BOURBON, a French family of the highest note in history, and which came to possess several European•thrones, derives its name from the castle and Seiguory of Bourbon, in the former province of Bourbonnais, in the center of France. The first lord or sire of this family, of whom history makes mention, was Adhemar, at the beginning of the 10th century. The fourth iii succession from him, Archambauld I., added the name of the family castle to his own. Under his successors, who also bore the name of Archam bauld, the family possessions were soon very much increased. At length the seignory of Bourbon having devolved upon an heiress, who, in 1272, married Robert, the sixth son of Louis IX. of France, thus passed to a branch of the royal family of the Capets, under. whom it was converted into a duchy. The principal branch .of this family was, in 1523, deprived of all its dignities and possessions, because the duke, Charles de IL (q.v.); the famous constable, allied himself with Charles V. against Francis I. of France.
Of the collateral ‘tranches, that of Vendome acquired great importance, first attain ing by marriage, in the person of Antoine de B., duke of Vendome. to the throne of Navarre; afterwards by inheritance to the throne of France, in the person of Henry IV., on the extinction of the male line of the house of Valois; and by the fortune of war to the thrones of Spain and Naples. Among the numerous other collateral branches may be mentioned those of Montpensier. De In Marche, Conde,. Conti, Soissons, and Orleans. Only a few members. of the, collateral lines, however, have borne the name of B.; for example, the cardinal Charles de B., duke of Vendome, who, under the xmine of Charles X., Was set up by the Catholic league as a rival king to Henry IV. The ducal dignity was revived by Louis XIV. in the house of Conde, so that the eldest son of that house should bear the title of duke of Bourbon.
The dynasty of the Bourbons in France begins with Henry IV. (q.v.), who, after the assassination of Henry III., became, in virtue of the Salic law (q v.), the next heir to the French throne. Through his father, Antoine de B., king of Navarre and duke of Vendome, he was descended from Robert, son of Louis IX., and husband of Beatrix, heiress of Bourbon. On his assassination in 1610, he left, by his second wife, Mary de' Medici, five legitimate children: 1. Louis XIII. (q.v.), his successor on the throne; 2.
.1.•B. Gaston, duke of Orleans (q.v.), who died in 1660, and left no male heirs; 3. Eliza beth, married to Philip IV. of Spain; 4. Christina, married to Victor Amadeus, after wards duke of 5. Henrietta, married to Charles I. of England.—Louis on his death in 1643, left two sons by his queen, Anne of Austria: 1. Louis XIV. (q.v.), his successor; and 2. Philip, who received from his elder brother the title of duke of Orle ans, and was the founder of the family which has become the younger B. dynasty.—The dauphin Louis, styled monsieur, the son of Louis XIV. by his marriage with Maria There;a of Austria, died on 14th April, 1711. and left three sons by his marriage with Maria Anna of Bavaria: 1. Louis, duke of Burgundy (q.v.); 2. Philip, duke of Anjou. who afterwards became king of Spain, as Philip V.; 3. Charles, duke of Berri, who (lied in 1714.—Louis, duke of Burgundy, died in 1712. By his wife, Maria Adelaide of Savoy. he had three sons, of whom two died in early youth, the only one who survived being Louis XV., who succeeded his great-grandfather, Louis XIV. in 1715.—Louis XV. hay ing married Maria Leszcynska, great-grandfather, of the dethroned king Stanislans of Poland,had by her a son, the dauphin Louis, who married Maria Josepha of Saxony, and died in 1765. leaving three sons: 1. Louis XVI. (q.v.), who succeeded his grandfather, Louis XV., in 1774; 2. Louis Stauislaus Xavier, count of Provence. afterwards Louis XVIII.; 3. Charles Philippe, count of Artois, afterwards Charles X.—Louis XVI. had three children by his queen, Marie Antoinette of Austria: 1. The dauphin Louis. who died in 1789; 2. Louis, called Louis XVII. (q.v:), who died in 1795; 3. Marie Therese Charlotte, styled Madame Royale; afterwards duchesse d'Atipuleme (q.v.).—Lonis XVIII. hail no children; but Charles X. had two sons: 1. Loins Antoine de B., duke of AngoulOnie (q.v.), who was dauphin prior to the revolution of 1830, and died without issue in 1844; 2. Charles Ferdinand, duke of Berri (q.v.). who was murdered in 1820. The duke of Berri left two children: 1. Marie Louise I herese, styled Mademoiselle' d'Artois, mar ried to the duke of Purina; 2. Henry Charles Ferdinand Marie Dieudonne, duke of Bordeaux, now styled count de Chambord, the representative of the elder branch of the Bourbons, till June, 1871, exiled from France, and whom the French legitimists some times designate Henry V.