Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Prince of Dombes (4 March 1700 in
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
– 1 October 1755 in
Palace of Fontainebleau
Palace of Fontainebleau ( , ; ), located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. It served as a hunting lodge and summer residence for many of the List of French monarchs ...
) was a grandson of
Louis XIV of France
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 of his ''
maîtresse-en-titre
The ''maîtresse-en-titre'' () was the official royal mistress of the King of France.
The title was vaguely defined and used in the Middle Ages but finally became an acknowledged, if informal, position during the reign of Henry IV (), and c ...
Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...
.
Given the title of ''prince de Dombes'' at his birth, he was the second child of his parents to hold the title.An older brother ''Louis Constantin de Bourbon'' (1695-1698) had held the title previously.
He became Colonel General of the '' Cent-Suisses et Grisons'' (1710),
Governor of Languedoc
This is the list of governors of Languedoc :
Languedoc was a former province of France, which existed until 1789.
* 1339–1345 : Jean de Marigny
* 1352–1357 : John I, Count of Armagnac
* 1357–1361 : Jean de Valois
* 1361–1361 : Rob ...
Count of Eu
This is a list of the counts of Eu, Seine-Maritime, Eu, a French county in the Middle Ages (Eu, Seine-Maritime, Eu is in the department of Seine-Maritime, in the extreme north of Normandy), disputed between Kingdom of France, France and Kingdom ...
(1736).
Unlike his father, the prince de Dombes was of high military skill. Louis-Auguste served under the renowned military commander
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...
(1733–1738) and in the
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...
(1740–1748).
Upon the death of his father (to whom he was very close), on 14 May 1736 at the
Château de Sceaux
The Château de Sceaux () is a grand Château, country house in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, approximately south-southwest of the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. Situated in a large park laid out by André Le Nôtre, partly in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, ...
, he inherited the bulk of his wealth and his titles.
On 4 March 1748 he killed Jean Antoine François, Marquis de Coigny in a duel.
:“The Marquis de Coigny used to gamble with the Prince des Dombes, and lost a lot ; one day, he said through his teeth : he is happier than a legitimate child. The prince had not heard the remark ; but charitable souls (there are always some) brought it to him. He flew into a rage, and sent to call M. de Coigny to a duel. They met on the road to Versailles, in the middle of the night. The ground was covered with snow ; they fought with torches : M. de Coigny was killed on the spot ; they put him back in his carriage, which they overturned in a ditch. He was said to have died from the fall. The king, who loved him very much, did not know the truth until after the death of the Prince of Dombes, and some people even believed that he never knew it. »
In 1750, he gained the titles of ''prince d'Anet'' and ''comte de Dreux'', when his mother gave him both estates three years before she died. Little seen at the court of his cousin
Louis XV of France
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
, he preferred living at the
Château d'Anet
The Château d'Anet is a château near Dreux, in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France, built by Philibert de l'Orme from 1547 to 1552 for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II of France. It was built on the former château at the ...
, which he continued to embellish. In order to supply water for his gardens, he created a hydraulic system which he installed in the park of the domain near the river
Eure
Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, daughter of
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Philippe Charles; 2 August 1674 – 2 December 1723), who was known as the Regent, was a French prince, soldier, and statesman who served as Regent of the Kingdom of France from 1715 to 1723. He is referred to i ...
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...
. His younger brother, Louis Charles, was his only heir.