Friday 28 October 2005

Royal Second Son Syndrome - Part 2

Last column began a three-part series featuring the French Royal House of Bourbon, and the strange case of generational brother versus brother, where in the outcome of one way over -the-top sibling rivalry the real winner seemed to be the biggest loser. 

Just to recap: Henry IV of France married Marie di Medici and had two sons, Louis and Gaston. On Henry�s death his eldest became Louis XIII. Louis married the daughter of Philip III of Spain, Anne of Austria. Gaston married Marie de Bourbon, duchess of Montpensier. Gaston had plotted unsuccessfully to overthrow his brother and take the throne for himself, and Anne had been accused of secretly putting in with him in revenge for his cruelties to her. Nevertheless Louis and Anne had two sons, Louis and Philippe. Gaston had one daughter, Anne Marie, known as La Grande Mademoiselle. When little Louis was five and Philippe, three the King died, and Louis XIV became king under the regency of his mother Anne and Cardinal Richelieu�s understudy, Cardinal Mazarin.  

Following the principles of primogeniture all the hopes for the house of Bourbon were settled on Louis. Louis was divinity on earth, his word law and his orders obeyed with question. All power over government, military and fashion was his. Perhaps because of the example of his father and uncle Louis treated no one with less respect, held nobody more financially beholden to him or kept anyone more emotionally tortured than Philippe. Known formally as Monsieur (his wives as Madame), he will be referred to as M. (abbreviation) throughout the rest of this history. The only way M. had found to fight back, as an adult was to flaunt his homosexuality right under Louis� nose. Neither the Church nor the Court tolerated these practices, at least publicly. M.�s mincing about in his fashionable high heels, covered in jewels from head to foot, parading about in his collection of giant black wigs with heavily rouged face, going out to parties and dances dressed as a woman, his dependence on his male favorites, all disgusted Louis and their mother. But until Louis married and had a legitimate son M. was the heir. M.�s education had ceased early when it became apparent that he was smarter than Louis was. But just in case Louis died early, which in those days was a real possibility, provisions to carry on the line through M. had to be arranged.  

His first marriage to Henriette, baby sister of England�s Charles II, was a disaster. M. took no pleasure in marital relations, and just to punish him Louis banished M.�s lifelong dominator, the chevalier of Lorraine, from Paris so he could not interfere with M. getting on with the job. Despite several births only two daughters survived to marry into other European houses. After Henriette died at age 26 from the effects of TB and anorexia nervosa, Louis set about finding his 30-year-old brother a new bride-one who could bear him a son or two this time.  

Anne of Gonzaga, a great friend of M., was in Germany when she heard of Madame�s death, and quickly set her sights on promoting her own niece, 18-year-old Elizabeth Charlotte, daughter of the Elector of the Palatinate, as the next candidate.  

The Elector was broke and couldn�t afford to pay the agreed dowry, but he wanted the money such a marriage would be sure to bring his way. Louis� only son, the dauphin, wasn�t a promising prospect, and Louis� other four children with an earlier mistress had to wait until the dowager Queen�s death before he could force their legitimacy through the French parlement. 

Despite the drawbacks Louis decided she would just have to do. M. was never asked for his opinion, and nobody really knew what he thought about it one way or the other. Louis wouldn�t have cared anyway. 

Liselotte, as she was known in her family, was a robust, unattractive tomboy. She was also Protestant, but that was easily fixed. The couple was married, sight unseen, by proxy in Metz in 1671, and thereafter she made her way to France by carriage, accompanied by Gonzaga. M., with his entire court trailing behind, met them half way. 

Little M., as usual bewigged, rouged, and bejewelled, towered precariously above his new bride on his 12-inch heels as she curtsied deeply in her most unfashionable organza dress. The shock on both their faces as she rose and they got a first look at each other was quickly brought under control. How, M. asked in a loud whisper, was he ever going to be able to sleep with her? By all accounts she too was short, with a broad, jowly face. But as soon as she got over the border Liselotte was baptized as a Catholic and the religious ceremony took place at Chalons. All along the road to Paris the couple were feted and cheered. Even Louis was impressed with her self-deprecation and her sharp mind. The king had a ball watching how the 19-year-old reacted to her new life style. As soon as she learned to ride hunting became a passion, as indeed did anything she could do outdoors.  

For a while the King allowed his benevolent light to shine on the couple. The new Madame never let her new position go to her head and her husband quickly became her best friend (they continued to love and support each other for the rest of his life). If anything bothered her she would simply go for long hikes in the forest, and come back with a ravening appetite for sausages and beer. (The Jester�s kind of girl). It was perhaps because his wife was more manly than female that M., after invoking Our Lady�s help more often than not, found that he could perform his marital duties. There was no jealousy with Louis either. Madame had three difficult pregnancies in three years, giving birth to two boys and a girl; after which, to their mutual relief, M. returned to the ministrations of Lorraine, whom Louis had allowed back to Paris just after M�s second son was born. As M. never liked to be touched in bed, Liselotte had often found herself falling out when she had had to lie so far on her own side to avoid any contact that she had rolled over once too often. 

With his newfound confidence, and heir-production duties fulfilled, M. found his greatest victories were ahead on the battlefield. Despite the danger to himself M. never shirked from fighting down in the trenches with his men. He thoroughly enjoyed being command of an all-male army. Neither he nor the king were professional soldiers, but M. soon proved to be better at it than Louis, and that was not going to be allowed to last. He fought with distinction at Flanders in 1667, and finished with major victories at Cassels and St. Omer. 

Far beyond anyone�s expectations M.�s greatest victory was indeed routing William of Orange from the field during the Dutch Wars. And this momentous triumph brought about the turning point of his own life. He laid a successful siege that led to a small victory for his troops. One would have thought it was Trafalgar to judge by the victory party that ensued. For a jealous Louis this unbridled hero-worship could not be allowed to continue. 

His leadership in directing a diversionary force at Maastricht allowed the king�s main army to take the town. But as always, whenever it looked like he was winning fate stepped in and snatched it all away. His two-year-old son, the Duc de Valois, died. When his wife caught a near-fatal fever he hurried home to attend her. 

On top of this her second pregnancy proved a difficult one and it might have been that he wanted to be close by in case something happened that caused him to fade from the field for two years. Louis tried to use this excuse to fade his brother from the limelight permanently.

France�s fortunes of war were starting to diminish. Louis never put his brother�s needs ahead of the state�s at any time and appointed another commander over him for the final campaign against Orange. Despite this it was M.�s victory at Cassels that defeated William. Although both Liselotte and indeed all of Paris were overjoyed, Louis removed M. from his command for failing to follow orders! 

For the next six years M. and Liselotte were happy together building his beloved chateau at St. Cloud, a wonder that threatened to outshine Louis�s palace at Versailles. His son Philippe and daughter Elizabeth Charlotte grew up. Despite the fact that by the time she was in her 40�s Liselotte was enormous her intellectual pursuits were well established. She wrote voluminous letters to her Aunt Sophie, most of which have been destroyed. She collected coins. She had hated being pregnant because it kept her from the hunt.  

Meanwhile the dauphin had married and produced a son, also named Louis. The Sun King also had four other bastard children: Louis Auguste, Duc du Maine; daughter Madame la duchesse; another daughter who was destined to marry her cousin Philippe; and the second son Louis Alexandre, Comte de Toulouse, born 1678. Both of these sons were being promoted and favoured even if they were hardly qualified for their jobs. This was also aided and abetted by Louis�s longtime mistress the Marquesse de Maintenon. Their mother the Marquesse de Montespan, long abandoned, lived on in her apartment at the top of the stairs at Versailles, unable to tear herself away from her glory days memories. 

Louis�s pathological need to always be the one and only extended to the younger generations, and typically it was the king�s treatment of M�s second son that brought about his own too-early end.  

Despite his obvious superiority Philippe, Duc de Chartres, was constantly passed over for prestigious honours in favour of Maine and Toulouse. Louis didn�t want his nephew in the army period. The last straw came when Louis and his family were having lunch at his new palace at Marly. He began by casting the blame on his brother for all Chartres� illicit affairs, citing the fact that his mistress had just borne him a son at the same time his wife (who happened to be Louis�s own daughter-but that�s a story for next column) gave him a third daughter. This final screaming match between the two was heard all over the palace. It ended in a stalemate, and one more wound that would never heal. 

M. and company stayed for a stormy, silent dinner that day and then returned to St. Cloud. He had supper with Chartres that night and during the meal suffered a stroke, falling into his son�s arms. Louis waited until the next morning when the situation looked dire to make an appearance. The day after, June 9, 1701, Philippe, Duc d�Orleans, died at age 61. Louis had him buried in state in the Bourbon crypt at St. Denis. (During the Revolution in 1793, mobs stormed the tombs, dug up all the royal remains and reburied them all mixed up together in a common grave). 

What Louis had failed to notice however, was that as he had been steadily paying off his brother, to control him, with generous pensions and taking care of his debts, etc., M. had used it to do some major investing in real estate, among other things. Louis�s contributions to M. allowed him to lay the foundation for a vast fortune, and he was a very wealthy man at the time of his death. He had a strong, healthy son and daughter who would carry on his name, and left them the financial means for the House of Orleans to turf out and eventually outlive the Bourbon line in France. 

Through his daughter continued the Royal Houses of Hungary, Austria, Italy and France. Through his son today the Pretender to the French throne is Jean, Duc du Vendome, whose great-great-grandfather was Robert, Duc de Chartres, a second son. 

The rivalries and marriages of their children would have profound effects on the stories of Europe for many generations yet to come. In the final installment next month the Jester will explore just how the legacies of both these royal Bourbon brothers� second sons were inextricably tied to the fate of a world that would have no place for a Sun King again. 

Or will it?

Anon.

Part 3

- The Court Jester