The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. 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, Naples & Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have Bourbon monarchs.

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 Orléans, then ruled for 18 years (1830–1848), until it too was overthrown. The Princes of Condé (Bourbon-Condé) were a cadet branch of the Bourbon-Vendômes and, in turn, were senior to the Princes of Conti (Bourbon-Conti). Both these lines became extinct in the early nineteenth century.

Philip V of Spain was the first Bourbon ruler of Spain, from 1700. The Spanish Bourbons— in Spain the name is spelled Borbón—have been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, and 1975 to the present day. From this Spanish line comes the royal line of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1734–1806 and 1815–1860, and Sicily only in 1806–1816), the Bourbon-Sicilies family, and the Bourbon rulers of the Duchy of Parma.

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 declared heiress and thrice-regent of the now-defunct Empire of Brazil married twenty years before their deposition a prince of Orleans, and their descent, known as the Orleans-Braganza, would have ascended that throne, had the empire not been ended in 1889.

Origins

Kingdom of France
Structure
Estates of the realm
Parlements
French nobility
Taille
Gabelle
Seigneurial system

The House of Bourbon was originally a noble family, dating 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.

The Capetian House of Bourbon

In 1268, Robert, Count of Clermont, sixth son of King Louis IX of France married Beatrix of Bourbon, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon. Their son Louis was made Duke of Bourbon in 1327. His descendant, the Constable of France Charles de Bourbon, was the last of the Bourbon line when he died in 1527. Because he chose to fight under the banner of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and lead a life of exile his title was discontinued after his death.

However the junior line of La Marche-Vendôme remained, the ruling house of the Dukedom of Vendôme. The Bourbon-Vendôme branch were to become rulers of the Kingdom of Navarre on the northern side of the Pyrenees in 1555 and then of France, with Henry III of Navarre becoming Henry IV of France

France

The rise of Henry IV

House of Bourbon

Henri IV
Sister
Catherine, Duchess of Lorraine
Children included
Louis XIII
Elisabeth, Queen of Spain
Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy
Nicholas Henri, duc d'Orléans
Gaston, duc d'Orléans

Henriette-Marie, Queen of England

Louis XIII
Children
Louis XIV
Philippe, duc d'Orléans
Louis XIV
Children included
Louis, Dauphin
Marie-Anne
Marie-Therèse
Philippe-Charles, duc d'Anjou
Grandchildren included
Louis, Dauphin
King Felipe V of Spain
Charles, duc de Berry
Great Grandchildren included
Louis, Dauphin
Louis XV
Louis XV
Children included
Louise-Elisabeth, duchesse de Parme
Madame Henriette
Louis, Dauphin
Madame Adélaïde
Madame Victoire
Madame Sophie
Madame Louise
Grandchildren included
Marie Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia
Louis XVI
Louis XVIII
Charles X
Madame Élisabeth
Louis XVI
Children included
Marie-Thérèse, duchesse d'Angouleme
Louis-Joseph, Dauphin
Louis XVII
Sophie-Beatrix
Louis XVII
Louis XVIII
Charles X
Children
Louis XIX
Charles, duc de Berry
Grandchildren included
Henri V
Louise, duchesse de Parme
French monarchy, 843–1870

Main article: Henry IV of France's succession

The first Bourbon King of France was Henry IV. He was born on 13 December 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 Vendôme at the age of 10, with Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519–1572) 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 Condé in 1568.

Contents

House of Bourbon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Origins

The Capetian House of Bourbon

France

The rise of Henry IV