Louise-Françoise de Bourbon

Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, princesse de Condé (June 1, 1673–June 16, 1743), was the eldest surviving daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his most famous mistress, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after the mistress that her mother displaced in the king's affections, Louise de la Vallière. La Vallière was also her godmother. Like her younger sister and brother, she is an ancestor of the present House of Orléans.

Early life

She was born in Tournai on June 1, 1673 while her parents were on a military tour. In 1673, the king legitimised the illegitimate children of his mistress.

After she and her parents returned from Tournai, she and her older siblings were placed in the care of one of her mother's friends, Françoise Scarron. After their legitimisation, her eldest brother, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, was given the title of "duc du Maine". Another older brother, Louis-César de Bourbon, became the "comte de Vexin". At the same time, Louise-Françoise received the courtesy title of "Mademoiselle de Nantes". Her parents later nicknamed her "poupotte".

She was very affected by the death of her younger sister Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon, known as "Madmoiselle de Tours", in 1681. The two had been raised up together in the famous house on "rue de Vaugirard" in Paris where the children had been hidden away from the prying eyes of the court by their parents. She was never very close to her other sisters, Marie Anne de Bourbon and Françoise-Marie de Bourbon. Rather, the three were later noted for their intense sibling rivalry.

Marriage

On May 25 1685, at the age of eleven, she was married to a distant cousin of her father, Louis de Bourbon-Condé. Her young husband was the son of the duc d'Enghien, the son of the head of a cadet branch of the reigning "House of Bourbon", the "Bourbon-Condé". At court, Louise-Françoise's husband was known by the courtesy title of duc de Bourbon. For this reason, he was addressed at court as "Monsieur le Duc". As his wife, Louise-Françoise was known as "Madame la Duchesse". Her father gave her a large dowry of one million livres.

Some time after her marriage in 1686, while the court was in residence at the Château de Fontainebleau, Louise-Françoise contracted a case of smallpox. Her husband made no effort to help nurse her back to health. Instead, her mother and grandfather-in-law, "Le Grand Condé", were the ones who nursed her. Louise-Françoise eventually recovered, but "Le Grand Condé" died later that year after catching her illness.

Children

The couple had the following children:

*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 daughter 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, she was a mistress of 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 sister 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.

Gallery of children

Later life

Very beautiful and vivacious, at court it was well known that Louise-Françoise took many lovers. Around 1695, she started an affair with François Louis de Bourbon-Conti, prince de Conti, the brother-in-law of her older sister, Marie Anne de Bourbon, princesse de Conti.

After her mother officially left court in 1691, she often went to visit her while she was at the convent of Saint-Joseph on rue Saint-Dominique in Paris. As they saw each other often, the two became much closer. When her mother died in 1707, Louise-Françoise was badly affected. As a mark of respect, she and two of her siblings, the duchesse d'Orléans and the comte de Toulouse, did not attend any court gatherings. Their father, the king, however, refused to allow them to wear mourning clothes. Upon the death of her father-in-law in 1709, her husband succeeded to the title of Prince of Condé. After less than a year as the princesse de Condé, her husband died in 1710. She then assumed the title of "Princesse douairière de Condé" (Dowager Princess of Condé).

In the hope of ingratiating herself with the future king, Louise-Françoise regularly attended the court of her older half-brother, "Monseigneur", at the Château de Meudon. Unexpectedly, he died in 1711, ruining his sister's plan of establishing a more solid relationship with the crown.

In the 1720s she started an affair with the "Marquis de Lassay". He subsequntly built the "Hôtel de Lassay" next to her residence in Paris, the Palais Bourbon.

Palais Bourbon

During her widowhood, she built the Palais Bourbon in Paris not far from the homes of her surviving siblings. Construction on the palace started in 1722 when she was forty-nine years old.

Her older half-sister Marie Anne de Bourbon, who was the princesse de Conti, had a house opposite the Louvre on the "Quai de Conti".

Her older brother, the duc du Maine, also had a vast townhouse near the Louvre called the Hôtel du Maine, and her younger sister, the duchesse d'Orléans, lived at the Palais-Royal.

Close by, her youngest brother, the comte de Toulouse, had a city residence called the Hôtel de Toulouse opposite the Palais-Royal.

The Palais Bourbon, named after her family, was built after she had stayed at the Grand Trianon. The Trianon became the architectural inspiration of her new home. She died at the age of seventy in Paris, (probably at the Palais Bourbon) on June 16, 1743.

iblings

Louise grew up with her siblings, mainly Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine and Louis-César de Bourbon, comte de Vexin. The children were placed under the supervision of the future Madame de Maintenon and lived in a house in Paris so Louis XIV and their mother, Madame de Montespan, could visit them as often as possible. Her other siblings were:

* Louise Françoise (1669-1672) - died in childhood.
* Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine (1670-1736) married Anne-Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé.
* Louis-César de Bourbon, comte de Vexin, abbot of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (1672-1683)
* Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon, "Mademoiselle de Tours" (1674-1681) - died in childhood
* Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, "Mademoiselle de Blois" (1677-1749), married in 1692 the future regent Philippe II, duc d'Orléans (1674-1723)
**"duchesse d'Orléans". Through her son, Françoise-Marie became the ancestor of King Louis-Philippe of the French and the modern House of Orléans.
* Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse (1678-1737) married Marie Victoire de Noailles.
**Founder of the House of Bourbon-Toulouse-Penthièvre
**The modern House of Orléans is also related to him through his grand-daughter Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre who married Philippe Egalité and became the mother of Louis-Philippe.

Paternal legitimate half-siblings

*Louis de France (1661 - 1711
**The Dauphin of France from 1661 till his death in 1711.
*Marie-Thérèse de France (1667 - 1672)
**The only legitimate daughter of Louis XIV to live older then the age of four. She was known as "Madame Royale" at court.
*4 other who died before the age 5

Paternal illegitimate half-siblings

*Marie Anne de Bourbon, "Mademoiselle de Blois" (1666 - 1739)
**Eldest surviving daughter of Louis XIV and Louise de la Vallière
**Later wife to Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti and as such the princesse de Conti.
*Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois (1667 - 1683)
**Eldest surviving son of Louis XIV and Louise de la Vallière
*Louise de Maison Blanche (1676-1718)
**Daughter of "Mlle des Oeillets" Married Bernard de Prez and had 11 enfants.

Maternal legitimate half-siblings

*Marie-Christine de Pardaillan de Gondrin (1663 - 1675)
**Died while in the country with her father the marquis de Montespan
*Louis Antoine de Pardaillan de Gondrin, marquis d'Antin (1665 - 1736)
**Louis Antoine later was given the title of duc d'Antin.

Ancestry

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1= 1. Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
2= 2. Louis XIV of France
3= 3. Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
4= 4. Louis XIII of France
5= 5. Anne of Austria
6= 6. [Gabriel de Rochechouart, duc de 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

ources

* [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Fran%C3%A7oise_de_Bourbon_%281673-1743%29| Fr]
* [http://enviedhistoire.canalblog.com/ Fr]
*"Athénaïs:The Real Queen of France" by "Lisa Hilton"
*"Love and Louis XIV" by Lady Antonia Fraser
*"The Sun King" by The Hon. Nancy Freeman-Mitford

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