The Most Serene House of Bourbon-Condé (), named after
Condé-en-Brie (now in the
Aisne
Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374.
Geography
The department borders No ...
), was a French princely house and a
cadet branch of the
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...
. The name of the house was derived from the title of Prince of Condé (French: ''prince de Condé'') that was originally assumed around 1557 by the French Protestant leader
Louis de Bourbon (1530–1569), uncle of King
Henry IV of France
Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...
, and borne by his male-line descendants.
This line became extinct in 1830 when his eighth-generation descendant,
Louis Henri Joseph de Bourbon, died without surviving male issue. The princely title was held for one last time by
Louis d'Orléans, Prince of Condé, who died in 1866.
History
The Princes of Condé descend from the
Vendôme family – the progenitors of the modern
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...
. There was never a
principality
A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...
, sovereign or
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
, of Condé. The name merely served as the territorial source of a title adopted by Louis, who inherited from his father,
Charles IV de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme (1489–1537), the
lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...
ship of Condé-en-Brie in
Champagne
Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
, consisting of the
Château of Condé and a dozen villages some fifty miles east of Paris.
It had passed from the
sires of Avesnes, to the Counts of
St. Pol. When
Marie de Luxembourg-St. Pol wed
François, Count of Vendôme (1470–1495) in 1487, Condé-en-Brie became part of the Bourbon-Vendôme
patrimony.
''Duc de Bourbon''
After the extinction in 1527 of the
Dukes of Bourbon, François's son Charles (1489–1537) became head of the
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...
, which traces its male-line descent from
Robert, Count of Clermont (1256–1318), a younger son of France's Saint-King
Louis IX. Of the sons of Charles of Vendôme, the eldest, Antoine, became
jure uxoris
''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title '' suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could beco ...
King of
Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
and fathered Henry IV.
The youngest son, Louis, inherited the lordships of
Meaux,
Nogent, Condé, and
Soissons as his
appanage
An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...
. Louis was titled Prince of Condé in a parliamentary document on 15 January 1557 and, without any legal authority beyond their dignity as princes of the
Blood Royal, they continued to bear it for the next three centuries. He was succeeded by his son
Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé.
Louis, the first Prince, actually gave
the Condé property to his youngest son,
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
(1566–1612), Count of Soissons. Charles' only son
Louis (1604–1641) left Condé and Soissons to female heirs in 1624, who married into the
Savoy
Savoy (; ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
and
Orléans-Longueville dynasties.
''Monsieur le Prince''
Upon the accession to France's throne of
Henry IV of Bourbon in 1589, his first cousin-once-removed
Henry, Prince of Condé (1588–1646), was
heir presumptive
An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...
to the crown until 1601. Although Henry's own descendants thereafter held the senior positions within the royal family of
Dauphin,
Fils de France
''Fils de France'' (, ''Son of France'') was the style (manner of address), style and Ranks of nobility and peerage, rank held by the sons of the French monarchy, kings and Dauphin of France, dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille d ...
, and
Petits-Fils de France, from 1589 to 1709 the Princes of Condé coincidentally held the rank at
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 ...
of ''premier prince du sang royal'' (First Prince of the Blood Royal), to which was attached income,
precedence, and ceremonial privilege (such as the exclusive right to be addressed as ''Monsieur le Prince'' at
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 ...
).
However, the position of ''premier prince du sang'' devolved upon the ''
ducs d'Orléans'' in 1710, so the seventh Prince,
Louis III (1668–1710) declined to make use of the title, preferring instead to be known by his hereditary
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks.
Peerages include:
A ...
of Duke of Bourbon, which still afforded him the right to be known as ''Monsieur le Duc''. Subsequent heirs likewise preferred the ducal to the princely title.
Later
After the death of
Henry III Jules de Bourbon, prince de Condé
Henry may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters
* Henry (surname)
* Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone
Arts and entertainme ...
in 1709, the family were in regular attendance at court.
Louis de Bourbon-Condé (at that point known as the ''Duke of Bourbon'') had in 1685 married
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, the legitimated daughter 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
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan.
The couple had many children and produced an heir to the Condé titles and lands. Their son was
Louis Henri de Bourbon-Condé, ''duc de Bourbon''.
He led a quiet life and was known at court as
Monsieur le Duc after the loss of the rank of ''premier prince du sang'' in 1723. After his death the family retreated from court life but
Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé was vital in the forming of the
Army of Condé
The Army of Condé () was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several Émigré armies of the French Revolutionary Wars, émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had b ...
- formed to support his cousin
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
during his imprisonment during the revolution. He was the longest holder of the title, being known as the prince de Condé for seventy-eight years.
His son married the sister of
Louis Philippe II d'Orléans better known as Philippe Égalité. She was called
Louise Marie Thérèse Bathilde d'Orléans. She was the last princesse de Condé and mother of
Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé - titled ''duc d'Enghien''. He was executed by
Napoleon I of France at the
Château de Vincennes. With the death of the
duc d'Enghien, the heir to the Condé name, his father was the last holder of the title.
After his death in 1830 the Condé lands passed to the last prince's cousin
Henri Eugène Philippe Louis d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale whose eldest son
Louis was later a ''prince de Condé'' after gaining the title from his father.
Simplified Bourbon family tree
Cadet branches
House of Bourbon-Conti
The ''House of Bourbon-Conti'' was formed in 1581 by
François de Bourbon, prince de Conti. He was the son of
Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé. The house became extinct in 1814 upon the death of
Louis François II de Bourbon, prince de Conti.
The
Princes of Conti were as follows:
* 1558–1614: marquis, then from 1581 onwards 1st prince
François de Bourbon.
''At his death, the title became extinct because the prince died without issue. The title was assumed in 1629 by:''
* 1629–1666: 2nd prince
Armand de Bourbon-Conti
* 1666–1685: 3rd prince
Louis Armand I de Bourbon-Conti
* 1685–1709: 4th prince
Francis Louis de Bourbon-Conti
* 1709–1727: 5th prince
Louis Armand II de Bourbon-Conti
* 1727–1776: 6th prince
Louis Francis I de Bourbon-Conti
* 1776–1814: 7th prince
Louis Francis II de Bourbon-Conti
House of Bourbon-Soissons
The first
prince de Conti was also the brother of the founder of the ''House of Bourbon-Soissons'',
Charles de Bourbon-Soissons. The comtes de Soissons were addressed at court as ''
Monsieur le Comte'' and their wives as ''Madame la Comtesse''. The members of the house were:
* 1487–1495:
François de Bourbon-Vendôme (1470–1495);
* 1495–1537:
Charles de Bourbon-Vendôme (1489–1537), comte (''
jure matris''), son of the preceding;
* 1547–1557: Jean de Bourbon-Soissons (1528–1557), son of the preceding;
* 1557–1569:
Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé (1535–1569), brother of the preceding;
* 1569–1612:
Charles de Bourbon, comte de Soissons (1566–1612), son of the preceding;
* 1612–1641:
Louis de Bourbon, comte de Soissons (1604–1641), son of the preceding;
* 1641–1656: Marie de Bourbon-Soissons (1606–1692), sister of the preceding.
The line started in 1566 when the title of
Count of Soissons was given to
Charles de Bourbon-Condé, the second son of
Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé, the first Prince of Condé. The Soissons title had been acquired by the first Prince of Condé in 1557 and was held by his descendants for two more generations with Charles de Bourbon-Condé, 1st comte de Soissons, and Louis de Bourbon-Condé, 2nd comte de Soissons.
The 2nd comte de Soissons died without an heir, so the Soissons estates passed to his younger sister, Marie de Bourbon-Condé, the wife of
Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano, a younger brother of the sovereign
Duke of Savoy. Although she received 400,000 livres in annual revenues from the Soissons estates, lived in the
Hôtel de Soissons where, according to
Saint-Simon, she "maintained the traditions of the Soissons", she continued to be known as the princesse de Carignan. On her death, the Soissons countship passed first to her second son, Prince Joseph-Emmanuel of Savoy-Carignano (1631–1656), and then to her third son,
Prince Eugène-Maurice of Savoy-Carignano. He married
Olympia Mancini, niece of
Cardinal Mazarin. She was known as ''Madame la Comtesse de Soissons''.
Nancy Mitford
Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973) was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford family#Mitford sisters, Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the ...
, ''The Sun King'', 1966, p.87 On his death, the title went to his eldest son,
Prince Louis Thomas of Savoy-Carignano, who was the older brother of the famous Austrian general,
Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Soissons countship became extinct upon the death of Prince Eugène-Jean-François of Savoy-Carignano in 1734.
Princes of Condé
First creation: 1546–1830 –
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...
Second creation: 1845 –1866 – House of Orléans
Styles of address
The eldest sons of the Princes of Condé used the title of
Duke of Enghien and were addressed as ''Monsieur le Duc'' until that style came to be pre-empted by their fathers, as Dukes of Bourbon, after 1709. The Princes of Condé were also the male-line ancestors of the branches of the
Princes of Conti (which flourished 1629–1814) and the
Counts of Soissons (1566–1641).
Although both the sons and daughters of these branches of the
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...
held the
rank of ''
princes et princesses du sang'', it never became the custom in France for them to use prince or princess as a prefix to their Christian names. Rather, sons took a title of French nobility (count or duke), suffixed with their
appanage
An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...
(e.g. Count of Charolais), while unmarried daughters used one of their fathers' subsidiary properties to form a courtesy style (e.g. Mademoiselle de Clermont).
Family residences
The
Hôtel de Condé became the Parisian base of the Condé family in 1610, in what is now the 6th district of Paris. In 1722,
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, wife of
Louis III, Prince of Condé, started building the
Palais Bourbon, which in 1764 became the Condé family's main Parisian residence. They sold the Hôtel de Condé to the King in 1770, and it was demolished around 1780 to be replaced by a new neighborhood around the theater that later became known as the
Odéon. Another Parisian property, still known as the
Hôtel de Bourbon-Condé (12 rue Monsieur), was built and inhabited between 1780 and 1789 by
Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon-Condé.
The family had several residences outside Paris – the
Château de Condé in
Condé-en-Brie,
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
, which they ceased to own by 1624; the
Château de Vallery, built from 1548 for the
Marshal of Saint André, acquired by
Louis I de Bourbon-Condé in 1564 and kept by the family until 1747; and the
Château de Chantilly, previously a
Montmorency property from 1484 to 1632 and a Condé estate afterward. The latter was the home of the
Grand Condé during his exile from court, and the host château of a party given in honour of King
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 ...
in 1671. It was confiscated during the
French Revolution and eventually came into the possession of King
Louis Philippe of France, who gave it to his youngest son,
Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Princes Of Conde
Conde
1557 establishments in France
1830 disestablishments in France