February 15, 1710: Birth of King Louis XV of France and Navarre

Tags

Duke of Orleans, King Louis XV of France and Navarre, Loui Henri, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Madame de Pompadour, Marie Leszczyńska, Palace of Versailles, Philippe II, Prince of Conde, Regent or France

Louis XV (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), known as Louis the Beloved was King of France and Navarre from September 1, 1715 until his death in 1774.

Louis XV was the great-grandson of Louis XIV and the third son of Prince Louis, Duke of Burgundy (1682–1712), and his wife and cousin, Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, who was the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, and Princess Anne Marie d’Orléans.

Princess Anne Marie d’Orléans was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV, and Henrietta of England, the youngest daughter of Charles I of England and Henrietta Marie de Bourbon of France and the daughter of Louis XV ‘s great-great-great grandfather King Henri IV of France and Navarre.

Prince Louis, Duke of Burgundy

The future King Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on February 15, 1710 and was immediately styled the Duke of Anjou.

At the time of his birth the possibility that the infant Prince Louis, Duke of Anjou, of ever becoming the next king seemed rather remote as Louis XIV’s eldest son and heir, and the Duke of Anjou’s paternal grandfather Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, was expected to assume the throne upon the old king’s death.

King Louis XV of France and Navarre

Next in line to the throne behind the Grand Dauphin was his eldest son Prince Louis, known as Le Petit Dauphin, and the Duke of Anjou’s father.

Prince Louis, Duke of Anjou had an elder brother, named Louis, Duke of Brittany ahead of him in the line of succession. An even older brother, also named Louis, Duke of Brittany (25 June 1704 – 13 April 1705) died of convulsions.

Disease, however, steered the line of succession forward three generations and sideways: on April 14, 1711 the Grand Dauphin, died of smallpox , and less than a year later, on February 12, 1712 the future king’s mother, Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, who had been stricken with measles, died, followed six days later by Louis’s father, Le Petit Dauphin, her devoted husband who would not leave her side during her illness.

With the death of both the Grand and Petit dauphins, Louis’s elder brother immediately became Dauphin of France, but just over two weeks further still, on March 7, it was found that both the elder Louis and the younger Louis had also had the measles.

King Louis XV of France and Navarre

The two brothers were treated in the traditional way, with bloodletting. On the night of 8–9 March, the new Dauphin, age five, died from the combination of the disease and the treatment. The governess of Louis, Madame de Ventadour, forbade the doctors to bleed the two year old Duke of Anjou by hiding him in a palace closet where she cared for him alone; where he survived despite being very ill.

When Louis XIV himself finally died on September 1, 1715, Louis, at the age of five, trembling and crying and against all probability, inherited the throne as King Louis XV.

Until the King reached maturity (then defined as his 13th birthday) on February 15, 1723, the kingdom was ruled by his grand-uncle Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, as Regent of France. Cardinal Fleury was chief minister from 1726 until his death in 1743, at which time the king took sole control of the kingdom.

On October 25, 1722 King Louis XV was crowned King at the Cathedral of Reims. On February 15, 1723, the king’s majority was declared by the Parlement of Paris, officially ending the regency. Philippe continued to manage the government, and took the title of Prime Minister in August 1723, but while visiting his mistress, far from the court and medical care, he died in December of the same year.

Marie Leszczyńska

Following the advice of his preceptor Fleury, Louis XV appointed his cousin Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, to replace the late Duke of Orléans as prime minister.

Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon was the second child and eldest son of Louis III, Prince of Condé, and Louise Françoise de Bourbon, the eldest daughter of King Louis XIV and his mistress Madame de Montespan.

One of the first priorities of the Duke of Bourbon was to find a bride for the King, to assure the continuity of the monarchy, and especially to prevent the succession to the throne of the Orléans branch of the family, the rivals of his branch.

A list of 99 princesses was prepared, among them being Princess Anne of Great Britain, Infanta Barbara of Portugal, Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark, Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Enrichetta d’Este and Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon’s own sisters Henriette Louise de Bourbon and Élisabeth Alexandrine de Bourbon were considered.

In the end, the 21-year-old Marie Leszczyńska, daughter of Stanislaus I, the deposed king of Poland, was chosen.

Marie Leszczyńska, was the second daughter of King Stanislaus I Leszczyński of Poland and his wife, Countess Catherine Opalińska.

The marriage was celebrated in September 1725 when the king was 15 and Marie was 22. Louis was said to have fallen in love with Marie instantly, and consummated his marriage to her seven times on their wedding night.

Though the King loved his wife he still had many Mistresses, most notably, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (December 29, 1721 – April 15, 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and remained influential as court favourite until her death.

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour

Madame de Pompadour took charge of the king’s schedule and was a valued aide and advisor, despite her frail health and many political enemies. She secured titles of nobility for herself and her relatives, and built a network of clients and supporters. She was particularly careful not to alienate the Queen, Marie Leszczyńska.

On February 8, 1756, the Marquise de Pompadour was named as the thirteenth lady-in-waiting to the queen, a position considered the most prestigious at the court, which accorded her with honors.

Reign

The reign of King Louis XV was 59 years (from 1715 to 1774) and was the second longest in the history of France, exceeded only by his predecessor, Louis XIV, who had ruled for 72 years (from 1643 to 1715).

In 1748, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745. He ceded New France in North America to Great Britain and Spain at the conclusion of the disastrous Seven Years’ War in 1763.

He incorporated the territories of the Duchy of Lorraine and the Corsican Republic into the Kingdom of France. Historians generally criticize his reign, citing how reports of his corruption embarrassed the monarchy, while his wars drained the treasury and produced little gain.

King Louis XV in 1773 the year before he died.

A minority of scholars dispute this view, arguing that it is the result of revolutionary propaganda. His grandson and successor Louis XVI would inherit a kingdom in need of financial and political reform which would ultimately lead to the French Revolution of 1789.

King Louis XV Louis died at 3:15 in the morning on May 10, 1774. His son and heir, Prince Louis, La Dauphin died in 1765 and he was succeeded by his eldest surviving grandson Louis Augusté who became King Louis XVI. The new King’s consort was Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria.

French Pretenders Part I: 2022

Tags

Duke of Anjou, French pretenders, French Revolution, House of Bourbon, House of Bourbon -Orléans, Jean d'Orléans, Legitimists, Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Philip V of Spain, Treaty of Utrecht, War of the Spanish Succession

From the Emperor’s Desk: When I began this blog back in 2012 I initially wrote a series of articles on the various pretenders to vacant thrones of Europe. Many of these articles need an update so today I start with the pretenders to the vacant throne of France.

One of the most interesting battles for the claims to a vacant or non existent throne is that of France. The argument on who is the rightful heir to the French throne rests on the legality of the renunciation of rights to the French throne by King Felipe V of Spain (1700-1746) and his descendents at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714.

Felipe V of Spain (Philippe Duc d’Anjou) was born a French Prince of the Blood (Prince Du Sang) the second son of Louis the Grand Dauphin and a grandson of King Louis XIV of France and Navarre (1643-1715). Felipe V of Spain was also a maternal great-grandson of King Felipe III of Spain and Portugal (1598-1621) from whose descent he was appointed successor to the childless King Carlos II of Spain (1665-1700).

King Felipe V of Spain

King Louis XIV and his son and heir, The Grand Dauphin, had the strongest genealogical claim to the Spanish throne held by his maternal uncle, King Carlos II. The great European powers would never accept a united France and Spain under the leadership of King Louis XIV of France.

However, since neither the Grand Dauphin nor his eldest son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from the succession to the French throne, King Carlos II of Spain named Prince Philippe de Bourbon, the Duke of Anjou as his heir-presumptive in his will. He ascended the Spanish throne in 1700 upon the death of Carlos II as King Felipe V of Spain.

What followed was the the 13-year War of the Spanish Succession, which continued until the Treaty of Utrecht forbade any future possibility of unifying the French and Spanish crowns while confirming the Duke of Anjou’s accession to the throne of Spain.

The treaty required King Felipe V of Spain to renounce his claim to the French throne, both for himself and his descendants, with reciprocal renunciations by French Bourbon Prince and Princesses to the Spanish throne, including Louis XIV’s nephew Philippe, Duke of Orléans. These renunciations became increasingly important after a series of deaths between 1712 and 1714 that left the five year old, Prince Louis, Duke of Anjou, (the future King Louis XV ) as his great-grandfather’s heir.

Although the House of Bourbon still reigns in Spain, the French monarchy was abolished in 1848 with the abdication of Louis Philippe I, King of the French of the House of Bourbon-Orléans.

Louis Alphonse de Bourbon (King Louis XX of France)

After the death of Henri, Comte de Chambord in 1884, who died without an heir, the claim to the vacant throne of France has been contested between the descendants of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon and the descendants of Louis Philippe I, King of the French of the House of Bourbon-Orléans.

As previously mentioned, the arguments of which of these pretenders is the rightful heir to the French throne rests on the legality of the renunciations to the French and Spanish thrones by Spanish and French members of the House of Bourbon as outlined in the Treaty of Utrecht.

Today there are two claimants from the different lines of the House of Bourbon. The first is Prince Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou who is the senior male heir of Hugh Capét, King of the Franks (987-996). Louis Alphonse is also the senior descendant of King Louis XIV of France through the aforementioned King Felipe V of Spain.

Those that support the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon to the French throne are called Legitimist. According to the Legitimists, Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou is recognized as the rightful claimant to the French throne and is considered King Louis XX of France by his supporters.

Prince Jean of Orléans, Comte de Paris (King Jean IV of France)

The other claimant to the French throne is Prince Jean of Orléans, Comte de Paris and Duc de France. Prince Jean is a descendant of King Louis Philippe I (1830-1848), the last King of the French. Known as King Jean IV of France by his supporters and he is the current head of the Orléans line of the Bourbon dynasty.

August 16, 1682: Birth of Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Burgundy & Dauphin of France

Tags

Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy, House of Bourbon, Louis de Bourbon, Louis the Grand Dauphin, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Louis XV of France and Navarre, Philippe II Duke of Orleans

Louis, Duke of Burgundy (August 16, 1682 – February 18, 1712), was the eldest son of Louis, Grand Dauphin, and Dauphine Maria Anna and grandson of the reigning King Louis XIV of France. He was known as the “Petit Dauphin” to distinguish him from his father, who died in April 1711, when the former became the official Dauphin of France. He never reigned, as he died in 1712 while his grandfather was still on the throne. Upon the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the Duke of Burgundy’s son became Louis XV.

Louis was born in the Palace of Versailles in 1682, the eldest son of the French Dauphin, Louis, who would later be called le Grand Dauphin, and his wife, Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, the eldest daughter of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and his wife Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy.

Her maternal grandparents were Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy and Christine Marie de Bourbon of France, the second daughter of Henri IV of France and Marie de’ Medici, thus her husband the dauphin was her second cousin.

His father was the eldest son of the reigning king, Louis XIV and his wife Queen Maria Theresa of Spain born an Infanta of Spain and Portugal at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, she was the daughter of Felipe IV-III of Spain and Portugal and his wife Elisabeth de Bourbon of France daughter of Henri IV of France and Marie de’ Medici.

Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Burgundy & Dauphin of France

At birth, Prince Louis received the title of Duke of Burgundy (duc de Bourgogne). In addition, as the son of the Dauphin and grandson to the king, he was a fils de France and also second in the line of succession to his grandfather, Louis XIV, after his father.

Louis grew up with his younger brothers: Philippe, Duke of Anjou, who became King Felipe V of Spain; and Charles, Duke of Berry, under the supervision of the royal governess Louise de Prie. He lost his mother when he was eight. His father, viewed as lazy and dull, never played a major role in politics.

Marriage

At the age of 15, he was married to his second cousin, Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, the daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy and Anne Marie d’Orléans. She was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV, and Henrietta of England, the youngest daughter of Charles I of England, who was the daughter of Henri IV of France and his wife Maria de Medici.

This match had been decided as part of the Treaty of Turin, which ended Franco-Savoyard conflicts during the Nine Years’ War. The wedding took place on December 7, 1697 at the Palace of Versailles.

Military career and politics

In 1702, at the age of 20, Louis was admitted by his grandfather King Louis XIV to the Conseil d’en haut (High Council), which was in charge of state secrets regarding religion, diplomacy and war. His father had been admitted only at the age of 30.

In 1708, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Louis was given command of the army in Flanders, with the experienced soldier Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme, serving under him. The uncertainty as to which of the two should truly command the army led to delays and the need to refer decisions to Louis XIV.

Continued indecision led to French inactivity as messages travelled between the front and Versailles; the Allies were then able to take the initiative. The culmination of this was the Battle of Oudenarde, where Louis’s mistaken choices and reluctance to support Vendôme led to a decisive defeat for the French.

In the aftermath of the defeat, his hesitation to relieve the Siege of Lille led to the loss of the city and thereby allowed the Allies to make their first incursions onto French soil.

Louis was influenced by the dévots and was surrounded by a circle of people known as the faction de Bourgogne, notably including his old tutor François Fénelon, his old governor Paul de Beauvilliers, Duke of Saint-Aignan and his brother-in-law Charles Honoré d’Albert, Duke of Chevreuse, as well as the renowned memorialist, Louis de Rouvroy, Duke of Saint-Simon.

These high-ranking aristocrats sought a return to a monarchy less absolute and less centralised, with more powers granted to the individual provinces. Their view was that government should work through councils and intermediary organs between the king and the people.

These intermediary councils were to be made up not by commoners from the bourgeoisie (like the ministers appointed by Louis XIV) but by aristocrats who perceived themselves as the representatives of the people and would assist the king in governance and the exercise of power. Had Louis succeeded to the throne, he might have applied this concept of monarchy.

Death and legacy

Louis became Dauphin of France upon the death of his father in 1711. In February 1712, his wife contracted measles and died on February 12. Louis himself, who dearly loved his wife and who had stayed by her side throughout the fatal illness, caught the disease and died six days after her at the Château de Marly on February 18 aged 29. Both of his sons also became infected.

The elder son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Louis, Duke of Brittany, the latest in a series of Dauphins, succumbed on March 8, leaving his brother, the two-year-old Duke of Anjou, who was later to succeed to the throne as Louis XV.

As it was thought that the chances of survival of this frail child, now heir apparent to his seventy-three-year-old great grandfather, were minimal, a potential succession crisis loomed.

Moreover, overnight the broad hopes and squabbling of the aristocrats caused this system to fail, and it was soon abandoned in 1718 in favour of a return to absolute monarchy.

The Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Part III

Tags

Christina, Eighty Years War, Felipe IV-III, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, King of Spain and Portugal, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Peace of Westphalia, Prince of Orange, Queen of Sweden, Stadtholder of the United Provinces, Thirty Years War, Treaty of Münster, Treaty of Osnabrück, Willem II

The Peace of Westphalia is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) and Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648), and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire, closing a calamitous period of European history that killed approximately eight million people.

Despite resulting cessation of the Thirty Years War, the Peace of Westphalia was a significant step in the decline of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, Felipe IV-III, King of Spain and Portugal, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Christina, Queen of Sweden, Willem II, Prince of Orange, United Provinces (Netherlands), and their respective allies were among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire participated in these treaties.

The negotiation process was lengthy and complex. Talks took place in two cities, because each side wanted to meet on territory under its own control.

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungry, Bohemia and Croatia, Archduke of Austria

The negotiations in Westphalia turned out to be difficult, beginning with a dispute over the rules of procedure. The emperor had to give in to pressure from France and Sweden and admit all imperial estates to the congress and receive the ius belli ac pacis. In addition to peace between the parties involved, the internal constitution of the empire was also newly regulated.

The Imperial Court received weekly reports on the negotiations. Even though the reports had been produced by officials, the process also proved to be an extremely busy time for the emperor, as despite all the advisers, he had to make the decisions. The study of the documents suggests, that Emperor Ferdinand III was a monarch with expertise with a sense of responsibility and the willingness to make difficult decisions.

In the course of the negotiations, Ferdinand had to reconsider his original goals according to the deteriorating military situation. His advisor Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff suggested a great battle to end the war favourably.

The emperor personally took part in the campaign against the Swedes, that ended with a defeat at the Battle of Jankau on March 6, 1645. The Swedish army under Lennart Torstensson then advanced to Vienna. To raise morale in the city, the emperor circled the city in a large procession with an image of the Virgin Mary.

As the Swedish army drew closer, Ferdinand left the city. Archduke Leopold Wilhelm managed to drive off the opponents. At times Ferdinand managed to get Prince George I Rákóczi of Transylvania, an ally of France and Sweden, on his side.

In the 1645 Peace of Linz the Emperor had to guarantee the Hungarian estates the right of imperial representation and freedom of religion for the Protestants, which prevented the Counter-reformation and future Absolutist rule in Hungary.

The Habsburgs could no longer win the war without the support of the Spanish allies. Due to domestic difficulties, financial and military Spanish support for Ferdinand was completely stopped in 1645. Without foreign military funds, the imperial troops were incapable of offensive operations, which weakened Ferdinand’s position in negotiations.

“Celebration of the Peace of Münster” Bartholomeus Van Der Helst – 1648

The emperor reissued the instructions for the peace talks for Trautmannsdorf, who left for Westphalia as chief negotiator. These documents were kept strictly secret and were only published in 1962. Reviews revealed, that Ferdinand surrendered numerous previous claims and was ready for greater concessions than were ultimately necessary.

A total of 109 delegations arrived to represent the belligerent states, but not all delegations were present at the same time. Two treaties were signed to end the war in the Empire: the Treaty of Münster and the Treaty of Osnabrück.

These treaties ended the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire, with the Habsburgs (rulers of Austria and Spain) and their Catholic allies on one side, battling the Protestant powers (Sweden and certain Holy Roman principalities) allied with France, which was Catholic but strongly anti-Habsburg under King Louis XIV. The separate Peace of Münster ended the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the United Provinces.

The negotiators agreed to the Peace of Münster in 1648, but Willem II, Stadtholder of the United Provinces and Prince of Orange opposed acceptance of the treaty, even though it recognized the independence of the (northern) Netherlands, because it left the southern Netherlands in the hands of the Spanish monarchy. A separate peace furthermore violated the alliance with France formed in 1635. However, the States of six provinces voted to accept it.

Willem II, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the United Provinces

Secretly, Willem II opened his own negotiations with France with the goal of extending his own territory under a more centralized government. In addition, he worked for the restoration of his exiled brother-in-law, Charles II, to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Resulting from the treaty the power asserted by Emperor Ferdinand III was stripped from him and returned to the rulers of the Imperial States. The rulers of the Imperial States could henceforth choose their own official religions. Catholics and Protestants were redefined as equal before the law, and Calvinism was given legal recognition as an official religion. The independence of the Dutch Republic, which practiced religious toleration, also provided a safe haven for European Jews.

The dual rule of pope and emperor was effectively ended at the Peace of Westphalia at the conclusion of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648, wherein the empire was severed from the papacy for good. The papacy played no role in the negotiations and in the eyes of Pope Innocent X, the peace destroyed the connection between pope and emperor which had held Europe together since the time of Charlemagne eight centuries prior.

The Holy See was very displeased at the settlement, with Pope Innocent X calling it “null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all time” in the bull Zelo Domus Dei.

Where international disputes between the rulers of Europe had previously been solved and mediated by the pope and/or emperor, the 17th century saw the true emergence of the modern system of international relations and diplomacy.

The main tenet of the Peace of Westphalia:

All parties would recognize the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, in which each prince had the right to determine the religion of his own state (the principle of cuius regio, eius religio). However, the ius reformandi was removed: Subjects were no longer forced to follow the conversion of their ruler. Rulers were allowed to choose Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism.

Another repercussion of the Peace of Westphalia was it gave the rulers of the many states within the Empire greater autonomy not only over religious issues but secular issues as well.

As mentioned yesterday, many states in Europe had become string nations due to the formation of a powerful centralized government. The Empire was in an opposite state. The lack of a standing army, a central treasury, weak central control of the government (that did not have a capitol) and exercised by a monarch who was elective and not hereditary all contributed to the idea that there was no unified German state. In the view of its contemporaries, the empire had regressed from a “regular” monarchy into a highly irregular one.

One of the saving graces of the Habsburg monarchy at this time was that they remained powerful within thier Crown Lands which laid both within and without the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire.

Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France

Tags

Count of Toulouse, Duke of Maine, Duke of Orleans, Felipe V of Spain, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Louis XV of France and Navarre, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Philippe II, Regency Council, Regent

The Regency

Louis XIV’s Will

On July 29, 1714, upon the insistence of his morganatic wife, the Marquise de Maintenon, Louis XIV elevated his legitimised children to the rank of Princes of the Blood, which “entitled them to inherit the crown if the legitimate lines became extinct”.

Thus, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine and Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Count of Toulouse were officially inserted into the line of hereditary succession following all of the legitimate, acknowledged princes du sang.

Madame de Maintenon would have preferred Felipe V, King of Spain to be Regent and Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine to be Lieutenant Général and consequently in control.

Fearing a revival of the war, Louis XIV named Philippe II, Duke of Orléans joint President of a Regency Council, but one that would be packed with his enemies, reaching its decisions by a majority vote that was bound to go against him. The real power would be in the hands of Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine, who was also appointed guardian of the young sovereign.

Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France

On August 25, 1715, a few days before his death, Louis XIV added a codicil to his will:

He sent for the Chancellor and wrote a last codicil to his will, in the presence of Mme de Maintenon. He was yielding, out of sheer fatigue, to his wife and confessor, probably with the reservation that his extraordinary action would be set aside after his death, like the will itself.

Otherwise he would have been deliberately condemning his kingdom to perpetual strife, for the codicil appointed the Duke of Maine commander of the civil and military Household, with Villeroy as his second-in-command. By this arrangement they became the sole masters of the person and residence of the King; of Paris … and all the internal and external guard; of the entire service … so much so that the Regent did not have even the shadow of the slightest authority and found himself at their mercy.

The evening of August 25, Louis XIV had a private audience with Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, his nephew and son-in-law, re-assuring him:

You will find nothing in my will that should displease you. I commend the Dauphin to you, serve him as loyally as you have served me. Do your utmost to preserve his realm. If he were to die, you would be the master. […] I have made what I believed to be the wisest and fairest arrangements for the well-being of the realm, but, since one cannot anticipate everything, if there is something to change or to reform, you will do whatever you see fit…

Louis XIV died at Versailles on September 1, 1715, and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson, Louis XV. On September 2, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans went to meet the parlementaires in the Grand-Chambre du Parlement in Paris in order to have Louis XIV’s will annulled and his previous right to the regency restored.

After a break that followed a much-heated session, the Parlement abrogated the recent codicil to Louis XIV’s will and confirmed the Duke of Orléans as regent of France.

On December 30, 1715, the regent decided to bring the young Louis XV from the Château de Vincennes to the Tuileries Palace in Paris where he lived until his return to Versailles in June 1722. The regent governed from his Parisian residence, the Palais-Royal.

Philippe disapproved of the hypocrisy of Louis XIV’s reign and opposed censorship, ordering the reprinting of books banned during the reign of his uncle. Reversing his uncle’s policies again, Philippe formed an alliance with Great Britain, Austria, and the Netherlands, and fought a successful war against Spain that established the conditions of a European peace. During this time he opened up diplomatic channels with Russia which resulted in a state visit by Tsar Peter I the Great.

He acted in plays of Molière and Racine, composed an opera, and was a gifted painter and engraver. Philippe favoured Jansenism which, despite papal condemnation, was accepted by the French bishops, and he revoked Louis XIV’s compliance with the bull Unigenitus.

At first, he decreased taxation and dismissed 25,000 soldiers. But the inquisitorial measures which he had begun against the financiers led to disturbances, notably in the province of Brittany where a rebellion known as the Pontcallec Conspiracy unfolded. He countenanced the risky operations of the banker John Law, whose bankruptcy led to the Mississippi bubble, a disastrous crisis for the public and private affairs of France. It was an early example of the bursting of an economic bubble.

On June 6, 1717, under the influence of Law and the duc de Saint-Simon, the Regent persuaded the Regency Council to purchase from Thomas Pitt for £135,000 the world’s largest known diamond, a 141 carat (28.2 g) cushion brilliant, for the crown jewels of France. The diamond was known from then on as Le Régent.

From the beginning of 1721, Felipe V of Spain, and Philippe II, Duke of Orléans had been negotiating the project of three Franco-Spanish marriages in order to cement tense relations between Spain and France.

Louis XV, King of France and Navarre

The young Louis XV of France would marry the three-year-old Infanta Mariana Victoria who would thus become Queen of France; the Infante Luis would marry the fourth surviving daughter of Philippe, Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans; and the Infante Charles would be engaged to the pretty Philippine Élisabeth d’Orléans who was the fifth surviving daughter of Philippe. Only one of these marriages actually ever occurred.

In March 1721, the Infanta Mariana Victoria arrived in Paris amid much joy. Known as l’infante Reine (Queen-Infanta) while in France, she was placed in the care of the old Dowager Princess of Conti, Philippe’s sister in law, and lived in the Tuileries Palace.

In November 1721, at the age of twelve, Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans was married by proxy in Paris, Louise Élisabeth and her younger sister left for Madrid. Despite a cold reception from the Spanish royal family, especially by Elisabeth of Parma, the stepmother of her husband, she married Luis of Spain on January 20, 1722 at Lerma.

Her dowry was of 4 million livres. The last of this triple alliance was Philippine Élisabeth who never married Charles; the marriage, though never officially carried out was annulled; the French sent back Mariana Victoria and in retaliation, Louise Élisabeth and Philippine Élisabeth were sent back to France. Franco-Spanish relations only recovered in 1743 when Louis XV’s son Louis de France married Mariana Victoria’s sister Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain.

On June 15, 1722, Louis XV and the court left the Tuileries Palace for the Palace of Versailles where the young king wanted to reside. The decision had been taken by the Duke of Orléans who, after the fall of Law’s System, was feeling the loss of his personal popularity in Paris. Philippe took the apartments of his cousin the late Dauphin on the first floor of the Palace; the King’s apartments were above his.

On October 25 of that year, the twelve-year-old Louis XV was anointed King of France in the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims. At the end of the ceremony, he threw himself in the arms of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans.

In December 1722, the Regent lost his mother to whom he had always been close; the Dowager Duchess of Orléans died at Saint-Cloud at the age of seventy, with her son at her side, but he did not attend her funeral service because he had been called away on official business. Philippe was greatly affected by his mother’s death.

On the majority of the king, which was declared on 15 February 15, 1723, the Duke stepped down as regent. At the death of Cardinal Dubois on August 10 of that year, the young king offered the Duke the position of prime minister, and he remained in that office until his death a few months later.

The regent died in Versailles on December 2, 1723 in the arms of his mistress the duchesse de Falari. Louis XV mourned him greatly. The Duke of Bourbon took on the role of Prime Minister of France.

August 2, 1674: Birth of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France.

Tags

Duchess of Berry, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Louis XV of France and Navarre, Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Philippe II of Orleans, Regent of France

Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Philippe Charles; August 2, 1674 – December 2, 1723), was a French royal, soldier, and statesman who served as Regent of the Kingdom of France from 1715 to 1723. He is also referred to as le Régent.

Philippe Charles was the son of Monsieur Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, (September 21, 1640 – June 9, 1701), was the younger son of King Louis XIII of France and Navarre and his wife, Infanta Anne of Austria.

Philippe Charles’ mother, Infanta Anne of Austria, she was the eldest daughter of King Felipe III of Spain and his wife (his first-cousin, once-removed) Archduchess Margaret of Austria. Anne of Austria held the titles of Infanta of Spain and of Portugal (since her father was king of Portugal as well as Spain) and Archduchess of Austria.

Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France

Despite her Spanish birth, she was referred to as Anne of Austria because the rulers of Spain belonged to the senior branch of the House of Austria, known later as the House of Habsburg, a designation relatively uncommon before the 19th century.

Philippe Charles’ father Philippe I Duke of Orléans, who’s older brother was the “Sun King”, Louis XIV of France and Navarre. Philippe I was styled Duke of Anjou from birth, Philippe became Duke of Orléans upon the death of his uncle Gaston in 1660.

In March 1661, Monsieur Philippe I, Duke of Orleans, married his first cousin Princess Henrietta of England, known as Madame at court; she was the sister of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland.

The marriage was stormy; Henrietta was a famed beauty, sometimes depicted as flirtatious by those at the court of Versailles. Nonetheless, the marriage produced three children: Marie Louise, later Queen of Spain; Philippe Charles, Duke of Valois, who died in infancy; and Anne Marie, who became Queen of Sardinia.

Madame Henriette died at Saint-Cloud in 1670; rumors abounded that she had been poisoned by her husband or his long-term lover, the Chevalier de Lorraine; the two would remain together till the death of the Duke of Orléans in 1701.

In the following year, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans wed Princess Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, only daughter of Charles I Ludwig, Elector Palatine, and Landgravine Charlotte of Hesse-Cassel.

The new Duchess of Orléans, who had converted from Protestantism to Catholicism just before entering France, was popular at court upon her arrival in 1671.

In 1673 the Duke Philippe and Duchess Elisabeth Charlotte had a son named Alexandre Louis, another short-lived Duke of Valois. The next year, the Duchess gave birth to Philippe Charles d’Orléans, the future Regent, at the Château de Saint-Cloud, some ten kilometers west of Paris.

As the grandson of King Louis XIII of France, Philippe Charles was a petit-fils de France. This entitled him to the style of Royal Highness from birth, as well as the right to be seated in an armchair in the king’s presence.

At his birth, he was titled Duke of Chartres and was formally addressed as Monseigneur le Duc de Chartres. As the second living son of his parents, his birth was not greeted with the enthusiasm the Duke of Valois had received in 1673.

In 1676, his three year old, older brother, Alexandre Louis d’Orléans, Duke of Valois died at the Palais-Royal in Paris, making Philippe Charles the new heir to the House of Orléans; the future heirs of the Duke of Orléans would be known as the Duke of Chartres (Duc de Chartres) for the next century.

His distraught mother was pregnant at the time with Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans (1676–1744), future Duchess and regent of Lorraine. Élisabeth Charlotte and Philippe would always remain close.

The Duke of Chartres grew up at his father’s “private” court held at Saint-Cloud, and in Paris at the Palais-Royal, the Parisian residence of the Orléans family until the arrest of (his grandson) Philippe Égalité in April 1793 during the French Revolution. The Palais-Royal was frequented by, among others, Marie Anne Mancini, Duchess of Bouillon, part of Philippe’s father’s libertine circle.

On February 18, 1692, the 18 year old Philippe Charles married his 14 year old first cousin Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter (légitimée de France) of King Louis XIV and his maîtresse-en-titre, Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan.

Françoise Marie de Bourbon

King Louis XIV offered a dowry of two million livres with his daughter’s hand (not to be paid until the Nine Years’ War was over), as well as the Palais-Royal for the bridegroom’s parents. Upon hearing that her son had agreed to the marriage, Philippe Charles’s mother slapped his face in full view of the court and turned her back on the king as he bowed to her.

The young couple, mismatched from the start, never grew to like each other, and soon the young Philippe Charles gave his wife the nickname of Madame Lucifer. In spite of this, they had eight children.

There were contemporary rumors of an incestuous relationship between the Philippe Charles and his daughter, Marie Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, Duchess of Berry. These rumors were never confirmed, although Philippe Charles reacted to them by demonstrating affectionate behavior towards her at court. The rumors were also used by the opposition during his period as regent, and were the inspiration of libelous songs and poems

Court life

On the death of his father in June 1701, Philippe Charles inherited the Dukedoms of Orléans, Anjou, Montpensier and Nemours, as well as the princedom of Joinville. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans had died at Saint-Cloud after an argument with Louis XIV at Marly about Chartres’ flaunting his pregnant mistress, Marie-Louise de Séry, before Françoise Marie. It has also been claimed that Philippe became so infuriated with Louis for not paying his daughter’s dowry that he suffered a stroke.

After inheriting his father’s titles Philippe Charles became known as Philippe II, Duke of Orléans.

Marie Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, Duchess of Berry

In 1715 with the death of Louis XIV and the accession of his grandson as King Louis XV, Philippe II was named regent of France during the minority of Louis XV, his great-nephew and first cousin twice removed, the period of his de facto rule was known as the Regency (French: la Régence) (1715–23).

Philippe II, Duke of Orléans had a difficult time gaining the regency. I have written about that before and will repost that information tomorrow.

Throughout his life Philippe II had many mistresses; his wife came to prefer living quietly at Saint-Cloud, the Palais-Royal, or her house at Bagnolet. His most famous mistress was arguably Marie-Thérèse de Parabère, who was his main mistress during almost the entire regency, with other high profile affairs being those with Madame de Sabran, Madame d’Averne and Marie-Thérèse Blonel de Phalaris.

Upon the death of the Henri Jules, prince de Condé in 1709, the rank of Premier Prince du Sang passed from the House of Condé to the House of Orléans. Philippe was thus entitled to the style of Monsieur le Prince. But the rank of petit-fils de France being higher than that of premier prince, Philippe did not change his style; nor did his son or other heirs make use of the Monsieur le Prince style, which had been so long associated with the cadet branch of the Princes de Condé that the heads of the House of Orléans preferred to be known at court by their ducal title.

Philippe II, The Duke of Orléans died at Versailles in 1723.

The Life of Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans, Duchess of Lorraine

Tags

Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria, Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans, Carl Ludwig of the Palatine, Duchess of Lorraine, Duke of Orleans, Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatine, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, House of Habsburg-Lorraine, King Louis XVI of France and Navarre, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Regent. Philippe I

Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans (September 13, 1676 – December 23, 1744) was a petite-fille de France, and duchess of Lorraine and Bar by marriage to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine. She was regent of Lorraine and Bar during the minority (1729–1730) and absence of her son (1730–1737), and suo jure Princess of Commercy 1737–1744.

Among her children was Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor, a co-founder (and patrilineal agnatic ancestor) of the royal House of Habsburg-Lorraine. She was the Grandmother of Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria, wife of King Louis XVI of France and Navarre.

Philippe I, Duke of Orléans

Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans was born at the Château de Saint-Cloud outside Paris. She was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, Monsieur, and of his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatine, the daughter of Carl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine and his wife Charlotte of Hesse-Cassel *

Her father Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, was the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France and Navarre. As a petite-fille de France, she was entitled to have the style of Her Royal Highness, as well as the right to an armchair in the presence of the King.

At birth, she was given the style Mademoiselle de Chartres, taken from the name of one of her father’s appanages. After the marriage of her two older half-sisters, Marie Louise and Anne Marie, born of the first marriage of their father to Henrietta Anne of England, she was known as Madame Royale, according to her status as the highest-ranking unmarried princess in France.

Elisabeth Charlotte, Duchesse d’Orléans with her two surviving children, including her daughter Élisabeth Charlotte

As a child, Élisabeth-Charlotte was described by her mother as ‘so terribly wild’ and ‘rough as a boy’. To her father’s displeasure, she shared the frank opinions of her mother.

Marriage

Her mother wanted her to marry with the same level of prestige as that of her sisters. When her cousin’s wife, the Dauphine, (Maria Anna Christine Victoria of Bavaria 1660 – 1690 was Dauphine of France by marriage to Louis, Grand Dauphin, son and heir of Louis XIV) suggested she should marry the Dauphine’s younger brother Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, Élisabeth Charlotte said, “I am not made, madame, for a younger son.”

As her mother despised the king’s illegitimate children, the chances of such an alliance were remote; however, in 1692, to the ‘horror’ of the Duchess of Orléans, such a mismatch occurred when her eldest son, the Duke of Chartres (future Philippe II, Duke of Orléans) married Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan.

Élisabeth’s mother initially wanted her daughter to marry King William III of England, who was the widower of Queen Mary II of England, but, due to William being a Protestant, the marriage did not materialise.

Other candidates considered were Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I; Joseph was highly regarded, and, had the marriage taken place, the union would have been a way of reconciling the Bourbons and their traditional rivals, the Habsburgs.

Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans, Duchess of Lorraine

Even her widowed first cousin Monseigneur, Louis, the Grand Dauphin, was considered, as were his son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, and another cousin, the legitimised Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine, eldest son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. The latter, much to the relief of Madame did not occur as the Duke of Maine married Mademoiselle de Charolais (Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé) in May 1692.

Élisabeth Charlotte was finally married on October 13, 1698 at the Palace of Fontainebleau to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, son of Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, and of the Archduchess Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III and his wife, Eleanora of Mantua.

Leopold, Duke of Lorraine is the direct male ancestor of all rulers of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, including all Emperors of Austria.

The marriage was the result of the Treaty of Ryswick, one of its conditions being that the Duchy of Lorraine, which had been for many years in the possession of France, be restored to Leopold Joseph, a son of Charles V, Duke of Lorraine.

Thus, Élisabeth Charlotte was but an instrument to cement the peace treaty. Her mother later said that her daughter “was a victim of war”.

Duchess of Lorraine
The marriage was seen as a brilliant match by the House of Lorraine but was regarded by some as unworthy of a petite-fille de France. Despite this, the bride carried to the House of Lorraine a dowry of 900,000 livres.

Leopold, Duke of Lorraine

The jealousy of some members of the royal family prompted certain princesses to use as pretext the death of Louis Constantin de Bourbon, prince de Dombes (17 November 1695 – 28 September 1698), son of Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine, to attend the marriage ceremonies by proxy or in mourning clothes.

To everyone’s surprise, what had been expected to be an unhappy union turned out to be a marriage of love and happiness at first. Élisabeth Charlotte turned out to be a caring mother and gave birth to fifteen children, of whom five survived into adulthood. Three of them died within a week in May 1711 due to a smallpox outbreak at the Château de Lunéville, the country seat of the dukes of Lorraine.

In 1708, after ten years of marriage her husband turned his attentions to another, Anne-Marguerite de Ligniville, princesse de Beauveau-Craon. Embarrassed, Élisabeth Charlotte, on her mother’s advice, remained silent and continued to live in the Château de Lunéville with her husband and his mistress.

During this time, Élisabeth Charlotte was herself ill, suffering from serious coughing, fainting, and fever. Lunéville remained the favourite of Duke Leopold Joseph until his death in 1729. Yet the couple had five more children, one of whom, François of Lorraine, would become Holy Roman Emperor, Franz I, and the father of Queen Marie Antoinette.

Élisabeth Charlotte was religiously intolerant and supported the persecution of non-Catholics. She persuaded her husband to issue many oppressive laws against Protestants and Jews. During this time over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in persecutions.

In June 1701, her father died after having a heated argument with Louis XIV at Versailles about the Duke of Chartres. Her brother thus became the new Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and head of the House of of the House of Orléans.

Her mother was left at the mercy of Louis XIV, who forbade her from visiting foreign soil. As a result, Élisabeth Charlotte was only able to see her mother when she went to Versailles. Despite this, Élisabeth Charlotte and her mother kept in contact through letters. Their correspondence was destroyed in a fire at the Château de Lunéville in 1719.

Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor, son of Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans and father of Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria, wife of King Louis XVI of France and Navarre.

On the death of Louis XIV in 1715, her brother became the Regent of France for the five-year-old King Louis XV. In 1718, during a brief visit to the French court in Paris, her niece, the Dowager Duchess of Berry, gave a lavish reception in her honour at the Palais du Luxembourg.

Upon leaving France, her husband, Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, was accorded the style of His Royal Highness, usually reserved for members of foreign dynasties headed by a king.

Louis XV’s coronation at Reims Cathedral on 25 October 25, 1722 was the only occasion on which Élisabeth Charlotte’s youngest child, Anne Charlotte, would see her grandmother, who died a few weeks later on December 8; Élisabeth Charlotte’s brother died the following December, still ruling France as regent.

Regent of Lorraine

Her husband died in 1729, leaving his wife Regent of Lorraine for their son, Duke François Stephen. He interrupted his education in Vienna to return home in 1730 for the investiture of his mother as regent, then returned to Austria.

Élisabeth Charlotte tried to engage her daughter Anne Charlotte to King Louis XV; this project failed due to the intrigues of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon; Élisabeth Charlotte then tried to arrange the marriage of Anne Charlotte to her nephew Louis, Duke of Orléans, who had been recently widowed, but the devout duke chose not to remarry.

Princess of Commercy

Unable to prevent her son from giving up the duchy of Lorraine to Stanisław Leszczyński when he married the Habsburg heiress, Maria Theresa of Austria, Élisabeth Charlotte moved into the Château d’Haroué in nearby Commercy, which was erected into a sovereign principality for her to reign over during her dowager years.

In 1737, her daughter, Élisabeth Thérèse d’Orléans married Carlo Emmanuel III of Sardinia. Elisabetta Teresa, as she was known in Italy, died in childbirth in 1741 after giving birth to Élisabeth Charlotte’s grandson, Benedetto, Duke of Chablais.

On January 7, 1744 her youngest son, Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, made a “marriage of love” with Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, who died in childbirth on December 16, 1744.

Élisabeth Charlotte died of a stroke at the age of sixty-eight on December 23, 1744, one week after her daughter-in-law and grandchild. She was the last of her siblings to die and had outlived most of her children. Nine months after her death, her son François Stephen became Holy Roman Emperor Franz I.

She was buried in the funerary chapel of the Dukes of Lorraine in the Saint-François-des-Cordeliers church in Nancy.

* Carl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine, grandfather of Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans (and the subject of this blog post) was the elder brother of Sophia of the Palatine, Electress of Hanover the mother of King George I of Great Britain. Carl I Ludwig’s mother was Princess Elizabeth (Stuart) of England the daughter of King James I-VI of England Scotland and England. This also means that Princess Elizabeth (Stuart) of England was the aunt of Henrietta Anne of England the first wife of Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans father, Philippe I Duke of Orléans!

November 22, 1602: Birth of Princess Elisabeth de Bourbon of France, Queen of Spain and Portugal

Tags

Elisabeth de Bourbon of France, Henri IV of France and Navarre, Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Maria de Medici, Philip IV of Spain, Queen of Portugal, Queen of Spain

Elisabeth de Bourbon of France (November 22, 1602 – October 6, 1644) was Queen of Spain from 1621 to her death and of Portugal from 1621 to 1640, as the first spouse of King Felipe IV-III. She served as regent of Spain during the Catalan Revolt in 1640-42 and 1643–44. She was the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici.

Elisabeth, Madame Royale, was born at the Château de Fontainebleau on 22 November 1602; according to the court, her mother showed a cruel indifference to her, because she had believed the prophecy of a nun who assured her that she would give birth to three consecutive sons.

Shortly after her birth, she was betrothed to Philip Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont, son and heir of Carlo Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy by Catherine Michelle , a daughter of King Felipe II of Spain. Philip Emmanuel died in 1605.

As a daughter of the King of France, she was born a Fille de France. As the eldest daughter of the king, she was known at court by the traditional honorific of Madame Royale. The early years of Madame Royale were spent under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a quiet place away from the Parisian court in which she shared education and games with her legitimate siblings (besides Dauphin, the other Enfants de France were Christine Marie, later Duchess of Savoy; Nicholas Henri, Duke of Orléans, who died in infancy; Gaston, Duke of Orléans; and Henrietta Maria, later Queen of England) and the bastard children that her father had from his constant love affairs.

When King Henri IV was assassinated outside the Palais du Louvre in Paris on May 14, 1610, her brother the Dauphin (with whom Élisabeth had a very close relationship) succeeded him to the throne as King Louis XIII of France under the Regency of their mother Marie de’ Medici.

When Elisabeth was ten years old, in 1612, negotiations were begun for a double marriage between the royal families of France and Spain; Elisabeth would marry the Prince of Asturias (the future Felipe IV of Spain) and her brother Louis the Spanish Infanta Anne.

Marriage

After her proxy marriage to the Prince of Asturias and Louis’s proxy marriage to the Infanta Anne, Elisabeth and her brother met their respective spouses for the first time on November 25, 1615 on the Pheasant Island in the river Bidassoa that divides France and Spain between the French city of Hendaye and the Spanish city of Fuenterrabía.

This was the last time Louis would see his sister. In Spain, Elisabeth’s French name took on the Spanish form of Isabel. The religious ceremony took place in the Saint Mary Cathedral in Burgos. At the time of her marriage, the thirteen-year-old Isabel became the new Princess of Asturias.

This marriage followed a tradition of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with royal marriages. The tradition went back to 1559 with the marriage of King Felipe II of Spain with the French princess Elisabeth of Valois, the daughter of King Henri II of France, as part of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border was painted by Peter Paul Rubens as part of his Marie de’ Medici cycle.

Queen

In 1621, by the time of the birth of the couple’s first child, the couple had ascended to the throne of Spain upon the death of Felipe III of Spain. The new Queen of Spain was aware that her husband had mistresses {Memoirs of Madame de Mottville}

Elisabeth herself was the subject of rumors about her relations with the noted poet Peralta (Juan de Tassis, 2nd Count of Villamediana), who was her gentleman-in-waiting. On May 14, 1622, a fire broke out while the Peralta masque La Gloria de Niquea was being acted before the court. Peralta carried the queen to a place of safety, which caused suspicion about their relationship to deepen.

Peralta neglected a significant warning that his life was in peril, and “he was murdered as he stepped out of his coach. The responsibility for his death was divided between Felipe IV and Olivares” (at the time, prime minister and king’s favorite).

Elisabeth’s last child, Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain, would later become Queen of France as the wife of her nephew, the future Louis XIV. Unlike her husband and sister-in-law, she would not see the wedding that cemented the peace between her homeland and adopted country, Spain; the countries would be at war until 1659.

Elisabeth was renowned for her beauty, intelligence and noble personality, which made her very popular in Spain.

She was regent of Spain during the Catalan Revolt and supported the Duke of Nochera against the Count-Duke of Olivares in favor of an honorable withdrawal from the Catalan Revolt. Prior to 1640, the queen does not appear to have had much influence over state affairs, which was largely entrusted to Olivares. Elisabeth did not get along with Olivares, who reportedly assisted her spouse in his adultery and prevented her from achieving any political influence and once famously remarked, when she presented a political view to the king, that priests existed to pray as well as queens existed to give birth.

Between 1640 and 1642, Elisabeth served as regent for the king in his absence during the Catalan revolt, and was given very good critic for her efforts. She was reputed to have influenced the fall of Olivares as a part of a “women’s conspiracy” alongside the duchess of Mantua, Ana de Guevara, María de Ágreda and her chief lady-in-waiting Luisa Manrique de Lara, Countessess Paredes de Nava.

The fall of Olivares made the king consider her his only political partner, and when the king left again for the front in 1643, Elisabeth was again appointed regent assisted by Chumacero. Her second regency was also given good reviews, and she was credited by the king for her efforts to provide vital supplies for the troops as well as for her negotiations with the banks to provide finances for the army, offering her own jewelry as security.

It was rumored that she was intending to follow the example of queen Isabella the Catholic and lead her own army to retake Badajoz.

The Queen died in Madrid on October 6, 1644 at the age of forty-one, leaving two small children: Balthasar Carlos and Maria Theresa. After her death, her husband married his niece Archduchess Mariana of Austria. One of her great-grandsons, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, became King Felipe V of Spain, and through him, Elisabeth is an ancestor of all the subsequent Spanish monarchs.

September 16, 1701: Death of King James II-VII of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Tags

1763 Test Act, Anne Hyde, Duke of Albany and York, English Civil War, Glorious Revolution of 1688, James II-VII, King of England, King of Ireland, King of Scotland, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Marie Beatrice d'Este of Modena, Titus Oates

James II-VII (October 14, 1633 – September 16, 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII, from February 6, 1685 until he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was the last Catholic monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland; his reign is now remembered primarily for struggles over religious tolerance. However, it also involved the principles of absolutism and divine right of kings, and his deposition ended a century of political and civil strife by confirming the primacy of Parliament over the Crown.

James, the second surviving son of King Charles I and his wife, Henrietta Maria de Bourbon of France, the youngest daughter of Henri IV of France (Henri III of Navarre) and his second wife, Marie de’ Medici, and named after her parents was born at St James’s Palace in London on October 14, 1633. Later that same year, he was baptised by William Laud, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury.

James was educated by private tutors, along with his older brother, the future King Charles II, and the two sons of the Duke of Buckingham, George and Francis Villiers. At the age of three, James was appointed Lord High Admiral; the position was initially honorary, but became a substantive office after the Restoration, when James was an adult. He was designated Duke of York at birth, invested with the Order of the Garter in 1642, and formally created Duke of York in January 1644.

Civil War

King Charles I’s disputes with the English Parliament grew into the English Civil War. James accompanied his father at the Battle of Edgehill, where he narrowly escaped capture by the Parliamentary army. He subsequently stayed in Oxford, the chief Royalist stronghold, where he was made a Master of Arts by the University on November 1, 1642 and served as colonel of a volunteer regiment of foot.

When the city surrendered after the siege of Oxford in 1646, Parliamentary leaders ordered the Duke of York to be confined in St James’s Palace. Disguised as a woman, the 14-year old escaped from the Palace in 1648 with the help of Joseph Bampfield, and crossed the North Sea to The Hague.

When Charles I was executed by the rebels in 1649, monarchists proclaimed James’s older brother king. Charles II was recognised as king by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of Ireland, and was crowned at Scone in 1651. Although he was proclaimed king in Jersey, Charles was unable to secure the crown of England and consequently fled to France and exile.

Like his brother, James sought refuge in France, serving in the French army under Turenne against the Fronde, and later against their Spanish allies. In the French army James had his first true experience of battle where, according to one observer, he “ventures himself and chargeth gallantly where anything is to be done”. Turenne’s favour led to James being given command of a captured Irish regiment in December 1652, and being appointed Lieutenant-General in 1654.

After the collapse of the Commonwealth in 1660, Charles II was restored to the English throne. Although James was the heir presumptive, it seemed unlikely that he would inherit the Crown, as Charles was still a young man capable of fathering children. On December 31, 1660, following his brother’s restoration, James was created Duke of Albany in the Peerage of Scotland, to go along with his English title, Duke of York. Upon his return to England, James prompted an immediate controversy by announcing his engagement to Anne Hyde, the daughter of Charles’s chief minister, Edward Hyde.

In 1659, while trying to seduce her, James promised he would marry Anne. Anne became pregnant in 1660, but following the Restoration and James’s return to power, no one at the royal court expected a prince to marry a commoner, no matter what he had pledged beforehand. Although nearly everyone, including Anne’s father, urged the two not to marry, the couple married secretly, then went through an official marriage ceremony on September 3, 1660 in London.

Their first child, Charles, was born less than two months later, but died in infancy, as did five further sons and daughters. Only two daughters survived: Mary (born April 30, 1662) and Anne (born February 6, 1665). Samuel Pepys wrote that James was fond of his children and his role as a father, and played with them “like an ordinary private father of a child”, a contrast to the distant parenting common with royalty at the time.

James’s wife was devoted to him and influenced many of his decisions. Even so, he kept mistresses, including Arabella Churchill and Catherine Sedley, and was reputed to be “the most unguarded ogler of his time”. Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that James “did eye my wife mightily”. James’s taste in women was often maligned, with Gilbert Burnet famously remarking that James’s mistresses must have been “given him by his priests as a penance.” Anne Hyde died in 1671.

James’s time in France had exposed him to the beliefs and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church; he and his wife, Anne, became drawn to that faith. James took Catholic Eucharist in 1668 or 1669, although his conversion was kept secret for almost a decade as he continued to attend Anglican services until 1676.

Growing fears of Roman Catholic influence at court led the English Parliament to introduce a new Test Act in 1673. Under this Act, all civil and military officials were required to take an oath (in which they were required to disavow the doctrine of transubstantiation and denounce certain practices of the Roman Church as superstitious and idolatrous) and to receive the Eucharist under the auspices of the Church of England.

James refused to perform either action, instead choosing to relinquish the post of Lord High Admiral. His conversion to Roman Catholicism was thereby made public. King Charles II opposed James’s conversion, ordering that James’s daughters, Mary and Anne, be raised in the Church of England.

Nevertheless, he allowed James to marry Maria Beatrice d’Este of Modena, a fifteen-year-old Italian princess and the second but eldest surviving child of Alfonso IV, Duke of Modena, and his wife, Laura Martinozzi, was born on October 5, 1658 in Modena, Duchy of Modena, Italy.

James and Maria were married by proxy in a Roman Catholic ceremony on September 20, 1673. On November 21, Maria arrived in England and Nathaniel Crew, Bishop of Oxford, performed a brief Anglican service that did little more than recognise the marriage by proxy. Many British people, distrustful of Catholicism, regarded the new Duchess of York as an agent of the Papacy. James was noted for his devotion. He once said, “If occasion were, I hope God would give me his grace to suffer death for the true Catholic religion as well as banishment.”

Exclusion Crisis

In 1677, King Charles II arranged for James’s daughter Mary to marry the Protestant Prince Willem III of Orange, son of Charles and James’s sister Mary and her husband Prince Willem II of Orange. James reluctantly acquiesced after his brother and nephew had agreed to the marriage. Despite the Protestant marriage, fears of a potential Catholic monarch persisted, intensified by the failure of Charles II and his wife, Catherine of Braganza, to produce any children.

A defrocked Anglican clergyman, Titus Oates, spoke of a “Popish Plot” to kill Charles and to put the Duke of York on the throne. The fabricated plot caused a wave of anti-Catholic hysteria to sweep across the nation.

James inherited the thrones of England, Ireland, and Scotland from his elder brother Charles II after he died on February 6, 1685 with widespread support in all three countries, largely based on the principles of divine right or birth. Tolerance for his personal Catholicism did not apply to it in general and when the English and Scottish Parliaments refused to pass his measures, James II-VII attempted to impose them by decree; it was a political principle, rather than a religious one, that ultimately led to his removal.

In June 1688, two events turned dissent into a crisis; the first on June 10, was the birth of James’s son and heir Prince James Francis Edward, threatening to create a Roman Catholic dynasty and excluding his Anglican daughter Mary and her Protestant husband Willem III of Orange.

The second was the prosecution of the Seven Bishops for seditious libel; this was viewed as an assault on the Church of England and their acquittal on June 30, destroyed his political authority in England. Anti-Catholic riots in England and Scotland now made it seem that only his removal from the throne could prevent a civil war.

Leading members of the English political class invited Willem III of Orange to assume the English throne; after he landed in Brixham on November 5, 1688, James’s army deserted, and he went into exile in France on December 23. In February 1689, a special Convention Parliament held that the king had “vacated” the English throne and installed Willem and Mary as joint monarchs, who thereafter ruled jointly as William III and Mary II. This Act established the principle that sovereignty derived from Parliament, not birth.

James landed in Ireland on March 14, 1689 in an attempt to recover his kingdoms. Although the English Parliament had decided to give the throne to William & Mary jointly, the Scottish Parliament was undecided as to would be the next King of Scotland. However, in April a Scottish Convention followed that of England by finding that James had “forfeited” the throne and offered it to William III and Mary II. Incidentally, in Scotland William was known as King William II of Scotland.

After his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, James returned to France, where he spent the rest of his life in exile at Saint-Germain, protected by his first cousin,, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre.

In March 1701, James II suffered a stroke while hearing mass at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, leaving him partially paralysed. Fagon, Louis XIV’s personal physician, recommend the waters of Bourbon-l’Archambault, to cure the King’s paralysis. The waters, however, had little effect, and James II died of a seizure on 16 September 1701.

Louis XIV, contravening the Peace of Ryswick and irritating King William III, declared James Francis Edward, King of England, Ireland and Scotland as James III-VIII. Maria acted as nominal regent for her minor son. She presided over his regency council, too, although she was uninterested in politics. Before his death, James II expressed his wish that Maria’s regency would last no longer than their son’s 18th birthday.

Often portrayed by his opponents as an absolutist tyrant, since the 20th century some historians have praised him for advocating religious tolerance, while more recent scholarship has attempted to find a middle ground between those views.

September 10, 1638: Birth of Marie Thérèse of Spain, Queen of France and Navarre.

Tags

House of Habsburg, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Marie Thérèse of Spain, Palace of Versailles, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, Queen of France and Navarre

Marie Thérèse of Spain (September 10, 1638 – July 30, 1683), was by birth an Infanta of Spain and Portugal (until 1640) and Archduchess of Austria as member of the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg and by marriage Queen of France and Navarre.

Born at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, she was the daughter of King Felipe IV-III of Spain and Portugal, and his wife Elisabeth of France, who died when Maria Thérèse was six years old. As a member of the House of Austria, Maria Theresa was entitled to use the title Archduchess of Austria. She was known in Spain as María Teresa de Austria and in France as Marie Thérèse d’Autriche. She was raised by the royal governess Luisa Magdalena de Jesus.

Unlike France, the kingdom of Spain had no Salic Law, so it was possible for a female to assume the throne. When Marie Thérèse’s brother Balthasar Carlos died in 1646, she became heir presumptive to the vast Spanish Empire and remained such until the birth of her brother Felipe Prospero, in 1657. She was briefly heir presumptive once more between 1–6 November 1661, following the death of Prince Felipe Prospero and until the birth of Prince Carlos, who would later inherit the thrones of Spain as Carlos II.

In 1658, as war with France began to wind down, a union between the royal families of Spain and France was proposed as a means to secure peace. Maria Thérèsa and the French king were double first cousins: Louis XIV’s father was Louis XIII of France, who was the brother of Maria Thérèsa’s mother, while her father was brother to Anne of Austria, Louis XIV’s mother.

Spanish procrastination led to French Princess Christine Marie started communicating with France in order to secure a marriage between her daughter Margherita Violante and the young Louis XIV of France. Margaret Yolande of Savoy was the first cousin to Louis XIV, and the fifth child born to Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy and his wife Christine Marie of France, daughter of Henri IV of France and Marie de’ Medici.

Negotiations with France and Savoy went as far as Louis XIV and Margherita Violante, known to the French as Marguerite Yolande de Savoie, meeting the French royal family at Lyon on October 26, 1658. The French entourage included the Dowager Queen, Louis XIV, Philippe d’Anjou, la Grande Mademoiselle and Marie Mancini. The French were impressed by her appearance despite saying her skin was too tanned. They also said she was a quiet girl.

When Felipe IV of Spain heard of a meeting at Lyon between the Houses of France and Savoy he reputedly exclaimed of the Franco-Savoyard union that “it cannot be, and will not be”. Felipe then sent a special envoy to the French court to open negotiations for peace and a royal marriage.

The negotiations for the marriage contract were intense. Eager to prevent a union of the two countries or crowns, especially one in which Spain would be subservient to France, the diplomats sought to include a renunciation clause that would deprive Maria Theresa and her children of any rights to the Spanish succession. This was eventually done but, by the skill of Mazarin and his French diplomats, the renunciation and its validity were made conditional upon the payment of a large dowry. As it turned out, Spain, impoverished and bankrupt after decades of war, was unable to pay such a dowry, and France never received the agreed upon sum of 500,000 écus.

A marriage by proxy to the French king was held in Fuenterrabia. Her father and the entire Spanish court accompanied the bride to the Isle of Pheasants on the border in the Bidassoa river, where Louis and his court met her in the meeting on the Isle of Pheasants on June 7, 1660, and she entered France. On June 9, the marriage took place in Saint-Jean-de-Luz at the recently rebuilt church of Saint Jean the Baptist. After the wedding, Louis wanted to consummate the marriage as quickly as possible. The new queen’s mother-in-law (and aunt) arranged a private consummation instead of the public one that was the custom.

On August 26, 1660, the newlyweds made the traditional Joyous Entry into Paris. Louis was faithful to his wife for the first year of their marriage, commanding the Grand Maréchal du Logis that “the Queen and himself were never to be set apart, no matter how small the house in which they might be lodging”.

Maria Thérèsa was very fortunate to have found a friend at court in her mother-in-law, unlike many princesses in foreign lands. She continued to spend much of her free time playing cards and gambling, as she had no interest in politics or literature. Consequently, she was viewed as not fully playing the part of queen designated to her by her marriage. But more importantly, she became pregnant in early 1661, and a long-awaited son was born on November 1, 1661.

The first time Maria Thérèsa ever saw the Palace of Versailles was on October 25, 1660. At that time, it was just a small royal residence that had been Louis XIII’s hunting lodge not far from Paris. Later, the first building campaign (1664–1668) commenced with the Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée of 1664, a week-long celebration at Versailles ostensibly held in honour of France’s two queens, Louis XIV’s mother and wife, but exposed Louise de La Vallière’s role as the king’s maîtresse-en-titre.

The celebration of the Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée is often regarded as a prelude to the War of Devolution, which Louis waged against Spain. The first building campaign witnessed alterations in the château and gardens in order to accommodate the 600 guests invited to the celebration. As time passed, Maria Thérèsa also came to tolerate her husband’s prolonged infidelity with Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan. The king left her to her own devices, yet reprimanded Madame de Montespan when her behaviour at court too flagrantly disrespected the queen’s position.

Later, the governess of Montespan’s illegitimate children by the king, Madame de Maintenon, came to supplant her mistress in the king’s affections. At first she resisted the king’s advances and encouraged him to bestow more attention on his long-neglected wife, a thoughtfulness which Maria Thérèsa repaid with warmth toward the new favourite. After the queen’s death, Maintenon would become the king’s second, although officially secret, wife.

There have long been rumours that Maria Thérèse had an illegitimate daughter, Louise Marie Thérèse (The Black Nun of Moret). Shortly after the death of the French Queen Maria Thérèsa of Spain, courtiers said that this woman could be the daughter, allegedly black, to whom the Queen gave birth in 1664. The nun herself seemed convinced of her royal birth, and Saint-Simon states that she once greeted the Dauphin as “my brother”. A letter sent on June 13, 1685, by the Secretary of the King’s Household to M. De Bezons, general agent of the clergy, and the pension of 300 pounds granted by King Louis XIV to the nun Louise Marie-Thérèse on October 15, 1695, “to be paid to her all her life in this convent or everywhere she could be, by the guards of the Royal treasure present and to come.” This suggests that she may, indeed, have had royal connections. The duc de Luynes claimed that she was the daughter of two black gardeners, too poor to educate her, who applied to Mme. de Maintenon for patronage

Maria Thérèse played little part in political affairs except for the years 1667, 1672, and 1678, during which she acted as regent while her husband was away on campaigns on the frontier.

Death

During the last week of July 1683, Maria Thérèse fell ill and, as her illness worsened, her husband ordered for the sacraments to be kept nearby. She died a painful death on July 30, 1683, at Versailles. Upon her death, Louis XIV said: “This is the first chagrin she has ever given me.” For the grand funeral ceremony, Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed dramatic motets H.409, H.189, H.331 and Jean-Baptiste Lully his Dies irae. The funeral prayer was by Bossuet.

Of her six children, only one survived her, Louis, le Grand Dauphin, the oldest one, who died in 1711. One of her younger grandsons eventually inherited her claim to the Spanish throne to become King Felipe V of Spain in 1700. He was able to claim the throne of Spain because Spain never paid the 500,000 écus as part of the agreement that would have made the descendants of Marie Thérèse ineligible for the Spanish Crown.