Louis-César de Bourbon
Encyclopedia
Louis César de Bourbon, Légitimé de France, Count of Vexin
Counts of the Vexin
The county of the Vexin was a medieval French county which comprised the Vexin Français and the Vexin Normand until the loss of the latter in 911 to Duke Rollo of Normandy...

(Génitoy, 20 June 1672 - Paris, 10 January 1683) was a son of Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

 and his mistress
Royal mistress
A royal mistress is the historical position of a mistress to a monarch or senior Royal. Some mistresses have had considerable power. The prevalence of the institution can be attributed to the fact that royal marriages were until recent times conducted solely on the basis of political and dynastic...

 Madame de Montespan
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan , better known as Madame de Montespan, was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children....

. He was the Abbot of Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Saint-Denis is a sous-préfecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Saint-Denis....

 and of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Saint-Germain-des-Prés is an area of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés....

.

Biography

Louis César, born at the château du Génitoy, was the second son born to Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. Named after Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

; his older brother Louis Auguste de Bourbon
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine
Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Legitimé de France was the eldest legitimised son of the Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan...

 was named after Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

 and the later born Louis Alexandre de Bourbon
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse , duc de Penthièvre , d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet , , was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Madame de Montespan...

 was named after Alexander the Great.

Louis César was born at a time when the court was in mourning for Princess Marie-Thérèse of France, known as la petite Madame, who had died in March of 1672.

Louis César would grow up with his older brother Louis-Auguste in the care of Madame Scarron
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon was the second wife of King Louis XIV of France. She was known during her first marriage as Madame Scarron, and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon...

 in a house on the rue de Vaugirad in Paris. This house had been purchased by the king specifically for his illegitimate children. The next year, while his father was on a military tour at Tournai
Tournai
Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....

, he was joined by a sister, Louise Françoise de Bourbon
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman that her mother had replaced as the king's...

 born in June, Louis César and his parents, as well as the Queen Marie Thérèse d'Autriche
Maria Theresa of Spain
Maria Theresa of Austria was the daughter of Philip IV, King of Spain and Elizabeth of France. Maria Theresa was Queen of France as wife of King Louis XIV and mother of the Grand Dauphin, an ancestor of the last four Bourbon kings of France.-Early life:Born as Infanta María Teresa of Spain at the...

 were present as was Madame Scarron.

Scarron was greatly attached to Louis Auguste, not so much Louise Françoise or Louis César. On 19 December 1673, Louis XIV officially recognised his children with Montespan with Letters Patent from the Parlement de Paris
Parlement
Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...

. This made all these children Enfant's Légitimé's de France, Legitimate Children of France.

With this legitimisation, Louis César received the title Count of Vexin
Counts of the Vexin
The county of the Vexin was a medieval French county which comprised the Vexin Français and the Vexin Normand until the loss of the latter in 911 to Duke Rollo of Normandy...

 - an ancient title dating from the 10th century. His brother became the duc du Maine and his sister Madamoiselle de Nantes.

From early in his life, Vexin had had a crooked spine since birth. This caused him to limp and was not helped by one of his shoulders being higher than the other. His father, who adored him, decided the child was to be destined for the church. His father bestowed the title of Abbot of Saint Denis on his son. The Royal Cathedral of Saint Denis, Cathédrale royale de Saint-Denis, was the traditional burial place of the kings of France since the 7th century and was one of the wealthiest churches in France.

Despite being the Abbot of Saint Denis, he was too young to carry out any duties and thus remained at the court of his father whilst under the care of Scarron. In 1674 another sister joined the family; Louise Marie Anne
Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon
Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France, Mademoiselle de Tours was the illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV of France and his most famous Maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan...

 was born in November 1674 and was created Mademoiselle de Tours after her legitimisation in 1676.

The doctors at court tried to help with Louis-César's condition but failed using the awful treatments. After such treatments, Louis César's general condition worsened after 1675. He was watched over by his mother and his maternal Aunt the marquise de Thianges. He would never be a strong child.

In between the years of 1677-1678 he was joined by two more siblings; Françoise Marie de Bourbon
Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Originally known as the second Mademoiselle de Blois, that style eventually gave way to the name Françoise Marie de...

 born May 1677; and Louis Alexandre de Bourbon
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse , duc de Penthièvre , d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet , , was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Madame de Montespan...

 in June at Clagny.

In 1678 it was thought that he may die; again he was "treated" but did not do anything other than keep him alive. His condition was so bad that he was bedridden for days at a time.

Around the time of Françoise Marie, his mother was supposedly involved in the Affaire des Poisons
Poison affair
The Affair of the Poisons was a major murder scandal in France which took place in 1677–1682, during the reign of King Louis XIV. During it, a number of prominent members of the aristocracy were implicated and sentenced on charges of poisoning and witchcraft...

which made her lose favour with the king who sought comfort with another mistress Angélique de Fontanges
Angélique de Fontanges
Marie Angélique de Scorailles was a French noblewoman and one of the many mistresses of Louis XIV. A lady-in-waiting to his sister-in-law the Duchess of Orléans, she caught the attention of the Sun King and became his lover in 1679...

. After that time, he spent more time with his mother at her private residence, the Château de Clagny
Château de Clagny
The Château de Clagny was a French country house that stood northeast of the Château de Versailles; it was designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart for Madame de Montespan between 1674 and 1680...

. His mother stayed with him a lot of the time.

Some time before his death, Louis César said to Scarron;

Madame, the whole time that you were committed to oversee my upbringing, I tried, as much as it was in me, to obey you to show my deference to my parents that had placed you with us. Madame de Thianges
Gabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart
Gabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marchioness of Thianges was a French noblewoman. A great beauty and wit, she was the older sister of Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Madame de Montespan.-Biography:...

, I love nevertheless of all my heart [...] Do not believe that this be the love that you carry to Monsieur du Maine that inspires jealousy and that prevents me from loving you; no, because you always counseled me [...] That is ugly to be ungrateful, and I say it in front of my bonne amie [this is what Vexin liked to call his mother] and in front of Madame de Thianges: you are an ungrateful one..


Louis César died in Paris in 1683 at the age of 10. His mother was distraught; Vexin was buried at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, just beyond the outskirts of early medieval Paris, was the burial place of Merovingian kings of Neustria...

. Six months later, Queen Marie Thérèse d'Autriche
Maria Theresa of Spain
Maria Theresa of Austria was the daughter of Philip IV, King of Spain and Elizabeth of France. Maria Theresa was Queen of France as wife of King Louis XIV and mother of the Grand Dauphin, an ancestor of the last four Bourbon kings of France.-Early life:Born as Infanta María Teresa of Spain at the...

 died at Versailles. She was buried at Saint Denis.

Siblings

{| class="toccolours collapsible collapsed" width=100% align="center"
|-
! style="background:#ccccff;"|Siblings and Family
|-
|
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name!!Birth!!Death!!Notes
|-
|colspan=4|Full siblings - by Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise de Montespan
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan , better known as Madame de Montespan, was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children....

 (5 October 1641 – 27 May 1707)

|-
| Louise Françoise de Bourbon || at the end of March, 1669 || 23 February 1672 ||
|-
| Louis Auguste de Bourbon
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine
Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Legitimé de France was the eldest legitimised son of the Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan...

, duc du Maine || 31 March 1670||14 May 1736|| Legitimised on 20 December 1673. Held numerous offices, of which: Colonel-Général des Suisses et des Grisons
Maison du Roi
The Maison du Roi was the name of the military, domestic and religious entourage around the royal family in France during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration; the exact composition and duties of its various divisions changed constantly over the Early Modern period...

, Governor of Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...

, Général des Galères, and Grand-Maître de l'Artillerie
Grand Master of Artillery
The Grand Master of Artillery or Grand Maître de l'artillerie was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France during the Ancien Régime....

. Was also duc d'Aumale, comte d'Eu and prince de Dombes. Had issue with Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon. Founder of the House of Bourbon-du Maine
Bourbon du Maine
The House of Bourbon-Maine was an illegitimate branch of the House of Bourbon, being thus part of the Capetian dynasty. It was founded in 1672 when Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine was legitimised by his father, King Louis XIV of France....

.
|-
| Louis César de Bourbon, comte de Vexin, abbé de Saint-Denis et de Saint-Germain-des-Prés|| 20 June 1672 || 10 January 1683 ||Legitimised on 20 December 1673.
|-
| Louise Françoise de Bourbon
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman that her mother had replaced as the king's...

, Mlle de Nantes, duchesse de Bourbon, princesse de Condé||1 June 1673||16 June 1743||Legitimised on 20 December 1673. Married Louis de Bourbon, duc d'Enghien, (later duc de Bourbon, and then prince de Condé)
Louis III, Prince of Condé
Louis de Bourbon, , was Prince of Condé for less than a year, following the death of his father Henry III, Prince of Condé in 1709...

. Had issue.
|-
| Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon
Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon
Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France, Mademoiselle de Tours was the illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV of France and his most famous Maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan...

, Mlle de Tours ||12 November 1674||15 September 1681 ||Legitimised in January 1676.
|-
| Françoise Marie de Bourbon
Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Originally known as the second Mademoiselle de Blois, that style eventually gave way to the name Françoise Marie de...

, Mlle de Blois, duchesse d'Orléans||4 May 1677||1 February 1749||Legitimised in November 1681. Married Philippe d'Orléans, duc de Chartres, (later duc d'Orléans)
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...

, the Regent of France
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....

 under Louis XV. Had issue.
|-
| Louis Alexandre de Bourbon
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse , duc de Penthièvre , d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet , , was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Madame de Montespan...

, comte de Toulouse ||6 June 1678||1 December 1737||Legitimised on 22 November 1681. Held numerous offices, of which: Admiral of France
Admiral of France
The title Admiral of France is one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, the naval equivalent of Marshal of France.The title was created in 1270 by Louis IX of France, during the Eighth Crusade. At the time it was equivalent to the office of Constable of France. The Admiral was responsible...

, Governor of Guyenne
Guyenne
Guyenne or Guienne , , ; Occitan Guiana ) is a vaguely defined historic region of south-western France. The Province of Guyenne, sometimes called the Province of Guyenne and Gascony, was a large province of pre-revolutionary France....

, Governor of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

, and Grand-Veneur de France
Grand Huntsman of France
The Grand Veneur de France or Grand Huntsman of France was a position in the King's Household in France during the Ancien Régime. The word French "veneur" , derives from the Middle French word "vener" , from which also was derived the archaic English words "venerer" and "venery"...

. Was also duc de Damville, de Rambouillet et de Penthièvre. Had issue. Founder of the House of Bourbon-Toulouse
Bourbon-Penthièvre
The House of Bourbon-Penthièvre was an illegitimate branch of the House of Bourbon, thus descending from the Capetian dynasty. It was founded by the duc de Penthièvre , the only child and heir of the comte de Toulouse, the youngest illegitimate son of Louis XIV of France and the marquise de...

.
|-
|colspan=4|Paternal legitimate half-siblings - by Marie Thérèse d'Autriche, Infanta of Spain, Queen of France and of Navarre
Maria Theresa of Spain
Maria Theresa of Austria was the daughter of Philip IV, King of Spain and Elizabeth of France. Maria Theresa was Queen of France as wife of King Louis XIV and mother of the Grand Dauphin, an ancestor of the last four Bourbon kings of France.-Early life:Born as Infanta María Teresa of Spain at the...

 (20 September 1638 – 30 July 1683)

|-
| Louis of France, le Grand Dauphin || 1 November 1661 || 14 April 1711||Fils de France
Fils de France
Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...

. Dauphin of France (1661–1711). Had issue. Father of Louis, duc de Bourgogne (later Dauphin of France), Philippe, duc d'Anjou (later King of Spain)
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...

 and Charles, duc de Berry. Grandfather of Louis, duc d'Anjou (later Dauphin, and then King of France)
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...


|-
| Princess Anne Élisabeth of France||18 November 1662||30 December 1662||Fille de France. Died in infancy.
|-
| Princess Marie Anne of France||16 November 1664||26 December 1664 (?)||Fille de France. Died in infancy or became Louise Marie-Therese (The Black Nun of Moret)
Louise Marie-Therese (The Black Nun of Moret)
Louise Marie-Thérèse also known as The Negroid Nun of Moret was a French nun, the object of a gossip story in the 18th century, where she is pointed out as the daughter of the Queen of France, Maria Theresa of Spain...

.
|-
| Princess Marie Thérèse of France, Madame Royale||2 January 1667||1 March 1672||Fille de France. Known as Madame Royale
Madame Royale
Madame Royale was a style customarily used for the eldest living unmarried daughter of a reigning French monarch.It was similar to the style Monsieur, which was typically used by the King's second son...

 and la Petite Madame
|-
| Philippe Charles of France duc d'Anjou||5 August 1668||10 July 1671||Fils de France
Fils de France
Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...

.
|-
|Louis-François of France
Louis François, Duke of Anjou
Louis François of France, fils de France, Duke of Anjou was a Fils de France and Duke of Anjou. He was the youngest son of Louis XIV.-Biography:...

, duc d'Anjou||14 June 1672||4 November 1672||Fils de France
Fils de France
Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...

. Died in infancy.
|-
|colspan=4| Paternal illegitimate half-siblings - by Louise-Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc, duchesse de La Vallière et de Vaujours
Louise de La Vallière
Louise de La Vallière was a mistress of Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667. She later became the Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of Vaujours in her own right...

 (6 August 1644 – 6 June 1710)

|-
|Charles de Bourbon||19 December 1663||15 July 1665||Not legitimised.
|-
|Philippe de Bourbon||7 January 1665||1666||Not legitimised.
|-
|Marie Anne de Bourbon
Marie Anne de Bourbon
Marie Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and Louise de La Vallière. At the age of thirteen, she was married to Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and as such was the Princess of Conti by marriage...

, Mlle de Blois, duchesse de La Vallière, princesse de Conti || 2 October 1666|| 3 May 1739||Legitimised on 14 May 1667. Married Louis Armand de Bourbon
Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti
Louis Armand I de Bourbon was Prince of Conti from 1666 to his death, succeeding his father, Armand de Bourbon. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince du Sang....

, prince de Conti.
|-
| Louis de Bourbon, comte de Vermandois||3 October 1667||18 November 1683||Legitimised on 20 February 1669. Held the office of Admiral of France
Admiral of France
The title Admiral of France is one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, the naval equivalent of Marshal of France.The title was created in 1270 by Louis IX of France, during the Eighth Crusade. At the time it was equivalent to the office of Constable of France. The Admiral was responsible...

.
|-
|colspan=4|Paternal illegitimate half-siblings - by Claude de Vin, Mademoiselle des Oeillets (c. 1637 - 18 May 1687)
|-
|Louise de Maisonblanche
Louise de Maisonblanche
Louise de Bourbon de Maisonblanche, Baroness of La Queue was an illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV of France and Claude de Vin des Œillets; Mademoiselle des Œillets was the Lady-in-waiting to Madame de Montespan, Louis' long term mistress.-Biography:Born in Paris in 1676, she was one of many...

||1676||12 September 1718||In 1696 she married Bernard de Prez, Baron de La Queue. http://geneweb.inria.fr/roglo?lang=fr;i=50945
|-
|colspan=4|by Marie Angelique de Scorailles
Angélique de Fontanges
Marie Angélique de Scorailles was a French noblewoman and one of the many mistresses of Louis XIV. A lady-in-waiting to his sister-in-law the Duchess of Orléans, she caught the attention of the Sun King and became his lover in 1679...

, Duchess de Fontanges (1661 - 28 June 1681)

|-
|son||1681||1681||
|-
|colspan=4|Maternal legitimate half-siblings - by Louis Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin
Louis Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin
Louis Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin , marquis of Montespan, was a French nobleman. He is most notable as the husband of Louis XIV's mistress Madame de Montespan.-Life:...

, Marquis of Montespan (1640 - 1 December 1691)

|-
| Marie-Christine de Pardaillan de Gondrin || 1663 ||1675 || died in childhood.
|-
| Louis Antoine de Pardaillan de Gondrin
Louis Antoine de Pardaillan de Gondrin
Louis Antoine de Pardaillan de Gondrin , marquis of Antin, Gondrin and Montespan , then 1st Duke of Antin was a French nobleman...

, marquis d'Antin, Gondrin and Montespan later duc d'Antin ||Paris, 5 September 1665 || Paris, 2 November 1736 || married Julie Françoise de Crussol d'Uzès and had issue.
|}

Ancestry



Titles and styles

  • 20 June 1672 – 19 December 1673 Louis-César de Bourbon
  • 19 December 1673 – 10 January 1683 His Highness
    Highness
    Highness, often used with a possessive adjective , is an attribute referring to the rank of the dynasty in an address...

    Louis-César de Bourbon, Legitimé de France, "Count of Vexin"
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