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Louis, Grand Dauphin

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Louis
Dauphin of France
Louis de France, son of Louis XIV, nicknamed Le Grand Dauphin known at court as Monseigneur.
Dauphin of France
Reign1 November 1661 - 14 April 1711
(49 years, 164 days)
PredecessorLouis XIV
SuccessorLouis, Duke of Burgundy
SpouseDuchess Maria Anna of Bavaria
IssueLouis, Dauphin of France
Philip V of Spain
Charles, Duke of Berry
HouseHouse of Bourbon
FatherLouis XIV of France
MotherMaria Theresa of Spain

Louis, Dauphin of France (Fontainebleau, 1 November 1661, - Meudon, 14 April 1711) was the eldest son and heir of Louis XIV, King of France and of his spouse, Maria Theresa of Spain. He was known as le Grand Dauphin. This was not due to any sense of greatness but to his large physical size[citation needed] .

Birth and ancestors

Louis' paternal grandparents were Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria; he was descended, on his mother's side, from Philip IV of Spain and Élisabeth de Bourbon. Louis XIII and Élisabeth de Bourbon were siblings (the children of Henri IV of France and Marie de' Medici), as were Anne of Austria and Philip IV, who were the children of Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria. That means that he had only four great grandparents instead of the usual eight, and that his parents had the same coefficient of coancestry (1/8) as if they were half-siblings.

Education

When Louis reached the age of seven, he was removed from the care of women and placed in the society of men. He received Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier as his governor and was tutored by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, the great French preacher and orator. Despite many indications and reports of intelligence, Louis was perceived as lazy and indolent:

Louis XIV secretly nursed the same suspicious jealousy of the Grand Dauphin that Louis XIII had once shown to himself. No prince could have been less deserving of such feelings. Monseigneur, as the heir to the throne was now known, had inherited his mother's docility and low intelligence. All his life he remained petrified with admiration of his formidable father and stood in fear of him even while lavish proofs of 'affection' were showered upon him. The best way for Monseigneur to do someone an injury was to commend him to the royal favour. He knew it, and did not conceal it from his rare petitioners.
Louis XIV saw to it that his son's upbringing was quite the opposite of his own. Instead of a devoted mother and an affectionate and likeable tutor, the Dauphin had the repellent and misanthropic Duc de Montausier, who ruthlessly applied the same methods that had so disturbed Louis XIII. They annihilated his grandson.
[...]Bossuet overwhelmed his backward pupil with such splendid lessons that the Dauphin developed a lasting horror of books, learning and history. By the age of eighteen, Monseigneur had assimilated almost none of the knowledge amassed to so little purpose, and the apathy of his mind was second only to that of his senses.[1]

It was said that, when an adult, Louis could pass a whole day simply tapping his cane against his foot in an armchair.[citation needed] Nonetheless, Louis' generosity, affability and liberality gave him great popularity in Paris and with the French people in general.

Political and military role

Although he was permitted at first to attend and later to participate in the Conseil d'en haut, he did not play a particularly important part in French politics. However, as the heir to the throne and, presumably, future king, Louis was constantly surrounded by cabals battling for future prominence. Apart from the minor political role he played during his father's reign, Louis engaged in more leisurely pursuits and was esteemed for his magnificent collection of art at Versailles and his private establishment at Meudon. It was said that he hunted wolves to extinction in the Île-de-France.

During the War of the Grand Alliance, he was sent in 1688 to the Rhineland front. Before leaving the court, Louis was thus instructed by his father:

"In sending you to command my army, I am giving you an opportunity to make known your merit; go and show it to all Europe, so that when I come to die it will not be noticed that the King is dead."

There Louis succeeded, under the tutelage of Marshal de Duras and Vauban, in taking one of the bridgeheads across the Rhine, Philippsburg, which was surrounded by marshes. Louis' courage was shown when he visited the soldiers in the inundated trenches under heavy fire to observe the progress of the siege.[2] Montausier, his former governor, wrote to him thus:

"I shall not compliment you on the taking of Philippsburg; you had a good army, bombs, cannons and Vauban. I shall not compliment you because you are brave. That virtue is hereditary. But I rejoice with you that you have been liberal, generous, humane, and have recognised the services of those who did well."[3]

The Grand Dauphin

Louis' capture of Philippsburg prevented the large gathering Imperial army from crossing the Rhine and invading Alsace.

Louis' position in the Conseil d'en haut gave him an opportunity to have his voice heard in the years and crises leading up to the War of the Spanish Succession. From his mother, Louis had rights and claims to the Spanish throne. His uncle Charles II of Spain had produced no descendants and, as he lay dying, had no heir to whom he could pass the throne. The choice of a successor was essentially split between the French and Austrian claimants. In order to improve the chances of a Bourbon succession, Louis gave up his rights in favour of his second son, Philippe, duc d'Anjou (later Philip V of Spain), who, as second son, was not expected to succeed to the French throne, thus keeping France and Spain separate. Moreover, in the discussions in the Conseil d'en haut regarding the French response to Charles II's last will and testament, which did indeed leave all Spanish possessions to Anjou, Louis persuasively argued for acceptance. He opposed those who advocated a rejection of the will and the adherence to the Partition Treaty signed with William III of England, even though that Treaty had awarded Naples, Sicily and Tuscany to him.

Marriage and issue

Louis married Maria Anna of Bavaria on 7 March 1680. The couple had three sons:

Thus, through Bourgogne and Anjou, Louis ensured the continuation of the senior Bourbon line on the throne of France and the establishment of the cadet Spanish Bourbon dynasty respectively.

Louis, on the death of his wife Maria Anna, secretly married Marie Emilie Thérèse de Joly de Choin. However, his new wife did not acquire the status of "Dauphine", and the marriage was without issue.

He had two illegitimate daughters with Françoise Pitel:

With another mistress, Marie Anne Caumont de La Force, he had one daughter:

Death

At the age of forty-nine, in 1711, Louis died of smallpox, predeceasing his father.

Legend has it that a prophecy told at his birth[citation needed] said that he would be "son of a king, father of a king, but never a king". This was thought to be fulfilled as he was the son of Louis XIV of France and father of Philip V of Spain (who however prevailed in his claim only after his father's death) but did not himself become King.

Ancestors

16. Antoine of Navarre
8. Henry IV of France
17. Jeanne III of Navarre
4. Louis XIII of France
18. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
9. Marie de' Medici
19. Johanna of Austria
2. Louis XIV of France
20. Phillip II of Spain
10. Philip III of Spain
21. Anne of Austria
5. Anne of Austria
22. Charles II of Austria
11. Margaret of Austria
23. Maria Anna of Bavaria
1. Louis de France, Le Grand Dauphin
24. = 20. Philip II of Spain
12. = 10. Philip III of Spain
25. = 21. Anne of Austria
6. Philip IV of Spain
26. = 22. Charles II of Austria
13. = 11. Margaret of Austria
27. = 23. Maria Anna of Bavaria
3. Maria Theresa of Spain
28. = 16. Antoine of Navarre
14. = 8. Henry IV of France
29. = 17. Jeanne III of Navarre
7. Elisabeth of Bourbon
30. = 18. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
15. = 9. Marie de' Medici
31. = 19. Johanna of Austria

Notes

  1. ^ Erlanger, Philippe, Louis XIV, translated from the French by Stephen Cox, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1970, p. 177. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 79-109471
  2. ^ Dunlop, Ian, Louis XIV, Pimlico London, 2001, p.309
  3. ^ ibid. Dunlop

See also

Further reading

Lahaye, Matthieu, Louis, Dauphin de France. Fils de roi, père de roi, jamais roi, DEA directed by Joël Cornette, University of Paris VIII, 2005.

Lahaye, Matthieu, Louis Ier d'Espagne (1661-1700) : essai sur une virtualité politique, Revue historique, Numéro 647, PUF , Paris, Novembre 2008.


Louis, Grand Dauphin
Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty
Born: 1 November 1661 Died: 14 April 1711
Preceded by Dauphin of France
1 November, 1661–14 April, 1711 		Succeeded by
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