hugh Capet.
- The succession normally passes by primogeniturePrimogeniturePrimogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
in the male linePatrilinealityPatrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....
. - Only children born of legal marriages conforming with the canon law of the Catholic Church are dynasts.
- The Sovereign or Head of the House must be Roman Catholic.
- The Sovereign or Head of the House must be French and inherit succession rights through a dynast of French nationality.
- Rules of succession to the Crown are governed by the Constitution and/or laws of the realm.
List of Orléanist Claimants to the French throne since 1848
| Claimant | | Portrait | Birth | | Marriages | | Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Philippe I Louis-Philippe of France 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... 1830-1848 |
 |
6 October 1773 Palais-Royal son of Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans 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... 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... |
Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily sometimes known as Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies was a Princess of Naples and Sicily and later the Queen of the French from 1830–1848, consort to Louis Philippe I.... 1809 10 children |
26 August 1850 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... aged 76 |
| Philippe, Comte de Paris "Philippe VII" 1850-1894 |
 |
24 August 1838 Paris son of Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans and Duchess Helen of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
Princess Marie Isabelle d'Orléans 1864 8 children |
8 September 1894 Stowe House Stowe House Stowe House is a Grade I listed country house located in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school. The gardens , a significant example of the English Landscape Garden style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust... aged 56 |
| Philippe, duc d'Orléans "Philippe VIII" 1894–1926 |
 |
24 August 1869 York House, Twickenham York House, Twickenham York House is an historic stately home in Twickenham, England, and currently serves as the Town Hall of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames... son of Philippe, Comte de Paris and Princess Marie Isabelle d'Orléans |
Archduchess Maria Dorothea of Austria Archduchess Maria Dorothea of Austria Maria Dorothea of Austria, full German name: Maria Dorothea Amalie, Erzherzogin von Österreich was a member of the Hungarian line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and an Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Bohemia, Hungary, and Tuscany by birth... 5 November 1896 No children |
28 March 1926 Paris aged 56 |
| Jean, Duc de Guise "Jean III" 1926–1940 |
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9 October 1875 France son of Robert, Duke of Chartres and Marie-Françoise of Orléans |
Isabelle of Orléans 30 October 1899 4 children |
25 August 1940 Larache, Spanish Morocco aged 65 |
| Henri, Comte de Paris Henri, comte de Paris Henri of Orléans, Count of Paris , was the Orléanist claimant to the throne of France from 1940 until his death.-Early life:... "Henri VI" 1940–1999 |
5 July 1908 Chateau de Nouvion-en-Thiérache, Aisne Aisne Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old... , France son of Jean, Duc de Guise and Isabelle of Orléans |
Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza 8 April 1931 11 children |
19 June 1999 Chérisy Chérisy Chérisy is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A small farming village located 9 miles southeast of Arras on the D9 junction with the D38 road.-Population:-Places of interest:... aged 90 |
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| 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... "Henri VII" 1991-Today |
June 14, 1933 Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Belgium son of Henri, Comte de Paris Henri, comte de Paris Henri of Orléans, Count of Paris , was the Orléanist claimant to the throne of France from 1940 until his death.-Early life:... and Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza |
Duchess Marie Therese of Württemberg Duchess Marie Therese of Württemberg Marie Therese of Württemberg was a member of the House of Württemberg and a Duchess of Württemberg by birth and a member of the House of Orléans and Countess of Clermont and Princess of Orléans through her marriage to Prince Henri, Count of Clermont Marie Therese of Württemberg (born 12 November... (up to 3 February 1984) Micaela Cousiño Quiñones de León (current spouse) July 5, 1957(first marriage)October 31, 1984 current marriage 5 children |
Alive. age 76 |
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Sources
- Aston, Nigel. "Orleanism, 1780-1830," History Today, Oct 1988, Vol. 38 Issue 10, pp 41–47
- Beik, Paul. Louis Philippe and the July Monarchy (1965)
- Collingham, H.A.C. The July Monarchy: A Political History of France, 1830–1848 (Longman, 1988)
- Howarth, T.E.B. Citizen-King: The Life of Louis Philippe, King of the French (1962).
- Newman, Edgar Leon, and Robert Lawrence Simpson. Historical Dictionary of France from the 1815 Restoration to the Second Empire (Greenwood Press, 1987) online edition