Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
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| Louis Philippe I d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans | |
 Louis Philippe I d'Orléans
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| Born | May 12, 1725 Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France |
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| Died | November 18, 1785 (aged 60) Château de Sainte-Assise à Seine-Port, France |
| Spouse | Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti |
| Children | 1 Daughter
2 Louis Philippe II d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans |
| Parents | Louis d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans Auguste Marie Johanna of Baden-Baden |
Louis Philippe d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans (May 12, 1725 – November 18, 1785) was a French nobleman and soldier. In later life he was known as le Gros or the Fat due to his girth.
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[edit] Biography
Louis Philippe was born at Palace of Versailles on May 12 1725. He was the only son of Louis, d'Orléans duc d'Orléans. Until his accession to the head of the House of Orléans in 1752, he was known as the duc de Chartres.
Serving with the French armies in the War of Austrian Succession, he distinguished himself in the campaigns of 1742, 1743 and 1744, and at the battle of Fontenoy in 1745. He retired to Bagnolet in 1757, where he occupied his time with theatrical performances and the society of intellectuals.
[edit] Marriages
As a young man, he fell in love with his cousin, Anne-Henriette de France, the second daughter of King Louis XV. Th king's chief minister, André-Hercule de Fleury, however, would not allow the two to marry. Afterwards, Louis Philippe's father tried hard to find his son a suitable wife to be the mother of the next generation of the House of Orléans.
After searching for some time, Louis Philippe's father found his ideal daughter-in-law. He arranged for his son to marry his cousin Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti (1726–1759) a member of the House of Boubon-Conti, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon just like the Orléans were. Louise Henriette had been bought up in a convent. Louis Philippe's father wrongly thought this indicated her virtue and grace.
The couple were married in 1743 in the Chapelle du Château de Versailles.
[edit] Children
The couple had three children:
- A daughter (born 12 or 13 July 1745 - December 14, 1745)
- Louis Philippe II Joseph, duc d'Orléans (1747–1793), also known as Philippe Égalité;
- Louise Marie Thérèse Bathilde d'Orléans (1750–1822), who married Louis Henry II, Prince of Condé.
The couple were not happy at all. The supposedly ideal wife turned out to be a dramatic and scandalous girl who caused her husband much embarrassment. She even wrote embarrassing rhymes and songs about him.
Upon the death of his father in 1752, Louis Philippe became the head of the House of Orléans. He now held the title of duc d'Orléans. Also as a result of his fathers death, he assumed the rank of Premier Prince du Sang or First Prince of the Blood. As such, he was addressed formally at court as Monsieur le Prince. His wife was addressed as Madame la Princesse.
Louise Henriette died in 1759 at the Orléans residence in Paris, the Palais Royal. Following her death, Louis Philippe went through a series of mistresses, ultimately finding the love of his life, the witty but married Charlotte-Jeanne Béraud de la Haye de Riou, marquise de Montesson.
[edit] Second Marriage
After his mistress was widowed in 1769, Louis Philippe tried to get permission from King Louis XV in order to marry his her. Eventually the King did consent in 1772 on the condition that Madame de Montesson would never become the duchesse d'Orléans or succeed to any other Orléans titles. In addition, the couple were to live a quiet life. As a wedding gift, his new wife received the Château de Sainte-Assise.
From this second marriage, he had another three children:
- Louis Étienne d'Orléans, comte de Saint-Phar (January 21, 1759 - July 24, 1825)
- Known as the abbé de Saint-Albin
- Marie Étienette Perrine d'Auvilliers (Born and died July 1761)
- Louis Philippe d'Orléans, comte de Saint-Albin (July 1761 - June 13, 1829)
- Known as the abbé de Saint-Far
At the Château de Sainte-Assise, the couple received various nobles and intellectuals, including the duchesse de Lauzun, the comtesse d'Egmont, the marquis de Lusignan, the marquis d'Osmond, d'Alembert, Melchior Grimm, Pierre-Simon de Laplace, the chemist Claude Louis Berthollet, the composer Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny, and the playwright Louis Carrogis Carmontelle. The couple also gave theatrical presentations there, some of which were written by the duc's new wife.
[edit] Later life
Also in 1769, Louis Philippe bought the Château du Raincy. The same year, his son, the duc de Chartres, married the vastly wealthy heiress, Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre, at Versailles.
During his old age, the duc increased the vast wealth of his family by buying the towns of La Fère, Marle, Ham, Saint-Gobain. He also acquired the Hôtel Duplessis-Châtillon and rents from the Ourcq canal in addition to the county of Soissons. The domains of Laon, Crépy and Noyon were added to the appanage that he received as the Premier Prince du Sang. He also bought the Château de Bagnolet.
Despite all these purchases, the duc and his wife preferred to live at Sainte-Assise. The duc worked hard to improve their residence there. Two wings were added to the corps de logis and a proper cour d'honneur was established, with a pair of small pavilions. Since he spent all of his time now at Sainte-Assise, the duc sold the official Orléans country residence, the lavish Château de Saint-Cloud, to Queen Marie Antoinette in 1785 for six million livres. In November of that same year, the duc died at Sainte-Assise at the age of sixty.
He was the grandfather of the only French monarch from the House of Orléans: Louis Philippe, King of the French.
[edit] Gallery
[edit] Ancestors
| Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans | Father: Louis of Bourbon, Duke of Orléans |
Paternal Grandfather: Philippe II, Duke of Orléans |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Philippe I, Duke of Orléans |
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine |
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| Paternal Grandmother: Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Blois |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Louis XIV of France |
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| Paternal Great-grandmother: Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan |
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| Mother: Auguste Marie Johanna of Baden-Baden |
Maternal Grandfather: Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Ferdinand Maximilian of Baden-Baden |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: Louise Christine of Savoy-Carignan |
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| Maternal Grandmother: Sibylle Auguste of Saxe-Lauenburg |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Julius Franz of Saxe-Lauenburg |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: Hedwig of Paltz-Sulzbach |
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] Titles
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Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Born: April 13 1747 Died: November 6 1793 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Louis d'Orléans |
duc de Chartres 1725–1752 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe II d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Louis d'Orléans |
duc d'Anjou 1752–1785 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe II d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Louis d'Orléans |
duc de Montpensier 1752–1785 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe II d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti |
duc d'Étampes 1752–1759 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe II d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Louis d'Orléans |
duc de Nemours 1752–1785 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe II d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Louis d'Orléans |
duc d'Orléans 1752–1785 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe II d'Orléans |
| Preceded by Louis d'Orléans |
prince de Joinville 1752–1785 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe II d'Orléans |
| Royal titles | ||
| Preceded by Louis d'Orléans |
Monsieur le Prince 1752–1785 |
Succeeded by Louis Philippe II d'Orléans |
