Philippe d'Orléans

Monsieur Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (21 September 1640 – 9 June 1701), was the younger son of King Louis XIII of France and his wife, Anne of Austria.

His elder brother was the "Sun King", Louis XIV.

Philippe was born on 21 September 1640 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, the day before his mother Anne's 39th birthday.

As the son of a ruling king, the infant Philippe held the rank of a Fils de France (son of France).

As such, he ranked immediately behind his older brother Louis, Dauphin of France, who inherited the French throne before Philippe reached the age of three.

From birth, Philippe was second in line to the throne of France and was entitled to the style of Royal Highness.

He was born in the presence of his father Louis XIII, the Princess of Condé, and the Duchess of Vendôme, prominent members of the Bourbon dynasty.

Philippe's cousin, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, noted in her memoirs that the child's birth was marked by celebratory cannons in Paris.

An hour after his birth, he was baptised in a private ceremony by Dominique Séguier, Bishop of Meaux, and given the name Philippe.

Louis XIII had wanted to give the infant the title Count of Artois in honour of a recent French victory in Arras within the county of Artois.

However, Louis respected tradition and gave him the title of Duke of Anjou instead, a title commonly granted to the younger sons of French kings since the fourteenth century.

After his baptism, Philippe was put in the care of Françoise de Souvré, marquise de Lansac, who also looked after his older brother, in 1643 succeeded by Marie-Catherine de Senecey.

At the death of their father Louis XIII in May 1643, Philippe's older brother ascended to the throne of France as Louis XIV.

Their mother Queen Anne revoked the late king's will to arrange for a power-sharing agreement with Cardinal Mazarin, who had been serving as Louis XIII's chief minister.

Anne was now in full control of her children, something she had been vying for since their birth.

As the younger brother of the king, Philippe was addressed as le Petit Monsieur, since his uncle Gaston, who had also been the younger brother of a French king, was still alive.

Gaston was then known as le Grand Monsieur.

From 1646 on Philippe spent some of his childhood at the Hôtel de Villeroy ("Cremerie de Paris"), house of Nicolas de Villeroy, tutor of his brother Louis XIV.

The children played there with Catherine de Villeroy and François de Villeroy.

In the autumn of 1647, at age seven, Philippe caught smallpox, but recovered and convalesced at the Palais-Royal.

A year later, he was taken from the care of women and, on 11 May 1648 carried out his first official ceremony when he was baptized publicly at the Palais Royal.

His godparents were his uncle Gaston and aunt Queen Henrietta Maria of England.

Later, he was placed in the care of François de La Mothe Le Vayer and the Abbé de Choisy.

He was also educated by the maréchal du Plessis-Praslin.

His tutors were chosen by Mazarin, who was created the superintendent of the prince's education by his mother.

His education emphasized languages, history, literature, mathematics and dancing.

Despite having a household of his own, his behavior was closely watched by his mother and Mazarin, who made sure that Philippe had no meaningful financial freedom from the crown.

When Philippe was eight, the civil war known as the Fronde began in France.

It lasted until 1653 in its two main phases: the Fronde Parlementaire (1648–1649) and the Fronde des nobles (1650–1653).

Styled Duke of Anjou from birth, Philippe became Duke of Orléans upon the death of his uncle Gaston in 1660.

It was not until 1660 at the death of Gaston that Philippe would be known simply as Monsieur or as the Duke of Orléans.

The child Philippe was acknowledged to be attractive, affectionate, and intelligent.

The Duchess of Montpensier dubbed him the "prettiest child in the world", while his mother's friend and confidant, Madame de Motteville, later said of Philippe that he displayed a "lively intelligence" early on.

In 1661, he also received the dukedoms of Valois and Chartres.

Following Philippe's victory in battle in 1671, Louis XIV granted his brother the dukedom of Nemours, the marquisates of Coucy and Folembray, and the countships of Dourdan and Romorantin.

Throughout his life, Philippe was open about his preference for male lovers, most notably the Chevalier de Lorraine, and freely acted with effeminacy.

He married twice, first to Henrietta of England and then to Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, fathering several children.

The Duke was military commander at the Battle of Cassel in 1677.

Through careful personal administration, he greatly augmented the fortunes of the House of Orléans.

Philippe was the founder of the House of Orléans, a cadet branch of the ruling House of Bourbon, and thus the direct ancestor of Louis Philippe I, who ruled France from 1830 until 1848 in the July Monarchy.