Duke of Orléans (, ) was the French royal title granted by the King of France and bestowed upon their close relatives, typically being a younger brother, son or otherwise inherited through the male line. First created in 1344 by King Philip VI for his younger son Philip, the title was reused by King Charles VI for his younger brother Louis, who first passed the title on to his son and then grandson, the latter becoming King Louis XII. By 1661, the title would have been re-bestowed a total of six times when Louis XIV bestowed it upon his younger brother Philippe, who would go on to bestow it upon his male descendants, creating the Cadet branch, "Orléans" of the parent Bourbons.
Based at the Palais-Royal, Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans contested the legitimacy of his cousin Louis XVI in the adjacent Louvre. His son would eventually ascend to the throne in 1830 as Louis Philippe I, King of the French. The descendants of the family are the Orléanist candidates to the French throne.
Québec, Canada’s Île d'Orléans, was named after Duke of Orléans Henri II, while the city of New Orleans in the United States was named after Duke of Orléans, Philippe II.
The holder of the title held the style of Serene Highness.
House of Valois The first Dukedom of Orléans was created for Philip of Valois, seventh son of Philip VI of France and younger brother of John the Good, in 1344.Amédée René, Les princes militaires de la maison de France, Paris, 1848, p. 49 This appanage merged the appanages of Touraine and Valois. However, the first ducal line ended with Philip, who died without legitimate children.
Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)Issue Claim PhilipOther titles 1 July 1336Château de VincennesSon of Philip VI of Franceand Joan of Burgundy 13441 September 1375 1 September 1375OrléansDied by natural causes(aged 39) Blanche of France( 1345; 1375) Created duke by Philip VI
House of Valois-Orléans The second dukedom of Orléans was created in 1392 by Charles VI of France for his younger brother Louis. His role as leading figure in court, regent for his brother during his madness and wealthy landlord, as well as head of the Armagnac party, permitted his descendant to maintain a prominent role in French politics. His grandson Louis XII became king after the extinction of the direct Valois in 1498,Didier Le Fur, Louis XII : un autre César, Perrin, 2001 p. 40. while his great-grandson Francis I succeeded the last in 1515.Auguste Bailly, François Ier : restaurateur des lettres et des arts, Livre club du librairie, 1961, p. 9. The direct line of Valois-Orléans became extinct with the death of Louis XII in 1515, although the dukedom of Orléans was integrated among the crown's properties after his ascent to the throne in 1495.
Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)Issue Claim Louis IOther titles 13 March 1372Hôtel Saint-Pol, ParisSon of Charles V of Franceand Joanna of Bourbon 4 June 139223 November 1407 23 November 1407Le Marais, ParisMurdered by Duke ofBurgundy's hitmen(aged 35) Valentina Visconti( 1389; 1407) Created duke by Charles VI Charles IOther titles 24 November 1394Hôtel Saint-Pol, ParisSon of Louis Iand Valentina Visconti 23 November 14075 January 1465 5 January 1465Château d'AmboiseDied of natural causes(aged 70) Isabella of France( 1406; 1409) Bonne of Armagnac( 1410; 1430/35) Maria of Cleves( 1440; 1465) Son of Louis I(male-blood proximity) Louis IIOther titles 27 June 1462Château de BloisSon of Charlesand Maria of Cleves 5 January 14657 April 1498(Merged into the Crown titles) 1 January 1515Hôtel des Tournelles, ParisDied of gout(aged 52) Joan of France( 1476; 1498) Anne of Brittany( 1498; 1514) Mary of England( 1514; 1515) Son of Charles(male-blood proximity)
House of Valois-Angoulême The third dukedom of Orléans was created by Francis I for his second son Henry at his birth. When Henry's elder brother and Dauphin, Francis, Duke of Brittany, died childless in 1536, Henry substituted him as Dauphin and ceded the title to his younger brother Charles, Duke of Angoulême, who died childless in 1545.
Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)Issue Claim Henry IOther titles 31 March 1519Saint-Germain-en-LayeSon of Francis I of Franceand Claude of France 31 March 151910 August 1536(Renounced the titleto become Dauphin) 10 July 1559Place des Vosges, ParisAccidentally killed in a joust(aged 40) Catherine de' Medici( 1533; 1559) Created duke by Francis I Charles IIOther titles 22 January 1522Saint-Germain-en-LayeSon of Francis I of Franceand Claude of France 10 August 15369 September 1545 9 September 1545Forest-MontiersDied by influenza(aged 23) Unmarried Brother of Henry I(Elevated by Francis I)
The fourth dukedom was created by Henry II for his son Louis at his birth. The child duke, however, died one year later, and the title passed to his recently born brother Charles, who became King of France in 1560.Jean Heritier, Catherine de Medici. George Allen and Unwin, 1963, p. 69. The title passed to Charles' brother, Henry, Duke of Angoulême, who six years later exchanged the appanages of Orléans for the Dukedom of Anjou, becoming the heir in pectore of the Crown.Nicolas Le Roux, «La cour dans l'espace du palais: l'exemple de Henri III», Palais et pouvoir, de Constantinople à Versailles, Presses universitaires de Vincennes, 2003, pp. 106-108.
Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)Issue Claim Louis IIIOther titles 3 February 1549Château of FontainebleauSon of Henry IIand Catherine de' Medici 3 February 154924 October 1550 24 October 1550MantesDied by exposure(aged 1) Unmarried Created duke by Henry II Charles IIIOther titles 27 June 1550Saint-Germain-en-LayeSon of Henry IIand Catherine de' Medici 24 October 15505 December 1560(Renounced the title tobecome King of France) 30 May 1574Château de VincennesDied by tuberculosis(aged 23) Elisabeth of Austria( 1570; 1574) Brother of Louis III(Elevated by Henry II) Henry IIOther titles 19 September 1551Château of FontainebleauSon of Henry IIand Catherine de' Medici 5 December 15608 February 1566(Exchanged the title forthe appanage of Anjou) 2 August 1589Château de Saint-CloudAssassinated byJacques Clément(aged 37) Louise of Lorraine( 1570; 1574) Created duke by Charles IX
House of Medici After Henry's exchange of appanages, Charles IX gave the Orléanais to his mother Catherine, former Queen of France, as reward for her role as regent, mainly about toleration politics. She was the only suo jure Duchess of Orléans, so is included among the ruling dukes.Knecht, R. J. Catherine de' Medici. London and New York: Longman, 1998, 104-108.
Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)Issue Claim Catherine(suo jure)Other titles 13 April 1519Palazzo Pitti, FlorenceDaughter of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbinoand Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne 8 February 15665 January 1589 5 January 1589Château de BloisDied by pleurisy(aged 69) Henry II of France( 1533; 1559) Created duchess by Charles IX
First House of Bourbon-Orléans The fifth dukedom was created in 1626 by Louis XIII for his younger brother Gaston, Duke of Anjou.A.L. Moote, Louis XIII, The Just p 192. University of California Press, 1991, p. 192. Gaston became a libertine and scheming figure at court, plotting the assassination of Cardinal Richelieu and later joining the Fronde, a coalition of nobles who opposed the royal centralisation. Finally forgiven by Louis XIII, he died without male heirs, extinguishing the first Bourbon House of Orléans.
Notes: the Monsieur d'Orléans, second son of Henry IV isn't included in the list due to his short life (4 years) and lack of official baptism or name.François de Malherbe, Lettres à Peiresc, éd. La Pléiade, p. 378.
Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)Issue Claim GastonOther titles 24 April 1608Château of FontainebleauSon of Henry IV of Franceand Marie de' Medici 6 August 16262 February 1660 2 February 1660Château de BloisDied by natural causes(aged 51) Marie of Bourbon( 1626; 1627) Marguerite of Lorraine( 1632; 1660) Created duke by Henry IV
Second House of Bourbon-Orléans
The sixth and final creation was for Philip, Duke of Anjou, who received the Orléanais by his brother Louis XIV. Through his marriage with Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, he established a long dynasty that finally arose to the throne in 1830, with the deposition of Charles X and the proclamation of Louis Philippe I. Louis Philippe passed his title to his son and heir, Ferdinand, who died in a carriage accident in 1842.
Duke Birth Tenure Death Marriage(s)Issue Claim Philip IOther titles 21 September 1640Saint-Germain-en-LayeSon of Louis XIIIand Anne of Austria 10 May 16619 June 1701 9 June 1701Château de Saint-CloudDied by stroke(aged 60) Henrietta of England( 1661; 1670) Elizabeth Charlotteof the Palatinate( 1671; 1701) Created duke by Louis XIV Philip IIOther titles 2 August 1674Château de Saint-CloudSon of Philip Iand Elizabeth Charlotteof the Palatinate 9 June 17012 December 1723 2 December 1723Palace of VersaillesDied by natural causes(aged 49) Françoise Marie de Bourbon( 1692; 1723) Son of Philip I(male-preference proximity) LouisOther titles 4 August 1703Palace of VersaillesSon of Philip IIand Françoise Marie de Bourbon 2 December 17234 February 1752 4 February 1752St. Genevieve, ParisDied by deliriumcomplications(aged 48) Johanna of Baden-Baden( 1724; 1726) Son of Philip II(male-preference proximity) LouisPhilippe IOther titles 12 May 1725Palace of VersaillesSon of Louisand Johanna of Baden-Baden 4 February 175218 November 1785 18 November 1785Château de Sainte-AssiseDied by natural causes(aged 60) Louise Henriette de Bourbon( 1743; 1759)Morganatic:Charlotte-Jeanne Béraud( 1773; 1785) Son of Louis(male-preference proximity) LouisPhilippe IIOther titles 13 April 1747Château de Saint-CloudSon of Louis Philip Iand Louise Henriette de Bourbon 18 November 17856 November 1793 6 November 1793Conciergerie, ParisExecuted for treason(aged 46) Marie-Adélaïde de Bourbon( 1768; 1793) Son of Louis Philip I(male-preference proximity) LouisPhilippe IIIOther titles 6 October 1773Palais-Royal, ParisSon of Louis Philip IIand Marie-Adélaïde de Bourbon 6 November 17939 August 1830(Renounced the titleto becomeKing of the French) 26 August 1850Claremont, EnglandDied by natural causes(aged 76) Maria Amalia ofNaples and Sicily( 1809; 1850) Son of Louis Philip II(male-preference proximity) FerdinandOther titles 3 September 1810Royal Palace, PalermoSon of Louis Philip IIIand Maria Amalia ofNaples and Sicily 9 August 183013 July 1842 13 July 1842Neuilly-sur-SeineDied in an accident(aged 31) Helene of Mecklenburg( 1837; 1842) Son of Louis Philip III(male-preference proximity)
Current use Legitimists recognize as Duke of Orléans Jean, Count of Paris, Head of the House of Orléans, inheriting the title as the heir male of Philip I, Duke of Orléans. Orleanists recognize as Duke of Orléans Prince Jacques of Orléans (1941–), son of Henri, Count of Paris (1933–2019) and uncle of Jean, Count of Paris. Per Orleanists, the title merged with the crown in 1883 and was subsequently granted to Prince Jacques upon his marriage in 1969 to Gersende de Sabran (1942–), with whom he has three childrenRoyaltyMonarchy.com: Diane, Charles-Louis, and Foulques.
See also Duchess of Orléans Count of Orléans Orleanist Legitimist Dauphin of France Duke of York
References