December 6, 1421: Birth of Henry VI, King of England and Lord of Ireland

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Civil War, Henry VI of England, King Charles VI of France, King Charles VII of France, King of France, Margaret of Anjou, Treaty of Troyes

Henry VI (December 6, 1421 – May 21,1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, and Catherine of Valois was the youngest daughter of King Charles VI of France and his wife Isabeau of Bavaria.

Henry succeeded to the English throne at the age of nine months upon his father’s death, and succeeded to the French throne on the death of his maternal grandfather, Charles VI, shortly afterwards.

Henry inherited the long-running Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453), in which his uncle Charles VII contested his claim to the French throne. He is the only English monarch to have been also crowned King of France, in 1431. His early reign, when several people were ruling for him, saw the pinnacle of English power in France, but subsequent military, diplomatic, and economic problems had seriously endangered the English cause by the time Henry was declared fit to rule in 1437.

Henry VI found his realm in a difficult position, faced with setbacks in France and divisions among the nobility at home. Unlike his father, Henry is described as timid, shy, passive, well intentioned and averse to warfare and violence; he was also at times mentally unstable. His ineffective reign saw the gradual loss of the English lands in France.

Partially in the hope of achieving peace, in 1445 Henry married Charles VII’s niece, the ambitious and strong-willed Margaret of Anjou, the second eldest daughter of René, King of Naples, and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine.

The peace policy failed, leading to the murder of one of Henry’s key advisers, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and the war recommenced, with France taking the upper hand; by 1453, Calais was Henry’s only remaining territory on the continent.

As the situation in France worsened, there was a related increase in political instability in England. With Henry effectively unfit to rule, power was exercised by quarrelsome nobles, while factions and favourites encouraged the rise of disorder in the country.

Regional magnates and soldiers returning from France formed and maintained increasing numbers of private armed retainers, with whom they fought one another, terrorised their neighbours, paralysed the courts, and dominated the government. Queen Margaret did not remain unpartisan and took advantage of the situation to make herself an effective power behind the throne.

Amidst military disasters in France and a collapse of law and order in England, the Queen and her clique came under accusations, especially from Henry VI’s increasingly popular cousin Richard, Duke of York, of misconduct of the war in France and misrule of the country. Starting in 1453, Henry had a series of mental breakdowns, and tensions mounted between Margaret and Richard of York over control of the incapacitated King’s government and over the question of succession to the English throne.

Civil war broke out in 1455, leading to a long period of dynastic conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Henry was deposed on 4 March 1461 by Richard’s son, who took the throne as Edward IV. Despite Margaret continuing to lead a resistance to Edward, Henry was captured by Edward’s forces in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Henry was restored to the throne in 1470 but Edward retook power in 1471, killing Henry’s only son and heir, Edward of Westminster, in battle and imprisoning Henry once again.

Having “lost his wits, his two kingdoms and his only son”, Henry died in the Tower during the night of May 21, possibly killed on the orders of King Edward. Miracles were attributed to Henry after his death and he was informally regarded as a saint and martyr until the 16th century. He left a legacy of educational institutions, having founded Eton College, King’s College, Cambridge, and (together with Henry Chichele) All Souls College, Oxford. Shakespeare wrote a trilogy of plays about his life, depicting him as weak-willed and easily influenced by his wife, Margaret.

October 21, 1369: Death of Charles VI, King of France. Part II.

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Charles the Mad, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy, Expulsion of the Jews, House of Valois, Joan of Arc, King Charles VI of France, King Charles VII of France, King Henry V of England, King Henry VI of England, King of France, Philip the Bold

Expulsion of the Jews, 1394

On September 17, 1394, Charles suddenly published an ordinance in which he declared, in substance, that for a long time he had been taking note of the many complaints provoked by the excesses and misdemeanors of the Jews against Christians, and that the prosecutors had made several investigations and discovered that the Jews broke the agreement with the king on many occasions.

Therefore, he decreed, as an irrevocable law and statute, that no Jew should dwell in his domains (Ordonnances, vii. 675). According to the Religieux de St. Denis, the king signed this decree at the insistence of the queen (“Chron. de Charles VI.” ii. 119). The decree was not immediately enforced, a respite being granted to the Jews in order that they have enough time to sell their property and pay their debts.

Those indebted to them were enjoined to redeem their obligations within a set time; otherwise their pledges held in pawn were to be sold by the Jews. The provost was to escort the Jews to the frontier of the kingdom. Subsequently, the king released Christians from their debts.

Struggles for power

With Charles VI mentally ill, from 1393 his wife Isabeau presided over a regency counsel, on which sat the grandees of the kingdom. Philippe II the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who acted as regent during the king’s minority (from 1380 to 1388), was a great influence on the queen (he had organized the royal marriage during his regency). Influence progressively shifted to Louis I, Duke of Orléans, the king’s brother, another contender for power, and it was suspected, the queen’s lover.

Charles VI’s other uncles were less influential during the regency: Louis II of Naples was still engaged managing the Kingdom of Naples, and John, Duke of Berry, served as a mediator between the Orléans party (what would become the Armagnacs) and the Burgundy party (Bourguignons). The rivalry would increase bit by bit and in the end result in outright civil war.

The new regents dismissed the various advisers and officials Charles had appointed. On the death of Philip the Bold in April 1404, his son John the Fearless took over the political aims of his father, and the feud with Louis escalated. John, who was less linked to Isabeau, again lost influence at court.

Wars with Burgundy and England

In 1407, Louis of Orléans was murdered in the rue Vieille du Temple in Paris. John did not deny responsibility, claiming that Louis was a tyrant who squandered money. Louis’ son Charles, the new Duke of Orléans, turned to his father-in-law, Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, for support against Jean the Fearless. This resulted in the Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War, which lasted from 1407 until 1435, beyond Charles’ reign, though the war with the English was still in progress.

With the English taking over much of the country, Jean the Fearless sought to end the feud with the royal family by negotiating with the Dauphin Charles, the king’s heir. They met at the bridge at Montereau on September 10, 1419, but during the meeting, Jean the Fearless killed by Tanneguy du Chastel, a follower of the Dauphin. Jean’s successor, Philippe II the Good, the new Duke of Burgundy, threw in his lot with the English.

English invasion and death

Charles VI’s reign was marked by the continuing conflict with the English, known as the Hundred Years’ War. An early attempt at peace occurred in 1396 when Charles’ daughter, the almost seven-year-old Isabella of Valois, married the 29-year-old Richard II of England. By 1415, however, the feud between the French royal family and the House of Burgundy led to chaos and anarchy throughout France, a situation that Henry V of England was eager to take advantage of. Henry led an invasion that culminated in the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Agincourt in October.

In May 1420, Henry V and Charles VI signed the Treaty of Troyes, which named Henry as Charles’ successor, and stipulated that Henry’s heirs would succeed him on the throne of France. It disinherited the Dauphin Charles, then only 17 years old. (In 1421, it was implied in Burgundian propaganda that the young Charles was illegitimate.) The treaty also betrothed Charles VI’s daughter, Catherine of Valois, to Henry. Disinheriting the Dauphin in favor of Henry was a blatant act against the interests of the French aristocracy, supported by the Duke of Burgundy.

The Dauphin who had declared himself regent for his father when the Duke of Burgundy invaded Paris and captured the king, had established a court at Bourges.

Charles VI died on October 21, 1422 in Paris, at the Hôtel Saint-Pol. He was interred in Saint Denis Basilica, where his wife Isabeau of Bavaria would join him after her death in September 1435.

Henry V of England died just a few weeks before him, in August 1422, leaving an infant son, who became King Henry VI of England. Therefore, according to the Treaty of Troyes, with the death of Charles VI, little Henry became King of France. His coronation as such was in Paris (held by the English since 1418) at the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris on December 26, 1431.

The son disinherited by Charles VI, the Dauphin Charles, continued to fight to regain his kingdom. In 1429 Joan of Arc arrived on the scene. She led his forces to victory against the English, and took him to be crowned in Reims Cathedral as King Charles VII of France on July 17, 1429. He became known as “Charles the Victorious” and was able to restore the French line to the throne of France by defeating the English in 1450.

August 4, 1703: Birth of Louis, Duke of Orléans. Part I.

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Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, King Louis XIV of France, King of France, Louis d'Orléans, Louis XIV, Philippe II Duke of Orleans, Regent of France

Louis, Duke of Orléans (August 4, 1703 – February 4, 1752) was a member of the royal family of France, the House of Bourbon, and as such was a prince du sang. At his father’s death, he became the First Prince of the Blood (Premier Prince du Sang). Known as Louis le Pieux and also as Louis le Génovéfain, Louis was a pious, charitable and cultured prince, who took very little part in the politics of the time.

Louis, Duke of Orléans

Louis d’Orléans was born at the Palace of Versailles in 1703 to Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and his wife, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and Navarre and of his mistress Madame de Montespan. He was the only son of eight children, and at his birth, he was given the courtesy title of Duke of Chartres as the heir to the Orléans fortune and titles. His maternal grandfather, the king, in addition gave him the allowance reserved for the First Prince of the Blood, a rank he was not yet eligible to hold.

Louis was very close to his younger sister Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, who was to become Queen of Spain for seven months in 1724. He was not, however, close to his older sister, Charlotte-Aglaé d’Orléans, the wife of Francesco d’Este, Duke of Modena. They were in frequent conflict during her many return visits to the French court from Modena

Regency

Upon the death of his maternal grandfather Louis XIV in 1715, his father (the old king’s nephew) was selected to be the regent of the country for the five-year-old new king, Louis XV. The court was moved to Paris so his father could govern the country with the young king close by his side. Louis XV was installed in the Palais du Louvre opposite the Palais-Royal, the Paris home of the Orléans family.

Françoise-Marie de Bourbon

During the regency, Orléans was seen as the “third personage of the kingdom” immediately after Louis XV and his own father, the Regent. He was formally admitted to the Conseil de Régence on January 30, 1718. Despite his father’s wishes, though, Orléans was never to play an overly public or political role in France. The following year, he was made the governor of the Dauphiné. He was not forced, however, to move there in order to fulfill his new duties. Later, he resigned.

Upon the death of his father on December 2, 1723, the twenty-year-old Louis assumed the hereditary title of Duke of Orléans and became the head of the House of Orléans. He also became the next in line to the throne of France until the birth of Louis XV’s first-born son in 1729.

This was because King Felipe V of Spain, the second son of Louis, the Grand Dauphin and uncle of the young king, had renounced his rights to the French throne for himself, and his descendants, upon his accession to the throne of Spain in 1700.

Although the Regent had hoped that his son would assume as prominent a role in government as he had, the post of prime minister went to Louis’ older cousin, Louis-Henri, Duke of Bourbon, when the Regent died. Constantly trying to consolidate and maintain his power at court, the Duke of Bourbon was always suspicious of Louis’ motivations and was frequently opposed to him.

In 1723, Orléans was conspicuous for his hostility to the former prime minister, Cardinal Dubois. Orléans also worked with Claude le Blanc and Nicolas Prosper Bauyn d’Angervilliers in the post of Secretary of State for War; Louis himself worked in this position from 1723–1730

May 18, 1152 – The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. Conclusion

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Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II of England, King of England, King of France, King of the English, King of the Franks, King Stephen of England, Louis VII of France, royal wedding

After the marriage between Eleanor and Louis VII, Eleanor traveled to Poitiers, two lords —Theobald V, Count of Blois, and Geoffrey, Count of Nantes, brother of Henry Curtmantle, now called, Henry II, Duke of Normandy — tried to kidnap and marry her to claim her lands. Despite the annulment with Louis VII, Eleanor remained Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right making her a very wealthy, powerful and desirable woman.

Henry II, King of the English, Duke of Normandy

As soon as she arrived in Poitiers, Eleanor sent envoys to Henry II, Duke of Normandy and future King of the English, asking him to come at once to marry her. On May 18, 1152 (Whit Sunday), eight weeks after her annulment, Eleanor married Henry “without the pomp and ceremony that befitted their rank.”

Eleanor was related to Henry even more closely than she had been to Louis VII: they were cousins to the third degree through their common ancestor Ermengarde of Anjou, wife of Robert I, Duke of Burgundy and Geoffrey, Count of Gâtinais, and they were also descended from King Robert II of the Franks. A marriage between Henry and Eleanor’s daughter Marie had earlier been declared impossible due to their status as third cousins once removed. It was rumored by some that Eleanor had had an affair with Henry’s own father, Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, who had advised his son to avoid any involvement with her.

The marriage instantly reignited Henry’s tensions with Louis VII: it was considered an insult, it ran counter to feudal practice and it threatened the inheritance of Louis and Eleanor’s two daughters, Marie and Alix, who might otherwise have had claims to Aquitaine on Eleanor’s death. With his new lands, Aquitaine and Normandy combined, Henry now possessed a much larger proportion of France than Louis. Louis organised a coalition against Henry.

Fighting immediately broke out again along the Normandy borders, where Henry of Champagne and Robert captured the town of Neufmarché-sur-Epte. Louis’s forces moved to attack Aquitaine. King Stephen of the English responded by placing Wallingford Castle, a key fortress loyal to Henry along the Thames Valley, under siege, possibly in an attempt to force a successful end to the English conflict while Henry was still fighting for his territories in France. Henry moved quickly in response, avoiding an open battle with Louis in Aquitaine and stabilising the Norman border, pillaging the Vexin and then striking south into Anjou against Geoffrey, capturing one of his main castles (Montsoreau). Louis fell ill and withdrew from the campaign, and Geoffrey was forced to come to terms with Henry.

Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine

In November 1152 the King Stephen and Duke Henry II of Normandy ratified the terms of a permanent peace. Stephen announced the Treaty of Winchester in Winchester Cathedral: he recognised Henry as his adopted son and successor, in return for Henry paying homage to him; Stephen promised to listen to Henry’s advice, but retained all his royal powers; Stephen’s son William would pay homage to Henry and renounce his claim to the throne, in exchange for promises of the security of his lands; key royal castles would be held on Henry’s behalf by guarantors whilst Stephen would have access to Henry’s castles; and the numerous foreign mercenaries would be demobilised and sent home. Henry and Stephen sealed the treaty with a kiss of peace in the cathedral. The peace remained precarious, and Stephen’s son William remained a possible future rival to Henry. Rumors of a plot to kill Henry were circulating and, possibly as a consequence, Henry decided to return to Normandy for a period.

On October 25, 1154, King Stephen died and Henry became king of the English. Eleanor was crowned queen by the archbishop of Canterbury on December 19, 1154. She may not have been anointed on this occasion, however, because she had already been anointed in 1137. Over the next 13 years, she bore Henry five sons and three daughters: William, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, John, Matilda, Eleanor, and Joan. John Speed, in his 1611 work History of Great Britain, mentions the possibility that Eleanor had a son named Philip, who died young. His sources no longer exist, and he alone mentions this birth.

Eleanor’s marriage to Henry was reputed to be tumultuous and argumentative, although sufficiently cooperative to produce at least eight pregnancies. Henry was by no means faithful to his wife and had a reputation for philandering. Henry fathered other, illegitimate children throughout the marriage. Eleanor appears to have taken an ambivalent attitude towards these affairs. Geoffrey of York, for example, was an illegitimate son of Henry, but acknowledged by Henry as his child and raised at Westminster in the care of the queen.

History of the French Dynastic Disputes. Part I.

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House of Bourbon, House of Capet, House of Valois, King of France, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of the Franks, Louis XIV, Louis XVI of France

The succession to the French throne has a fascinating history. While all the thrones to each European monarchies are governed by laws and statutes, the laws governing the French monarchy are complex and have lead to their interpretation that borderlines religious fundamentalism. Because of these rules and the unstable, at times, nature of hereditary succession this lead to dynastic disputes. In this series I will examine these disputes in depth.

French dynastic disputes refer to a set of disputes in the history of France regarding the person who should inherit the crown.
Four such disputes had been identified:

* The Hundred Years War, which originated from a dynastic dispute (English claims to the French throne),
* Henri IV of France’s succession, particularly the period between 1589-1594, marked by the refusal to set the Protestant Henry of Navarre to the throne,
* Competition raging since 1830 between the Bourbons and the Orleans,
* Action Bonapartist.
At the moment, there are three main groups who claim the crown:
* The Bourbons
* The Orleans
* The Bonapartes, although Prince Charles Napoleon, “Head of the Imperial House of France” does not claim the restoration of the Empire, some groups are considering this and support the Bonapartist party, sometimes for him, sometimes for his eldest son, Prince Jean-Christophe Napoleon.

The Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom of France
To better understand three of the four dynastic disputes regarding the succession to the French throne, it is necessary to have an understanding of the ancient constitution of the Capetian monarchy. The fundamental laws of the Kingdom of France referred to certain fixed rules that the French public law has placed above the sovereign will. They were the unwritten laws which were invoked during the ages when serious difficulties arose: in them can be seen the foundation of the monarchy. Their origin coincides with the development of the House of Hugh Capet; they are related to that house, they existed as long as it reigned, and when the old French monarchy disappeared, they disappeared with it.

Crown of King Louis XV of France and Navarre.

A History of Styles & Titles: Part I

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Charles VI of France, Duke of Aquitaine, Joan of Arc, King of England, King of France, King of the English, Kingdom of Wessex, Kings and Queens of England, styles, titles, Wessex, William Rufus, William the Conqueror

The Anglo-Saxon kings of England used numerous different titles, including “King of the Anglo-Saxons” and “King of the English. Around the mid 880s Is period in which almost all chroniclers agree that the Saxon people of pre-unification England submitted to Alfred. This was not, however, the point at which Alfred came to be known as King of England; in fact, he would never adopt the title for himself.

Initially Alfred was titled King of Wessex until 886 when in London Alfred received the formal submission of “all the English people that were not under subjection to the Danes”, and thereafter he adopted the title Anglorum Saxonum rex (King of the Anglo-Saxons). While Alfred was not the first king to claim to rule all of the English, his rule represents the start of the first unbroken line of kings to rule the whole of England, the House of Wessex.

Alfred’s son and successor His son Edward the Elder conquered the eastern Danelaw, but it was his son and successor Æthelstan who became the first king to rule the whole of England when he conquered Northumbria in 927, and he is regarded by some modern historians as the first true king of England. The title “King of the English” or Rex Anglorum in Latin, was first used to describe Æthelstan in one of his charters in 928.

Alfred the Great, King of the Anglo-Saxons.

Variations of the monarchs title were adopted by some kings of Wessex and England; for example, Edred used “King of the Anglo-Saxons, Northumbrians, pagans and Britons”. These titles were sometimes accompanied by extravagant epithets; for instance, Æthelstan was “King of the English, raised by the right hand of the Almighty to the Throne of the whole Kingdom of Britain”.

William I the Conqueror used the simple “King of the English” and “Duke of the Normans” as his titles. His successor, William II, was the first to consistently use the style “by the Grace of God”. Henry I added “Duke of the Normans” in 1121, though he had seized Normandy from his brother Robert in 1106. In 1152 Henry II acquired many further French possessions through his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine; soon thereafter, he added “Duke of the Aquitanians” and “Count of the Angevins” to his titles.

“King of the English”, “Duke of the Normans”, “Duke of the Aquitanians” and “Count of the Angevins” remained in use until King John ascended the throne in 1199, when they changed the title “King of the English” to “King of England”, along with “Duke of Normandy”, “Duke of Aquitaine” and “Count of Anjou”, respectively. John, furthermore, was already the titular ruler of Ireland; therefore, he added “Lord of Ireland” to his style.

In 1204 England lost both Normandy and Anjou. Nevertheless, they did not renounce the associated titles until 1259. French territory once again became the subject of dispute after the death of the French King Charles IV in 1328. Edward III claimed the French Throne, arguing that it was to pass to him through his mother Isabella, Charles IV’s sister. In France, however, it was asserted that the Throne could not pass to or through a woman according to the Salic Law.

Nevertheless, Edward III began to use the title “King of France” (dropping “Duke of Aquitaine”) after 1337. In 1340 he entered France, where he was publicly proclaimed King. In 1360, however, he agreed to relinquish his title to the French claimant. Though he stopped using the title in legal documents, he did not formally exchange letters confirming the renunciation with the French King. In 1369 Edward III resumed the title, claiming that the French had breached their treaty.

Henry VI, King of England, Lord of Ireland and King of France.

In 1420, the Treaty of Troyes was an agreement signed by Henry V of England and Charles VI of France, recognizing Henry as Charles’ successor, and stipulating that Henry’s heirs would succeed him on the throne of France. It disinherited the Dauphin Charles (with further claim, in 1421, that the young Charles was illegitimate). It also betrothed Charles VI’s daughter, Catherine of Valois, to Henry V. Henry V then adopted the title Heir of France instead.

Henry V and Charles VI died within two months of each other in 1422, and Henry V’s infant son (Charles VI’s grandson) Henry VI became King of France. He was the only English king who was de facto King of France, rather than using the style as a mere title of pretense. He is also the only English monarch to actually have been crowned King of France (as Henri II, in 1431). However, by 1429 Charles VII was crowned at Reims with the support of Joan of Arc and begun to push the English out of northern France. In 1435, an end to the French civil war between Burgundians and Armagnacs allowed Charles to return to Paris the following year, and by 1453 the English had been driven out of their last strongholds in Normandy and Guyenne. The only French territory left to the English was Calais which they held until 1558.

Coat of Arms of Henry VI with the Lion of England and the French fleur-de-lys.

Nonetheless the kings and queens of England (and, later, of Great Britain) continued to claim the French throne for centuries, through the early modern period. The words “of France” was prominently included among their realms as listed in their titles and styles, and the French fleur-de-lys was included in the royal arms. This continued until 1801, by which time France had no monarch, having become a republic.

This date in History: August 13, 1792. The arrest of King Louis XVI of France and Navarre.

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Bastille, French Revolution, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, King of France, King of Prussia, Leopold II, Louis Capet, Louis XVI, Reign of Terror

After the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 Louis XVI eventually became a constitutional monarch. However, Louis’s conservatism and belief in the divine right of kings made that possibility that a Constitutional Monarchy in France would be successful, less and less a possibility.

Louis XVI, King of France & Navarre

The other monarchies of Europe looked with concern upon the developments in France, and considered whether they should intervene, either in support of Louis XVI or to take advantage of the chaos in France. The key figure was Marie-Antoinette’s brother, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II. Initially, he had looked on the Revolution with equanimity. However, he became more and more disturbed as it became more and more radical. Despite this, he still hoped to avoid war.

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia

In the summer of 1792 Emperor Leopold II and King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, in consultation with émigrés French nobles, issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, which declared the interest of the monarchs of Europe in the well-being of Louis and his family, and threatened vague but severe consequences if anything should befall them. Although Leopold saw the Pillnitz Declaration as an easy way to appear concerned about the developments in France without committing any soldiers or finances to change them, the revolutionary leaders in Paris viewed it fearfully as a dangerous foreign attempt to undermine France’s sovereignty.

Carl-Wilhelm-Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick

While the revolutionary government frantically raised fresh troops and reorganised its armies, a Prussian-Austrian army under Carl-Wilhelm-Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick assembled at Coblenz on the Rhine. In July, the invasion began, with Brunswick’s army easily taking the fortresses of Longwy and Verdun. The duke then issued on July 25, a proclamation called the Brunswick Manifesto, written by Louis’s émigré cousin, the Prince de Condé, declaring the intent of the Austrians and Prussians to restore the king to his full powers and to treat any person or town who opposed them as rebels to be condemned to death by martial law.

Contrary to its intended purpose of strengthening Louis XVI’s position against the revolutionaries, the Brunswick Manifesto had the opposite effect of greatly undermining his already highly tenuous position. It was taken by many to be the final proof of collusion between the king and foreign powers in a conspiracy against his own country. The anger of the populace boiled over on August 10 when an armed mob – with the backing of a new municipal government of Paris that came to be known as the Insurrectional Paris Commune – marched upon and invaded the Tuileries Palace. The royal family took shelter with the Legislative Assembly.

Louis XVI was officially arrested on August 13, 1792 and sent to the Temple, an ancient fortress in Paris that was used as a prison. On September 21, the National Assembly declared France to be a Republic and abolished the monarchy. Louis XVI was stripped of all of his titles and honours, and from this date was known as Citizen Louis Capet.

The Girondins* were partial to keeping the deposed king under arrest, both as a hostage and a guarantee for the future. Members of the Commune and the most radical deputies, who would soon form the group known as the Mountain**, argued for Louis’s immediate execution. The legal background of many of the deputies made it difficult for a great number of them to accept an execution without the due process of law, and it was voted that the deposed monarch be tried before the National Convention, the organ that housed the representatives of the sovereign people.

* From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initially were part of the Jacobin movement. They campaigned for the end of the monarchy, but then resisted the spiraling momentum of the Revolution, which caused a conflict with the more radical Montagnards.

** The Mountain were the most radical group and opposed the Girondins. The term, first used during a session of the Legislative Assembly, came into general use in 1793. By the summer of 1793, that pair of opposed minority groups divided the National Convention. That year, led by Maximilien Robespierre, the Montagnards unleashed the Reign of Terror.

On this date in History: August 9, 1830. Accession of Louis Philippe as King of the French.

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Duke of Orleans, House of Bourbon, House of Orléans, July Monarchy, July Revolution, King Charles X of France, King of France, King of the French, Louis Philippe, Louis XVIII

King Louis XVIII’s health had been worsening since the beginning of 1824. Suffering from both dry and wet gangrene in his legs and spine, he died on September 16, of that year, aged almost 69. Louis XVIII died without any issue making his younger brother, Charles Philippe, Count of Artois, now in his 67th year, the successor to the throne as King Charles X of France and Navarre. In his first act as king, Charles attempted to unify the House of Bourbon by granting the style of Royal Highness to his cousins of the House of Orléans, who had been deprived of this style by Louis XVIII because of the former Duke of Orléans’ role in the death of Louis XVI.

Charles X, King of France and Navarre.

The almost six year reign of King Charles X proved to be deeply unpopular from the moment of his coronation in 1825, in which he tried to revive the practice of the royal touch. The governments appointed under his reign reimbursed former landowners for the abolition of feudalism at the expense of bondholders, increased the power of the Catholic Church, and reimposed capital punishment for sacrilege, leading to conflict with the liberal-majority Chamber of Deputies. Charles X also initiated the French conquest of Algeria as a way to distract his citizens from domestic problems. He eventually appointed a conservative government under the premiership of Prince Jules de Polignac, who was defeated in the 1830 French legislative election. He responded with the July Ordinances disbanding the Chamber of Deputies, limiting franchise, and reimposing press censorship. Within a week France faced urban riots.

Masses of angry demonstrators demanded the abdication of Charles X and of his descendants. They sent a delegation to the Tuileries Palace to force his compliance. Charles X reluctantly signed the document of abdication on August 2, 1830. The next in line to inherit the throne was Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (August 6, 1775 – June 3, 1844) the elder son of Charles X of France and the last Dauphin of France from 1824 to 1830. Louis Antoine was equally reluctant to sign the Instrument of Abdication.

It is said that Louis Antoine spent this time listening to the entreaties of his wife not to sign, while the former Charles X sat weeping. After 20 minutes, he also abdicated for himself in favour of his 10 year old nephew, Prince Henri, the Duke of Bordeaux. Louis-Antoine was technically King of France and Navarre for 20 minutes before he himself abdicated. After the death of Charles X in 1836, he was the legitimist pretender as Louis XIX.

Within days the legitimate king, Prince Henri, the Duke of Bordeaux (King Henri V of France and Navarre to the Legitimists) was supplanted by Louis Philippe III, Duke of Orléans, a scion of the House of Orléans.

The Rise of Louis Philippe III, Duke of Orléans as King of the French.

The 4th House of Orléans, sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans to distinguish it from several branches of the Royal House of France that held that name. They were all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty’s founder, Hugh Capet. The incarnation of the 4th House of Orléans was founded by Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger son of Louis XIII and younger brother of Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” (1648-1715).

Louis Philippe III (October 6, 1773 – August 26, 1850) was born in the Palais Royal, the residence of the Orléans family in Paris, to Louis Philippe II, Duke of Chartres (Duke of Orléans, upon the death of his father Louis Philippe I), and Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince of the Blood, which entitled him the use of the style “Serene Highness”. His mother was an extremely wealthy heiress who was descended from Louis XIV of France through a legitimized line.

To explain the rise of Louis Philippe (III), Duke d’Orléans, to the French throne, I would like to briefly examine the fall from grace of the House of Bourbon and it begins with the fall of his father, Louis Philippe II d’Orléans.

Louis Philippe, King of the French

Louis Philippe II d’Orléans (13 April 1747 – 6 November 1793), most commonly known as Philippe, was born at the Château de Saint-Cloud. He was the son of Louis Philippe I Duke d’Orléans, Duke of Chartres, and Louise Henriette de Bourbon. Philippe was a member of the House of Orléans, a cadet branch of the French royal family. His mother came from the House of Bourbon-Condé. He inherited the title of Duke of Orléans at the death of his father, Louis Philippe I d’Orléans, in 1785 and also became the Premier prince du sang, title attributed to the Prince of the Blood closest to the throne after the Sons and Grandsons of France. He was addressed as Son Altesse Sérénissime (S.A.S.).

In 1792, during the French Revolution, he changed his name to Philippe Égalité. Louis Philippe II d’Orléans was a cousin of Louis XVI and one of the wealthiest men in France. He actively supported the Revolution of 1789, and was a strong advocate for the elimination of the present absolute monarchy in favor of a constitutional monarchy. He voted for the death of king Louis XVI; however, he was himself guillotined in November 1793 during the Reign of Terror. After his death, the term Orléanist came to be attached to the movement in France that favored a constitutional monarchy.

After the abdication of Napoleon, Louis Philippe III, Duke of Orléans, returned to France during the reign of his cousin Louis XVIII, at the time of the Bourbon Restoration. Louis Philippe III had reconciled the Orléans family with Louis XVIII in exile, and was once more to be found in the elaborate royal court. However, his resentment at the treatment of his family, the cadet branch of the House of Bourbon under the Ancien Régime, caused friction between him and Louis XVIII, and he openly sided with the liberal opposition.

Louis Philippe III was on far friendlier terms with Louis XVIII’s brother and successor Charles X and with whom he socialized. However, his opposition to the policies of Villèle and later of Jules de Polignac caused him to be viewed as a constant threat to the stability of Charles’ government. This soon proved to be to his advantage.

In 1830, the July Revolution overthrew Charles X, who abdicated in favour of his son Louis Antoine who in turn abdicated his right to his 10-year-old nephew, Henri, Duke of Bordeaux, and, naming Louis Philippe III Lieutenant général du royaume, charged him to announce to the popularly elected Chamber of Deputies his desire to have his grandson succeed him.

Louis Philippe III did not announce to the Chamber of Deputies that Prince Henri, the Duke of Bordeaux was now king. His refusal to do so was motivated to increase his own chances of succession. As a consequence, because the chamber was aware of Louis Philippe’s liberal policies and of his popularity with the masses, they proclaimed him King Louis Philippe I. Despite having been acting as the regent for his young cousin, as the new French king, his proclamation was a usurpation displacing the senior branch of the House of Bourbon.

Louis Philippe, King of the French

Charles X and his family, including his grandson, went into exile in Britain. The young ex-king, the Duke of Bordeaux, who, in exile, took the title of comte de Chambord, later became the pretender to the throne of France and was supported by the Legitimists.

Upon his accession to the throne, Louis Philippe assumed the title of King of the French – a title already adopted by Louis XVI in the short-lived Constitution of 1791. Linking the monarchy to a people instead of a territory (as the previous designation King of France and of Navarre) was aimed at undercutting the legitimist claims of Charles X and his family.

By an ordinance he signed on August 13, 1830, the new king defined the manner in which his children, as well as his “beloved” sister, would continue to bear the surname “d’Orléans” and the arms of Orléans, declared that his eldest son, as Prince Royal (not Dauphin), would bear the title Duke of Orléans, that the younger sons would continue to have their previous titles, and that his sister and daughters would only be styled Princesses of Orléans, not of France.

His ascension to the title of King of the French was seen as a betrayal by Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, and it ended their friendship.

HRH Prince Henri d’Orléans, The Count of Paris, Duke of France, pretender to the throne of France has died at the age of 85.

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French pretenders, Henri Count of Paris, House of Orléans, King of France, Louis-Philippe of France

HRH Prince Henri d’Orléans, The Count of Paris, Duke of France (Henri Philippe Pierre Marie d’Orléans; June 14, 1933 – January 21, 2019), was head of the House of Orléans as the Orléanist pretender to the defunct French throne as King Henri VII of France.

Prince Henri was descendant in the male-line of France’s “Citizen-King” Louis-Philippe I (ruled 1830–1848), he was also recognized as the legitimate claimant to the throne by those French royalists, called Unionists, who regard him as the rightful heir of Prince Henri de Bourbon, Count of Chambord, the last patrilineal descendant of King Louis XV. Henri was a retired military officer as well as an author and painter.

He was the first son of Henri, Count of Paris (1908–1999), and his wife Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza, and was born in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. From October 1959 to April 1962, Prince Henri worked at the Secretariat-General for National Defence and Security as a member of the French Foreign Legion. He transferred from there to a garrison in Germany, he took up a new assignment as military instructor at Bonifacio in Corsica, where his wife and children joined him early in 1963.

HRH Prince Henri d’Orléans, The Count of Paris, Duke of France

Returning to civilian life in 1967, Prince Henri and his family briefly occupied the Blanche Neige pavilion on his father’s Manoir du Coeur-Volant estate at Louveciennes before renting an apartment of their own in the XVe arrondissement. In the early 1970s Prince Henri managed public relations for the Geneva office of a Swiss investment firm while dwelling in Corly.

Marriages and children

On July 5, 1957, Henri married Duchess Marie Therese of Württemberg (born 1934). Marie Therese was the fifth child and fourth daughter of Philipp Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, and his second wife, Archduchess Rosa of Austria, Princess of Tuscany. She was born at Altshausen Castle, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Five children were born from this union:

1. Princess Marie Isabelle Marguerite Anne Geneviève d’Orléans of France (born 3 January 1959 in Boulogne-sur-Seine)
2. Prince François, Count of Clermont (7 February 1961 in Boulogne-sur-Seine – December 30, 2017)
3. Princess Blanche Elisabeth Rose Marie d’Orléans of France (born 10 September 1963 in Ravensburg).
4. Prince Jean Charles Pierre Marie d’Orléans of France, (born 19 May 1965, Boulogne-sur-Seine), Duke of Vendôme.
5. Prince Eudes Thibaut Joseph Marie d’Orléans of France (born 18 March 1968, Paris), Duke of Angoulême.

In 1984, Prince Henri and Princess Marie-Thérèse were divorced. On October 31, 1984 Prince Henri entered a civil marriage with Micaëla Anna María Cousiño y Quiñones de León (born on 30 April 1938), daughter of Luis Cousiño y Sebire and his wife Antonia Maria Quiñones de Léon y Bañuelos, 4th Marquesa de San Carlos. For remarrying without consent Henri’s father initially declared him disinherited.

Tensions lessened over the years and on March 7, 1991 the Count of Paris reinstated Henri as heir apparent and Count of Clermont, simultaneously giving Micaëla the title “Princesse de Joinville”.

Head of house

Until he succeeded his father as royal claimant, Prince Henri and his second wife occupied an apartment in Paris. On June 19, 1999, Prince Henri’s father died and Henri became the new head of the House of Orléans. He took the traditional title, Count of Paris, adding an ancient one, Duke of France, which had not borne by his Orléans or Bourbon forebears, but used a thousand years ago by his ancestors before Hugh Capet took the title of King of France. His wife assumed the title “Duchess of France”, deferring to the continued use of “Countess of Paris” by Henri’s widowed mother until her death on July 5, 2003, whereupon Micaela started to use the title Countess of Paris.

Prince Henri recognised his disabled eldest son François as heir, with the title Count of Clermont. He was the Dauphin of France in Orleanist reckoning. However, his mother had been infected with toxoplasmosis during her second and third pregnancies, and the pre-natal exposure left both Prince François and his younger sister, Princess Blanche, developmentally disabled.

HRH Prince Jean, Duke of Vendôme

Prince Henri maintained that his eldest son would exercise his prerogatives as head of the dynasty under a “regency” of his middle son, Prince Jean, Duke of Vendôme. However, with François’ death on December 30, 2017, Prince Jean became the Dauphin of France within the family’s claim to the throne. Prince Jean succeeds to the claim of King of France and Monarchists recognize him as King Jean IV of France.

Coronation of Charles III, Holy Roman Emperor & King of the Franks

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Carolingian Empire, Charlemagne, Charles III, Charles The Fat, Charles the Great, Guy II of Spoleto, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, King of France, King of Italy, King of the Franks, Pope John VII

On this day in history: February 12, 881. Charles III “The Fat” was Crowned Emperor by Pope John VIII.

Charles III (June 13, 839 – January 13, 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the Carolingian Emperor from 881 to 888. King of East Francia, 882-887. King of West Francia 884-887, Holy Roman Emperor, 881-887.

The youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, Charles was a great-grandson of Charlemagne (Charles the Great) He was the second-last emperor of the Carolingian dynasty and the last to rule, briefly, over a re-united Frankish empire.

Over his lifetime, Charles became ruler of the various kingdoms of Charlemagne’s former Empire. Granted lordship over Alamannia in 876, following the division of East Francia, he succeeded to the Italian throne upon the abdication of his older brother Carloman of Bavaria who had been incapacitated by a stroke. Crowned Emperor in 881 by Pope John VIII, his succession to the territories of his brother Louis the Younger (Saxony and Bavaria) the following year reunited the kingdom of East Francia. Upon the death of his cousin Carloman II in 884, he inherited all of West Francia, thus reuniting the entire Carolingian Empire.

Nickname and number

The nickname “Charles the Fat” (Latin Carolus Crassus) is not contemporary. It was first used by the Annalista Saxo (the anonymous “Saxon Annalist”) in the twelfth century. There is no contemporary reference to Charles’s physical size, but the nickname has stuck and is the common name in most modern European languages (French Charles le Gros, German Karl der Dicke, Italian Carlo il Grosso).

His numeral is roughly contemporary. Regino of Prüm, a contemporary of Charles’s recording his death, calls him “Emperor Charles, third of that name and dignity” (Latin Carolus imperator, tertius huius nominis et dignitatis).

On July 18, 880, Pope John VIII sent a letter to Guy II of Spoleto seeking peace, but the duke ignored him and invaded the Papal States. John responded by begging the aid of Charles in his capacity as King of Italy and crowned Charles Emperor on February 12, 881. This was accompanied by hopes of a general revival in western Europe, but Charles proved to be unequal to the task. Charles did little to help against Guy II. Papal letters as late as November were still petitioning Charles for action.

In some lists of the kings of France both Charles the Fat and Charles the Simple are listed as Charles III. I have also seen some lists where Charles the Bald is listed as Charles I of France and Charlemagne is listed as Charlemagne instead of Charles the Great without an ordinal. The lists where Charles the Bald is listed as Charles I, Charles the Fat is listed as Charles II. There are some lists that omit Charles the Fat entirely.