Who's Who: Royal Family
The Royal House of Bourbon (1682-1789)
Who were the royal family of France in the Versailles Century era?
During the 107-year period that the court was based at Versailles, there were only 3 kings: Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. Each married officially only once, thus there were only 3 queens: Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche, Marie Leczinska, and Marie-Antoinette. Louis XIV, however, secretly took Mme de Maintenon as his second wife. Because the marriage was not officially acknowledged, Mme de Maintenon was not given the title of queen, did not act as the first lady of the land, and did not count as a member of the royal family. Apart from the King and Queen, the royal family consisted of the Enfants de France, which is to say the sons and daughters of a king, and the wives and children of a king’s sons, as well as the wives of a King’s grandsons in the male line. The great-grandchildren in the male line of a king, their wives, their children, and their descendants in the male line were princes du sang (see glossary) rather than members of the royal family.
Who was the first lady of the land?
After the death of Queen Marie-Thérèse in 1683, the duties of the first lady were successively performed by Louis XIV’s daughter-in-law, his sister-in-law, his elder grand daughter-in-law, his younger grand daughter-in-law, and finally his sister-in-law again, who played the part into the early reign of Louis XV. Louis XV’s wife Marie Leczinska was the first lady of the land from her wedding day in 1725 until her death in 1768. The final first lady of the period was Marie-Antoinette, who, thanks to a proxy marriage performed before her departure from Vienna, was the first lady from the moment she stepped onto French soil in 1770 as Dauphine (see glossary).
Where did the royal family live in this period?
Louis XIV moved into Versailles permanently on 6 May, 1682, and it remained his principal residence until his death in 1715, but he also built the smaller, satellite palaces of Trianon and Marly while continuing to take his court to Fontainebleau every autumn and sometimes to Compiègne in the summer. His only legitimate son, often referred to as the Grand Dauphin, had his own house at Meudon, where he spent much time while also occupying a large apartment at Versailles. The Grand Dauphin’s sons and most of their male-line descendants down to the Revolution were born at Versailles and had apartments there throughout their lives. Louis XV lived at the Tuileries in Paris during the Regency, but returned to Versailles in 1722. It then remained the royal family’s principal residence until they were forced to leave it on 6 October, 1789, by an armed mob. Louis XV took the court to Compiègne for up to 6 weeks in the summer and to Fontainebleau for up to 8 or 9 weeks in autumn. He also built or acquired a number of smaller, private houses within a day’s ride of Versailles, such as Choisy, La Meutte, Champs, Bellevue, etc. Most male members of the royal family had châteaux of their own, as did some female members. For example, Louis XVI gave Bellevue to his surviving aunts, Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire. Towards the end of the period, Louis XVI acquired Rambouillet for himself and Saint-Cloud for his wife, both châteaux being much closer to Versailles than Fontainebleau and Compiègne, where he could no longer afford to take the court after the mid-1780s.
What were the origins of the royal house of Bourbon?
Descendants of the youngest son of St. Louis IX (1214-1270), the Bourbons had to wait more than 300 years for the descendants of the saint-king’s 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, albeit 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. Louis XIII 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.
Although Henri IV and Louis XIII died before the beginning of our period, some of the children of their second sons lived into the Versailles Century. Three daughters of Henri IV’s younger son Gaston, Duc d’Orléans, lived in France in our period: Marie-Anne d’Orléans (1627-1693), who died childless in Paris in 1693; Marie-Louise d’Orléans (1645-1723), Grand Duchess of Tuscany, who returned to France after the collapse of her marriage and lived out her days in convents in Paris; and Élisabeth-Marguerite d’Orléans (1646-1696), who married the last Duc de Guise of the house of Lorraine and died childless at Versailles. They are not included in the Who’s Who guide below, nor is their sister who married the Duke of Savoy and died in Turin, nor are the offspring of Louis XIII’s second son Philippe, Duc d’Orléans. For the latter’s descendants, please consult this guide: Who’s Who: Orléans.
Who’s Who: The Bourbon Royal Family between 1682 and 1789
The guide below is divided into 3 sections, one each for the families of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. Death dates for individuals alive and well as of 6 October, 1789, are not given.
I
Louis XIV: born in 1638, died in 1715; King of France and Navarre from his father’s death in 1643; under the regency of his mother, Anne d’Autriche and then the guidance of her chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin, until 1661; he began to expand his father’s hunting lodge at Versailles in the 1660s, finally took up permanent residence in it on 6 May, 1682, and eventually died there.
Child:
Louis de France: born in 1661, died in 1711; Dauphin (see glossary) from his birth until his death, often referred to as the Grand Dauphin; married firstly Marie- Anne de Bavière (1660-1690) and had issue by her; married secondly Mlle de Choin, by whom he had no issue and who was not publicly acknowledged as his wife.
Children:
1. Louis de France: born in 1682, died in 1712; titled Duc de Bourgogne from his birth until his father’s death, then Dauphin; married Marie- Adélaïde de Savoie in 1697 and had 3 sons by her.
Children:
1. Louis de France: born in 1704, died in 1705; titled Duc de Bretagne.
2. Louis de France: born in 1707, died in 1712; titled Duc de Bretagne at first, then briefly succeeded his father as Dauphin.
3. see Louis XV below.
2. Philippe de France: born in 1685, died in 1746; titled Duc d’Anjou from his birth until his acceptance of the Spanish crown in 1700, willed to him by Charles II of Spain; he reigned in Spain as Philip V, married twice, and had issue by both his wives.
3. Charles de France: born in 1686, died in 1714; titled Duc de Berri from his birth until his death; married his cousin Marie-Louise-Élisabeth d’Orléans (see Who’sWho: Orléans), but had no surviving children by her.
II
Louis XV: born in 1710, died in 1774; titled Duc d’Anjou at birth, but later succeeded his father and elder brother as Dauphin; King of France and Navarre from his great-grandfather’s death in 1715, but under the regency and then mentorship of his cousin the 2nd Duc d’Orléans until 1723, then the Duc de Bourbon’s until 1726, and finally Cardinal de Fleury’s until 1743; Louis XV governed personally from then until his death; he was the only King of France whose birth and death both occurred at Versailles; he married Marie Leczinska in 1725 and had 10 children by her, of whom 7 survived to adulthood.
Children:
Louise-Élisabeth de France: born in 1727, died in 1759; twin of Henriette (see below); referred to as Madame (see glossary) until her marriage to the Infante Charles of Spain in 1739; later Duchess of Parma.
Henriette de France: born in 1727, died in 1752; twin of Louise-Élisabeth; referred to as Madame from her sister’s marriage until her own death; never married.
Marie-Louise: born in 1728, died in 1733.
Louis de France: born in 1729, died in 1765; Dauphin from his birth until his death; married Marie-Josephe de Saxe with he had 5 children who survived infancy.
Children:
1. Marie-Zephyrine de France: born in 1750, died in 1755.
2. Louis-Joseph-Xavier de France: born in 1751, died in 1761; titled Duc de Bourgogne; died of tuberculosis.
3. Louis-Auguste de France: born in 1754; see Louis XVI below.
4. Louis-Stanislas de France: born in 1755; titled Comte de Provence during our period (later Louis XVIII); married Marie-Joséphine de Savoie in 1771, but had no children with her.
5. Charles-Philippe de France: born in 1757; titled Comte d’Artois during our period (later Charles X); married Marie-Thérèse de Savoie and had several children with her.
Children:
1. Louis-Antoine d’Artois: born in 1775; known as Duc d’Angoulême during our period.
2. Mademoiselle d’Artois: born in 1776, died in 1783; never baptized, but often referred to as Sophie.
3. Charles-Ferdinand d’Artois: born in 1778; known as Duc de Berry during our period.
6. Clothilde de France: born in 1759; married the future Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia in 1775; known as Madame from her birth until her brother Provence’s marriage.
7. Élisabeth de France: born 1764; never married; known as Madame Élisabeth.
Philippe de France: born in 1730, died in 1733.
Adélaïde de France: born in 1731; referred to as Madame Adélaïde for most of her life, but Madame from her sister Henriette’s death in 1752 until the birth of her brother’s eldest daughter in 1759; never married; jointly granted the dukedom of Lauzun by her nephew Louis XVI.
Victoire de France: born in 1732; referred to as Madame Victoire; never married; jointly granted the dukedom of Lauzun by her nephew Louis XVI.
Sophie de France: born in 1734, died in 1782; referred to as Madame Sophie; never married; died at Versailles.
Thérèse de France: born in 1736, died in 1744; referred to as Madame Thérèse; died at the convent of Fontevraud, where she was boarding for her education.
Louise de France: born in 1737, died in 1787; referred to as Madame Louise until she took holy vows and became known as Sister Marie-Thérèse de Saint-Augustin.
III
Louis XVI: born in 1754; King of France and Navarre from his grandfather’s death in 1774; he, his family, and his court were forced by an armed and violent mob to leave Versailles and move to Paris on 6 October, 1789; married Marie-Antoinette d’Autriche in 1770 and had several children with her.
Children:
Marie-Thérèse de France: born in 1778, known as Madame Royale in our period.
Louis-Joseph de France: born in 1781, died in 1789; Dauphin from his birth until his death of tuberculosis just days before the opening of the Estates-General.
Louis-Charles de France: born in 1785; titled Duc de Normandie at birth and then Dauphin after his brother’s death (later nominally Louis XVII).
Sophie de France: born in 1786, died in 1787.