Bourbons

House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain and southern Italy; other Bourbons held important duchies. Spain currently has a Bourbon monarch. Bourbon monarchs ruled Navarre (from 1555) and France (from 1589) until the 1792 overthrow of the monarchy during the French Revolution. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, the senior line of the Bourbons was finally overthrown in the July Revolution of 1830. A cadet branch, the House of Bourbon-Orlans, then ruled for 18 years (18301848), until it too was overthrown. Philip V of Spain was the first Bourbon ruler of Spain, from 1700. The Spanish Bourbons nowadays, in Spain the name is spelt Borbnhave been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 17001808, 18131868, 18751931, and 1975 to the present day. From this Spanish line comes the royal line of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1734 1806 and 18151860, and Sicily only in 18061816), the Bourbon-Sicilies family, and the Bourbon rulers of the Duchy of Parma. The declared heiress and thrice-regent of the now-defunct Empire of Brazil married twenty years before their deposition a prince of Bourbon-Orleans, and their descent, known as the Orleans-Braganza, would have ascended that throne, had the empire not been ended in 1888. In 1919 Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg married a cadet of the Bourbon-Parma line, and thus her successors, who have ruled Luxembourg since her abdication in 1964, have also technically been members of the House of Bourbon. The Princes of Cond (Bourbon-Cond) were a cadet branch of the Bourbon-Vendmes and, in turn, were senior to the Princes of Conti (Bourbon-Conti). Both these lines became extinct in the early nineteenth century.

Origin of the House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon as a noble family dates at least from the beginning of the 13th century, when the estate of Bourbon was ruled by a Lord who was a vassal of the King of France. In 1268, Robert, Count of Clermont, sixth son of King Louis IX of France married Beatrice of Bourbon, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon. Their son Louis was made Duke of Bourbon in 1327. The senior line of his heirs was dispossessed of the dukedom in 1523, due to the treason of Duke Charles III, but the junior line of La Marche-Vendme acquired the Dukedom of Vendme. The Bourbon-Vendme branch became the ruling house of first the tiny remnant of the Kingdom of Navarre on the northern side of the Pyrenees (1555) and then of France (1589), with Henry III of Navarre becoming Henry IV of France.

The rise of Henry IV

The first Bourbon king of France was Henry IV. He was born on December 13, 1553 in the Kingdom of Navarre. Antoine de Bourbon, his father, was a ninth generation descendent of King Louis IX of France. Jeanne d'Albret, his mother, was the Queen of Navarre and the niece of King Francis I of France. He was baptized Catholic, but raised Calvinist. After his father was killed in 1563, he became Duke of Vendme at the age of 10, with Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (15191572) as his regent. Five years later, the young duke became the nominal leader of the Huguenots after the death of his uncle the Prince of Cond in 1568. Henry succeeded to Navarre as Henry III when his mother died in 1572. That same year Catherine de Medici, the influential mother of King Charles IX, arranged for the marriage of her daughter, Margaret of Valois, to Henry as a peace offering between the Catholics and Huguenots. Many Huguenots had gathered for the wedding held on August 24 and were massacred by the Catholics in what became known as the St. Bartholomews Day Massacre. Henry saved his own life by converting to Catholicism. He repudiated his conversion in 1576 and resumed his leadership of the Huguenots. The period from 1576 to 1584 was relatively calm in France, with the Huguenots consolidating control of much of the south with only occasional interference from the royal government. Extended civil war erupted again in 1584, when Duke of Anjou, younger brother of King Henry III, died, leaving Navarre next in line for the throne. Thus began the War of the Three Henries, as Henry of Navarre, Henry III, and the ultraCatholic leader, Henry of Guise fought a confusing three-cornered struggle for dominance. When Henry III was assassinated on July 31, 1589 Navarre became the first Bourbon king of France as Henry IV. Much of Catholic France, organized into the Catholic League refused to recognize a Protestant monarch and instead recognized Henry IV's uncle, the Cardinal de Bourbon, as king as Charles X, and the civil war continued. Henry won the crucial victory at Ivry on March 14, 1590, and following the death of the Cardinal the same year, the forces of the League lacked an obvious Catholic candidate for the throne and divided into various factions. Nevertheless, as a Protestant, Henry IV was unable to take devoutly Catholic Paris, or to ultimately defeat his enemies, now supported by the Spanish. He reconverted to Catholicism in 1593he is said to have remarked, "Paris is worth a mass"and was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on February 27, 1594.

The Early Bourbon Kings of France

Henry granted the Edict of Nantes on April 13, 1598, establishing Catholicism as an official state religion, but otherwise assuring the Huguenots equal rights with the Catholics. This compromise ended the religious wars in France. That same year the Treaty of Vervins ended the war with Spain, adjusted the Spanish-French border, and resulted in a belated recognition by Spain of Henry as king of France.

Ably assisted by Maximilien de Bthune, duc de Sully, Henry reduced the land tax known as the taille; promoted agriculture, public works, construction of highways, and the first French canal; started such important industries as the tapestry works of the Gobelins; and intervened in favor of Protestants in the duchies and earldoms along the German frontier. This last was to be the cause of his assassination. Henry's marriage to Margaret, which had produced no heir, was annulled in 1599 and he married Marie de Medici, the niece of the grand duke of Tuscany. A son, Louis, was born to them in 1601. Henry IV was assassinated on May 14, 1610 in Paris. Louis XIII was only nine-years-old when he succeeded his father. He was to prove a weak ruler, his reign effectively a series of distinct regimes, depending who held the effective reins of power. At first, Marie de Medici, his mother, served as regent and advanced a pro-Spanish policy. To deal with the financial troubles of France, Henry summoned the Estates General in 1614; this would be the last time that body met until the eve of the French Revolution. Marie arranged the 1615 marriage of Louis to Anne of Austria, the daughter of King Philip III of Spain. In 1617, however, Louis conspired with Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes to dispense with her influence, having her favorite Concino Concini assassinated on April 26 of that year. After some years of weak government by Louis's favorites, the King made Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, a former protg of his mother, the chief minister of France in 1624. Richelieu advanced an anti-Habsburg policy. He arranged for Louis' sister, Henrietta Maria, to marry King Charles I of England, on May 11, 1625. Her pro-Catholic propaganda in England was one of the contributing factors for the English Civil War. Richelieu, as ambitious for France and the French monarchy as for himself, laid the ground for the absolute monarchy that would last in France until the Revolution. He wanted to establish a dominating position for France in Europe, and he wanted to unify France under the monarchy. He established the role of intendants, non-noble men whose arbitrary powers were granted by (and revocable by) the monarchy and superseded many of the traditional duties and privileges of the noble governors. Although it required a succession of internal military campaigns, he abolished the fortified Huguenot towns that Henry had allowed. He involved France in the Thirty Years' War (16181648) against the Habsburgs in 1635. He died in 1642 before the conclusion of that conflict, having groomed Jules Cardinal Mazarin as a successor. Louis XIII outlived him but by one year, dying in 1643 at the age of forty-two. After a childless marriage for twenty-three years he had a son with Anne on September 5, 1638, whom he named after himself. When Louis XIV succeeded his father he was only five years old. He would become the most powerful king in French history. His mother Anne served as his regent with her favorite Jules Mazarin as chief minister. Mazarin continued the policies of Richelieu, bringing the Thirty Years' War to a successful conclusion in 1648 and defeating the noble challenge to royal absolutism in a series of civil wars known as the Fronde. He continued to war with Spain until 1659. In that year the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed

signifying a significant shift in power, France had replaced Spain as the dominant state in Europe. One of the terms of the treaty arranged the marriage of Louis to his cousin Maria Theresa, the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, by his first wife Elizabeth, the sister of Louis XIII. They were married in 1660 and had a son, Louis, in 1661. Mazarin died on March 9, 1661 and it was expected that Louis would appoint another chief minister, as had become the tradition, but instead he shocked the country by announcing he would rule alone. Louis intended to glorify France by making war on his neighbors. For six years he reformed the finances of his state and built formidable armed forces. France fought three wars between 1667 and 1697 and though some territory was gained it hardly seemed worth it. Maria Theresa died in 1683 and the next year he married Franoise d'Aubign, marquise de Maintenon. She had great influence over him especially in matters of religion. Louis XIV was staunchly Catholic and he revoked the Edict of Nantes on October 18, 1685, undoing the religious tolerance established by grandfather, Henry IV, almost a hundred years before. The last war waged by Louis XIV proved to be one of the most important to dynastic Europe. In 1700, King Charles II of Spain died without a son. Louis's son the Grand Dauphin, as nephew to the late king, was closest heir, and Charles willed the kingdom to the Dauphin's second son, the Duke of Anjou. Other powers, particularly the Austrian Habsburgs, who had the next closest claims, objected to such a vast increase in French power. Initially, most of the other powers were willing to accept Anjou's reign as Philip V, but Louis's arrogance and blunders soon made the English, the Dutch, and other powers join the Austrians in a coalition against France. The War of the Spanish Succession began in 1701 and raged for 12 years. In the end Louis's grandson was recognized as King of Spain, but Spain's other European territories were largely ceded to Austria, and France was nearly bankrupted by the cost of the struggle. Louis died on September 1, 1715 ending his seventy-two year reign, the longest in European history. The reign of Louis XIV was so long that he had outlived both his son and eldest grandson. He was succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV. Louis XV was born on February 15, 1710 and was thus aged only five at his ascension, the third Louis in a row to become king of France before the age of ten. Initially, the regency was held by the Philip, Duke of Orleans, Louis XIV's nephew, as nearest adult male to the throne. This Regency period was seen as one of debauchery and loose morals following the austere nature of the latter years of Louis XIV's reign, which had seen a series of cripplingly expensive wars and the King's turn to religiosity. Following Orleans's death in 1723, another junior Bourbon, the Duke of Bourbon, the representative of the Bourbon-Cond line, became Prime Minister. It was expected that Louis would marry his cousin, the daughter of King Philip V of Spain, but this marriage was cancelled by the duke in 1725 so that Louis could marry Maria Leszczynska, the daughter of Stanislas, former king of Poland. Bourbon's motive appears to have been a desire to produce an heir as soon as possible so as to reduce the chances of a succession dispute between Philip V and the Duke of Orleans in the event of the sickly king's death. Maria was already an adult woman at the time of the marriage, while the Infanta was still a young girl.

Nevertheless, Bourbon's action brought a very negative response from Spain, and for his incompetence Bourbon was soon replaced by Cardinal Fleury, the young king's tutor, in 1726. Fleury was a peace loving man who intended to keep France out of war, but circumstances presented themselves that made this impossible. The first cause of these wars came in 1733 when Augustus II, the elector of Saxony and king of Poland died. With French backing Stanislas was again elected king. This brought France into conflict with Russia and Austria who supported Augustus III, duke of Saxony and son of Augustus II. Stanislas lost the Polish crown, but he was given the Duchy of Lorraine as compensation, which would pass to France after his death. Next came the War of the Austrian Succession in 1740 in which France supported King Frederick II of Prussia against Maria Theresa, archduchess of Austria. Fleury died in 1743 before the conclusion of the war. Shortly after Fleurys death in 1745 Louis was most influenced by his mistress the Marquise de Pompadour. She reversed the policy of France in 1756 by creating an alliance with Austria against Prussia in the Seven Years' War. The war was a disaster for France, losing most of her overseas possessions to the British in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Great Britain replaced France as the most dominant European power. Louis only son died in 1765 making his grandson the Dauphin. Maria, his wife, died in 1768 and Louis himself died on May 10, 1774.

Early Bourbons of Spain and Italy

The Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon was founded by Philip V. He was born in 1683 in Versailles, the second son of the dauphin, the son of Louis XIV. He was the Duke of Anjou and probably never expected to be raised to a rank higher than that. However King Charles II of Spain was dying without issue and he adopted Philip as his heir, being the great grandson of King Philip IV of Spain. Having a Bourbon king on both the French and Spanish thrones disturbed the balance of power in Europe and when Charles died on November 1, 1700 a Grand Alliance of European nations united against Philip. In the Treaty of Utrecht signed on April 11, 1713 Philip was recognized as king of Spain, but Sicily was ceded to Savoy and the Spanish Netherlands, Milan and Naples went to Austria. Philip had two sons with his first wife. After she died he married Elizabeth Farnese, the niece of Duke Francesco of Parma, in 1714. She also gave Philip two sons and intended them to win back the lost territory in Italy. She induced Philip to occupy Sardinia and Sicily in 1717. A Quadruple Alliance of Britain, France, Austria and the Netherlands, was organized on August 2, 1718 to stop him. In the Treaty of The Hague signed on February 17, 1720 Philip renounced his claim to Sardinia and Sicily, but assured the ascension of his eldest son with Elizabeth to the Duchy of Parma upon the current dukes death. Philip abdicated in January 1724 in favor of Louis I, his eldest son with his first wife, but Louis died in August and Philip resumed the throne. When the War of the Polish Succession began in 1733 they saw it as another opportunity to advance the claims of their sons. Philip formed the Family Compact with Louis XV, his uncle and king of France. Their son Charles, duke of Parma since 1731, invaded Naples. At the conclusion

of peace on November 13, 1738 Parma was ceded to Austria in exchange for Naples and Sicily. Philip also used the War of the Austrian Succession to win more territory in Italy. He did not see it to its conclusion because he died in 1746. Ferdinand VI, the second son of Philip V and his first wife, succeeded his father. He was a peace-loving monarch who kept Spain out of the Seven Years' War. He died in 1759 in the mists of that conflict and was succeeded by his half brother Charles III. Charles was the eldest son of Philip and Elizabeth. He was born in 1716 and became the Duke of Parma when the last Farnese duke died in 1731. He conquered the kingdom of the Two Sicilies during the War of the Polish Succession and became king there as Charles IV in 1734 renouncing Parma to Austria. When he ascended to the Spanish throne he abdicated in Sicily in favor of his third son, Ferdinand. Charles revived the Family Compact with France on August 15, 1761 and joined in the Seven Years' War against Britain in 1762. He also opposed Britain during the American Revolution in June 1779. He died in 1788. Elizabeth Farneses ambitions were realized at the conclusion of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748 when Parma was ceded by Austria to her second son, Philip. Her eldest son, Charles, was already the king of the Two Sicilies. She died in 1766.

The Bourbons During the French Revolution

Louis XVI had become the dauphin of France upon the death of his father, the son of Louis XV, in 1765. He married Marie Antoinette, a daughter of Maria Theresa, in 1770. Louis intervened in the American Revolution against Britain in 1778, but he is most remembered for the French Revolution. France was in financial turmoil and Louis was forced to convene the Estates-General on May 5, 1789. They formed the National Assembly and forced Louis to accept a constitution that limited his powers on July 14, 1790. He tried to flee France in June 1791, but was captured. The French monarchy was abolished on September 21, 1792 and a republic was proclaimed. The chain of Bourbon monarchs begun in 1589 was broken. Louis XVI was executed on January 21, 1793. Marie Antoinette and her son, Louis, were held as prisoners. Many French royalists proclaimed him Louis XVII, but he never reigned. She was executed on October 16, 1793. He died of tuberculosis on June 8, 1795 at the age of ten while in captivity. The French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars spread nationalism and antiabsolutism throughout Europe, and the other Bourbon monarchs were threatened. Ferdinand was forced to flee from Naples in 1806 when Napoleon Bonaparte deposed him and installed his brother, Joseph, as king. Ferdinand continued to rule from Sicily until 1815. Napoleon conquered Parma in 1800 and compenstated the Bourbon duke with Etruria, a new kingdom he created from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It was short-lived when Napoleon annexed Etruria in 1807.

King Charles IV of Spain had been an ally of France. He succeeded his father, Charles III, in 1788. At first he declared war on France on March 7, 1793, but he made peace on June 22, 1795. This peace became an alliance on August 19, 1796. His chief minister, Manuel de Godoy convinced Charles that his son, Ferdinand, was plotting to overthrow him. Napoleon exploited the situation and invaded Spain in March 1808. This led to an uprising that forced Charles to abdicate on March 19 in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII. Napoleon forced Ferdinand to return the crown to Charles on April 30 and then convinced Charles to relinquish it to him on May 10. In turn, he gave it to his brother, Joseph, king of Naples on June 6. Joseph abandoned Naples to Joachim Murat, the husband of Napoleons sister. This was very unpopular in Spain and resulted in the Peninsular War, a struggle that would contribute to the downfall of Napoleon.

The Bourbon Restoration in France and its aftermath

With the abdication of Napoleon on April 11, 1814 the Bourbon Dynasty was restored to the kingdom of France in the person of Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI. Napoleon escaped from exile and Louis fled in March 1815. Louis was again restored after the Battle of Waterloo on July 7.

The drapeau blanc, the French royal standard under the ancien Rgime. Main article: Bourbon Restoration The conservative elements of Europe dominated the post-Napoleonic age, but the values of the French Revolution could not be easily swept aside. Louis granted a constitution on June 14, 1814 to appease the liberals, but the ultra-royalist party, led by his brother, Charles, continued to influence his reign. When he died in 1824 his brother became king as Charles X much to the dismay of French liberals. Talleyrand reportedly remarked of the restored Bourbon rulers that they had "learned nothing and forgotten nothing." Charles passed several laws that appealed to the upper class, but angered the middle class. The situation came to a head when he appointed a new minister on August 8, 1829 who did not have the confidence of the chamber. The chamber censured the king on March 18, 1830 and in response Charles proclaimed five ordinances on July 26 intended to silence criticism against him. This almost resulted in another revolution as dramatic as the one in 1789, but moderates were able to control the situation. As a compromise the

crown was offered to Louis-Philippe, duke of Orleans, a descendent of the brother of Louis XIV, and the head of the Orleanist cadet branch of the Bourbons. He was proclaimed King of the French on August 7. The resulting regime, known as the July monarchy, lasted until the Revolution of 1848. The Bourbon monarchy in France ended on February 24, 1848, when Louis-Philippe was forced to abdicate and the short-lived French Second Republic was established. Some legitimists refused to recognize the Orleanist monarchy. After the death of Charles in 1836 his son was proclaimed Louis XIX, though this title was never formally recognized. Charles' grandson Henri, comte de Chambord, the last Bourbon claimant of the French crown, was proclaimed by some Henry V, but the French monarchy was never restored. Following the 1870 collapse of the empire of Emperor Napoleon III, Henri was offered a restored throne. The stubborn Chambord refused to accept the throne unless France abandoned the revolution-inspired tricolour and accepted what he regarded as the true Bourbon flag of France. The tricolour, originally associated with the French Revolution and the First French Republic, had been used by the July Monarchy, the Second Republic and both Empires; the French National Assembly could not possibly agree. A temporary Third Republic was established, while monarchists waited for the comte de Chambord to die and for the succession to pass to the Comte de Paris, who was willing to accept the tricolour. Henri lived until 1883, by which time public opinion had come to accept the republic as the "form of government that divides us least." His death without issue marked the extinction of the French Bourbons. Thus head of the House of Bourbon became the now eldest male heir of the dynasty Juan, Conde de Montizn of the Spanish line of the house who was also carlist claimant to the Spanish Throne. His heir as eldest Bourbon and head of the house is today Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou. By an ordinance of Louis Philippe I of France of August 13, 1830, it was decided that the king's children (and his sister) would continue to bear the arms of Orlans, that LouisPhilippe's eldest son, as Prince Royal, would bear the title of duc d'Orlans, that the younger sons would continue to have their existing titles, and that the sister and daughters of the king would only be styled "princesses d'Orlans", which meant the Orleans royalty did not take the name "of France".

Later Bourbon monarchs outside France

Upon the fall of the Napoleonic empire, Ferdinand I was restored to the throne of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1815. His subjects revolted on July 2, 1820 and he was forced to grant a constitution on July 13. Austria invaded in March 1821 and revoked the constitution. He was succeeded by his son, Francis I, in 1825 and by his grandson, Ferdinand II, in 1830. Another revolution erupted on January 12, 1848 and Ferdinand was also forced to grant a constitution on February 10. This constitution was revoked in 1849. Ferdinand was succeeded by his son, Francis II, in May 1859. When Giuseppe Garibaldi captured Naples on September 7, 1860 Francis restored the constitution on July 2 in an attempt to save his sovereignty. He failed and after the capture of the fortress of

Gaeta (February 13, 1861) his kingdom was incorporated in the Kingdom of Italy but only on March 17, 1861 because two other fortress Messina and Civitella del Tronto surrendered on March 12, 1861 9 p.m.(Messina) and only on March 20 Civitella. (to be true when the magg. Ascione was convinced to surrender from the order of his King, there was still a group of soldier contrary to the surrender led by the heroic sgt. Massinelli and the friar Leonardo Zilli. The former commander, Ascione, however, succeeded to make to penetrate the enemy piemontesi in the morning of March 20. They shoot the heroes Massinelli and Zilli and so fell the last fortress of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.) After the fall of Napoleon, Napoleon's wife, Maria Louisa, was made Duchess of Parma. As compensation, Charles Louis, the former king of Etruria, was made the Duke of Lucca. When Maria Louisa died in 1847 he was restored to Parma as Charles II. Lucca was incorporated into Tuscany. He was succeeded by his son, Charles III, and grandson, Robert I, in 1854. The people of Parma voted for a union with the kingdom of Sardinia on March 13, 1860. After Italian unification in 1861 the Bourbon dynasty in Italy was no more. The Spanish branch of the Bourbon dynasty was the only one to survive into the 20th century. Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne of Spain after the fall of Napoleon in March 1814. Like his Italian Bourbon counterpart his subjects revolted against him in January 1820 and he was forced to grant a constitution. A French army invaded in 1823 and the constitution was revoked. Ferdinand married his fourth wife, Maria Christina, the daughter of Francis I, the Bourbon king of Sicily, in 1829. Despite his many marriages he did not have a son so on June 30, 1833 he was influenced by his wife to abolish the Salic Law so that her daughter, Isabella, could become queen depriving his brother, Don Carlos, of the throne. Isabella II succeeded her father when he died on September 29, 1833. She was only three years old and Maria Cristina, her mother, served as regent. Maria knew that she needed the support of the liberals to oppose Don Carlos so she granted a constitution in 1834. Don Carlos found his greatest support in Catalonia and the Basques country because the constitution centralized the provinces thus denying them the autonomy they sought. He was defeated and fled the country in 1839. Isabella was declared of age in 1843 and she married her cousin Francisco de Asis, the son of her fathers brother, on October 10, 1846. A military revolution broke out against Isabella in 1868 and she was deposed on September 29. She abdicated in favor of her son, Alfonso, in 1870, but Spain was proclaimed a republic for a brief time. When the Spanish Republic failed the crown was offered to Isabellas son who accepted on January 1, 1875 as Alfonso XII. Don Carlos, who returned to Spain, was again defeated and resumed his exile in February 1876. Alfonso granted a new constitution on July 1876 that was more liberal than the one granted by his grandmother. His reign was cut short when he died in 1885 at the age of twenty-eight.

Alfonso XIII was born on May 17, 1886 after the death of his father. His mother, Maria Christina, the second wife of Alfonso XII served as regent. Alfonso XIII was declared of age in 1902 and he married Victoria Eugnie Julia Ena of Battenberg, the granddaughter of the British queen Victoria, on May 31, 1906. He remained neutral during World War I, but supported the military coup of Miguel Primo de Rivera on September 13, 1923. A movement towards the establishment of a republic began in 1930 and Alfonso fled the country on April 14, 1931. He never formally abdicated, but lived the rest of his life in exile. He died in 1941. The Bourbon dynasty seemed finished in Spain as in the rest of the world, but it would be resurrected. The Second Spanish Republic was overthrown in the Spanish Civil War, leading to the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. He named Juan Carlos de Borbn, a grandson of Alfonso XIII, his successor on July 22, 1969. When Franco died on November 20, 1975 a Bourbon monarch was restored to the throne of Spain two days later as Juan Carlos I. The new king oversaw the Spanish transition to democracy; the Spanish Constitution of 1978, approved on September 28, 1978, recognized the monarchy. Though it is not as powerful as it once was under Louis XIV and it does not reign in its native country of France, it is by no means extinct, and the house of Bourbon has survived to the present day world of republics. It seems likely that it will continue as well under Juan Carlos' son, Felipe, who officially became heir apparent when he turned eighteen years old in 1986.

List of Bourbon rulers Monarchs of France

Dates indicate reigns, not lifetimes.

Henry IV, the Great 15891610 Louis XIII, the Just 16101643 Louis XIV, the Sun King 16431715 Philippe II of Orlans (Regent) 17151723 Louis XV, the Well-Beloved 17151774 Louis XVI 17741793 Louis XVII (never actually reigned) 17931795 Louis XVIII 18141824 Charles X 18241830

Legitimist claimants to the throne of France

Charles X, King of France (17571836) Louis XIX of France (17751844) Henri V of France (18201883), Jean III of France (18221887) (male heir of Philip V of Spain)

Charles XI of France (18481903) Jacques I of France (18701931) Alphonse I of France (18491936) Alphonse II of France (18861941) Jacques II of France (19081975) Alphonse III of France (1936-1989) Louis XX of France and Navarre (1989-present)

Monarchs of Spain
Dates indicate reigns, not lifetimes.

Philip V, 17001724 and 17241746 Louis I, 1724 (ruled less than one year) Ferdinand VI, 17461759 Charles III, 17591788 Charles IV, 17881808 Ferdinand VII, El Deseado 18131833 Isabella II, La Chata 18331868 Alfonso XII, 18751885 Alfonso XIII, 18861931 Juan Carlos I, 1975present

Grand Dukes of Luxembourg

Dates indicate reigns not life

Jean Ier (1964-2000) Henri (2000-

Other significant Bourbon branches

Dukes of Bourbon Dukes of Montpensier Dukes of Vendme Dukes of Anjou Kings of the Two Sicilies Dukes of Parma Dukes of Orleans Princes of Orlans-Braganza Princes of Cond (extinct) Princes of Conti (extinct)

Morganatic notable branches of Bourbon

Bourbon-Galliera

Bourbon-Sevilla

Illegitimate notable branches of Bourbon

Bourbon-Busset Bourbon-Vendome Bourbon du Maine Bourbon-Penthievre

Henry IV of France
Henry IV (French: Henri IV; December 13, 1553 May 14, 1610), was the first monarch of the Bourbon dynasty in France.

Henry IV of France by Frans Pourbus the younger As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the Wars of Religion before ascending to the throne; to become king he converted to Catholicism and in 1598 promulgated the Edict of Nantes which guaranteed religious liberties to the Protestants and thereby effectively ended the civil war. One of the most popular French kings, both during and after his reign, Henry showed great care for the welfare of his subjects and displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the time. He was murdered by a fanatical Catholic, Franois Ravaillac. Henry was nicknamed Henry the Great (Henri le Grand), and in France is sometimes called le bon roi Henri ("good king Henry") or le Vert galant ("the Green gallant").

Genealogy
Henry IV was the son of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome and Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre. He was born in Pau, Pyrnes-Atlantiques, in the southwest of France (former province of Barn). At the death of King Henry III of France, who had no son, the crown passed to Henry IV, in application of the Salic Law, as Henry was the descendant of the eldest surviving male line of the Capetian Dynasty. The new king, however, had to fight for some years to be recognized as the legitimate king of France by the Catholics, most of whom were opposed to his Protestant faith.

Here is a short genealogy that explains how Henry IV descends in the male line from the Capetian Dynasty: Henry IV was the 9th cousin of King Henry II, and the 9th cousin once removed of kings Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III. He was the son of: Antoine de Bourbon (1518 1562), 8th cousin of kings Charles VIII and Francis I, who was the son of: Charles IV, Duke of Bourbon (1489 1537), 7th cousin of kings Louis XI and Louis XII, who was the son of: Franois de Bourbon-Vendme (1470 1495), 6th cousin of King Charles VII, who was the son of: Jean de Bourbon-Vendme (1428 1478), 5th cousin of King Charles VI, who was the son of: Louis de Bourbon-Vendme (1376 1446), 4th cousin of King Charles V, who was the son of: Jean de Bourbon-La Marche (1344 1393), 3rd cousin of kings John I Posthumus and John II, who was the son of: Jacques de Bourbon-La Marche (1315 1362), 2nd cousin of kings Louis X, Philip V, Charles IV, and Philip VI, who was the son of: Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (1279 1342), 1st cousin of King Philip IV, who was the son of: Robert, Count of Clermont (1256 1317), brother of King Philip III and son of: King Louis IX (Saint Louis) (1214/1215 - 1270)

It should be noted that in reality, the line of Bourbon-Busset, descending from Peter I, Duke of Bourbon (1310 1356), was actually the eldest surviving (possibly non-bastard) male line of the Capetian Dynasty, whereas the line of Bourbon-Vendme, to which Henry IV belonged, only descended from Jacques de Bourbon-La Marche (1315 1362), the younger brother of Peter I of Bourbon. Thus, at the death of Henry III the crown should have passed to Csar de Bourbon-Busset (1565 1630), 7th cousin once removed of Henry IV. However, the great-great-grandfather of Csar de Bourbon-Busset, called Louis de Bourbon (1438 1482), Bishop of Lige, and 4th cousin of Franois de Bourbon-Vendme (1470 1495), had married Catherine d'Egmont, daughter of the Duke of Gelderland, without the approval of his cousin King Louis XI, before becoming bishop. The king had thus annulled his marriage, and declared his children illegitimate. There is also a doubt that the first Bourbon-Busset actually might have been born of a mistress of the future bishop and not of Catherine, the wife of that contested marriage (medieval archives and chronicles are hazy in that respect). It still remains a matter of debate whether the customs of the kingdom actually gave Louis XI the right to exclude from royal succession the children of Louis de Bourbon. What is certain is that the Bourbon-Busset never claimed the crown, and Csar de Bourbon-Busset played no particular role when his cousin Henry IV became king. The eldest male descendant of the Bourbon-Busset was the French writer Jacques de Bourbon Busset (1912 2001), member of the French Academy. President Charles de

Gaulle was once quoted telling him: "Had it not been for the decision of King Louis XI, you might well be head of state of France today, instead of me."

Life
Although baptized as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother Jeanne d'Albret; Jeanne declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion. In 1572, upon Jeanne's death, he became King Henry III of Navarre. On 18 August 1572, Henry married Marguerite de Valois, sister of King Charles IX. Henry's marriage was believed by most to be an effort to bring religious peace to the kingdom. However, leading Catholics (possibly including Catherine de Medicis, mother of the bride) secretly planned a massacre of Protestants gathered in Paris for the wedding. In the resulting Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre, on 24 August, several thousand Protestants were killed in Paris and thousands more in the countryside. Henry escaped death only by pretending to convert to Roman Catholicism. He was kept in confinement, but escaped in early 1576; on 5 February of that year, he abjured Catholicism at Tours and rejoined the Protestant forces in the military conflict. Henry of Navarre became the legal heir to the French throne upon the death in 1584 of Franois, Duke of Alenon, brother and heir to the Catholic King Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Since Henry of Navarre was a descendant of King Louis IX, King Henry III had no choice but to recognize him as the legitimate successor. Salic law disinherited the king's sisters and all others who could claim descent by the distaff line. However, since Henry of Navarre was a Huguenot, this set off the War of the Three Henrys phase of the French Wars of Religion. The third Henry, Duke Henry of Guise, pushed for complete suppression of the Huguenots, and had much support among Catholic extremists. In December 1588 Henry III had Henry of Guise murdered, along with his brother, Louis Cardinal de Guise. This increased the tension further, and Henry III was assassinated shortly thereafter by a fanatic monk. On the death of Henry III in 1589, Henry of Navarre nominally became the king of France. But the Catholic League, strengthened by support from outside, especially from Spain, was strong enough to force him to the south, and he had to set about winning his kingdom by military conquest, aided by money and troops bestowed by Elizabeth I of England. The League proclaimed Henry's Catholic uncle, the Cardinal de Bourbon, King as Charles X, but the Cardinal himself was Henry's prisoner. Henry was victorious at Ivry and Arques, but failed to take Paris. After the death of the old Cardinal in 1590, the League could not agree on a new candidate. While some supported various Guise candidates, the strongest candidate was probably Infanta Isabella, the daughter of Philip II of Spain, whose mother Elisabeth had been the eldest daughter of Henry II of France. The prominence of her candidacy hurt the League, which thus became suspect as agents of the foreign Spanish, but nevertheless Henry remained unable to take control of Paris.

With the encouragement of the great love of his life, Gabrielle d'Estres, on 25 July 1593 Henry declared that Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a Mass") and permanently renounced Protestantism, thus earning the resentment of his former ally Queen Elizabeth. However, his entrance into the Roman Catholic Church secured for him the allegiance of the vast majority of his subjects, and he was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on 27 February 1594. In 1598, however, he declared the Edict of Nantes, which gave circumscribed toleration to the Huguenots. Henry's first marriage was not a happy one, and the couple remained childless. The two had separated, even before Henry had succeeded to the throne, in August, 1589 and Marguerite de Valois lived for many years in the chateau of Usson in Auvergne. After Henry had become king, various advisers impressed upon him the desirability of providing an heir to the French Crown, in order to avoid the problem of a disputed succession. Henry himself favored the idea of obtaining an annulment of his first marriage, and taking Gabrielle d'Estres as a bride, who had already borne him three children. Henry's councillors strongly opposed this idea, but the matter was resolved unexpectedly by Gabrielle d'Estres' sudden death in April 1599, after she had given birth prematurely to a stillborn son. His marriage to Marguerite was annulled in 1599, and he then married Marie de Mdicis in 1600. Henry IV proved to be a man of vision and courage. Instead of waging costly wars to suppress opposing nobles, Henry simply paid them off. As king, he adopted policies and undertook projects to improve the lives of all subjects, which made him one of the country's most popular rulers ever. A declaration often attributed to him is: Si Dieu me prte vie, je ferai quil ny aura point de laboureur en mon royaume qui nait les moyens davoir le dimanche une poule dans son pot! God willing, every working man in my kingdom will have a chicken in the pot every Sunday, at the least!

This egalitarian statement epitomizes the peace and relative prosperity Henri brought to France after decades of religious war, and demonstrates how well he understood the plight of the French worker or peasant farmer. Never before had a French ruler even considered the importance of a chicken or the burden of taxation on his subjects, nor would one again until the French Revolution. After generations of domination by the extravagant Valois dynasty, which had caused the French people to pay to the point of starvation for the royal family's luxuries and intrigue, Navarre's charisma won the day. Henry's forthright manner, physical courage and military success also contrasted dramatically with the sickly, effete langour of the tubercular Valois kings, as evinced by his blunt assertion that he ruled with "weapon in hand and arse in the saddle" (on a le bras arm et le cul sur la selle).

During his reign, Henry IV worked through his right-hand man, the faithful Maximilien de Bethune, duc de Sully (1560-1641), to regularize state finance, promote agriculture, drain swamps to create productive crop lands, undertake many public works, and encourage education, as with the creation of the College Royal Louis-Le-Grand in La Flche (today Prytane Militaire de la Flche). He and Sully protected forests from further devastation, built a new system of tree-lined highways, and constructed new bridges and canals. He had a 1200m canal built in the park at the Royal Chateau at Fontainebleau (which can be fished today), and ordered the planting of pines, elms and fruit trees.

Statue of Henry IV on the Pont Neuf The king renewed Paris as a great city, with the Pont Neuf, which still stands today, constructed over the River Seine to connect the Right and Left Banks of the city. Henry IV also had the Place Royale built (since 1800 known as Place des Vosges), and added the Grande Gallerie to the Louvre. More than 400 meters long and thirty-five meters wide, this huge addition was built along the bank of the Seine River, and at the time was the longest edifice of its kind in the world. King Henry IV, a promoter of the arts by all classes of peoples, invited hundreds of artists and craftsmen to live and work on the buildings lower floors. This tradition continued for another two hundred years, until Emperor Napoleon I banned it. The art and architecture of his reign has since become known as the Henry IV style. King Henry's vision extended beyond France, and he financed several expeditions of Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts and Samuel de Champlain to North America that saw France lay claim to Canada.

Death and Aftermath

Although he was a man of kindness, compassion, and good humor, and was much loved by his people[citation needed], he was the subject of many murder attempts (for example by

Pierre Barrire and Jean Chtel). On 14 May 1610, King Henry IV was assassinated in Paris by Franois Ravaillac, who stabbed the king to death while he rode in his coach. Henry was buried at Saint Denis Basilica. Henry's widow, Marie de Mdicis, served as Regent to their 9-year-old son, Louis XIII, until 1617. The reign of Henry IV made a lasting impact on the French people for generations after. A statue of Henry was erected on the Pont Neuf in Paris in 1614, only four years after his death. Although this statue - along well as those of all the other French kings - was destroyed during the French Revolution, it was the first one to be rebuilt, in 1818, and it still stands today on the Pont Neuf. A cult surrounding the personality of Henri IV emerged during the Restoration. The restored Bourbons were keen to downplay the contested reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, and instead emphasized the reign of the benevolent Henry IV. The song Vive Henri IV ("Long Live Henry IV") was used during the Restoration, as an unofficial anthem of France, played in the absence of the king. In addition, when Princess Maria Carolina of the Two Sicilies gave birth to a male heir to the throne of France, seven months after the assassination of her husband Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry by a Republican fanatic, the boy was conspicuously called Henri in reference to his forefather Henry IV (see Henri, comte de Chambord). The boy was also baptized in the traditional way of Barn/Navarre, with a spoon of vinegar and some garlic, as had been done when Henry IV had been baptized in Pau, although this custom had not been followed by any Bourbon king after Henry IV. Today, while the rest of France marks the end of monarchist rule each year on Bastille Day, in Henry's birthplace of Pau, his reign as king of France is celebrated. It is a testament to the people's love and affection for Henry IV, whom the French people call 'le Grand' or 'The Great'.

Marriage and Children

On August 18, 1572, he married Marguerite de Valois, annulled in 1599, with no children. He subsequently married Marie de Mdicis on December 17, 1600. There were six children from this marriage: Name Louis XIII, King of France Birth Death Notes

September 27, Married Anne of Austria (1601 - 1666) May 14, 1643 1601 in 1615. Had issue. Married Philip IV, King of Spain (1605 - 1665) in 1615. Had issue.

Elizabeth, Queen November 22, October 6, of Spain 1602 1644

Christine Marie, February 12, December 27, Married Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Duchess of Savoy 1606 1663 Savoy (1587 - 1637) in 1619. Had issue. Nicholas Henry, Duke of Orleans November 17, Died young. No issue. 1611 Married (1) Mary of Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier (1605 - 1627) in 1626. Had issue. Married (2) Margaret of Lorraine (1615 - 1672) in 1632. Had issue.

April 16, 1607

Gaston, Duke of Orleans

April 25, 1608

February 2, 1660

Henrietta Maria, November 25, September 10, Married Charles I, King of England Queen of England 1609 1669 (1600 - 1649) in 1625. Had issue.

Illegitimate children
Additionally, Henry IV had at least 11 illegitimate children. By Gabrielle d'Estre: Name Birth Legitimized Death Notes

Csar de Bourbon, Duke 1594 1596 of Vendme

married Franoise of Mercoeur and had issue. In 1626, he participated in a plot against Cardinal Richelieu. He was captured and held 1665 in prison for three years. In 1641 he was accused of conspiracy again and this time fled to England.

CatherineHenriette de Bourbon Alexandre, Chevalier de

1596 1598

1663 married Duke Charles II of Elboeuf.

1598 1599

1629

Vendme By Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues, Marquise de Verneuil: Name Birth Legitimized Death Notes

Gaston Henri, Duc de Verneuil

1601 1603

Married Charlotte Seguier, 1682 daughter of Pierre Sguier, Duc de Villemor. Married Bernard de Nogaret de 1627 Foix, Duc de La Valette et d'Epernon.

Gabrielle Angelique, called 1603 Mademoiselle de Verneuil

By Jacqueline de Bueil, Countess de Moret (1580-1651): Name Birth Legitimized Death Notes

Antoine, Count de Moret 1607 1608

1632 Abbot of St. Etienne

By Charlotte des Essarts, Countess de Romorantin: Name Birth Legitimized Death Notes

Jeanne Baptiste 1608 1608 Marie Henriette 1609

1670 Abbess of Fontevrault. 1629 Abbess of Chelles.