The 4th House of Orléans ( French : Maison d'Orléans ), sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans (French: Maison de Bourbon-Orléans ) to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the Royal House of France , all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty 's founder, Hugh Capet . The house was founded by Philippe I, Duke of Orléans , younger son of Louis XIII and younger brother of Louis XIV , the "Sun King".
96-537: House of Orléans House of Condé (extinct) House of Bourbon-Bhopal (disputed) Illegitimate branches The House of Bourbon ( English: / ˈ b ʊər b ən / , also UK : / ˈ b ɔːr b ɒ n / ; French: [buʁbɔ̃] ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty , the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in
192-448: A petit-fils de France . His surname d'Orléans (used also by his descendants) was taken from his father's main title. The first two dukes, as son and patrilineal grandson, respectively, of a French king, were entitled to be addressed as Royal Highness . But Philippe I was primarily known as Monsieur , the style reserved at the French court for the king's eldest brother. Philippe II
288-652: A cadet of the Orléans line and thus their descendants, known as the Orléans-Braganza , were in the line of succession to the Brazilian throne and expected to ascend its throne had the monarchy not been abolished by a coup in 1889 . All legitimate, living members of the House of Bourbon, including its cadet branches, are direct agnatic descendants of Henry IV through his son Louis XIII of France. The pre-Capetian House of Bourbon
384-456: A daughter of King Philip IV of Spain by his first wife Elisabeth , the sister of Louis XIII. They were married in 1660 and had a son, Louis, in 1661. Mazarin died on 9 March 1661 and it was expected that Louis would appoint another chief minister, as had become the tradition, but instead he shocked the country by announcing he would rule alone. For six years Louis reformed the finances of his state and built formidable armed forces. France fought
480-502: A desire to produce an heir as soon as possible so as to reduce the chances of a succession dispute between Philip V and the Duke of Orléans in the event of the sickly king's death. Maria was already an adult woman at the time of the marriage, while the infanta was still a young girl. Nevertheless, Bourbon's action brought a very negative response from Spain, and for his incompetence Bourbon was soon replaced by Cardinal André-Hercule de Fleury ,
576-580: A dowry of six million livres , equivalent to £43,817,641 in 2023, and an annual allowance of over 500,000 livres, equivalent to £3,651,412 in 2023. Upon the death of her father she inherited the remainder of the Bourbon-Penthièvre revenues and châteaux . Louis Philippe II was given the surname Egalité ("Equality") when French titles of nobility were abolished in 1790. His wife outlived him by almost thirty years. Louise Marie Thérèse Bathilde d'Orléans married Louis Henry II, Prince of Condé ,
672-513: A former protégé of his mother, the chief minister of France in 1624. Richelieu advanced an anti- Habsburg policy. He arranged for Louis' sister, Henrietta Maria , to marry King Charles I of England , on 11 May 1625. Her pro-Catholic propaganda in England was one of the contributing factors to the English Civil War . Richelieu, as ambitious for France and the French monarchy as for himself, laid
768-404: A great-grandson of a French king) was prince du sang , that of premier prince du sang constituted a higher style, of which he and his descendants henceforth made use. Louis d'Orléans was in several ways his father's opposite, being retiring by nature and extremely devout. Although still in his twenties when widowed, he did not remarry after his wife's death, and is not known to have ever taken
864-588: A mistress. He died in the Monastery of St. Geneviève in Paris. His son, Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans , was the fourth of his line to hold that title. After having a distinguished military career, he decided to live quietly with his mistress (later, his morganatic wife), the marquise de Montesson , at the Château de Sainte-Assise . Louis Philippe I d'Orléans and his wife Louise Henriette de Bourbon had two children:
960-644: A new baroque building, including vast gardens on the Seine River. He also had a number of smaller rural properties. Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, sold the Palais Royal and the Château de Saint-Cloud to King Louis XVI, shortly before the Revolution, however still occupying an apartment at the Palais Royal. Their private residences then became the Château du Raincy and the Château de Sainte-Assise at Seine-Port . Before
1056-736: A result, some Legitimists recognized the House of Orléans as the heirs to the throne of France. However, a portion of the Legitimists, still resentful of the revolutionary credentials of the House of Orléans, transferred their loyalties to the Carlist heirs of the Spanish Bourbons, who represented the most senior branch of the Capetians even though they had renounced their claim to the French throne to obtain Spain in 1713. Thus to their supporters, not only are
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#17330862271561152-538: A return of the House of Orléans to power. Legitimist monarchists however continued to uphold the rights of the elder line of Bourbons, who came close to regaining the throne after the fall of the Second Empire . In the early 1870s, a majority of deputies in the National Assembly were monarchists, as was the nation's president, MacMahon . Thus, it was widely expected that the old dynasty would be invited to re-mount
1248-508: A series of wars from 1667 onward and gained some territory on its northern and eastern borders. Maria Theresa died in 1683 and the next year he secretly married the devoutly Catholic Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon . Louis XIV began to persecute Protestants, undoing the religious tolerance established by his grandfather Henry IV, culminating in his revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The last war waged by Louis XIV proved to be one of
1344-675: A successful conclusion in 1648 and defeating the nobility's challenge to royal absolutism in a series of civil wars known as the Frondes . He continued to war with Spain until 1659. In that year the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed signifying a major shift in power, France had replaced Spain as the dominant state in Europe. The treaty called for an arranged marriage between Louis and his cousin Maria Theresa ,
1440-628: A successor. Louis XIII outlived him but by one year, dying in 1643 at the age of forty-two. After a childless marriage for twenty-three years his queen, Anne, delivered a son on 5 September 1638, whom he named Louis after himself. In the mid eighteenth century, the Bourbon monarchy had a faulty system for finance and taxation. Their lacking a national bank led to them taking short-term loans, and ordering financial agents to make payments in advance or in excess of tax revenues collected. Louis XIV succeeded his father at four years of age; he would go on to become
1536-668: A unified Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1816 to 1861. They also ruled in Parma from 1731 to 1735, 1748–1802 and 1847–1859, the Kingdom of Etruria 1802–1807 and Duchy of Lucca 1814–1847. Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg married Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma , and thus her successors, who have reigned in Luxembourg since her abdication in 1964, have also been members of the House of Bourbon. Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil , regent for her father, Emperor Pedro II of Brazil , married
1632-402: Is due to being the heir of Henri, Count of Chambord , and so of Charles X of France . Present family On 5 July 1957, Henri, Count of Paris married Duchess Marie Thérèse of Württemberg (born 1934), another descendant of King Louis Philippe. He received the title Count of Clermont . Five children were born from this union, before the marriage ended in divorce. Jean, Count of Paris ,
1728-469: Is now the head of the house. Throughout the years of the ancien régime , the Orléans household received vast riches in terms of wealth and property. Philippe de France obtained for the House of Bourbon-Orléans, during the rule of his brother Louis XIV, the following: Under the regent, Philippe II, d'Orléans: Under Louis d'Orléans: Under Louis Philippe I d'Orléans : Because the Dukes of Orléans were also
1824-524: Is the senior heir in line to the French throne . The first Bourbon king of France was Henry IV . He was born on 13 December 1553 in the Kingdom of Navarre . Antoine de Bourbon , his father, was a ninth-generation descendant of King Louis IX of France . Jeanne d'Albret , his mother, was the Queen of Navarre and niece of King Francis I of France . He was baptized Catholic , but raised Calvinist . After his father
1920-527: The Battle of Waterloo on 7 July 1815. The conservative elements of Europe dominated the post-Napoleonic age, but the values of the French Revolution could not be easily swept aside. Louis granted a constitution on 14 June 1814 to appease the liberals, but the ultra-royalist party, led by his brother, Charles, continued to influence his reign. When he died in 1824 his brother became king as Charles X much to
2016-490: The Count of Chambord , to accept the tricolore as France's flag under a restored monarchy proved an insurmountable obstacle to his candidacy. Although the Orléans had reigned under the tricolor without objection, this time the Orléans princes did not abandon the cause of the head of their dynasty by seeking to offer themselves as alternative candidates; by the time Chambord died and the Orléans felt free to re-assert their claim to
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#17330862271562112-671: The Dauphin of France upon the death of his father Louis , the son of Louis XV, in 1765. He married Marie Antoinette of Austria, a daughter of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa , in 1770. Louis intervened in the American Revolution against Britain in 1778, but he is most remembered for his role in the French Revolution . France was in financial turmoil and Louis was forced to convene the Estates-General on 5 May 1789. They formed
2208-515: The Gobelins ; and intervened in favor of Protestants in the duchies and earldoms along the German frontier. This last was to be the cause of his assassination. Henry's marriage to Margaret, which had produced no heir, was annulled in 1599 and he married Marie de' Medici , niece of the grand duke of Tuscany. A son, Louis, was born to them in 1601. Henry IV was assassinated on 14 May 1610 in Paris. Louis XIII
2304-613: The House of Aviz who in turn fathered an illegitimate son named Afonso , who in turn founded the extant House of Braganza . In 1700, at the death of King Charles II of Spain , the Spanish Habsburgs became extinct in the male line. Under the will of the childless Charles II, the second grandson of King Louis XIV of France was named as his successor, to preclude the union of the thrones of France and Spain. The prince, then Duke of Anjou, became Philip V of Spain . Permanent separation of
2400-655: The July Monarchy , lasted until the Revolution of 1848 . The Bourbon monarchy in France ended on 24 February 1848, when Louis Philippe was forced to abdicate and the short-lived Second Republic was established. Some Legitimists refused to recognize the Orléanist monarchy. After the death of Charles in 1836 his son was proclaimed Louis XIX , though this title was never formally recognized. Charles' grandson Henri, Count of Chambord ,
2496-615: The July Ordinances on 26 July 1830 intended to silence criticism against him. This resulted in the July Revolution . As a compromise the crown was offered to Louis Philippe , duke of Orléans, a descendant of the brother of Louis XIV , and the head of the Orléanist cadet branch of the Bourbons. Agreeing to reign constitutionally and under the tricolour , he was proclaimed King of the French on 7 August 1830. The resulting regime, known as
2592-540: The National Assembly and forced Louis to accept a constitution that limited his powers on 14 July 1789. He tried to flee France in June 1791, but was captured. The French monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792 and a republic was proclaimed. The chain of Bourbon monarchs begun in 1589 was broken. Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793. Marie Antoinette and her son, Louis, were held as prisoners. Many French royalists proclaimed him Louis XVII , but he never reigned. She
2688-652: The Palais-Royal . He installed the young Louis XV in the Palais du Louvre which was opposite the Palais-Royal. In January 1723 Louis XV gained his majority and began to govern the country on his own. The young king moved the court back to Versailles and in December, Philippe II died and his son, Louis d'Orléans succeeded him as 3rd duke and, more importantly, as France's heir presumptive. Nonetheless, since his rank by birth (as
2784-476: The Princes de Condé , survived until 1830. Finally, in 1589, the House of Valois died out and Antoine's son Henry III of Navarre became Henry IV of France. Family from India's claim to be a branch and their claim to The "Throne of France" As per the latest research carried out by Prince Michael of Greece and incorporated in his historical novel, Le Rajah Bourbon , Balthazar Napoleon IV de Bourbon from India
2880-534: The Spanish Habsburgs ' other European territories were largely ceded to Austria, and France was nearly bankrupted by the cost of the struggle. Louis died on 1 September 1715 ending his seventy-two-year reign, the longest in European history. The reign of Louis XIV was so long that he outlived both his son and eldest grandson. He was succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV . Louis XV was born on 15 February 1710 and
2976-476: The Treaty of Vervins ended the war with Spain, adjusted the Spanish-French border, and resulted in a belated recognition by Spain of Henry as king of France. Ably assisted by Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully , Henry reduced the land tax known as the taille ; promoted agriculture, public works, construction of highways, and the first French canal; started such important industries as the tapestry works of
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3072-547: The lordship of Bourbon and member of the House of Bourbon-Dampierre. Their son Louis was made Duke of Bourbon in 1327. His descendant, the Constable of France Charles de Bourbon , was the last of the senior Bourbon line when he died in 1527. Because he chose to fight under the banner of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and lived in exile from France, his title was discontinued after his death. The remaining line of Bourbons henceforth descended from James I, Count of La Marche ,
3168-430: The premier princes du sang , the kingdom's treasury paid for their personal household of 265 staff and officers. Along with towns and buildings, the family derived income from its forests on the ducal lands at Orléans, Beaugency, Montargis, Romorantin, Dourdan, Bruadan, Villers-Cotterêts (at which they had a château), Laigne, Coucy, La Fère, Marle, and Saint-Gobin. Philippe I and his wife had to spend most of their time at
3264-533: The 16th century. A branch descended from the French Bourbons came to rule Spain in the 18th century and is the current Spanish royal family . Further branches, descended from the Spanish Bourbons, held thrones in Naples , Sicily , and Parma . Today, Spain and Luxembourg have monarchs of the House of Bourbon. The royal Bourbons originated in 1272, when Robert , the youngest son of King Louis IX of France , married
3360-489: The 1792 overthrow of the monarchy during the French Revolution . Restored briefly in 1814, and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire , the senior line of the Bourbons was finally overthrown in the July Revolution of 1830. A cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans , then ruled for 18 years (1830–1848), until it too was overthrown during the French Revolution of 1848 . The princes of Condé
3456-579: The Bourbon duke with Etruria , a new kingdom he created from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany . It was short-lived, counting only two monarchs, Louis and Louis II , as Napoleon annexed Etruria in 1807. King Charles IV of Spain had been an ally of France. He succeeded his father, Charles III , in 1788. At first he declared war on France on 7 March 1793, but he made peace on 22 June 1795. This peace became an alliance on 19 August 1796. His chief minister, Manuel de Godoy convinced Charles that his son, Ferdinand ,
3552-621: The Crown of France in the king's immediate family, then the Orléans family would ascend by right the throne. In 1709, the 5th prince de Condé died. He was the premier prince du sang and head of the House of Bourbon-Condé . As a result of this death, the title of premier prince passed to the House of Orléans, as they were closer in blood to the throne of France. But since the two senior males of that line held higher rank as, respectively, fils de France and petit-fils de France , they did not make use of
3648-582: The French July Revolution , the House of Orléans became the ruling house when the monarch of the elder restored Bourbon line, Charles X , was replaced by the 6th duke, Louis Philippe III d'Orléans , son of Philippe Egalité. Louis Philippe ruled as a constitutional monarch , and as such was called King of the French , rather than "of France". His reign lasted until the Revolution of 1848 , when he abdicated and fled to England. Even after his ouster, an Orléanist faction remained active, supporting
3744-676: The French and Spanish thrones was secured when France and Spain ratified Philip's renunciation , for himself and his descendants, of the French throne in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, and similar arrangements later kept the Spanish throne separate from those of Naples , Sicily and Parma . The Spanish House of Bourbon (rendered in Spanish as Borbón [boɾˈβon] ) has been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, and since 1975. Bourbons ruled in Naples from 1734 to 1806 and in Sicily from 1735 to 1816, and in
3840-462: The House of Orléans-Braganza has claimed the Brazilian throne since 1921. It became a tradition during France's ancien régime for the Duchy of Orléans to be granted as an appanage to a younger (usually the second surviving) son of the king. While each of the Orléans branches thus descended from a junior prince, they were always among the king's nearest relations in the male line, sometimes aspiring to
3936-488: The House of Valois were members of the king's immediate family. In 1514, Charles, Count of Vendôme had his title raised to Duke of Vendôme . His son Antoine became King of Navarre , on the northern side of the Pyrenees , by marriage in 1555. Two of Antoine's younger brothers were Cardinal Archbishop Charles de Bourbon and the French and Huguenot general Louis de Bourbon, 1st Prince of Condé . Louis' male-line descendants,
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4032-548: The Orléans family were forced to flee. The new Duke of Orléans had fled to Austria several months previously, triggering the arrest of his father. His brother, the Duke of Montpensier , would die in England, and his sister fled to Switzerland after being imprisoned for a while. The youngest brother, Louis-Charles, Count of Beaujolais , was thrown into a prison in the south of France (Fort-Saint-Jean in Marseille ) in 1793, but later escaped to
4128-568: The Polish crown, but he was given the Duchy of Lorraine as compensation, which would pass to France after his death in 1766. Next came the War of the Austrian Succession in 1740 in which France supported King Frederick II of Prussia against Maria Theresa , Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary . Fleury died in 1743 before the conclusion of the war. Shortly after Fleury's death in 1745 Louis
4224-606: The United States. He too died in exile. Of the Orléans, only the widow of Philippe Egalité was able to remain in France unhindered until, in 1797 she, too, was banished to Spain along with the few remaining Bourbons who still lived in France. In 1814 during the Bourbon Restoration , the three remaining members of the family, the Duke of Orléans, his mother and sister, returned to Paris. The family's properties and titles were returned to them by Louis XVIII . In 1830, following
4320-510: The austere latter years of Louis XIV's reign. Following Orléans' death in 1723, the Duke of Bourbon , representative of the Bourbon-Condé cadet line, became prime minister. It was expected that Louis would marry his cousin, the daughter of King Philip V of Spain, but this engagement was broken by the duke in 1725 so that Louis could marry Marie Leszczyńska , the daughter of Stanislas , former king of Poland. Bourbon's motive appears to have been
4416-454: The birth of the king's son, the Dauphin Louis , the Duke of Orléans was the heir presumptive to the crown. He was to maintain a high position at court till his death in 1701. Their surviving son, Philippe II served as the regent of France for the young Louis XV . As a fils de France , Philippe's surname was de France . Upon his death, his son inherited the Orléans dukedom, but as
4512-600: The bottom floor of the north wing, opposite the Chapelle Royal de Versailles , this time looking over the Parterres du Midi of the north. The family had been moved in order to accommodate three of Louis XV's daughters, Madame Adélaïde , Madame Victoire and Madame Élisabeth . The family remained there till the French Revolution . Afonso I, Duke of Braganza Dom Afonso I of Braganza ( Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈfõsu] ; 10 August 1377 – 15 December 1461)
4608-545: The civil war continued. Henry won a crucial victory at Ivry on 14 March 1590 and, following the death of the Cardinal the same year, the forces of the League lacked an obvious Catholic candidate for the throne and divided into various factions. Nevertheless, as a Protestant, Henry IV was unable to take Paris, a Catholic stronghold, or to decisively defeat his enemies, now supported by the Spanish. He reconverted to Catholicism in 1593 and
4704-634: The court was officially moved to Versailles, and before the birth of his nephew, the king's son, the Dauphin Louis de France , in 1661, the Duke of Orléans' apartments in the Palace of Versailles were where the Dauphin's now are located. The apartments looked over the Parterres du Midi of the south and were directly under the Grand Appartement de la reine . After the dauphin's birth, the Orléans had to move to
4800-569: The death of Henry III of France , the House of Valois became extinct in the male line. Under the Salic law , the head of the House of Bourbon, as the senior representative of the senior-surviving branch of the Capetian dynasty ( first prince of the blood ), became King of France as Henry IV . Bourbon monarchs then united to France the part of the Kingdom of Navarre north of the Pyrenees , which Henry's father had acquired by marriage in 1555, ruling both until
4896-875: The death of Gaston, the appanage of the Duchy of Orléans reverted to the Crown. His nephew, Louis XIV, then gave Gaston's appanages to his younger brother Prince Philippe , who became Duke of Orléans. At court, Gaston was known as Le Grand Monsieur ("The Big Milord"), and Philippe was called Le Petit Monsieur ("The Little Milord") while both princes were alive. The Duchess of Montpensier The Count of Évreux The Countess of Évreux Princess Béatrice The Duke of Orléans The Duchess of Orléans The Dowager Countess of La Marche The Countess of Schönborn-Buchheim Princess Hélène, Countess of Limburg Stirum The Dowager Duchess of Calabria The Dowager Duchess of Württemberg Princess Claude, Mrs. Gandolfi Princess Chantal, Baroness of Sambucy de Sorgue Philippe and his second wife,
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#17330862271564992-552: The death of Louis XIV in September 1715, the new king, Louis XV , was only five years old. The country was then governed by the new king's older relative Philippe II d'Orléans as the regent of France. This period in French history is known as the Regency ( La Régence ), and gave the House of Orléans the pre-eminent position and political role in France during the king's minority . The regent ruled France from his family residence in Paris,
5088-484: The dismay of French liberals. In a saying ascribed to Talleyrand , "they had learned nothing and forgotten nothing." Charles passed several laws that appealed to the upper class, but angered the middle class. The situation came to a head when he appointed a new minister on 8 August 1829 who did not have the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies . The chamber censured the king on 18 March 1830 and in response Charles proclaimed
5184-445: The eve of the French Revolution . Marie arranged the 1615 marriage of Louis to Anne of Austria , the daughter of King Philip III of Spain . In 1617, however, Louis conspired with Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes to dispense with her influence, having her favorite Concino Concini assassinated on 26 April of that year. After some years of weak government by Louis's favorites, the King made Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu ,
5280-402: The execution of his cousin, King Louis XVI , an act which earned him popularity among the revolutionaries, and the undying hostility of many French monarchists. He remained in prison until October, the beginning of the Reign of Terror . He was shortlisted for a trial on 3 October, and effectively tried and guillotined in the space of one day, on the orders of Maximilien Robespierre . Most of
5376-436: The extinction of the Capetian House of Courtenay in 1733, the Bourbons are the only extant legitimate branch of the House of Capet. Although illegitimate, the House of Braganza traces its line to the House of Capet via their descent from Robert II of France through the First House of Burgundy , then through the Portuguese House of Burgundy . Peter I of Portugal fathered an illegitimate son John I of Portugal , founder of
5472-440: The famous court writer Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate , founded the modern House of Bourbon-Orléans. Before then, Philippe had been styled as the Duke of Anjou , like Prince Gaston. Besides receiving the appanage of Orléans , he also received the duchies of Valois and Chartres : Duke of Chartres became the courtesy title by which the heirs apparent of the Dukes of Orléans were known during their fathers' lifetimes. Until
5568-461: The fifth duke, Louis Philippe II d'Orléans , known to history as Philippe Egalité , and Bathilde d'Orléans . As the Duke of Chartres, Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans , married one of his cousins, Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon . She was the sole heiress of the House of Bourbon-Penthièvre , which had accumulated vast wealth bestowed, despite their bar sinister , on the princes légitimés by their father, Louis XIV. The Duchess of Chartres had
5664-407: The ground for the absolute monarchy that would last in France until the Revolution. He wanted to establish a dominating position for France in Europe, and he wanted to unify France under the monarchy. He established the role of intendants , non-noble men whose arbitrary powers of administration were granted (and revocable) by the monarch, superseding many of the traditional duties and privileges of
5760-430: The heads of the House of Orléans the rightful heirs to the constitutionalist title of "King of the French", but also to the Legitimist title of "King of France and Navarre". The current head of the house is Jean, Count of Paris (born 1965), who is a claimant to the French throne as John IV . For the Orléanists , his pretense is due to being the heir of King Louis Philippe of the French. For Legitimists , his pretense
5856-441: The heiress Beatriz Pereira de Alvim , daughter of Nuno Álvares Pereira , a general and the wealthiest man in the kingdom. A traveled and cultivated man, Afonso was present in 1415 when the Portuguese conquered Ceuta . When his half-brother, King Duarte I of Portugal , died in 1438, his son Afonso V (Afonso's nephew) was an infant and the choice of regent was his sister-in-law, the Queen Mother Eleonor of Aragon . This choice
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#17330862271565952-413: The heiress of the lordship of Bourbon . The house continued for three centuries as a cadet branch , serving as nobles under the direct Capetian and Valois kings. The senior line of the House of Bourbon became extinct in the male line in 1527 with the death of Duke Charles III of Bourbon . This made the junior Bourbon-Vendôme branch the genealogically senior branch of the House of Bourbon. In 1589, at
6048-418: The husband of Napoleon's sister. This was very unpopular in Spain and resulted in the Peninsular War , a struggle that would contribute to the downfall of Napoleon. With the abdication of Napoleon on 11 April 1814 the Bourbon dynasty was restored to the Kingdom of France in the person of Louis XVIII , brother of Louis XVI. Napoleon escaped from exile and Louis fled in March 1815. Louis was again restored after
6144-439: The king nullified all of Peter's edicts. The following year, under accusations that years later would prove false, Afonso V declared his uncle Peter a rebel. The situation became unsustainable and a civil war began. On 20 May 1449, during the Battle of Alfarrobeira , near Alverca , Peter was killed. After the Battle of Alfarrobeira, Afonso V gave new powers to his uncle Afonso and nine years later when he departed for Africa ,
6240-414: The last Bourbon claimant of the French crown, was proclaimed by some Henry V, but the French monarchy was never restored. House of Orl%C3%A9ans From 1709 until the French Revolution , the Orléans dukes were next in the order of succession to the French throne after members of the senior branch of the House of Bourbon , descended from Louis XIV. Although Louis XIV's direct descendants retained
6336-409: The last of his house , and was the mother of the Duke of Enghien , who was executed by Napoleon . She died in 1822, the same year as her sister-in-law the Duchess of Orléans . They were both buried in the Chapelle royale de Dreux . At the time of the French Revolution , Philippe Egalité, was the only person of the royal family to actively support the revolution. He went so far as to vote for
6432-441: The marriage of her daughter, Margaret of Valois , to Henry, ostensibly to advance peace between Catholics and Huguenots. Many Huguenots gathered in Paris for the wedding on 24 August, but were ambushed and slaughtered by Catholics in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre . Henry saved his own life by converting to Catholicism. He repudiated his conversion in 1576 and resumed his leadership of the Huguenots. The period from 1576 to 1584
6528-444: The most important to dynastic Europe. In 1700, King Charles II of Spain , a Habsburg, died without a son. Louis's only legitimate son, the Grand Dauphin , as the late king's nephew, was the closest heir; and Charles willed the kingdom to the Dauphin's second son, the Duke of Anjou. Other powers, particularly the Austrian Habsburgs , who had the next closest claims, objected to such a vast increase in French power. Initially, most of
6624-410: The most powerful king in French history. His mother Anne served as his regent with her favorite Jules, Cardinal Mazarin, as chief minister. When Louis was age 7, Nicolas de Neufville de Villeroy became governor of the young king. The main childhood places of Louis XIV were the Palais-Royal and the nearby Hôtel de Villeroy . Mazarin continued the policies of Richelieu, bringing the Thirty Years' War to
6720-404: The noble governors. Although it required a succession of internal military campaigns, he disarmed the fortified Huguenot towns that Henry had allowed. He involved France in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) against the Habsburgs by concluding an alliance with Sweden in 1631 and, actively, in 1635. He died in 1642 before the conclusion of that conflict, having groomed Cardinal Jules Mazarin as
6816-411: The north wing and occupied large quarters there. These looked out onto the Parterres du Midi of the south. The family also had apartments where the modern day Galerie des batailles are. This area was used by the Duke himself, his second wife, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate , his son, Philippe II and daughter-in-law, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon . The apartments of the family were later moved to
6912-589: The other powers were willing to accept Anjou's reign as Philip V , but Louis's mishandling of their concerns soon drove the English , Dutch and other powers to join the Austrians in a coalition against France. The War of the Spanish Succession began in 1701 and raged for 12 years. In the end Louis's grandson was recognized as king of Spain, but he was obliged to agree to the forfeiture of succession rights in France,
7008-530: The royal court of his brother Louis XIV. For this purpose they had apartments at the Palace of Versailles , the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye , the Palace of Fontainebleau and the Château de Marly , as did most other members of the House of Bourbon . Their private home, given to them by the king, was the Palais Royal , Paris. Furthermore, Philippe I had bought the Château de Saint-Cloud , located between Paris and Versailles, in 1658. Later he replaced it with
7104-429: The throne itself, and sometimes succeeding. Since they had contemporaneous living descendants, there were two Bourbon-Orléans branches at court during the reign of Louis XIV. The elder of these branches consisted of Prince Gaston, Duke of Anjou , younger son of king Henry IV , and the four daughters of his two marriages. Prince Gaston became the Duke of Orléans in 1626, and held that title until his death in 1660. Upon
7200-439: The throne, his brother Philippe's descendants flourished until the end of the French monarchy. The Orléanists held the French throne from 1830 to 1848 and are still pretenders to the French throne today. The House of Orléans has a cadet branch in the House of Orléans-Braganza , founded with the marriage between Isabel of Braganza, Princess Imperial of Brazil , and Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu . Although never reigning,
7296-482: The throne, in the person of either the Bourbon or the Orléans claimant. To seize this opportunity the Orléanists offered a so-called fusion , whereby King Louis Philippe's grandson and heir, Philippe, Count of Paris , accepted the childless Legitimist pretender's right to the throne, thereby potentially uniting French royalists in support of a single candidate. But the refusal of the last male of Louis XIV's direct line,
7392-553: The throne, the political moment had passed, and France had become resolutely republican. France has had neither a Bourbon nor Orléans monarch since 1848. Louis-Philippe and his family lived in England until his death in Claremont , Surrey . Like his mother, he and his wife, Amelia (1782–1866), were buried at the Chapelle royale de Dreux . In 1883, the Count of Chambord died without children. As
7488-510: The title and had no need of its attached prerogative; a household and retinue maintained at the expense of the Crown . The Orléans household was already large, as it held the staff of Philippe II d'Orléans and of his wife, as well as the staff of his widowed mother, the dowager Duchess . This combined household, though not fully functional until 1723, contained almost 250 members including officers, courtiers, footmen, gardeners, and even barbers. On
7584-485: The ultra-Catholic leader, Henry of Guise , fought a confusing three-cornered struggle for dominance. After Henry III was assassinated on 31 July 1589, Navarre claimed the throne as the first Bourbon king of France, Henry IV. Much of Catholic France, organized into the Catholic League , refused to recognize a Protestant monarch and instead recognized Henry IV's uncle, Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon , as rightful king, and
7680-484: The young king's tutor, in 1726. Fleury was a peace-loving man who intended to keep France out of war, but circumstances presented themselves that made this impossible. The first cause of these wars came in 1733 when Augustus II , the elector of Saxony and king of Poland died. With French support, Stanislas was again elected king. This brought France into conflict with Russia and Austria who supported Augustus III , Elector of Saxony and son of Augustus II. Stanislas lost
7776-439: The young king. This choice pleased both the people and the fast-growing bourgeoisie . In 1443, in a gesture of reconciliation, Peter made Afonso the first Duke of Braganza . But, in 1445, Afonso took offence because Isabella of Coimbra , Peter's daughter, became the choice for Afonso V's wife, and not one of his granddaughters. Indifferent to the intrigues, Peter continued his regency and the country prospered under his rule. It
7872-455: The younger son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon . With the death of his grandson James II, Count of La Marche in 1438, the senior line of the Count of La Marche became extinct. All future Bourbons would descend from James II's younger brother, Louis , who became the Count of Vendôme through his mother's inheritance. In 1525, at the death of Charles IV, Duke of Alençon , all of the princes of the blood royal were Bourbons; all remaining members of
7968-587: Was a noble family, dating at least from the beginning of the 13th century, when the estate of Bourbon was ruled by the Sire de Bourbon who was a vassal of the King of France . The term House of Bourbon ("Maison de Bourbon") is sometimes used to refer to this first house and the House of Bourbon-Dampierre , the second family to rule the seigneury . In 1272, Robert, Count of Clermont , sixth and youngest son of King Louis IX of France , married Beatrix of Bourbon , heiress to
8064-447: Was a cadet branch of the Bourbons descended from an uncle of Henry IV , and the princes of Conti was a cadet line of the Condé branch. Both houses, recognized as princes of the blood , were prominent French noble families, well known for their participation in French affairs, even during exile in the French Revolution , until their respective extinctions in 1830 and 1814. Consequently, since
8160-562: Was crowned king retroactively to 1589 at the Cathedral of Chartres on 27 February 1594. Henry granted the Edict of Nantes on 13 April 1598, establishing Catholicism as an official state religion but also granting the Huguenots a measure of religious tolerance and political freedom short of full equality with the practice of Catholicism. This compromise ended the religious wars in France. That same year
8256-512: Was during this period that the first subsidies for the exploration of the Atlantic Ocean were appropriated under the supervision of Henry the Navigator (another of Afonso's half-brothers). On 9 June 1448, King Afonso V came of age, and Peter turned over control of the country to the king. An ambitious man, Afonso persuaded his nephew, the young king, to turn against Peter. Influenced by Afonso,
8352-514: Was executed on 16 October 1793. He died of tuberculosis on 8 June 1795 at the age of ten while in captivity. The French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars spread nationalism and anti-absolutism throughout Europe, and the other Bourbon monarchs were threatened. Ferdinand IV was forced to flee from Naples in 1806 when Napoleon Bonaparte deposed him and installed his brother, Joseph , as king. Ferdinand continued to rule from Sicily until 1815. Napoleon conquered Parma in 1800 and compensated
8448-554: Was influenced by his mistress the Marquise de Pompadour to reverse the policy of France in 1756 by creating an alliance with Austria against Prussia in the Seven Years' War . The war was a disaster for France, which lost most of her overseas possessions to the British in the Treaty of Paris (1763) . Maria, his wife, died in 1768 and Louis himself died on 10 May 1774. Louis XVI had become
8544-527: Was killed in 1562, he became Duke of Vendôme at the age of 10, with Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519–1572) as his regent. Seven years later, the young duke became the nominal leader of the Huguenots after the death of his uncle the Prince de Condé in 1569. Henry succeeded to Navarre as Henry III when his mother died in 1572. That same year Catherine de' Medici , mother of King Charles IX of France , arranged for
8640-543: Was not popular because Eleonor was Aragonese. Among the aristocracy, however — especially Afonso's inner circle —, Eleonor of Aragon was preferred. There were also doubts about Peter's political ability. At a meeting of the Portuguese Cortes summoned by Afonso's half-brother John, Lord of Reguengos de Monsaraz , the regency was awarded to the Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra , another half-brother of Afonso and an uncle of
8736-478: Was only nine years old when he succeeded his father. He was to prove a weak ruler; his reign was effectively a series of distinct regimes, depending who held the effective reins of power. At first, Marie de' Medici, his mother, served as regent and advanced a pro-Spanish policy. To deal with the financial troubles of France, Louis summoned the Estates General in 1614; this would be the last time that body met until
8832-521: Was plotting to overthrow him. Napoleon exploited the situation and invaded Spain in March 1808. This led to an uprising that forced Charles to abdicate on 19 March 1808 in favor of his son, who became Ferdinand VII. Napoleon forced Ferdinand to return the crown to Charles on 30 April and then convinced Charles to relinquish it to him on 10 May 1808. In turn, he gave it to his brother, Joseph, king of Naples on 6 June 1808. Joseph abandoned Naples to Joachim Murat ,
8928-458: Was relatively calm in France, with the Huguenots consolidating control of much of the south with only occasional interference from the royal government. Extended civil war erupted again in 1584, when François, Duke of Anjou , younger brother of King Henry III of France , died, leaving Navarre next in line for the throne. Thus began the War of the Three Henrys , as Henry of Navarre, Henry III, and
9024-410: Was succeeded as duke by his only legitimate son, Louis d'Orléans , who was entitled to the style of Serene Highness as a prince du sang . After 1709, the heads of the Orléans branch of the House of Bourbon ranked as the premier princes du sang – this meant that the dukes could be addressed as Monsieur le Prince (a style they did not, however, use). More importantly, should there be no heir to
9120-522: Was the first duke of Braganza and the eighth count of Barcelos . He founded the House of Braganza , the most powerful and wealthy dynasty in Portugal. His descendants became high-ranking nobles, imperial officials, and finally kings of Portugal and emperors of Brazil . Historians believe he was born in Veiros, Estremoz , Alentejo , as a natural son of Portuguese King John I and Inês Peres. He married
9216-462: Was thus aged only five at his ascension, the third Louis in a row to become king of France before the age of thirteen (Louis XIII became king at 9, Louis XIV at almost 5 and himself at 5). Initially, the regency was held by Philippe, Duke of Orléans , Louis XIV's nephew, as nearest adult male to the throne. This Régence was seen as a period of greater individual expression, manifested in secular, artistic, literary and colonial activity, in contrast to
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