Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois

Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois (October 2 1667 – November 18 1683) was the eldest surviving son of Louis XIV of France and his mistress Louise de la Vallière. He was sometimes known as "Louis de Vermandois" after his title.

Life

Early life

Louis de Bourbon was born at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on October 2 1667. He was named after his father. Like his elder sister, Marie Anne de Bourbon, who was known at court as "Mademoiselle de Blois", he was given the surname of "de Bourbon" not "de France" as a result of his illegitimacy.

As a child, he called his mother "Belle Maman" because of her beauty. Louis was legitimated in 1669 at the age of two and was given the title of comte de Vermandois. At the same time, he was made the Admiral of France. In 1674, his mother left him to become a nun. She became "Soeur Louise de la Miséricorde" at the Carmelite convent in Paris. Afterwards, they saw very little of each other.

iblings

From his mother and his father, Louis had five full siblings, many of whom died before his birth. They were:

*A male (1662-1662): miscarriage;
*Charles de Bourbon (1663-1665): died in infancy;
*Philippe de Bourbon (1665-1666): died in infancy;
*A daughter (1666-1666): died shortly after birth;
*Marie Anne de Bourbon (1666-1739): after her father the king legitimated her, she was known as Mademoiselle de Blois. She was to later marry Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti. From this marriage she was recognized as a Princess of the Blood.

Palais Royal

After his mother left, Louis lived at the Palais Royal in Paris with his uncle, Philippe de France, duc d'Orléans, and his wife Elizabeth Charlotte von der Pfalz. While living and growing up at the Palais Royal, he became very close to his aunt despite her well-known dislike of Louis XIV's bastards. The affection the aunt and nephew had for each other never diminished.

While he was at the court of his libertine and homosexual uncle, he met the "Chevalier de Lorraine", his uncle's most famous lover. It is said that the young comte was seduced by the older chevalier and his set (including the prince de Conti) and began practicing "le vice italien" (the contemporary slang for homosexuality).

For Louis XIV, the only thing to do was to exile his son and the "Chevalier de Lorraine". In June 1682, Louis was sent to live in Normandy. In order to smooth things over between father and son, his aunt Elizabeth Charlotte von der Pfalz suggested to the king that Louis be sent as a soldier to Flanders, which was then under French occupation. The king agreed with the suggestion and his son was sent to the Siege of Courtray. It was there that Louis fell ill.

Despite his illness, Louis was desperate to regain his father's love and continued to fight in battle regardless of advice given by the royal doctor and the marquis de Montchevreuil that he return to Lille in order to recuperate.

Death

Louis died November 18 1683. He was just sixteen. He was buried at the cathedral at Arras.

His loving sister and aunt were greatly impacted by his death. His father, however, did not even shed a tear. His mother, still obsessed with the sin of her previous affair with the king, said upon hearing of her son's death:

"I ought to weep for his birth far more than his death." ["Love and Louis XIV" by Lady Antonia Fraser]

Louis was later suspected of being the Man in the Iron Mask.

Half-siblings

By Madame de Montespan and Louis XIV:

* Louise Françoise (1669-1672), died in infancy.
* Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine (1670-1736), married Anne-Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé.
**Had issue but no surviving descendants.
* Louis César de Bourbon, comte de Vexin, abbot of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (1672-1683).
*Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, "Mademoiselle de Nantes" (1673-1743), married Louis III, Prince of Condé, became duchesse de Bourbon and later princesse de Condé.
* 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 de Bourbon-Orléans, duc d'Orléans (1674-1723).
**Upon her marriage, she assumed the title of duchesse de Chartres, then on the death of her father-in-law, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, she became the 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.
** The modern House of Orléans is also related to him through his granddaughter Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre who married Philippe Egalité and became the mother of Louis-Philippe.

Half-siblings via his father Louis XIV with Queen Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche:

*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 children all of which died in infancy.

Ancestry

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1= 1. Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois
2= 2. Louis XIV of France
3= 3. Louise de la Vallière
4= 4. Louis XIII of France
5= 5. Anne of Austria
6= 6. Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc, Seigneur de la Vallière
7= 7. Françoise Le Prévost
8= 8. Henri IV of France
9= 9. Marie de' Medici
10= 10. Philip II of Spain
11= 11. Margaret of Austria
12= 12. -
13= 13. -
14= 14. -
15= 15. -

References

Titles

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