Nicolas Henri de France, Duke of Orléans, was the second son and fourth child of Henry IV of France

Henry IV of France

Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....

 and his Italian queen

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 Marie de' Medici

Marie de' Medici

Marie de Médicis , Italian Maria de' Medici, was queen consort of France, as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. She herself was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici...

.

Biography

Nicolas Henri was born at the Palace of Fontainebleau on 16 (or 13) April 1607 and died on 17 November 1611 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye

The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the département of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale ....

. He was known as Monsieur d'Orléans or the Prince sans nom (prince without name), as it was customary in the royal house of France to name the children only at the time of their baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

.

His youngest brother, Gaston de France

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...

, titled at birth as Duke of Anjou as was customary for the third son, was born in 1608. At a very young age, he had been engaged to Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier

Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier

Marie de Bourbon , Duchess of Montpensier, and Duchess of Orléans by marriage, was a French noblewoman and one of the last members of the House of Bourbon-Montpensier...

, heiress of the House of Bourbon-Montpensier

House of Bourbon-Montpensier

The House of Bourbon-Montpensier or Maison de Bourbon-Montpensier was a semi royal family. The name of Bourbon comes from a marriage between Marie de Valois, comtesse de Montpensier who married Jean de Bourbon - the duc de Bourbon...

. Marie was the greatest heiress of the age and was the future mother of la Grande Mademoiselle.

Nicolas Henri died at the age of four as a result of an epileptic attack. The title of Duke of Orléans reverted back to the crown and was later given to his younger brother Gaston who outlived him for another four decades. His brother would also marry Marie in 1626.

He was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis, outside Paris.

Ancestors

Titles

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