BOURBON, bMiebon, Pr. pron. bmebaN'. HOUSE OF. A younger branch of the Capetian family of France, representatives of which occu pied several European thrones after the Six teenth Century. The house derived its name from the castle and seigniory of Bourbon. in the former Province of Bourbonnais, in the centre of France, where now stands the little town and watering-place of BourbontArehambault. The first lord or sire of this family of whom his tory makes mention was Adhilmar, at the be ginning of the Tenth Century. The fourth in succession from him, Arebambault 1., added the name of the family castle to his own. Under his successors, who also bore the name of Arch amhnult, the family possessions were soon very much increased. At length the seigniory of Bour bon devolved upon an heiress, who in 1272 mar ried Robert, the sixth son of Louis IX. of France. It thus passed to a brawl) of the royal family of tho Capetians, under whom it was converted into a duchy. The principal branch of this family was, in 1523, deprived of all its dignities and pos sessions, because the Duke. Charles de Bourbon (q.v.), the famous Constable, allied himself with Charles V. against Francis 1. of France. Of the collateral branches, that of Vendome ac quired great importance, first attaining by mar riage, in the person of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, the throne of Navarre; afterwards by inheritance the throne of France, in the per son of Henry IV., on the extinction of the male line of the house of Valois (q.v.) ; and by fortune of war the thrones of Spain, Naples, and Parma. Among the numerous other collateral branches may be mentioned those of Nontpensier, De la Marehe, Conde, Conti, Soissons, and Orleans. Only a few members of the collateral lines, how ever, have borne the name of Bourbon; for exam ple, the Cardinal Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, who, under the name 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 (q.v.), 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 assassina tion of Henry Ill., became, by virtue of the Salle law (q.v.), the heir to the French throne. Through his father, Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre and Duke of Vendome, he was de scended from Robert, son of Louis IX., and hus band of Beatrix, heiress of Bourbon. On his assassination in 1610. he left, by his second wife, Maria de' Medici. five legitimate children: (1) Louis XTIT., his successor on the throne: (2) Gaston. Duke of Orleans (q.v.), who died in
1660, and left ow male heirs: (3) Elizabeth, married to Philip IV. of Spain: (4) Chris tina, married to Victor Amadeus, afterwards Duke of Savoy: (5) Henrietta, married to Charles I. of England.—Louis X1 II., on his death in 1643, left two sons by his Queen, Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip 111. of Spain: (1) Louis XIV., his successor; and (2) Philip, who received from his elder brother the title of Duke of Orleans. and was the founder of the family which has become the younger Bour bon dynasty.—The dauphin Louis, son of Louis XIV. by his marriage with Alaria Theresa of Spain, died in 1711, and left three sons by his marriage with Maria Anna of Bavaria: (1) Louis. Duke of Burgundy: (2) Philip. Duke of Anjou. who afterwards became King of Spain, as Philip V.; (3) Charles, Duke of Berry, who (Reif in 1714.—Lours, 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 be ing Louis XV., who succeeded his great-grand father, Louis XIV., in 1715.—Lows XV. hav ing married Maria Leszczynska. daughter of the dethroned King Stanislas of Poland. 11:1(1 by her a son, the dauphin Louis. who married :Maria .losepha of Saxony. and died in 1765, leaving three sons: ( I) Louis XVI.. who succeeded his grandfather, Louis XV., in 1774; (2) Louis Stanislas Xavier, ('mint of Provence, afterwards Louis XVIII.; (:I) Charles Philippe, Count of Artois, afterwards Charles X.—Lorns XVI. had three children by his Queen. Marie Antoinette of Austria: (1) The dauphin Louis, who (lied in 1789; (2) Louis, called Louis XVII., who died in 1795; (3) Marie TWr'ase Charlotte, styled Madame Royale, afterwards Duchess of Angou li me. Louis XVI II. had no children; but Charles X. had two sons: (1) Louis Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Angouliane, who was dauphin prior to the Revolution of 1830, and died without issue in 1844; (2) Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry (q.v.), who was murdered in 1820.—The Duke of Berry left two children: (1) Marie Louise TNrese,styled Mademoiselle d'Artois,mar ried to the Duke of Parma; (2) Henri Charles Ferdinand Marie Dieudonne, Duke of Bordeaux, later styled Count of Chambord, the representa tive of the elder branch of the Bourbons. The latter died childless in 1883, and the Legitimists accepted in his stead the Orleanist Count of Paris, grandson of King Louis Philippe, as head of the house of Bourbon. The Count of Paris died in 1594, and his son, the Duke of Orleans, now represents legitimacy.