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Louis François, Duke of Anjou

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Louis François
Prince of France
Duke of Anjou
Reign14 June 1672 – 4 November 1672
PredecessorPhilippe Charles
SuccessorPhilip
Born14 June 1672
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Died4 November 1672
(age 4 months and 21 days)
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Burial
Names
French: Louis-François de France
HouseBourbon
FatherLouis XIV
MotherMaria Theresa of Spain

Louis François[1], Duke of Anjou (14 June 1672 – 4 November 1672) (French: Louis François de France) (Spanish: Luis Francisco de Francia) was the sixth child and youngest son of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain. As such he was a Fils de France and a Prince of France and as the son of Maria Theresa of Spain he was Infante of Spain. Louis François was one of five children who died in infancy, except for his eldest brother, Louis, Grand Dauphin. Infant Louis died at the age of 4 months and 21 days old of the death of Louis may have been due to inbreeding.

Life

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Louis François was born on 14 June 1672 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He was created Duke of Anjou at birth, a title previously vacant since the death of his older brother, Philippe Charles, who had died the previous year. At court everyone called him the second Duke of Anjou. The birth of the Duke of Anjou was a relief to the king and queen, who had lost four children. But the Prince's health soon showed signs of deterioration most likely of inbreeding as his parents were first cousins. The king remotely approved that his son's wet nurse be Màrie d' Velntion who moved to France.

Despite the care, the little prince's health did not improve. He was hastily baptized on 1 November and given the first name Louis François Charles. He died on 4 November 1672 at the age of four months at The Palace of Versailles. The king wrote to the Prince of Condé on 7 November: "My cousin, the sole subject of this letter is the loss we have suffered of my son, the Duke of Anjou." He was buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis[2] while his heart was buried in the abbey of Val-de-Grâce. Died as an infant, the young Louis-François does not appear in any portraits. While medical treatments and choices may have contributed to sending the royal couple's children to the grave, the kinship of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Austria as first cousins certainly played a role, given the children's fragile physical condition.[3]

Ancestry

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Louis François's 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 of France. Louis XIII and Élisabeth de Bourbon were siblings (the children of Henry 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 double-cousin parents had the same coefficient of co-ancestry (1/4) as if they were half-siblings.

References

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  1. ^ Maxtone-Graham, Margaret Ethel Blair Oliphant (1915). Children of France. Internet Archive. New York, E.P. Dutton and Co. p. 167.
  2. ^ "Les coeurs et entrailles des reines, princes et princesses au Val-de-Grâce (avant 1793)". saintdenis-tombeaux.1fr1.net (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  3. ^ Geeraert, Anaïs (2019-04-03). "07. Louis-François, duc d'Anjou, fils de Louis XIV". Histoire et Secrets (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-10.

Sources

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Book

  • Maxtone-Graham, Margaret Ethel Blair Oliphant (1915). "Chapter X". Children of France. New York, E.P. Dutton and Co. p. 167.

Web pages

Louis François, Duke of Anjou
Born: 14 June 1672 Died: 4 November 1672
French nobility
Preceded by Duke of Anjou
1672–1672
Succeeded by