Who's Who: Orléans
The Bourbon Princely House of Orléans (1682-1789)
Who was the Duc d’Orléans?
In the period of Louis XIV’s permanent residence at Versailles from 1682, the Duc d’Orléans was first his only brother, and then his only nephew. In the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, the Duc d’Orléans was the monarch’s increasingly distant cousin, ranking as premier prince du sang and enjoying the style of Most Serene Highness (Altesse sérénissime), except for the 3rd Duc d’Orléans, who enjoyed the style of Highness (Altesse). The Ducs d’Orléans had numerous subsidiary titles. Their heir was customarily titled Duc de Chartres, whose heir was usually called Duc de Valois. Other secondary titles distributed to their sons and grandsons as courtesy titles include Duc de Nemours, Duc de Montpensier, Prince de Joinville, Comte de Beaujolais, etc. The main country seat of the Ducs d’Orléans was the château of Saint-Cloud until it was purchased by Louis XVI for Marie-Antoinette in 1785. In Paris, they lived at the Palais-Royal.
Background
Descendants of the youngest son of Louis IX (1214-1270), the Bourbons had to wait more than 300 years for the descendants of his elder sons to die out. By the mid-16th century, they had become great landowners and power brokers to be reckoned with. They finally acquired a crown by marriage when Antoine, Duc de Bourbon, wed Jeanne III, Queen of Navarre. Their son Henri succeeded his mother as monarch of that small kingdom in 1572, and then in 1589 he acquired a second, much greater crown when he succeeded his distant, childless cousin Henri III, and became the first King of France of the house of Bourbon, under the name Henri IV. He was succeeded as King of France and Navarre in 1610 by his elder son, Louis XIII. Henri IV’s younger son, Gaston, was titled Duc d’Orléans. Despite marrying twice, Gaston had no surviving sons and the ducal title lapsed on his death in 1660. Meanwhile, Louis XIII had married a daughter of Philip III of Spain and had 2 sons by her, Louis and Philippe. Louis succeeded his father in 1643 and became Louis XIV (see Who’s Who - Bourbon Royal House for him and his descendants).
Louis XIII’s younger son, Philippe, was initially titled Duc d’Anjou, but Louis XIV re-created the title of Duc d’Orléans for him after their uncle Gaston’s death. Philippe, as a Fils de France, and his son, also Philippe, as Petit-Fils de France, were princes of France with the style of Royal Highness (Altesse royale). Their subsequent descendants, being more than 2 generations in descent from a King of France, were only princes du sang. Beginning with the younger Philippe’s son, Louis, however, the Ducs d’Orléans were the premiers princes du sang, or First Princes of the Blood. They and their offspring thus took precedence of the other princes du sang of the houses of Condé and Conti.
Who’s Who: Members of the House of Orléans between 1682 and 1789
I Ducs d’Orléans
Five princes bear this title between 1682 and 1789. They are listed in numerical order below.
Orléans, 1st Duc de: born in 1640, died in 1701; né Philippe de France, Fils de France, younger son of Louis XIII and Anne d’Autriche; married firstly Henrietta of England, with whom he had 2 surviving daughters who became Queen of Spain and Duchesse of Savoy; married secondly Elisabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine, by whom he was the father of the 2nd Duc d’Orléans and the Duchess of Lorraine.
Orléans, 2nd Duc de: born in 1674, died in 1723; né Philippe d’Orléans, Petit-Fils de France, styled Duc de Chartres before his father’s death; married Mlle de Blois (see above) and had 8 children with her, including the future 3rd Duc d’Orléans (he and his 7 sisters have their own entries below); Regent of France during Louis XV’s minority (1715-1723), and then briefly chief minister before his death; he had 3 illegitimate children, of whom was legitimated, namely the Chevalier d’Orléans (see below).
Orléans, 3rd Duc de: born in 1703, died in 1752; né Louis d’Orléans, Duc de Chartres, and called le Pieux (the Pious) for his devout Catholic beliefs and practices; Duc d’Orléans from his father’s death; premier prince du sang from 1709; married Auguste de Bade in 1724 and had only one surviving child, the future 4th Duc d’Orléans (see immediately below).
Orléans, 4th Duc de: born in 1725, died in 1785; né Louis-Philippe d’Orléans, Duc de Chartres, called le Gros (the Fat) for his girth; Duc d’Orléans from his father’s death; married Mlle de Conti in 1743 and had 2 children with her who survived to adulthood, the future 5th Duc d’Orléans and Bathilde d’Orléans, future Princesse de Condé (see above); he married Mme de Montesson in 1773, but she was not acknowledged as duchess since she was a commoner; shortly before his death he sold the château de St-Cloud to Marie-Antoinette.
Orléans, 5th Duc de: born in 1747, died in 1793; né Louis-Philippe d’Orléans, Duc de Montpensier; styled Duc de Chartres from his paternal grandfather’s death in 1752; Duc d’Orléans and premier prince du sang from his father’s death until his renunciation of his titles in 1791; he married Mlle de Penthièvre in 1769 and had 4 children who lived to adulthood, including Louis-Philippe, future King of the French; taking the side of the revolutionaries in 1789, he adopted the name ‘Philippe Egalité’ and voted for Louis XVI’s death in the National Assembly before being condemned to death himself within the year.
II Duchesses d’Orléans
Five princesses bear this title between 1682 and 1789 as consorts of the 5 princes above; they have individual entries in numerical order below.
Orléans, (1st) Duchesse de: born in 1653, died in 1723; née Elisabeth-Charlotte, Princess Palatine; married the 1st Duc d’Orléans, called Monsieur, in 1676; consequently known as Madame; mother of the 2nd Duc d’Orléans; her only daughter, also named Elisabeth-Charlotte, married Leopold, Duke of Lorraine.
Orléans, (2nd) Duchesse de: born in 1677, died in 1749; née Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mlle de Blois, younger daughter of Louis XIV and Mme de Montespan; married the future 2nd Duc d’Orléans in 1692 and gave him 8 children, all of whom survived to adulthood, including the future 3rd Duc d’Orléans; first lady of the land between the death of the Duchesse de Berry (see above) in 1719 and her son’s marriage in 1724.
Orléans, (3rd) Duchesse de: born in 1704, died in 1726; née Auguste-Marie-Jeanne de Bade, a daughter of the Margrave of Baden-Baden; married the 3rd Duc d’Orléans in 1724 and gave birth to the future 4th Duc d’Orléans in 1725; briefly first lady of the land before Louis XV’s marriage.
Orléans, (4th) Duchesse de: born in 1726, died in 1759; née Louise-Henriette de Conti, styled Mlle de Conti, princesse du sang; married the future 4th Duc d’Orléans in 1743 and gave him 2 children who survived to adulthood, the future 5th Duc d’Orléans, and Bathilde d’Orléans, future Princesse de Condé; many lovers were attributed to this Duchesse d’Orléans and there was doubt about the legitimacy of her children.
Orléans, (5th) Duchesse de: born in 1753, died in 1821; née Louise-Marie-Adélaïde de Penthièvre, princesse legitimée, the only daughter of the Duc de Penthièvre and his heiress after the death of her only surviving brother, she married the future 5th Duc d’Orléans, in 1769, becoming princesse du sang; her only surviving son, Louis-Philippe, later became King of the French; after her father’s and brother’s deaths she was the last male-line descendant of Louis XIV and Mme de Montespan.