Louis de Melun, Duke of Joyeuse (October 1694 – 31 July 1724) was a French nobleman. He was the Prince of Epinoy, Baron then Duke of

Joyeuse Joyeuse (; ; meaning 'joyous, joyful') was, in medieval legend, the sword wielded by Charlemagne as his personal weapon. A sword identified as Joyeuse was used in French royal coronation ceremonies since the 13th century, and is now kept at the L ...

(1714) and

Peer of France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

, Baron of Cysoing,

Antoing Antoing (; ) is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut (province), province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Antoing, Bruyelle, Calonne, Wallonia, Calonne, ...

and Wiers, Earl of Saint-Pol, Viscount of Gand, châtelain de Bapaume, Lord of Villemareuil, of Vaucourtois and of Saint-Jean-les-Deux-Jumeaux.

Biography

Louis was the only son born to his parents. His sister Anne Julie Adélaïde de Melun was born in 1698 and was an ancestor of the future maréchal de Soubise, '' princesse de Condé'' Madame de Guéméné and the murdered

duc d'Enghien Duke of Enghien (, pronounced with a silent ''i'') was a noble title pertaining to the House of Condé. It was only associated with the town of Enghien for a short time. Dukes of Enghien – first creation (1566–1569) The title was first confe ...

. His father died in 1704 of smallpox making the infant Louis the Prince of Epinoy. Ten years later he was also made ducal-peer of

. On 23 February 1716 he married Armande de La Tour d'Auvergne, daughter of Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne and a grand daughter of the famous

Marie Anne Mancini Marie Anne Mancini, Duchess of Bouillon (1649 – 20 June 1714), was an Italian-French aristocrat and cultural patron, the youngest of the five famous Mancini sisters, who along with two of their female Martinozzi cousins, were known at the ...

. After being widowed in 1717, it was well known that he also contracted a secret marriage to

Marie Anne de Bourbon Marie Anne de Bourbon, ''Légitimée de France'', born Marie Anne de La Blaume Le Blanc, by her marriage Princess of Conti then Princess Dowager of Conti, ''suo jure'' Duchess of La Vallière and of Vaujours (; 2 October 1666 – 3 May 1739) was ...

in 1719. Marie Anne, known as ''Mademoiselle de Clermont'' was a daughter of Louis de Bourbon and

Louise Françoise de Bourbon Louise most commonly refers to: * Louise (given name) Louise or Luise may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Songs * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 * "Louise", by The Yardbirds from the album '' Five Live Yardbirds'', 1964 * "Louis ...

who was in turn an illegitimate daughter of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

and

Madame de Montespan Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan (5 October 1640 – 27 May 1707), commonly known as Madame de Montespan (), was a French noblewoman and the most celebrated maîtresse-en-titre, royal mistress of King Lou ...

. Marie Anne was also the head of the future Queen's household. Louis died in 1724, during a hunting party at Marie Anne's ancestral home, the

Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château, built around 1560 for Anne de Montmore ...

. Naturally distraught, Marie Anne never married again. She was never to have any children. As Louis had no children with Armande either, the

county of Saint-Pol The county of Saint-Pol (or ''Sint-Pols'') was a county around the French city of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise (''Sint-Pols-aan-de-Ternas'') on the border of Artois and Picardy, formerly the county of Ternois. For a long time the county belonged to Fl ...

, as well as the principality of Joyeuse went to his eldest nephew, the young

Duke of Rohan Duke of Rohan is a title of French nobility, associated with the Breton region of Rohan, Morbihan, Rohan. Duke of Rohan House of Rohan House of Chabot House of Rohan-Chabot ''The title ''prince de Léon'' is used a courtesy title until the ...

, who was a son of his sister Anne Julie.

Ancestry

References and notes

Sources

*M.-Fr. Dantine, Ch. Clémencet et al., ''L'art de vérifier les dates''..., vol. 12, impr. Valade, 1818 (réimpr. 4e), p. 413 *de la Chenaye-Desbois, ''Dictionnaire de la noblesse, contenant les généalogies, l'histoire''..., vol. X, impr. Antoine Boudet, Paris, 1775 (réimpr. 2e), p. 22 {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis, Duke of Joyeuse 17th-century French people 18th-century French people 1694 births 1724 deaths French princes

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

House of Melun Princes of Epinoy Counts of Saint-Pol Peers created by Louis XIV