Charles, Duke of Berry (1686–1714)
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Charles, son of France, Duke of Berry (Charles de France, duc de Berry) (31 July 1686 – 5 May 1714), grandson of King Louis XIV of France, was a Petit-fils de France. He was a member of the House of Bourbon.
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[edit] Birth
Born at the Château de Versailles, Charles was the youngest son of Louis de France, "le Grand Dauphin", and of Maria Anna of Bavaria.
Charles was given the title "duc de Berry" at his birth and held the title until his death. In 1714, Berry received the duchies of Alençon and of Angoulême. He was also comte de Ponthieu.
As the third son of the Dauphin, Berry was not expected to inherit the throne; and at his father's death in 1711, his oldest brother Louis de France, duc de Bourgogne became Dauphin.
[edit] Marriage
As a result of the prestige of his birth, cadet branches of the royal family saw in him a splendid match for their daughters. One of his aunts, Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, princesse de Condé, a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, proposed her beautiful daughter, Louise-Élisabeth de Bourbon-Condé, but the marriage proposal came to naught, much to the annoyance of the House of Bourbon-Condé.
The Princess de Condé's sister, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, duchesse d'Orléans, then suggested a union with her eldest daughter, Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans. The marriage with Marie Louise Élisabeth, daughter of Philippe II, duc d'Orléans, the future Regent of France, took place on 6 July 1710. It was an unhappy marriage, and after a miscarriage which ended her first pregnancy, Marie Louise Élisabeth never gave birth to a child that lived for more than a day or a few weeks.
Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Duchess Dowager and the grandmother of Berry's wife, nicknamed him "Berry-Bon Coeur" ("Berry Good Heart") and later wrote on the marriage between him and her granddaughter:
At first he was passionately fond of his wife; but at the end of three months he fell in love with a little, ugly, femme de chambre. The Duchess, who had sufficient penetration, was not slow in discovering this, and told her husband immediately that, if he continued to live upon good terms with her, as he had done at first, she would say nothing about it, and act as if she were not acquainted with it; but if he behaved ill, she would tell the whole affair to the King, and have the femme de chambre sent away, so that he should never hear of her again. By this threat she held the Duke, who was a very simple man, so completely in check, that he lived very well with her up to his death, leaving her to do as she pleased, and dying himself as fond as ever of the femme de chambre. A year before his death he had her married, but on the condition that the husband should not exercise his marital rights. He left her pregnant as well as his wife, both of whom lay-in after his decease. Madame de Berry, who was not jealous, retained this woman, and took care of her and her child.[citation needed]
 Charles de France, duc de Berry |
 (L-R) le Grand Dauphin; Philippe, duc d'Anjou sitting on the floor; Berry on his mother's lap with Louis, duc de Bourgogne on the right |
[edit] Death
In 1712, following the death of his eldest brother, Louis, duc de Bourgogne, Dauphin of France, the duc de Berry became the new Dauphin. But, on 5 May 1714, he died from internal injuries sustained in a hunting accident. His death opened the question of the Regency, as the new heir to the throne was the four-year old duc d'Anjou, the great-grandson of seventy-six year old king Louis XIV.
[edit] Children
The duc and duchesse de Berry had three children. None of them lived past three months. As a result, the Bourbon-Berry line of the House of Bourbon became extinct at Berry's death. The children were:
- Louise de Berry (1711);
- Charles de Berry, duc d’Alençon (1713);
- Marie-Louise-Élisabeth de Berry (1714).
[edit] Ancestors
[edit] References
- Mitford, Nancy, The Sun King, first edition by Harper & Row in 1966.
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