Titles of the Royals of Europe: What Language to use? Part III.

Tags

duc de Bourgogne, Duke of Burgundy, fille de France, Fils de France, Infanta of Spain, Infante of Spain, Philippe I Duc d'Orléans, Prince Du Sang

This section on I will show how I render foreign titles. It’s really pretty simple. Except for rare occasions I always render foreign titles in English.

The rare example of when I use the native language to render titles are with the French Monarchy (also Spain and Portugal but more on that in a moment).

First of all in French the title of King is translated as Roi and I never use it. What I do use is the title of Duke which translates to Duc in French.

The title Duc also is accompanied with the article de which in English is the word the. Here is an example…duc de Bourgogne. Bourgogne is translated as Burgundy in English but I always us the English translation for the name of the region.

Philippe I, Duc d’Orléans

A notable Duke of Burgundy is Philip the Bold. In French it’s Philippe II le Hardi duc de Bourgogne. I generally end up with a mish-mash of French and English and will call him Philippe II The Bold, Duc de Burgundy…or Philippe II The Bold, Duke of Burgundy.

An interesting usage is with the Dukedom of Orléans. In French the article de drops the e and uses a d along with an apostrophe when the Dukedom begins with a vowel.

An example is Philip the brother of King Louis XIV. In French it is written as Philippe I, Duc d’Orléans. However, I will also refer to him as Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. I’m wildly inconsistent with this.

French Royals also had the style and rank Fils de France which translates to Son of France for boys and was held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France, in English, Daughter of France. In these instances I always use the French translation.

The dauphin, the heir to the French throne, was the most senior of the fils de France and was usually addressed as Monsieur le dauphin. The king’s next younger brother, also a fils de France, was known simply as Monsieur, and his wife as Madame. In these instances I also stick with the French translation.

Another saying for French Royals was Prince/Princess of the Blood. In French this is translated as Prince/Princess du sang is a person legitimately descended in male line from a sovereign. The female equivalent was applied to the daughter of a prince of the blood prince du sang.

As I mentioned Spain and Portugal are similar. They have a concept of Son or Daughter of Spain/Portugal and in their native language it translates to Infante for males and Infanta for women.

Technically speaking, the title Prince and Princess of Spain and Portugal do not exist. In its place Infante and Infanta are used.

Princess Elisabeth de Bourbon of France, Queen of Spain

However, Infante and Infanta are often anglicised and translated as Prince/Princess and they are considered as having the title and rank of a Prince/Princess even if they do not officially use that title. The only Spanish royal using the title of Prince/Princess is the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the throne who usually bears the title Prince/Princess of Austria.

In my work I stick with the Spanish titles of Infante and Infanta of Spain.

Another honorific in Spain is Don and in Portugal it’s Dom.

The female equivalent is Doña and Dona in Portuguese.

In Spanish, although originally a title reserved for royalty, select nobles, and church hierarchs, it is now often used as a mark of esteem for a person of personal, social or official distinction, such as a community leader of long standing, a person of significant wealth, or a noble, but may also be used ironically. As a style, rather than a title or rank, it is used with, rather than in place of, a person’s name.

I tend to completely ignore the usage of Don and Dom and Doña and Dona. As I mentioned I’m very inconsistent!

That is it for now and will continue next with the usage of German titles.

French Titles of Nobility

Tags

Comte, Duc, Fils de France, French Monarchy, House of Boutbon, Kingdom of France, Louis XIV, Petit-fils, Prince Du Sang, Prince légitimé, Vicomte

The French nobility (French: la noblesse) was a privileged social class in France during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period to the revolution in 1790. The nobility was revived in 1805 with limited rights as a titled elite class from the First Empire to the fall of the July Monarchy in 1848, when all privileges were permanently abolished. Hereditary titles, without privileges, continued to be granted until the Second Empire fell in 1870. They survive among their descendants as a social convention and as part of the legal name of the corresponding individuals.

In the political system of pre-Revolutionary France, the nobility made up the Second Estate of the Estates General (with the Catholic clergy comprising the First Estate and the bourgeoisie and peasants in the Third Estate). Although membership in the noble class was mainly inherited, it was not a fully closed order. New individuals were appointed to the nobility by the monarchy, or they could purchase rights and titles, or join by marriage.

Titles, peerage, and orders

There were two kinds of titles used by French nobles: some were personal ranks and others were linked to the fiefs owned, called fiefs de dignité.

During the ancien régime, there was no distinction of rank by title (except for the title of duke, which was often associated with the strictly regulated privileges of the peerage, including precedence above other titled nobles).

The hierarchy within the French nobility below peers was initially based on seniority; a count whose family had been noble since the 14th century was higher-ranked than a marquis whose title only dated to the 15th century. Precedence at the royal court was based on the family’s ancienneté, its alliances (marriages), its hommages (dignities and offices held) and, lastly, its illustrations (record of deeds and achievements).
* Titles:
* King
* Foreign Prince
* Duc: possessor of a duchy (duché—a feudal property, not an independent principality) and recognition as duke by the king.
* Prince: possessor of a lordship styled a principality (principauté); most such titles were held by family tradition and were treated by the court as titres de courtoisie—often borne by the eldest sons of the more important duke-peers. This title of prince is not to be confused with the rank of prince, borne by the princes du sang, the princes légitimés or the princes étrangers whose high precedence derived from their kinship to the King.
* Marquis: possessor of a marquessate (marquisat), but often assumed by a noble family as a titre de courtoisie
* Comte: possessor of a county (comté) or self-assumed.
* Vicomte: possessor of a viscounty (vicomté) or self-assumed.
* Advocatus
* Baron: possessor of a barony (baronnie) or self-assumed.
* Vidame: a rare title, always with the name of a diocese, as their origin was as the commander of a bishop’s forces. The Vidame de Chartres is the best known.
* Ranks:
* Fils de France: son of a king or dauphin.
* Petit-fils de France: grandson of a king in the male line.
* Prince du Sang (“prince of the blood”): a remote, legitimate male-line descendant of a king of France.
* Peer of France was technically a dignity of the Crown (as, e.g., marshal of France), but became in fact the highest hereditary rank borne by the French nobility—always in conjunction with a title (e.g. “Duc et Pair”, “Comte-Pair”). The peerage was originally awarded only to princes of the blood, some legitimised and foreign princes, often the heads of the kingdom’s most ancient and powerful families, and a few bishops.

King Louis XIV of France and Navarre

Eventually it was almost always granted in conjunction with the title of duke. Gradually the peerage came to be conferred more broadly as a reward for distinguished military or diplomatic service, but also on favourites of the king (e.g. les mignons). The peers were entitled to seats in the Parliament of Paris, the most important judicial court in the kingdom.
* Prince légitimé: legitimised son or male-line descendant of a king. Precise rank depended upon the king’s favour.
* Prince étranger (“foreign prince”): members of foreign royal or princely families naturalized at the French court, such as the Clèves, Rohan, La Tour d’Auvergne, and Lorraine-Guise.

April 13, 1747: Birth of Louis Philippe II , Duke d’Orléans (Philippe Égalité). Part I.

Tags

Duke of Orleans, French Revolution, Louis Philippe II, Louis XVI of France, Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, Philippe Égalité, Philippe II Duke of Orleans, Prince Du Sang, Regent of France

Louis Philippe Joseph d’Orléans (April 13, 1747 – November 6, 1793), most commonly known as Philippe. Louis Philippe Joseph d’Orléans was the son of Louis Philippe 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.

Philippe was born at the Château de Saint Cloud, one of the residences of the Duke of Orléans, five kilometers west of Paris. His older sister, born in 1745, died when she was six months old. His younger sister, Bathilde d’Orléans, was born in 1750.

Succession

Philippe’s first title, given to him at birth, was that of the Duke of Montpensier. After his grandfather’s death in 1752, Philippe inherited the title of Duke of Chartres. After his father’s death in 1785, Philippe became the Duke of Orléans, head of the House of Orléans, one of the wealthiest noble families in France. At his father’s death, Philippe became the Premier Prince du Sang, First Prince of the Blood, which put him in line for the succession to the throne immediately after the comte d’Artois, the youngest brother of Louis XV. He held the style, Son Altesse Sérénissime (S.A.S.), His Serene Highness.

Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

On June 6, 1769, Louis Philippe married Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon at the chapel of the Palace of Versailles. She was the daughter of his cousin, Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre, one of the richest men in France.

Louise Henriette was born in Paris, the only daughter of Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon and of Princess Maria Theresa Felicitas of Modena. At the death of her brother, Louis Alexandre de Bourbon-Penthièvre, prince de Lamballe, she became the wealthiest heiress in France prior to the French Revolution. Her father was the second son of François Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti known as le Grand Conti and his wife Marie Thérèse de Bourbon. Her paternal grandmother and her maternal grandfather being siblings, her parents were first cousins. Her mother was the oldest and favourite daughter of Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, herself the oldest of the surviving legitimised daughters of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, Louise Henriette was a Princess of the Blood (princesse du sang).In her youth she was known at court as Mademoiselle de Conti.

Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon

After his wife would became the richest woman in France upon the death of her father, Louis Philippe was able to play a political role in court equal to that of his great-grandfather Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who had been the Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV. Louise Marie Adélaïde brought to the already wealthy House of Orléans a considerable dowry of six million livres, an annual income of 240,000 livres (later increased to 400,000 livres), as well as lands, titles, residences and furniture. Unlike her husband, the Duchess of Orléans did not support the Revolution. She was a devout Catholic who supported keeping the monarchy in France, as well as following the orders of Pope Pius VI. This was the causes of one of the rifts of the couple.

During the first few months of their marriage, the couple appeared devoted to each other, but the Duke went back to the life of libertinage he had led before his marriage. The Duke was a well-known womanizer and, like several of his ancestors, such as Louis XIV and Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, had several illegitimate children.

During the summer of 1772, the Duke began his secret liaison with one of his wife’s ladies-in-waiting, Stéphanie Félicité Ducrest de St-Albin, comtesse de Genlis, the niece of Madame de Montesson, the morganatic wife of Philippe’s father. Passionate at first, the liaison cooled within a few months and, by the spring of 1773, was reported to be “dead”. After the romantic affair was over, Madame de Genlis remained in the service of Marie-Adélaïde at the Palais-Royal, a trusted friend to both the Duke and the Duchess.

They both appreciated her intelligence and, in July 1779, she became the governess of the couple’s twin daughters (born in 1777). One of his most known lovers was Grace Elliot.

Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

It was alleged that Lady Edward FitzGerald, born Stephanie Caroline Anne Syms, also known as Pamela, was a natural daughter of the Duke and the Countess of Genlis. He recognized a son he had with Marguerite Françoise Bouvier de la Mothe de Cépoy, comtesse de Buffon, Victor Leclerc de Buffon (September 6, 1792 – 20, April 1812), known as the chevalier de Saint-Paul and chevalier d’Orléans.

Military career

In 18th century France, it was very common for royal princes to receive high positions in the military. From a young age, Philippe d’Orléans displayed his interest in the Marine royale (French Royal Navy), from which he received three years of training. Due to his great relationship with Marine royale officials, the French army entrusted him with the command of a French fleet squadron called the Saint-Esprit in a battle against Great Britain at Ouessant during the American Revolutionary War in 1778.

When he did not obey the comte d’Orvilliers’s orders to close in on the rear British squadron, the British escaped, leading him to lose this battle. However, this gave a false impression of victory. The next day, the people of Paris greeted him with open arms, calling him a “hero of war.” When the news got out that the victory was false, Philippe could never recover. He withdrew from the navy and asked the army if they could give him a position, but it was denied.