Bourbon du Maine

Royal house
surname = House of Bourbon du Maine(Légitimé de France)
estate =
coat of arms =
country = France
parent house = House of Bourbon (legitimised royal branch)
titles = duc du Maine,
*duc d'Aumale
*duc de Gisors (1762)
*prince de Dombes,
*Pince d'Anet
*comte d'Eu
*cmte de Dreux
*baron de Sceaux
founder = Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine
final ruler =
current head =
founding year = 1672
dissolution = 1775
nationality = French
cadet branches =

The house of Bourbon du Maine was an illegitimate branch of the direct House of Bourbon, being thus part of the Capetian dynasty. It was founded in 1672 when Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine was legitimised by his father, King Louis XIV of France.

History and Founder

Louis-Auguste was the firstborn illegitimate son of Louis XIV of France and his beautiful but scheming mistress, Madame de Montespan. Born in 1670, he was taken as a newborn from his mother in order to hide him away from the gossip-hungry royal court.

He was put in the care of one of his mother's companions, Madame Scarron. He was raised in Paris with his other illegitimate siblings until he was older. In 1672, the king legally made all of his bastards legitimate in the eyes of the Roman Catholic church. At this time, Louis-Auguste received the title of duc du Maine from his father.

In order to improve his son's position at court, Louis XIV managed to persuade his cousin, Henry III Jules de Bourbon, prince de Condé, to allow his daughter, Anne-Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé, to marry Louis-Auguste.

The couple were married in 1692. The king also secured good marriages for his other illegitimate children:

*Marie Anne de Bourbon - Louis XIV's oldest illegitimate child and the daughter of his first mistress, Louise de La Vallière, Marie Anne was married to another Bourbon cousin, Louis Armand I, prince de Conti.
*Louise-Françoise de Bourbon - The duc de Maine's younger sister, Louise-Françoise, was married to the older brother of the duchesse du Maine, Louis III, prince de Condé.
*Françoise-Marie de Bourbon - The duc de Maine's youngest sister, Françoise-Marie, was married to Philippe, duc de Chartres, who was the only son and heir of Louis XIV's younger brother, "Monsieur".
*Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse - The duc du Maine's youngest brother, Louis-Alexandre, was to marry Marie Victoire de Noailles, one of the daughters of Anne Jules de Noailles, duc de Noailles. The comte de Toulouse became the founder of another illegitimate Bourbon line, the "House of Bourbon-Penthièvre".

The Children of the "duc du Maine"

Louis-Auguste and his wife had seven children in all. All but three died in infancy. The three that did survive did not leave any issue. As a result, the House of Bourbon du Maine became extinct on the death of the duc de Maine's youngest son. The children of the duc and duchesse du Maine that died young were:

*Mademoiselle de Dombes (Born 11 September 1694 and died on the 15 of the same month),
*Louis Constantin de Bourbon, "prince de Dombes" (Born at Versailles on the 17 November 1695, died 28 September 1698),
*Mademoiselle d'Aumale (Born in 1697, died 24 August 1699),
*Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, prince de Dombes (Born at Versailles: 4 March 1700, died 1 October 1755),
*Louis-Charles de Bourbon, comte d'Eu (Born at Sceaux 15 October 1701, died 13 July 1775 at Sceaux),
*Charles de Bourbon-Maine, duc d'Aumale (Born at Versailles: 31 March 1704, died September 1708 at Sceaux),
*Louise Françoise de Bourbon, known as "Mademoiselle du Maine" (Born 4 December 1707 at Versailles and died 19 August 1743 at the Chateau d'Anet).

The line of Bourbon du Maine became extinct on the death of Louis Charles de Bourbon, comte d'Eu. It had been in existence for just over a century.

Heads of the House

Ancestry

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1= 1. Bourbon du Maine
2= 2. Louis XIV of France
3= 3. Françoise-Athénaïs, Marchioness of Montespan
4= 4. Louis XIII of France
5= 5. Anne of Austria
6= 6. Gabriel de Rochechouart, Duke of Mortemart
7= 7. Diane de Grandseigne
8= 8. Henry IV of France
9= 9. Marie de' Medici
10= 10. Philip III of Spain
11= 11. Margaret of Austria
12= 12. Gaspard de Rochechouart, Marquis of Mortemart
13= 13. Louise de Maure, Countess of Maure
14= 14. Jean de Grandseigne, Marquis of Marsillac
15= 15. Catherine de La Béraudière, Lady of Villenon
16= 16. Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme
17= 17. Jeanne III of Navarre
18= 18. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
19= 19. Johanna of Austria
20= 20. Philip II of Spain
21= 21. Anna of Austria
22= 22. Charles II of Austria
23= 23. Maria Anna of Bavaria
24= 24. René de Rochechouart, Seigneur de Mortemart
25= 25. Jeanne de Saulx de Tavannes
26= 26. Charles, Count of Maure
27= 27. Diane de Pérusse des Cars, Princess of Carency
28= 28. Pierre de Grandsaigne, Seigneur of La Flotte
29= 29. Françoise Baillard
30= 30. François de La Béraudière, Seigneur of Villechèze
31= 31. Anne Adrienne Frotier

Other Illegitimate Houses

* Bourbon-Busset
* Bourbon-Vendôme (extinct)
* Bourbon-Penthièvre (extinct, and were cousins of the House of Bourbon du Maine through the Duc du Maine's younger brother, the Comte de Toulouse)

ee also

*Counts and Dukes of Maine