Louis Joseph, Duke of Guise
Encyclopedia
Louis, Duke of Joyeuse
Louis de Lorraine, Duke of Joyeuse was a younger son of Charles, Duke of Guise and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse.-Life:...
and Marie Françoise de Valois, the only daughter of the Count of Alès, Governor of Provence and son of Charles de Valois Duke of Angoulême, a bastard of Charles IX of France
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
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Biography
He was born at the Hôtel de Guise, present Hôtel de SoubiseHôtel de Soubise
The Hôtel de Soubise is a city mansion entre cour et jardin , located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the IIIe arrondissement of Paris....
.
His mother having been confined to the abbey of Essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
for "imbecility" (that is, mental illness), Louis Joseph was raised by his aunt and legal guardian, Marie de Lorraine, known as "Mademoiselle de Guise." Upon the death of his uncle Henry II, Duke of Guise
Henry II, Duke of Guise
Henry II de Lorraine, 5th Duke of Guise was the second son of Charles, Duke of Guise and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse.-Life:...
, Louis Joseph succeeded him as head of the House of Guise
House of Guise
The House of Guise was a French ducal family, partly responsible for the French Wars of Religion.The Guises were Catholic, and Henry Guise wanted to end growing Calvinist influence...
. Mlle de Guise promptly ordered extensive renovations to the family's stately residence, known as the "Hôtel de Guise."
In October 1663, the young duke and his aunt were received in great pomp in his duchy of Joinville. He received an excellent education, under the guidance of Mlle de Guise's protégé, Philippe Goibaut, and his skills as a horseman were honed by François Roger de Gaignières
François Roger de Gaignières
François Roger de Gaignières , French genealogist, antiquary and collector, was the grandson of a merchant at Lyon and the son of Aimé de Gaignières, secretary to the Count of Harcourt, a member of the Elbeuf branch of the House of Guise. In the late 1660s, he was named écuyer to Louis Joseph,...
, his écuyer.
On 15 June 1667, the young Duke married Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans, duchesse d'Alençon, daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston of France, , also known as Gaston d'Orléans, was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his wife Marie de Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a Fils de France. He later acquired the title Duke of Orléans, by which he was generally known during his adulthood...
, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre.Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois...
. As she was a petite-fille de France, the marriage was considered a coup for the House of Guise, for the bridegroom was a mere prince étranger
Foreign Prince
Foreign Prince is the English translation of prince étranger, a high, though somewhat ambiguous, rank at the French royal court of the ancien régime.-Terminology:...
: Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy commonly known as Saint-Simon was a French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born in Paris...
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
Noble court
The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...
of Louis XIV
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...
, inasmuch as he "was only entitled to a folding stool." Mademoiselle de Guise carefully trained her nephew to receive Italian nobles and ambassadors who were passing through Paris, and it doubtlessly was in order to add additional luster to the couple's little court that Mlle de Guise invited Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
to move into an apartment at the Hôtel de Guise and compose for the young couple's chapel.
The couple had one son:
- Francis Joseph de Lorraine, Duke of AlençonFrancis Joseph, Duke of GuiseFrançois Joseph de Lorraine , Duke of Guise, Duke of Alençon and Duke of Angoulême, was the only son of Louis Joseph de Lorraine, Duke of Guise and Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans, suo jure duchess of Alençon.-Biography:Born at the Hôtel de Guise in Paris to the daughter of Gaston d'Orléans and the...
(1670–1675)
The young Duke was winning the approval of Louis XIV and was given the honor of being at the King's side in military reviews. Then disaster struck. Returning from a visit to the court of Charles II, king of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, he fell ill with smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
on 18 July 1671, and died twelve days later.
The music for his funeral was composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. His body was carried to Joinville
Joinville, Haute-Marne
Joinville is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France.Its medieval château-fort, which gave to members of the House of Guise their title, duc de Joinville, was demolished during the Revolution of 1789, but the 16th-century Château du Grand Jardin built by Claude de Lorraine,...
to be buried near his ancestors, and his heart was buried at the abbey of Montmartre
Saint Pierre de Montmartre
The Church of Saint Peter of Montmartre is the lesser known of the two main churches on Montmartre in Paris, the other being the 19th-century Sacré-Cœur Basilica...
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