ORLEANS, PHILIPPE, Due d', regent of France during the minority of Louis XV., was the son of Philippe, duC d'Orleans, and the grandson of Louis XIII., and was b. Aug. 4, 1674. lie possessed excellent talents, and made unusual attainments both in science and belles lettres; but his tutor, cardinal Dubois (q.v.), did not scruple to minis ter to the strong passions of the young prince, and exercised a most pernicious influence over him. He gave himself up to debauchery. The king compelled him to marry Mademoiselle de Blois, his daughter by Mme. de Montespan. He astonished and alarmed the court by protesting against his exclusion by the testament of Charles II. from all right of succession to the throne of Spain, and by the attention which he imme diately began to give to military and political affairs.. His military talents, however, led to his employment in the wars in Italy and in Spain; but his presence in Madrid after his victories was regarded with apprehension both by Philip V. and by Louis XIV. He had, indeed, formed the design of taking possession of the Spanish throne for him self. In consequence of this, he lived for some years in complete exile from the court, and much dreaded by it; spending his time both in vicious excesses, and in the culti vation of the tine arts and the study of chemistry. This study afforded a pretext to Mme. de Maintenon and her party for accusing him of poisoning the dauphin and others of the royal family, who died suddenly, and in rapid succession, of malignant fever, in 1711. The king refused an investigation which the duke demanded. Louis, legitimized his sons, the duke of Maine and the count of Toulouse, appointed the duke of Oileans only president of the regency and not regent, giving the guardianship of his youthful heir and the command of the household troops to the duke of Maine; but all this was set aside at his death, and the duke of Orleans became sole regent. He was
popular, and his first measures increased his popularity; but the financial affairs of the kingdom were perplexing, and the regent's adoption of the schemes of law (q.v.) led to disastrous results. Meanwhile, on Aug. 26, 1718, he held the celebrated Lit de Justice, in which he prohibited the parliament of Paris from meddling with financial or political affairs, and declared the legitimized sons of Louis XIV. incapable of succeeding to the throne. Dubois, who still possessed an unhappy influence over his former pupil, became prime-minister, and eventually ruler of France; the regent, who was really a man of far higher abilities, neglecting all duties, and pursuing a course of profligacy almost unequaled in the worst instances of antiquity. His eldest daughter, the duchess de 1Berry, followed his example, and brought herself to any early grave. Dubois, wishing to be made a cardinal, persuaded the regent to sacrifice the Jansenists, and to compel the parliament in 1722 to recognize the bull Unigenit us (q.v.). After the king's corona tion, Feb. 15, 1723, and the death of Dubois in August, the duke of Orleans, although disliking public affairs, consented to become prime-minister; but died on December 2 of the same year, physically exhausted by his incessant debauchery. The influence of his religious and other opinions, and the example of his immoralities, powerfully tended to promote that state of things which eventually produced the horrors of the French revolution.