Louis Joseph de Lorraine ''Duke of Guise'' and Duke of Angoulême, (7 August 1650 – 30 July 1671) was the only son of

Louis, Duke of Joyeuse Louis de Lorraine, Duke of Joyeuse (11 January 1622 – 27 September 1654, Paris) was a younger son of Charles, Duke of Guise and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse. Life He was appointed Grand Chamberlain of France in 1644, shortly after the Guis ...

and Marie Françoise de Valois, the only daughter of

Louis-Emmanuel d'Angoulême Louis-Emmanuel de Valois (Clermont-en-Auvergne, 28 April 1596 – Paris, 13 November 1653) was count of Auvergne and duke of Angoulême. Biography Louis-Emmanuel de Valois, comte d'Alais, was the son of Charles de Valois, the illegitimate son of ...

, Count of Alès, Governor of Provence and son of Charles de Valois Duke of Angoulême, a bastard of

Charles IX of France Charles IX (Charles Maximilien; 27 June 1550 – 30 May 1574) was List of French monarchs, King of France from 1560 until his death in 1574. He ascended the French throne upon the death of his brother Francis II of France, Francis II in 1560, an ...

Biography

He was born at the Hôtel de Guise, present

Hôtel de Soubise The Hôtel de Soubise () is a city mansion '' entre cour et jardin''. It is located at 60 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France. History The Hôtel de Soubise was built as an ''hôtel particulier'' for the Prin ...

. As his mother had been confined to the abbey of Essay for "imbecility" (that is, mental illness), Louis Joseph was raised by his aunt and legal guardian, Marie de Lorraine, known as "''Mademoiselle de Guise''." Upon the death of his uncle

Henry II, Duke of Guise Henri II de Lorraine, 5th Duke of Guise, (4 April 1614, in Paris – 2 June 1664) was a French aristocrat and archbishop, the second son of Charles, Duke of Guise and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse. Life At the age of fifteen, he became archbi ...

, Louis Joseph succeeded him as head of the

House of Guise The House of Guise ( , ; ; ) was a prominent French noble family that was involved heavily in the French Wars of Religion. The House of Guise was the founding house of the Principality of Joinville. Origin The House of Guise was founded as a c ...

and duke. Mlle de Guise promptly ordered extensive renovations to the family's stately residence, known as the "Hôtel de Guise." In October 1663, a year before he succeeded as duke, Louis Joseph and his aunt were received in great pomp in his duchy of Joinville. He received an excellent education, under the guidance of Mlle de Guise's protégé, Philippe Goibaut, and his skills as a horseman were honed by François Roger de Gaignières, his ''écuyer''. On 15 June 1667, the young Duke married

Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans (26 December 1646 – 17 March 1696), known as Isabelle d'Orléans, was the Duchess of Alençon and, during her husband's lifetime, Duchess of Angoulême. She was the first cousin of Louis XIV of France, being the ...

, duchesse d'Alençon, daughter of

Gaston, Duke of Orléans ''Monsieur'' Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Gaston Jean Baptiste; 24 April 1608 – 2 February 1660), was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a . He later acquired the title ...

, at

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...

. As she was a '' petite-fille de France'', the marriage was considered a ''coup'' for the House of Guise, for the bridegroom was a mere ''

prince étranger ''Prince étranger'' (English: "foreign prince") was a high, though somewhat ambiguous, rank at the French royal court of the ''Ancien Régime''. Terminology In medieval Europe, a nobleman bore the title of prince as an indication of sovereignty, ...

'': Saint-Simon noted that she was a stickler for receiving the honours due to her

rank A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial. People Formal ranks * Academic rank * Corporate title * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy ...

, even at the expense of her husband's dignity at the

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

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 ...

, inasmuch as he "was only entitled to a folding stool." Mademoiselle de Guise carefully trained her nephew to receive Italian nobles and ambassadors who were passing through Paris, and it doubtlessly was in order to add additional lustre to the couple's little court that Mlle de Guise invited

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

to move into an apartment at the Hôtel de Guise and compose for the young couple's chapel. The couple had one son: * Francis Joseph de Lorraine, Duke of Alençon (1670–1675) The young Duke was winning the approval of

and was given the honour of being at the King's side in military reviews, but then disaster struck. Whilst returning from a visit to the court of

Charles II, king of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

, he fell ill with

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 ...

on 18 July 1671, and died twelve days later. The music for his funeral was composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. His body was carried to

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

to be buried near his ancestors, and his heart was buried at the abbey of Montmartre.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorraine, Louis Joseph Guise, Louis Joseph, Duc de Guise, Louis Joseph, Duc de Guise, Louis Joseph, Duke of

106 106 may refer to: * 106 (number), the number * AD 106, a year in the 2nd century AD * 106 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 106 (emergency telephone number), an Australian emergency number * 106 (MBTA bus), a route of the Massachusetts Bay Transpor ...

Counts of Eu Louis Joseph Princes of Joinville Music of France Princes of Lorraine 17th-century French people