Mademoiselle de Charolais
Louis XIV organised the marriage of Louise-Françoise, his eldest daughter by Mme de Montespan to the future Prince de Condé. She was 12 and he was 16. In spite of the fact he neglected her, they managed to have nine children, all of whom survived to adulthood. Their eldest son succeeded his father as Duke of Bourbon at the age of 17. Only one of their six daughters married. Two of their daughters became Abbesses. Another became the Superintendent of the Queen Marie Lesczcynska’s household. The youngest daughter lived with her lover for 20 years. They had no children. She became a close friend of Madame de Pompadour. The most famous of the daughters was Louise-Anne, known as Mademoiselle de Charolais. Although several marriages were proposed, she preferred to remain single. Like so many of the noble women, she became a lover of the infamous Duke de Richelieu. Among her residences was one of the outbuildings of the old Château of Madrid in the Bois de Boulogne. Mademoiselle de Charolais became friends with the wife of the famous military man, the Maréchal d’Estrées. At 38, the Maréchal had married 15 year old Lucie-Félicité, one of the 18 children of Anne Jules de Noailles, another Maréchal of France. The various lodgings in the Bois de Boulogne, as in other royal hunting areas, were allocated by the king to dignitaries. In 1720 the Maréchal received one of these from Louis XV. He had an architect replace the modest dwelling with an elegant pavillion. The joke about its exorbitant cost gave the pavillion its name of “Bagatelle”. The Maréchal’s young wife, like Mademoiselle de Charolais, was the polar opposite of virtuous. The two women used the Bagatelle for parties for the most libertine members of the court. A number of portraits exist of Mademoiselle de Charolais, including at Versailles, where she is dressed as a Cordelier monk. In fact she had the habit of wearing this outfit over her nude body when she received her lovers because it was much quicker to get out of than the complicated court dresses. She also reportedly made use of the ropes. Voltaire wrote a poem about her which roughly translates – “Brother angel of Charolais, tell us by what adventure the cordon of St Francis serves as the belt of Venus”. She is the person who is believed to have set up Louis XV with his first mistress, the eldest of the Mailly-Nesle sisters.
A New Dynasty – The Bourbons
Henri d’Albret became King of Navarre* two years after François I became King of France. The two young kings became allies. François rewarded the King of Navarre’s loyalty in battle when he organised the marriage of his sister Marguerite to the young Henri. Marguerite and Henri had only one surviving child, a daughter Jeanne d’Albret, who became heir to the throne of Navarre. Jeanne’s uncle, Francois I, insisted she should be brought up in the French court. Shortly after Francois’ death Jeanne married Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme. At the age of 26, Jeanne inherited the throne of Navarre (the Salic Law did not apply there). Jeanne and Antoine had five children with only two surviving – a son and heir Henri and a daughter Catherine. When young Henri de Navarre was born, his mother’s cousin was King Henri II of France. Henri de Navarre’s father Antoine was the first prince in France**. That meant that thanks to the Salic Law, he would be next in line to the French throne — if Henri II died without a male heir. Antoine de Bourbon died shortly before his son Henri’s ninth birthday. He knew his son would become King of Navarre but he would not have envisaged that he would also become King of France. * Navarre was an independent kingdom between Spain (then Castille and Aragon) and France. Throughout history a number of daughters of French Kings had been the Queen of Navarre. The capital city was Pamplona. Shortly before Francois I became King of France, Ferdinand of Aragon had seized a large part of the Kingdom of Navarre. The King and Queen of Navarre fled to Bearn and set up their capital in Pau. ** The “Princes of the Blood” were direct descendants of the French royal family who were next in line to the throne if the son or sons of the current king died without a male heir. Antoine de Bourbon was first in line if that occurred. When Antoine died it didn’t seem likely because the current King of France, Charles IX was 12 years old. Even if he died without an heir he had a younger brother who would inherit the throne. Henry IV Louis XIII Louis XIV Louis XV Louis XVI
The last Valois Kings
When François I died, his only surviving son became Henri II of France. When Henri II died, he had four surviving sons, three of whom succeeded him to the throne of France. The eldest, became King François II at the age of fifteen and died without heirs the following year. François II’s brother Charles succeeded him. Charles IX ruled from the age of ten until his death at the age of 24. Charles IX had a daughter but due to the “Salic Law”, she was ineligible to inherit the throne. Next in line was Henri II’s third son. He had been called Alexandre Edouard after his two godfathers (Cardinal Alexander Farnese and King Edward VI of England). When he was confirmed at the age of thirteen, he had chosen to take his father’s name and was from then on known as Henri. As Henri III, he was King of France until he was assassinated fifteen years later. He had no children. It was the end of the Valois dynasty which had ruled France for more than two centuries. Next in line to the throne of France was Henri III, King of Navarre. He became the first Bourbon King of France.
