Louis Alexandre de Bourbon (Louis Alexandre Joseph Stanislas; 6 September 1747 – 6 May 1768) was the son and heir of

Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

, great grandson of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

by the king's legitimised son, Louis Alexandre de Bourbon. He was known as the ''Prince of Lamballe'' from birth. He pre-deceased his father, and died childless.

Biography

''Louis Alexandre'' was born on 6 September 1747, at the

Hôtel de Toulouse The Hôtel de Toulouse, former Hôtel de La Vrillière is located at 1 rue de La Vrillière, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. It was built between 1635 and 1640 by François Mansart, for Louis Phélypeaux, seigneur de La Vrillière. Originally, ...

(now the seat of the ''Banque de France'', in the 1st arrondissement of Paris), the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

residence of his family. His father, the

, '' duc de Penthièvre'', was the only legitimate child of Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, the youngest

legitimised Legitimation or legitimisation is the act of providing legitimacy. Legitimation in the social sciences refers to the process whereby an act, process, or ideology becomes legitimate by its attachment to norms and values within a given society. I ...

son of King Louis XIV and

Madame de Montespan Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

. His mother,

Princess Maria Teresa d'Este Maria Teresa Felicitas (; 6 October 1726 – 30 April 1754) was a Princess of Modena by birth and Duchess of Penthièvre by marriage. She was the mother-in-law of Philippe Égalité and thus grandmother to the future Louis-Philippe of France. Yo ...

, was the daughter of the

Duke of Modena Emperor Frederick III conferred Borso d'Este, Lord of Ferrara, with the Duchy of Modena and Reggio in 1452, while Pope Paul II formally elevated him in 1471 as Duke of Ferrara, over which the family had in fact long presided. This latter territo ...

, also a descendant of Madame de Montespan, and related to the

House of Orléans The 4th House of Orléans (french: Maison d'Orléans), sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans (french: link=no, Maison de Bourbon-Orléans) to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the Ro ...

. The ''prince de Lamballe'', as he was known all his life, was the couple's only surviving son. He was one of seven children. At the death of his older brother Louis Marie de Bourbon, the Prince of Lamballe became the heir to the Penthièvre fortune, much of which had been

extorted Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

by Louis XIV from his childless cousin ''

la Grande Mademoiselle LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'', and bestowed upon Louis XIV's legitimised elder son,

Louis Auguste de Bourbon Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine (31 March 1670 – 14 May 1736) was an illegitimate son of Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV and his maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress, Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan, Madame d ...

, ''duc du Maine''. His title, prince de Lamballe, came from one of the ''

seigneuries ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (o ...

'' owned by his father; it was neither a sovereign princedom nor a legal title. Rather, it was a '' titre de courtoisie''. His mother died in childbirth in 1754 at the age of twenty-seven.

Marriage

His father chose his bride, the Italian born Princess Maria Teresa Louisa of Savoy. The wedding celebration lasted from 17 January 1767, until 27 January with feasts in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and

Nangis Nangis () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Nangis station has rail connections to Provins, Longueville and Paris. Coat of arms Azure with six argent roundels. Demographics The ...

. Prior to the wedding, Louis Alexandre eager to see his future bride, went secretly where Maria Teresa was staying. He met her disguised as a simple country servant and offered her a bouquet of flowers in his "master's" name. During the wedding ceremony the next day, the princess was shocked to discover that the humble man from the previous day was in fact the prince himself. After the ceremony, for their honeymoon, Louis Alexandre and his bride stayed at the

Château de Nangis The Motte-Beauvoir or Beauvais Castle is a modernised castle located in the heart of the town of Nangis, in the Seine-et-Marne ''département'' of France. It protected the population of the "seigneurie" ( lord's domain) during the Hundred Years' ...

. His father had specifically chosen Maria Teresa as his son's wife due to her renowned piety and beauty. He thought that such a spouse would help make his son change his libertine lifestyle. Princess Maria Luisa was the sixth child of the

Prince of Carignan The House of Savoy-Carignano ( it, Savoia-Carignano; french: Savoie-Carignan) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. It was founded by Thomas Francis of Savoy, Prince of Carignano (1596–1656), an Italian military commander who was ...

and his German wife

Landgravine Christine Henriette of Hesse-Rotenburg german: Christine von Hessen-Rheinfels-Rotenburg , image = Christine Henriette of Hesse-Rotenburg.jpg , caption = Portrait by Maria Giovanna Clementi , title = Princess of Carignano , birth_date = , birth_place = Schlos ...

, the sister of the late Princess of Condé. After three months of happiness, Louis Alexandre, a jaded hedonist, soon tired of his young wife and resumed his life of ''débaucherie''. He eloped with ''Mademoiselle de La Chassaigne'', an opera dancer, five months into his marriage. At one point, Louis Alexandre even sold his wife's diamonds to raise money to pay his debts.

Death

After a dissipated short life, Louis Alexandre died on 6 May 1768, sixteen months after his marriage, of a venereal disease at the

Château de Louveciennes The Château de Louveciennes in Louveciennes, in the Yvelines département of France, is composed of the château itself, constructed at the end of the 17th century. It was then expanded and redecorated by Ange-Jacques Gabriel for Madame du Barry ...

in the arms of his ever dutiful wife. He died without any issue. At his death, his father requested that the ''Gazette de France'' post a small note for the deceased prince:

''Louis Alexander Joseph Stanislas de Bourbon, Prince de Lamballe, first huntsman of France, died at the Château de Louveciennes, near Versailles, the 6th of this month, at half-past eight o'clock in the morning, aged twenty years and eight months. He was born the 6th of September, 1747. He was married the 17th of January, 1767, to Marie Thérèse Louise de Carignan. We cannot too highly commend the sentiments of piety and resignation and the courage which this prince showed during his long illness, up to the last moments of his life. On account of his death the court will wear mourning for ten days.

He was buried in the family crypt in 13th-century Saint-Lubin church of the village of

Rambouillet Rambouillet (, , ) is a subprefecture of the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of France. It is located beyond the outskirts of Paris, southwest of its centre. In 2018, the commune had a population of 26,933. Rambouillet lies ...

near the

Château de Rambouillet The Château de Rambouillet (), known in English as the Castle of Rambouillet, is a château in the town of Rambouillet, Yvelines department, in the Île-de-France region in northern France, southwest of Paris. It was the summer residence of the ...

, his father's favorite residence. In 1783, the ''duc de Penthièvre'' sold the domain of Rambouillet to his cousin, King

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

. On November 25 of that year, in a long religious procession, Penthièvre transferred the nine caskets containing the remains of his parents, the comte and the comtesse de Toulouse, his wife, Maria Teresa

d'Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

, and six of their seven children, from the small medieval village church of Rambouillet, to the chapel of the ''Collégiale Saint-Étienne'' in

Dreux Dreux () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Geography Dreux lies on the small river Blaise, a tributary of the Eure, about 35 km north of Chartres. Dreux station has rail connections to Argentan, Paris and Granvi ...

.G. Lenotre, ''Le Château de Rambouillet, six siècles d'histoire'', Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1930, reprint: Denoël, Paris, 1984, (215 pages), chapter 5: ''Le prince des pauvres'', pp. 78-79

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis-Alexandre Of Lamballe, Prince 1747 births 1768 deaths Politicians from Paris Princes of Lamballe 18th-century French people Burials at the Chapelle royale de Dreux Heirs apparent who never acceded House of Bourbon Grand Huntsmen of France Royal reburials