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Early life
Gaston d'Orléans was born at the château de Fontainebleau and was given at birth the title of duc d'Anjou. In 1626, at the time of his marriage to the young duchesse de Montpensier, he received in appanage (with their respective titles) the dukedoms of Orléans[1] and Chartres, and the county of Blois[2]. He had nominal command of the army which besieged La Rochelle in 1628[3][4], having already entered upon that course of political intrigue which would occupy the remainder of his life.
On two occasions he had to leave France for conspiring against the government of his mother and of Cardinal Richelieu; and after waging an unsuccessful war in Languedoc, he took refuge in Flanders.
Reconciled with his brother Louis XIII, he plotted against Richelieu in 1635, fled from the country, and then submitted to the king and the cardinal.
Soon afterwards the same process repeated itself. Orléans stirred up Cinq-Mars to attempt Richelieu's murder, and then deserted his unfortunate accomplice (1642). In 1643, on the death of Louis XIII, Gaston became lieutenant-general of the kingdom, and fought against Spain on the northern frontiers of France; he was created duc d'Alençon in 1646. However, during the wars of the Fronde (1648–1653), he passed with great facility from one side to the other.
Issue
Gaston first married on August 6, 1626, at Nantes, Marie de Bourbon, duchesse de Montpensier (1605-1627)[5], daughter and heiress of Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier. One daughter was born to the couple nine months after the marriage and a few days later, Marie died. Their daughter was:
- Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier (1627–1693), Mademoiselle de Montpensier, the future Grande Mademoiselle, (to distinguish her from Mademoiselle, the daughter of Monsieur, Louis XIV's brother),
- Anne was the last of the line of the House of Bourbon-Montpensier.
Gaston's second marriage on January 3, 1632, at Nancy, was to Marguerite, sister of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine. The couple had four daughters and one son:
- Marguerite Louise d'Orléans (July 28, 1645, Paris – September 17, 1721 Paris),
- married in Florence on June 20, 1661 Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (separated 1675).
- Elisabeth d'Orléans (December 26, 1646, Paris – March 17, 1696, Versailles), duchesse d'Alençon,
- married at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on May 15, 1667 Louis Joseph de Guise.
- Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans (October 13, 1648, Saint-Germain-en-Laye – January 14, 1664, Turin),
- married at The Louvre (March 4, 1663) Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy, no issue.
- Jean Gaston d'Orléans (August 17, 1650, Paris – August 10, 1652, Paris), duc de Valois.
- Marie Anne d'Orléans (November 9, 1652, Paris – August 17, 1695, Blois), Mademoiselle de Chartres.
Gaston had an illegitimate daughter by Marie Porcher:
He also had an illegitimate son by Louise-Roger de La Marbelière:
- Jean Louis bâtard d'Orléans, comte de Charny, (1638, Tours-1692, Spain).
Later life
After the death of his brother Louis XIII in 1643, Gaston's nephew became Monsieur. To differentiate one "Monsieur" from the other, Gaston, the uncle, was called Le Grand Monsieur and Philippe, duc d'Anjou, his nephew and brother of the new king Louis XIV, was called Le Petit Monsieur.
After the Fronde, Gaston was exiled by Mazarin to Blois in 1652, and remained there until his death. On his death all his Orléans titles went to Le Petit Monsieur, the new and only Monsieur, and duc d'Orléans.
Ancestors
| Gaston, Duke of Orléans | Father: Henry IV of France |
Paternal Grandfather: Antoine of Navarre |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme |
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Françoise d'Alençon |
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| Paternal Grandmother: Jeanne III of Navarre |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Henry II of Navarre |
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| Paternal Great-grandmother: Marguerite de Navarre |
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| Mother: Marie de' Medici |
Maternal Grandfather: Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: Eleonora di Toledo |
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| Maternal Grandmother: Johanna of Austria |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: Anna of Bohemia and Hungary |
References
- ^ Moote, A. Lloyd, "Louis XIII, The Just", P192. Published 1991, University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06485-2
- ^ Pitts, Vincent Joseph. "La Grande Mademoiselle at the Court of France: 1627-1693", P3. Published 2000. JHU Press. ISBN 0801864666
- ^ Patmore, Katherine. "The Court of Louis XIII", P144. Published 1909, Methuen & Co.
- ^ Chisolm, Hugh. "Encyclopedia Britannica", P284. Published 1911.
- ^ Pitts, Vincent Joseph. "La Grande Mademoiselle at the Court of France", P2. Published 2000, JHU Press. ISBN 0801864666
- Gaston Jean Baptiste de France Duc d'Orléans
- Gaston, Duc d'Orléans Accessed February 24, 2008
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
