BOURBON FAMILY. The founder of this family, which has governed France, Spain, the two Sicilies, Lucca and Parma, was Robert the Strong, who, in 861, became Duke of Neustria and in 866 lost his life in a battle against the Normans. Some trace his descent from Pepin THeristal, others from a natural son of Charlemagne and others from the kings of Lombardy. It is certain that the two sons of this Robert were kings of France. The elder, named Eudes, ascended the throne in 888 and died in 898; the younger, Robert, in 922 and died in 923. The eldest son of this Robert was Hugh the Great, Duke of the Isle of France and Count of Paris and Orleans. Hugh Capet, son of Hugh the Great (great grandson of Robert the Strong).
founded the 3d French dynasty in 987. One of his descendants, named Robert, was the root of the elder line of the dukes of Burgundy, which became extinct in 1361. A descendant of this Robert, Henry of Burgundy, was first regent of Portugal in 1095, where his legitimate de scendants became extinct in 1383. Pierre de Courtenay, a descendant of Hugh Capet, in the fifth generation, was father and ancestor of many emperors of Constantinople. The house of Anjou descended from Hugh Capet, in the eighth generation, possessed the throne of Naples for two centuries and, for some time that of Hungary. Another descendant of Hugh Capet, in the 10th degree, founded the house of Navarre, which continued from 1328 to 1425. A second family of Anjou, descended from Hugh Capet, in the 13th degree, gave some distinguished princes to Provence. In the same degree, the younger line of the pow erful dukes of Burgundy derived its origin from him. This line became extinct with the death of Charles the Bold, in 1477, whose suc cessor, Maria, married Maximilian; Archduke of Austria, and became grandmother of Charles V. Robert, Earl of Clermont, second son of Saint Louis, married Beatrice, Duchess of Bourbon. In this way the city of Bourbon lArchambault, or Bourbon les Bains, in the department of Allier (formerly Bourbonnais), became the birthplace of the house of Bour bon and Louis I, Duke of Bourbon, son of Robert and Beatrice, its founder. Two branches took their origin from the two sons of this Louis, Duke of Bourbon, who died in 1341. The elder line was that of the dukes of Bourbon, which became extinct at the death of the Constable of Bourbon in 1527, in the assault of the city of Rome. The younger was that of the counts of La Marche, afterward counts and dukes of VendOme. Of these, Charles, Duke of Vendome, who died in 1537 and who had been the head of the house of Bourbon since the death of the Constable, had two sons, Anthony and Louis, founders respec tively of the royal line of Bourbon and of the line of Conde. Henry, the son of Anthony,
obtained the throne of France as Henry IV, when the house of Valois became extinct in 1589 by the murder of Henry III. His father had obtained the kingdom of Navarre through his wife, who inherited it, and Henry now added it to the French dominions. Anthony's younger brother Louis, Prince of Conde, was the founder of the line of Conde. There were, therefore, two chief branches of the Bour bons —the royal and that of Conde. The royal branch was divided by the two sons of Louis XIII, the elder of whom, Louis XIV, continued the chief branch, which, through his son, Louis (the Dauphin), and grandson, Philip V, was separated into the elder or royal French branch and the younger or royal Span ish branch; while Philip, younger son of Louis XIII, founded the house of Orleans, when he received the duchy of Orleans from Louis XIV. The kings of the elder or French line of the house of Bourbon are as follows: Henry IV, Louis XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII and Charles X. The house of Bourbon consists of the following branches and mem bers: The Elder French Royal Line of Bour bons as Distinguished from the Younger Branch' or House of Orleans.— The last sovereigns of this line were three brothers, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X (Louis XVII, son of Louis XVI, never obtained the Xvii, son of Louis XVI, never obtained the crown), all of whom were grandsons of Louis XV. Louis XVIII had no children, but Charles X had two sons, namely: Louis An toine de Bourbon, Duke of Angouleme, who was Dauphin till the revolution of 1830 and died without issue in 1844, and Charles Fer dinand, Duke of Berry, who died 14 Feb. 1820, of a wound given him by a political fanatic. The Duke of Berry had two chil dren, (1) Louise Marie Therese, called Mademoiselle dArtois, and afterward by mar riage Duchess of Parma, died at Venice, 1 Feb. 1864; and (2) Henri Charles Ferdinand Marie Dieudonne, born in 1820, and at first called Duke of Bordeaux, but afterward Count de Chambord. His mother was the Princess Caroline, daughter of Francis I, King of the two Sicilies. Charles X, having abdicated in favor of his grandson Henri, above mentioned, in 1830, and the Dauphin having renounced his claims on the French throne also in favor of the latter, the Count de Chambord was until his death in 1883 looked upon by his party as the legitimate heir to the crown of France, and was styled by them Henri V.