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BOURBON

Bourbon , an ancient French family which has given three dynasties to Europe, the Bourbons of France, Spain, and Naples. The first of the line known in history is Adhemar, who, at the beginning of the 10th century, was lord of the Bourbonnais (now the dep. of Allier). The power and possessions of the family increased steadily through a long series of Archambaulds of Bourbon till in 1272 Beatrix, daughter of Agnes of Bourbon and John of Burgundy, married Robert, sixth son of Louis IX. of France, and thus connected the Bourbons with the royal line of the Capets. Their son Louis had the barony converted into a dukedom and became the first Duc de Bourbon. Two branches took their origin from the two sons of this Louis,duke of Bourbon, who died in 1341.

Bourbon, Charles, Duke Of, or Constable Of Bourbon. son of Gilbert, count of Montpensier, was born in 1489. and by his marriage with the heiress of the elder Bourbon line acquired immense estates. He received from Francis I, in the twenty-sixth year of his age, the sword of Constable, and in the war in Italy rendered important services by the victory of Marignano and the capture of Milan. After occupying for years the position of the most powerful and highly honoured subject in the realm he suddenly fell into disgrace, from what cause is not clearly known. But it is certain that the intrigues of the court party, headed by the kings mother and the Duke of Alençon, were threatening to deprive him both of honours and estates. The Constable, embittered by this return for his services entered into treasonable negotiations with the Emperor Charles V. and the King of England (Henry VIII.), and eventually fled from France to put his sword at the service of the former. He was received with honour by Charles, who knew his ability, and being made general of a division of the imperial army, contributed greatly to the overwhelming defeat of Francis at Pavia. But the Bourbon found that Charles V. was readier to make promises to him than to fulfill them, and he returned disappointed and desperate to the command of his army in Italy, an army nominally belonging to the emperor, but composed mostly of mercenaries, adventurers, and desperadoes from all the countries of Europe. Supplies falling short, and the emperor refusing to grant him more, the Constable formed the daring resolve of leading his soldiers to Rome and paying them with the plunder of the Eternal City. On May 6, 1527, his troops took Rome by storm, and the sacking and plundering continued for months. But the Bourbon himself was shot as he mounted the breach at the head of his soldiers. He was but thirty-eight years of age. The elder line of that of the dukes of Bourbon, became extinct with his death.

The younger was that of the counts of La Marche, afterwards counts and dukes of Vendôme. From these descended Anthony of Bourbon, duke of Vendôme, who by marriage acquired the kingdom of Navarre, and whose son Henry of Navarre became Henry IV. of France. Anthony's younger brother, Louis, prince of Condé, was the founder of the line of Condé. There were, therefore, two chief branches of the Bourbons - the royal, and that of Condé.

The royal branch was divided by the two sons of Louis XIII. the elder of whom, Louis XIV., continued the chief branch, whilst Philip, the younger son, founded the house of Orleans as the first duke of that name. The kings of the elder French royal line of the house of Bourbon run in this way :-
Henry IV. Louis XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII., and Charles X. The last sovereigns of this line, Louis XVI., Louis XVIII, and Charles X. (Louis XVII., son of Louis XVI., never obtained the crown), were brothers, all of them being grandsons of Louis XV. Louis XVIII. had no children, but Charles X. had two sons, viz. Louis Antoine de Bourbon, duke of Angolême, who was dauphin till the revolution of 1830, and died without issue in 1844, and Charles Ferdinand, duke of Berry, who died, 14th Feb. 1820, of a wound given him by a political fanatic.

The Duke of Berry had two children: (1) Louise Marie Thérèse, called Mademoiselle d'Artois; and (2) Henri Charles Ferdinand Marie Dieudonné, born in 1820, and at first called Duke of Bordeaux, but afterwards Count De Chambord, who was looked upon by his party until his death (in 1883) as the legitimate heir to the crown of France.

The .Spanish-Bourbon dynasty originated when in 1700 Louis XIV. placed his grandson Philip, duke of Anjou, on the Spanish throne, who became Philip V. of Spain. From him descends the present infant occupant of the Spanish throne, Alphonso XIII, born in 1886.
The royal line of Naples, or the Two Sicilies, took its rise when in 1735 Don Carlos, the younger son of Philip V. of Spain, obtained the crown of Sicily and Naples (then attached to the Spanish monarchy), and reigned as Charles III. In 1759, however, he succeeded his brother Ferdinand VI. on the Spanish throne, when he transferred the Two Sicilies to his third son Fernando (Ferdinand IV), on the express condition that this crown should not be again united with Spain. Ferdinand IV. bad to leave Naples in 1806; but after the fall of Napoleon he again became king of both Sicilies under the title of Ferdinand I. and the succession remained to his descendants till 1860, when Naples was incorporated into the new kingdom of Italy.

The branch of the Bourbons known as the House of Orleans was raised to the throne of France by the revolution of 1830, and deprived of it by that of 1848. It derives its origin from Duke Philip I. of Orleans (died 1701), second son of Louis XIII., and only brother of Louis XIV. A regular succession of princes leads us to the notorious Egalité Orleans, who in 1793 died on the scaffold, and whose son Louis Philippe was king of France from 1830 to the revolution of 1848. His grandson Louis Philippe, count de Paris (born in 1838, died in 1894), after the death of Count de Chambord the last male representative of the elder Bourbons, united in himself the claims of both branches, vested in his son the Duke of Orleans.

ORLEANS

Orléans, a French royal family, two houses of which have occupied the throne of France.

(1) On the death of Charles VIII. without issue in 1498, Louis, duke of Orleans, great-grandson of their common ancestor Charles V., and
  grandson of the first Duke of Orleans, being the nearest heir, ascended the throne under the title of Louis XII. Henry III. (died 1589) was the last sovereign of this house, or the Valois-Orléans branch
(2) The house of Bourbon-Orléans is descended from Philip, duke of Orléans, son of Louis XIII. and younger brother of 'Louis XIV.
  His son Philip, duke of Orleans, was regent of France during the minority of Louis XV. His grandson Louis-Philippe Joseph, who assumed the surname of Egalité, was beheaded in 1793. Louis Philippe, duke of Chartres, afterwards king of the French, was the son of Egalité.
  The grandson of Louis-Philippe, the Comte de Paris (1838-94), became head of the royal house and royalist party, leaving a son, the Duke of Orleans, to inherit his claims.


Jean Baptiste Gaston Duke of Orléans, third son of Henry IV. of France, and Mary of Medici, born 1608, died at Blois 1660. His early education was miserable, and the cause of the feebleness of character which he displayed through life, although he had received from nature much more of his father's spirit than his brother Louis XIII. The latter was jealous of the duke, and opposed him in many ways, while the duke retaliated by intriguing against the king; and but for Richelieu, who was a greater power in the state than the royal family itself, might have succeeded. By his first marriage, with Mary of Bourbon, heiress of the house of Montpensier, he had a daughter, the author of some interesting memoirs. During the disturbances of the Fronde he joined De Retz, the soul of the Fronde, who, however, soon saw through the character of his fickle and feeble confederate. After the termination of the troubles (1648) the duke was banished to Blois.


Philippe Duke of Orléans, only brother of Louis XIV. of France, and founder of the house of Bourbon- Orléans, which for a short time held the throne of France, was born in 1640, died 1701. In his twenty-first year he married Henrietta of England, sister of Charles II.. The great esteem which the king showed for this princess excited the jealousy of his brother, and her sudden death was attributed to poison, to the administration of which the duke was suspected of being accessory. His jealousy seems not to have been unfounded. The second marriage of the duke, with the Princess Elizabeth of the Palatinate (1671), was arranged by Louis to secure the neutrality of the Elector Palatine in the approaching war against Holland. In this war the duke distinguished himself in spite of his effeminacy.

Louis Philippe Joseph Duke of Orléans, or (Egalité), great-grandson of the regent, Philippe, duke of Orléans, was born in 1747; married in 1769 the daughter of the Duke of Penthiévre. He was notorious for his dissoluteness of manners, and the extreme, though vacillating political conduct by which he courted popularity. His opposition to the court began in 1771, and he became the rallying point of its enemies. In 1787 he was exiled for the part he took in the Assembly of Notables; in 1789 he was one of the nobles who joined the Tiers Etat (Third Estate); in 1792 he went over to the revolutionary party without reserve took the name of Philippe Egalité ( 'Philip Equality' ), and voted for the death of Louis XVI. It did not save him from being arrested as a Bourbon, condemned and beheaded, 6th November, 1793.