Louis, Dauphin of France (1682-1712)

For other uses of "Louis, Dauphin", see Louis, Dauphin. House of Bourbon Henri IVSister Catherine, duchesse de LorraineChildren Louis XIII Elisabeth, Queen of Spain Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy Nicholas Henri, duc d'Orléans Gaston, duc d'Orléans

Henriette-Marie, Queen of England

Louis XIIIChildren Louis XIV Philippe, duc d'Orléans Louis XIVChildren Louis, Dauphin Anne-Élisabeth Marie-Anne Marie-Therèse Philippe-Charles, duc d'Anjou Louis-François, duc d'AnjouGrandchildren Louis, Dauphin King Felipe V of Spain Charles, duc de BerryGreat Grandchildren Louis, Dauphin Louis XV Louis XVChildren Louise-Elisabeth, duchesse de Parme Madame Henriette Louis, Dauphin Madame Adélaïde Madame Victoire Madame Sophie Madame LouiseGrandchildren Marie Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia Louis XVI Louis XVIII Charles X Madame Élisabeth Louis XVIChildren Marie-Thérèse, duchesse d'Angouleme Louis-Joseph, Dauphin Louis XVII Sophie-Beatrix Louis XVII Louis XVIII Charles XChildren Louis XIX Charles, duc de BerryGrandchildren Henri V Louise, duchesse de Parme French monarchy, 843-1870This box: view • talk • edit

Louis, Dauphin of France and Duke of Burgundy (August 16, 1682 - February 18, 1712) was the son of Louis, le Grand Dauphin, and Maria Anna of Bavaria. He is sometimes, inaccurately, known as Le Petit Dauphin.

His paternal grandparents were Louis XIV of France and his wife Maria Theresa of Spain. As the grandson of the king, he was a Petit-Fils de France. His maternal grandparents were the Elector of Bavaria Ferdinand Maria and Adelaide Henriette of Savoy, daughter of Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy.

Born in Versailles, he was second in the line of succession to the throne of his paternal grandfather, Louis XIV. He was styled as Duke of Burgundy from birth. After his father's death in 1711, Louis succeeded him as heir (Dauphin) to the throne of France. However, both he and his wife Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy contracted an illness and died within six days of one another in early 1712. Their eldest surviving son Louis, Duke of Brittany, succeeded to the title of Dauphin but succumbed to the same illness. Their youngest son, the Duke of Anjou, then only two years old, survived to become King Louis XV of France in 1715.

Political role

Louis, duke of Burgundy

A wicked and arrogant young prince who respected no one, the Duke of Burgundy was turned after much effort into a very pious and religious man by his tutor Fénelon (the famous archbishop of Cambrai). As early as 1702, the 20-year-old duke of Burgundy was admitted by his grandfather Louis XIV in the High Council (Conseil d'en haut), in charge of secrets of State regarding religion, diplomacy, and war.

The duc de Bourgogne was influenced by the devout party (see dévots), and he was surrounded by a circle of people, known as the faction of Bourgogne, most notably made up of his old tutor Fénélon, his old governor the duc de Beauvilliers, the duc de Chevreuse (son-in-law of Colbert), and the duc de Saint-Simon (author of famous historical memoirs). These high ranking aristocrats were reformists advocating a return to a less absolute monarchy with councils and intermediary organs of powers (between the king and the people) made up of aristocrats (as opposed to commoners from the bourgeoisie who were appointed by Louis XIV) which would assist the king in the exercise of government power. There was the utopian ideal of a monarchy controlled by the aristocracy (seen as the representation of the people) and non-centralized (with vast powers granted to the provinces), which the duke of Burgundy would probably have applied had he become king.

The premature death of the duc de Bourgogne ruined the hopes of his faction, and most of the men surrounding him died soon afterwards of natural death. However, the Regency (Régence) that started in 1715 put into practice some of their ideas, with the creation of the so-called polysynody, which was soon abandoned in 1718 with a return to the Louis XIV style of absolute monarchy.

Marriage and children

On December 7, 1697 he was married to Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy (1685-1712). She was the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and his first wife Anne Marie of Orléans. Her maternal grandparents were Philippe I, duc d'Orléans and Henrietta Anne Stuart. They had three children:
- Louis, Duke of Brittany (1704-1705)
- Louis, Dauphin of France (1707-1712)
- Louis XV (1710-1774)

Ancestry

16. Henry IV of France 8. Louis XIII of France 17. Marie de' Medici 4. Louis XIV of France 18. Philip III of Spain 9. Infanta Anne of Spain 19. Archduchess Margaret of Austria 2. Louis, Dauphin of France 20. Philip III of Spain(= 18) 10. Philip IV of Spain 21. Archduchess Margaret of Austria(= 19) 5. Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain 22. Henry IV of France(= 16) 11. Princess Elisabeth of France 23. Marie de' Medici(= 17) 1. Louis, Dauphin of France and Duke of Burgundy 24. William V, Duke of Bavaria 12. Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria 25. Princess Renata of Lorraine 6. Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria 26. Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor 13. Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria 27. Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria 3. Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria 28. Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy 14. Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy 29. Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain 7. Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy 30. Henry IV of France(= 16) 15. Princess Christine Marie of France 31. Marie de' Medici(= 17)