Louis Joseph, Duke of Guise

Coat of Arms of the Dukes of Guise

Louis Joseph, 6th Duke of Guise (August 7, 1650 – July 30, 1671, Paris) was the only son of Louis, Duke of Joyeuse and Marie Françoise, Duchess of Angoulême.

Upon the death of his uncle Henry II, Duke of Guise, Louis Joseph succeeded him as head of the House of Guise. On June 15, 1667, he married Elizabeth d'Orléans, duchesse d'Alençon, daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orléans, at St. Germain-en-Laye. As she was a petite-fille de France, the marriage was considered a coup for the House of Guise, although he was a prince étranger: Saint-Simon noted that she was a stickler for receiving the honours due her rank, even at the expense of her husband's dignity at the court of Louis XIV, inasmuch as he "was only entitled to a folding chair." ^[1] The couple had one son:

Returning from a visit to England, he contracted smallpox on July 18, 1671, and died twelve days later.

French nobility
Preceded by Louis, Duke of Joyeuse	Count of Eu 1654 – 1660	Succeeded by Anne, Duchess of Montpensier
Preceded by Louis, Duke of Joyeuse	Duke of Joyeuse 1654 – 1671	Succeeded by Francis Joseph, Duke of Guise
Preceded by Henry II, Duke of Guise	Duke of Guise Prince of Joinville 1664 – 1671	Succeeded by Francis Joseph, Duke of Guise

[edit] Notes

^ Spanheim, Ézéchiel (1973). in ed. Emile Bourgeois: Relation de la Cour de France, le Temps retrouvé (in French). Paris: Mercure de France, pages 86, 313. “Sur le prix qu'elle attachait à ses honneurs, au risque d'humilier son mari 'qui n'avait qu'un ployant', consulter Saint-Simon”