Charles, Duke of Berry (1686-1714)
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Charles de France, duc de Berry (31 July 1686 – 5 May 1714). As the grandson of the king, he was a Petit-Fils de France. He was a member of the House of Bourbon.
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[edit] Life
Born at the Palace of Versailles, he was the youngest son of Louis de France and Maria Anna of Bavaria, and therefore a grandson of Louis XIV of France. Never born to be king, his older brother Louis de France was to be the hier to the throne at their fathers death in 1711. Given the title of duc de Berry from birth, he would hold it till his death.
[edit] Marriage
As a Petit-Fils de France he was in a posistion to inherit the throne of France should all of the older claimants die. As a result, he was often speculated by other pricely house of France to marry one of their daughters. This was suggested by his aunt the princesse de Condé that he marry her daughter the beautiful Louise-Élisabeth de Bourbon-Condé. This marriage proposal was later abandoned much to the annoyance of the House of Bourbon-Condé.
It was then suggested by his other aunt (and subsequent sister of the princesse de Condé) the duchesse d'Orléans that he marry her eldest daughter known as Mademoiselle d'Orléans (20 August 1695 – 21 July 1719).
This happened on 6 July 1710. She was the daughter of Philip II, Duke of Orléans, future Regent of France. The marriage was unhappy and after a miscarriage during Marie Louise Elisabeth's first pregnancy, she never gave birth to a child that lived for more than a day.
The grandmother of his wife, the Dowager duchesse d'Orléans nicknamed him Berry-Bon Coeur (Berry Good Heart). She later wrote on the marriage of him and her grand daughter;
At first he was passionately fond of his wife; but at the end of three months he fell in love with a little, ugly, femme de chambre. The Duchess, who had sufficient penetration, was not slow in discovering this, and told her husband immediately that, if he continued to live upon good terms with her, as he had done at first, she would say nothing about it, and act as if she were not acquainted with it; but if he behaved ill, she would tell the whole affair to the King, and have the femme de chambre sent away, so that he should never hear of her again. By this threat she held the Duke, who was a very simple man, so completely in check, that he lived very well with her up to his death, leaving her to do as she pleased, and dying himself as fond as ever of the femme de chambre. A year before his death he had her married, but upon condition that the husband should not exercise his marital rights. He left her pregnant as well as his wife, both of whom lay-in after his decease. Madame de Berry, who was not jealous, retained this woman, and took care of her and her child
 Charles de France |
 (L-R) The Dauphin de France; duc d'Anjou sat on the floor; Charles on his mothers lap with the duc de Bourgogne on the right |
[edit] Children
From the marriage, the de Berry couple had 3 children. Unfortunatly none of them lived to be over a year old so the Bourbon-Berry line of the House of Bourbon became extinct at his death. The children were:
- Louise de Berry (Born and died in 1711)
- Charles de Berry (1713 - 1713) duc d’Alençon
- Marie-Louise-Élisabeth de Berry (1714 - 1714)
[edit] Later Life
In 1714 he also became duc d'Alençon and duc d'Angoulême, but he continued to use the title of Berry. He was also comte de Ponthieu.
Following the death of his eldest brother, the Dauphin Louis, duc de Bourgogne in 1712, it appeared likely that Berry would be a future regent of France, in light of the advancing years of Louis XIV, and the youth of his nephew, the future Louis XV.
Accordingly, Berry, who until then had been largely untutored in the ways of statecraft, began to attend the councils of state, in preparation for this role. Berry, however, died from internal injuries sustained in a hunting accident in May 1714.
It was from this death, that his grandfather made the choice to make his illegitimate sons by Madame de Montespan official Princes de Bourbon. This decision also made them contenders for the regency of Berrys nephew the future Louis XV.
[edit] Ancestors
[edit] References
- Mitford, Nancy, The Sun King
