Henri Jules, Prince of Condé

Henri Jules
Late 17th century engraving
Prince of Condé
Tenure	11 December 1686 - 1 April 1709
Predecessor	Louis II
Successor	Louis III
Born	(1643-07-29)29 July 1643 Paris, France
Died	1 April 1709(1709-04-01) (aged 65) Paris, France
Spouse	Anne Henriette of the Palatinate
Issue	Marie Thérèse, Princess of Conti Louis, Prince of Condé Anne Marie, Mademoiselle de Condé Louise Bénédicte, Duchess of Maine Marie Anne, Duchess of Vendôme
Names Henri Jules de Bourbon
House	Bourbon-Condé
Father	Louis le Grand Condé
Mother	Claire-Clémence de Maillé
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Henri Jules de Bourbon (29 July 1643, in Paris – 1 April 1709, in Paris, also Henri III de Bourbon) was prince de Condé, from 1686 to his death. At the end of his life he suffered from clinical lycanthropy and was considered insane.

Biography

Henri Jules was born to Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé in 1643. He was five years younger than King Louis XIV of France. He was the sole heir to the enormous Condé fortune and property, including the Hôtel de Condé and the Château de Chantilly. His mother, Princess Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, was a niece of Cardinal Richelieu. He was baptised at the Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris on his day of birth. For the first three years of his life, while his father was duc d'Enghien, he was known at court as the duc d'Albret.

Henri Jules' four surviving daughters, Gobert.

Upon the death of his grandfather, he succeeded to his father's courtesy title of duc d'Enghien. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was born a prince du sang styled as Monsieur le Duc.

Throughout much of his life, Henri Jules was mentally unstable. He was a short, ugly, debauched, and brutal man not only "repulsive in appearance", but "cursed with so violent a temper that it was positively dangerous to contradict him".

Trained as a soldier, in 1673, he was nominally put in charge of the Rhine front. This was in name only though, because Henri Jules lacked the military skills of his father. He was well educated but had a malicious character. A possible bride who was considered for him at this time was his distant cousin, Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans, daughter of Gaston d'Orléans. However, a marriage did not materialise.

He eventually married the German princess Anne Henriette of Bavaria in the chapel of the Palais du Louvre in Paris, in December 1663. The bride was the daughter of Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern and the political hostess Anna Gonzaga. The couple had ten children, only half of whom lived to adulthood. The young princess was noted for her pious, generous and charitable nature. Many at court praised her for her very supportive attitude towards her disagreeable husband. Despite her good qualities though, Henri Jules, who was prone to great rages, would often beat his quiet wife.

In addition, Henri Jules had an illegitimate daughter by Françoise-Charlotte de Montalais. The child was known variously as Julie de Bourbon, Julie de Gheneni (anagram of Enghien, aka de Guenani), or Mademoiselle de Châteaubriant. She was legitimised in 1693 when she was 25 years of age. She died on 10 March 1710, at the age of 43.

He was succeeded by his only son, Louis III de Bourbon.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Henri Jules, Prince of Condé

8. Henri I, Prince of Condé 4. Henri II, Prince of Condé 9. Charlotte Catherine de La Trémoille 2. Louis II, Prince of Condé 10. Henri I, duc de Montmorency 5. Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency 11. Louise de Budos 1. Henri Jules de Bourbon 12. Charles de Maillé, seigneur de Brézé 6. Urbain de Maillé, marquis de Brézé 13. Jacqueline de Thévalle 3. Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé 14. François III du Plessis, seigneur de Richelieu 7. Nicole du Plessis de Richelieu 15. Suzanne de La Porte

Issue

Name	Portrait	Lifespan	Notes
Marie Thérèse de Bourbon Princess of Conti		1 February 1666 – 22 February 1732	Born in Paris and known as Mademoiselle de Bourbon in her youth, she married her cousin François Louis, Prince of Conti and had issue; she was briefly titular Queen of Poland in 1697.
Henri de Bourbon Duke of Bourbon		5 November 1667 – 5 July 1670	Died in childhood.
Louis de Bourbon Duke of Bourbon Prince of Condé		10 November 1668 – 4 March 1710	Born in Paris, he became the heir apparent of his father on his brother's death in 1670; he married Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, légitimée de France a daughter of Louis XIV; the couple had issue.
Anne de Bourbon Mademoiselle d’Enghien		11 November 1670 – 27 May 1675	Died in childhood.
Henri de Bourbon Count of Clermont		3 July 1672 – 6 June 1675	Born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye and died at the age of two in Paris.
Louis Henri de Bourbon Count of La Marche		9 November 1673 – 21 February 1677	Born in Paris, he died at the age of three in the same city.
Anne Marie Victoire de Bourbon Mademoiselle d'Enghien Mademoiselle de Condé		11 August 1675 – 23 October 1700	Born in Paris, she died at the age of 25 at the Château Asnières.
Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon Duchess of Maine		8 November 1676 – 23 January 1753	Born in Paris, she was known as Mademoiselle d’Enghien and then Mademoiselle de Charolais during her youth; she married another illegitimate child of Louis XIV, Louis Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine; the couple had issue.
Marie Anne de Bourbon Duchess of Vendôme		24 February 1678 – 11 April 1718	Born in Paris, she was known as Mademoiselle de Montmorency and then Mademoiselle d’Enghien during her youth; she married her cousin, Louis Joseph de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme; the couple had no issue and Marie Anne died at the Hôtel de Vendôme.
N de Bourbon Mademoiselle de Clermont		17 July 1679 – 17 September 1680	Born and died in Paris.

External links

Media related to Henri Jules, Prince of Condé at Wikimedia Commons