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Louis François, Duke of Anjou (14 June 1672 – 4 November 1672) (French: Louis François de France) (Spanish: Luis Francisco de Francia) was the sixth child and youngest son of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain. As such he was a Fils de France and a Prince of France and as the son of Maria Theresa of Spain he was Infante of Spain. Louis François was one of five children who died in infancy, except for his eldest brother, Louis, Grand Dauphin. Infant Louis died at the age of 4 months and 21 days old of the death of Louis may have been due to inbreeding.

Life

Louis François was born on 14 June 1672 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He was created Duke of Anjou at birth, a title previously vacant since the death of his older brother, Philippe Charles, who had died the previous year. At court everyone called him the second Duke of Anjou. The birth of the Duke of Anjou was a relief to the king and queen, who had lost four children. But the Prince's health soon showed signs of deterioration most likely of inbreeding as his parents were first cousins. The king remotely approved that his son's wet nurse be Màrie d' Velntion who moved to France.

Despite the care, the little prince's health did not improve. He was hastily baptized on 1 November and given the first name Louis François Charles. He died on 4 November 1672 at the age of four months at The Palace of Versailles. The king wrote to the Prince of Condé on 7 November: "My cousin, the sole subject of this letter is the loss we have suffered of my son, the Duke of Anjou." He was buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis while his heart was buried in the abbey of Val-de-Grâce. Died as an infant, the young Louis-François does not appear in any portraits. While medical treatments and choices may have contributed to sending the royal couple's children to the grave, the kinship of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Austria as first cousins certainly played a role, given the children's fragile physical condition.

Ancestry

Louis François's paternal grandparents were Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria, he was descended, on his mother's side, from Philip IV of Spain and Élisabeth of France. Louis XIII and Élisabeth de Bourbon were siblings (the children of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici), as were Anne of Austria and Philip IV, who were the children of Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria. That means that he had only four great-grandparents instead of the usual eight, and that his double-cousin parents had the same coefficient of co-ancestry (1/4) as if they were half-siblings.

References

1. Maxtone-Graham, Margaret Ethel Blair Oliphant (1915). Children of France. Internet Archive. New York, E.P. Dutton and Co. p. 167.
2. "Les coeurs et entrailles des reines, princes et princesses au Val-de-Grâce (avant 1793)". saintdenis-tombeaux.1fr1.net (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-10.
3. Geeraert, Anaïs (2019-04-03). "07. Louis-François, duc d'Anjou, fils de Louis XIV". Histoire et Secrets (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-10.

Sources

Book

• Maxtone-Graham, Margaret Ethel Blair Oliphant (1915). "Chapter X". Children of France. New York, E.P. Dutton and Co. p. 167.

Web pages

• Geeraert, Anaïs (3 April 2019). "Louis-François, duc d'Anjou, fils de Louis XIV". Histoire et Secrets. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
• Alexandre Lenoir. "Les coeurs et entrailles des reines princes et princesses au val de grace (avant 1793)". Saint Denis Tombeaux (in French). Retrieved 10 November 2024.

v t e Dukes of Anjou
Hereditary dukes	Louis I Louis II Louis III René Charles IV
Appanage of Anjou	Louise Henri François Gaston Philippe Louis François Philippe Louis Louis
Courtesy title	Philippe Charles Philippe Jaime Alfonso Carlos Jaime Alfonso
Current claimants	Charles-Philippe Louis Alphonse

v t e Princes of France
The first generation are the children of Henri IV; these males held the rank of Son of France or Grandson of France;
1st generation	King Louis XIII Nicolas Henri, Duke of Orléans Gaston, Duke of Orléans
2nd generation	King Louis XIV Philippe I, Duke of Orléans Prince Jean Gaston, Duke of Valois
3rd generation	Louis, Dauphin of France Prince Philippe Charles, Duke of Anjou Prince Louis François, Duke of Anjou Prince Philippe Charles, Duke of Valois Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
4th generation	Louis, Dauphin of France King Philip V of Spain* Prince Charles, Duke of Berry
5th generation	Prince Louis, Duke of Brittany Louis, Dauphin of France King Louis XV Louis, Prince of Asturias* Infante Philip of Spain*
6th generation	Louis, Dauphin of France Prince Philippe, Duke of Anjou
7th generation	Prince Louis, Duke of Burgundy Prince Xavier, Duke of Aquitaine King Louis XVI King Louis XVIII King Charles X
8th generation	Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France King Louis XVII Prince Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême Prince Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry
9th generation	Prince Henri, Count of Chambord
* until 1713

• 1672 births
• 1672 deaths
• Dukes of Anjou
• Princes of France (Bourbon)
• Royalty who died as children
• Sons of kings
• Children of Louis XIV
• 17th-century French people
• People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye
• Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis