Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

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Louis Philippe Joseph II, Duke of Orléans (April 13, 1747 – November 6, 1793), called Philippe Égalité, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the dynasty then ruling France. He actively supported the French Revolution, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror. His son Louis-Philippe became King of France in the July Revolution of 1830.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Liberalism 3 During the riots and Varennes 4 Citoyen Égalité and downfall 5 Marriage and children 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Early life

Philippe Égalité was son of Louis Philippe, duc d'Orléans, and of Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti, and was born at Château de Saint Cloud, in Saint-Cloud. Having borne the title of Duke of Montpensier until his grandfather's death in 1752, he became Duke of Chartres and in 1769 married Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre (1753–1821), daughter and heiress of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre, grand admiral of France, and the richest heiress of the time. Her wealth made it certain that he would be the richest man in France, and he determined to play a part equal to that of his great-grandfather Philip II, Duke of Orléans (regent during the minority of Louis XV), whom (in the words of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica) "he resembled in character and debauchery".

As duke of Chartres he opposed the plans of René de Maupeou in 1771, when Maupeou successfully upheld royal interests in a confrontation with the parlement of Paris, and was promptly exiled to his country estate of Villers-Côtterets (Aisne). When Louis XVI came to the throne in 1774, Louis Philippe was still a suspect in the eyes of the court; Marie Antoinette hated him for what she viewed as treachery, hypocrisy and selfishness, and he, in turn, scorned her.

In 1778, he served in the squadron of the Comte d'Orvilliers and was present in the naval battle of Ushant on July 27, 1778. He then was removed from the navy due in part to the queen's hatred of him, but also due to his own incompetence and cowardice. As compensation, he was given the honorary post of colonel-general of hussars.

[edit] Liberalism

Louis Philippe then retreated to a life of luxury; he often visited the Kingdom of Great Britain, and became an intimate friend of the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV). He made anglomanie ("Anglo-mania", an admiration for anything British, from liberalism to jockeys). He also made himself very popular in Paris by his large gifts to the poor in time of famine, and opening the gardens of the Palais Royal to the people.

Before the Assembly of Notables in 1787 he had succeeded his father as Duke of Orléans, and showed his liberal ideas in a bold manner, leading to suspicions that he was preparing to become constitutional king of France. In November he again showed his liberalism in the Lit de justice, which Étienne de Brienne had made the king hold, and was again exiled to Villers-Côtterets.

The approaching convocation of the Estates-General made his friends very active on his behalf; he circulated in every bailliage the pamphlets which the abbé Sieyès had drawn up at his request, and was elected in three - by the noblesse of Paris, Villers-Côtterets and Crépy-en-Valois. In the estate of the nobility he headed the liberal minority under the guidance of Adrien Duport, and led the minority of forty-seven noblemen who seceded from their own estate (June 1789) and joined the Third Estate.

[edit] During the riots and Varennes

The part he played during the summer of 1789 is one of the most debated points in the history of the French Revolution. The royal court accused him of being at the bottom of every popular movement, and saw the "gold of Orléans" as the cause of the Reveillon riot and the storming of the Bastille (mirroring the subsequent belief held by the Jacobins that everything opposing them relied on the "gold of Pitt the Younger"). His hatred of Marie Antoinette, the previous disgrace at the court, and his liberalism (alongside his friendship with Duport and Choderlos de Laclos), all seem to point towards his involvement.

The Scottish courtesan, Grace Elliott, who was one of Louis Philippe's lovers, attested that, at the time of the riot of July 12, he was on a fishing excursion, and was rudely treated by the king on the next day when going to offer him his services. He would have been so disgusted with the accusation of being a pretender to the crown, that he would have wished to go to the United States, but, as his other lover, the comtesse de Buffon, would not go with him, he decided to remain in Paris. He was again accused, unjustly, of having caused the march of the women to Versailles on October 5. The Marquis de la Fayette, apparently jealous of Louis Philippe's popularity, persuaded the king to send the duke to Britain on a mission, and he accordingly remained in England from October 1789 to July 1790. On July 7, he took his seat in the National Assembly (which reformed as the National Constituent Assembly two days later), and on October 2 both he and Honoré Mirabeau were declared by the Assembly entirely free of any complicity in the events of October.

[edit] Citoyen Égalité and downfall

He subsequently tried to keep himself distant from the political world, but he was still suspect to the court and subject to pressures from his partisans to replace Louis XVI. His lack of political aspirations could be proven by noting that he did not attempt to obtain any leading position after the King's flight to Varennes (in June 1791). In fact, Louis Philippe attempted to reconcile with the court in January 1792, but was rejected - and refused to aid the King any further. In the summer of 1792, he was present for a short time with the Army of the North, together with his two sons, the future King and the duke of Montpensier, but had returned to Paris before the insurrection of August 10.

During the Republic, he underwent personal risk in saving fugitives - in particular, he saved the life of the Louis René Quentin de Richebourg de Champcenetz, the governor of the Tuileries Palace, who was his personal enemy, at the request of Mrs. Elliott. After accepting the title of Citoyen Égalité, conferred on him by the Commune, he was elected twentieth and last deputy for Paris to the National Convention, where he again had no notable contribution other than the mandatory one of voting in the king's trial - he gave his vote for the execution of Louis.

This compliance to republican rules did not save him from suspicion, which was especially aroused by the friendship of his eldest son, the duke of Chartres, with Charles François Dumouriez. When the news of the desertion of Chartres and Dumouriez became known in Paris, all the Bourbons left in France, including Égalité, were ordered to be arrested on April 5. He remained in prison until October, and the beginning of the Reign of Terror. One of the most likely victims, Louis Philippe was shortlisted for a trial on October 3, and effectively tried and guillotined in the space of one day (accounts of his execution mention his exceptional courage).

[edit] Marriage and children

He married Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre at the Palace of Versailles, on June 6, 1769. Their children included:

• Louis-Philippe (1773-1850), King of the French from 1830 to 1848
• Antoine Philippe d'Orléans (1775-1807), Duc de Montpensier - died in exile.
• Louise Marie Adelaide Eugènie d'Orléans (1777-1847)
• daughter (1777-1782), a twin of the above.
• Louis Charles Alphonse Leodégard d'Orléans, Comte de Beaujolais (1779-1808), died during exile.

[edit] See also

• Grace Elliott
• Maria Stella

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Please update as needed. The Britannica gives the following references:
  • Armand Baschet, Histoire de Philippe Égalité
  • Journal of Mrs. Grace Dalrymple Elliott (1859)
  • Alfred Nettement, Philippe-Égalité (Paris, 1842)
  • Pierre-Sébastien Laurentie, Histoire des ducs d'Orléans (Paris, 1832)
  • Gabriel Peignot, Précis historique de la maison d'Orléans (Paris, 1830)
  • L. C. Rousselet, Correspondance de Louis-Philippe Joseph d'Orléans avec Louis XVI (Paris, 1800)
  • Antoine de Rivarol, Portrait du duc d'Orléans et de Madame de Genlis
  • M. Tournois, Histoire du Louis Philippe Joseph duc d'Orléans (Paris, 1842).

Preceded by Louis Philippe I

Duke of Orléans Duc de Nemours 1785–1793

Succeeded by Louis Philippe III