Louis I (; 25 August 1707 – 31 August 1724) was

King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

from 15 January 1724 until his death in August the same year. His reign is one of the shortest in history, lasting for just over seven months.

Infante of Spain (1707–1709)

Louis was born at Palacio del Buen Retiro, in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

as the eldest son of the reigning King

Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...

and his wife

Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy (17 September 1688 – 14 February 1714), nicknamed ''La Savoyana'', was Queen of Spain by marriage to King Philip V. She acted as regent during her husband's absence from 1702 until 1703 and had great influen ...

. He was named after his great-grandfather

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 ...

of France.

Prince of Asturias (1709–1721)

At birth he was the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

but was not given the traditional title of "

Prince of Asturias Prince or Princess of Asturias () is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent, or heir presumptive to the monarchy of Spain, Spanish Crown. According to the Spanish Constitution of 1978: The title originated in 1388, when King J ...

" until April 1709. In 1714, when Louis was seven, his mother died, leaving him and his brothers, ''Infante'' Philip and ''Infante'' Ferdinand. On 24 December 1714, Louis' father remarried to

Elisabeth Farnese Elisabeth Farnese (Italian: ''Elisabetta Farnese'', Spanish: ''Isabel de Farnesio''; 25 October 169211 July 1766) was Queen of Spain by marriage to King Philip V. She was the '' de facto'' ruler of Spain from 1714 until 1746, since she managed ...

, the young heiress to the

Duchy of Parma and Piacenza The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (, ) was an Italian state created in 1545 and located in northern Italy, in the current region of Emilia-Romagna. Originally a realm of the Farnese family after Pope Paul III made it a hereditary duchy for his so ...

Marriage (1722)

As heir not only to the vast

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

, but also to a new dynasty, it was decided that Louis would take a wife as soon as possible. On 20 January 1722, at Lerma, he met and married his second cousin

Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans (9 December 1709 – 16 June 1742) was Queen of Spain as the wife of King Louis I. Their reign is regarded as one of the shortest in history, lasting for seven months. Louise Élisabeth was the fourth daughter to su ...

, a daughter of Philippe, Duke of Orléans, cousin of Louis' father and then the

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, who was two years his junior. He was fourteen and she was twelve. The dowry of this marriage was an enormous 4 million

livres Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * F ...

King of Spain (1724)

Louis ruled for a short period between the time his father Philip V abdicated in his favour (14 January 1724) and his death from

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

, just over seven months. King Philip sent him a letter informing him of his decision. He calls his son a great king. Louis sent his father a humble reply, thanking him. Louis signed his letter as Prince of Asturias. His marital problems dominated during his reign. His father kept tabs on him from

San Ildefonso San Ildefonso (), La Granja (), or La Granja de San Ildefonso, is a town and municipality in the Province of Segovia, in the Castile and León autonomous region of central Spain. It is located in the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama moun ...

. To counter his father's influence, he surrounded himself with officials who had not served under Philip. His plans were to focus more on the American colonies rather than the lost Italian territories. On his death, his father returned to the throne, and reigned 22 more years until his own death in 1746. Louis was buried in the ''Cripta Real del Monasterio de El Escorial'' part of the

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...

complex.

Appearance and personality

Louis was tall and thin, with

blond hair Blond () or blonde (), also referred to as fair hair, is a human hair color characterized by low levels of eumelanin, the dark pigment. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can be ...

. He was considered unattractive and the similarity between him and his maternal grandfather,

Victor Amadeus II Victor Amadeus II (; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was the head of the House of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 12 June 1675 until his abdication in 1730. He was the first of his house to acquire a royal crown, ruling first as King o ...

of Sardinia, was notable. Apart from this, Louis had weak arms, which emphasized his delicacy. Not much is known about Louis' personality. According to Vicente Bacallar, Marquis de San Felipe, he was "extremely liberal, magnanimous and into making people to feel comfortable next to him". However, neither his liberty as king nor gentilism eclipsed his strong religiosity. Other contemporaries allegedly pointed out that Louis had inherited his father's intelligence and charm and his mother's morality and submission.

Sexuality

Apart from these attributes, many have argued that Louis also inherited his father's sexual appeal. He was reputedly

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

, being initiated into such a practice by a servant, originally from

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 ...

. Historians believe that Lacotte, who was Louis' servant and who had a reputation of being a

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puber ...

, was sent into the Spanish royal court to seduce the prince, whose

impotence Erectile dysfunction (ED), also referred to as impotence, is a form of sexual dysfunction in males characterized by the persistent or recurring inability to achieve or maintain a Human penis, penile erection with sufficient rigidity and durat ...

was known. W. Clarke writes: "the Spanish heir was as into boys as girls during the parties that he had, playing erotic games with both sexes"; a line about Louis' sexual life was sung across streets of Madrid: "Fiery as his mother, lascivious as his father, flaming as his stepmother and onanist as a pedophile".

Ancestry

References

Sources

*Danvila, Alfonso. ''El reinado relámpago, Luis I y Luisa Isabel de Orleáns, 1707–1724''. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1952. Reprinted as ''Luis I y Luisa Isabel de Orleans: el reinado relámpago''. Madrid: Alderabán, 1997. * * *

External links

''Luis I''
Spanish *A roya
suit of armor
housed in The

Met Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

made for him at age five by his great-grandfather,

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 01 Of Spain 1707 births 1724 deaths 18th-century Spanish monarchs 18th-century Navarrese monarchs 18th-century Spanish LGBTQ people Nobility from Madrid Princes of Asturias House of Bourbon (Spain) Knights of Santiago Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Deaths from smallpox Infectious disease deaths in Spain Spanish infantes Grand masters of the Order of the Golden Fleece Burials in the Pantheon of Kings at El Escorial Children of Philip V of Spain LGBTQ royalty Spanish bisexual men Sons of dukes Sons of counts