Louis III, Prince of Condé
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Louis of Bourbon-Condé (Louis III, Prince of Condé) (November 10, 1668 – March 4, 1710) was Prince of Condé (pronounced: kôNdā') for a short period of time, following the death of his father Henry III in 1709. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince du Sang.
As the eldest son of the Prince de Condé, he was known by the courtesy title of duc de Bourbon for most of his life. In 1685, Louis married Louise-Françoise de Bourbon (1673-1743), known at court as Mademoiselle de Nantes, the eldest illegitimate daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his most famous mistress, Madame de Montespan.
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[edit] Early Life
In an age and society where dynastic considerations played a major role in all but the most trivial of decisions, eyebrows were raised at this marriage between the powerful House of Condé and a bastard daughter, no matter how royal her father was. The head of the House of Condé, though, was the king's ageing cousin, the ailing Louis II de Bourbon le Grand Condé [1621-1686], a man whose mistakes, missteps, and misdeed of years gone by had begun to weigh heavily on his mind. With a mind that was becoming more and more clouded as the years passed, he acquiesced to the socially irregular match.
[edit] Marriage
The marriage of his grandson to the king's illegitimate daughter must have seemed like a heaven sent opportunity to Condé, giving favorable weight on the scales of Louis XIV's considerations not only to himself, but to the House of Condé in general. So the marriage came to be.
The groom was the seventeen year old Louis III de Bourbon, eventually the sixth prince of the House of Condé. During the lives of his grandfather and father, he went by the courtesy title of duc de Bourbon, and as such was known at court simply as M. le Duc. His new wife assumed the style Mme. la Duchesse. Like his father, Henri III (1643-1709), who had become the prince de Condé in 1687, Louis III led a typical, unremarkable life. Without any major fanfare, he did what was expected of a prince in late 17th century France.
Over the centuries, the House of Condé was known for the physical and mental incapacity of it members. Louis was no exception. In an age where five-and-a-half feet was considered awkwardly tall for a woman, Louis, not quite a dwarf, was considered a short man. His sisters, in fact, were so tiny that they were referred to as the "royal dolls", or, less flatteringly, as "little black beetles" since many of them where, in fact, hunchbacked. While not suffering from this condition himself, Louis was macrocephalic, having an abnormally large head.
In addition, his skin tone was said to have a definite yellowish-orange tint to it. On the plus side, while Louis was no scholar he was respectably well educated for his time and station in life. Likewise, while certainly no fool, he was not burdened with too much intelligence for his time and station in life.
[edit] Children
Louis III and his wife Louise-Françoise de Bourbon had the following issue:
- Marie-Anne de Bourbon-Condé (1690–1760);
- Was abbesse de Saint-Antoine-des-Champs
- Louis Henri I de Bourbon-Condé (1692-1740);
- Next holder of the title Prince de Condé
- Louise-Élisabeth de Bourbon-Condé (1693-1775),
- Married Louis Armand II de Bourbon-Conti, prince de Conti;
- Grandmother of Philippe Égalité
- Said to be her favourite daugheter and most beautiful.
- Marie-Anne de Bourbon-Condé (1697-1741),
- Known as Mademoiselle de Clermont
- Married in secret and against her brother's wishes, to Louis de Melun, Duke of Joyeuse;
- Louise-Anne de Bourbon-Condé (1695-1768);
- Known as Mademoiselle de Sens and then Mademoiselle de Charolais
- Like her cousin Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans was mistress to the duc de Richelieu
- Owned the Hôtel de Rothelin-Charolais in Paris
- Charles de Bourbon-Condé (1700-1760);
- known as the comte de Charolais
- On his death, the title of comte de Charolais went to his siter Louise-Anne
- Isabelle de Bourbon-Condé 1701-1765);
- known as Mademoiselle de Gex
- Henriette-Louise de Bourbon-Condé (1703-1772);
- Known as Mademoiselle de Vermandois
- Was abbesse de Beaumont-lès-Tours from 1733.
- Louis de Bourbon-Condé, comte de Clermont (1709-1771).
- Was abbé de Saint-Germain-des-Près from 1737.
[edit] Prince de Condé
Louis III was Prince de Condé for a little less than a year. Like his father and grandfather, Louis was hopelessly insane when he died, having slipped into madness several years before his actual death. "Making horrible faces", as one historian described it, Louis died in 1710 at the age of forty-two.
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Louis III, Prince of Condé
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 10 November 1668 Died: 4 March 1710 |
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| French nobility | ||
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| Preceded by Henry III Jules de Bourbon |
Prince of Condé 11 April 1709 – 4 March 1710 |
Succeeded by Louis Henri de Bourbon |
