Bourbon Kings

Bourbon kings, from The House of Bourbon, ruled over France from 1589 until the French Revolution of 1792.

On this page, you will find the lineage of the 3 Bourbon Kings that lived at Versailles Palace between 1682 and 1789.

Not all heirs to the French crown would grow up to become kings. 3 Dauphins (the title for the French Crown Prince) kept the title for life. The king would outlive them.

I have listed the legitimate wives and children of the Bourbon Kings and the Dauphines of France.

The kings of Versailles often had one or more mistresses. The maîtresse-en-titre (chief mistress) often had their own apartment in Versailles Palace.

I have only listed the Bourbon Kings and princes' children by their legitimate wives.
The Mistresses' children will need a separate page, as there are many.

Louis XIV and His Family

At the centre of this painting is the Sun King, Louis XIV, the most illustrious of his dynasty. His father (Louis XIII) and grandfather (Henry IV) are displayed as busts.

At the King's right is his son, Louis the Grand Dauphin; to the king's left is his eldest grandson, Louis, Duke of Burgundy. Both predeceased Louis XIV.

The king gestures to his great-grandson, Louis Duke of Brittany, symbolising the older man's approval of his young heir.

Madame de Ventadour, the young duke's governess (and the only non-royal in the painting) holds her charge's reins. Her presence references her role in "saving" the dynasty during the measles epidemic 1712. The painting was probably made for her." from wikimedia

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Bourbon kings, the family of Louis XIV

Louis XIV
(5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715)

Maria Theresa of Spain
(20 September 1638 – 30 July 1683)

Louis XIV was the Bourbon King who had the old hunting lodge of his father rebuilt into the Palace of Versailles which became famous in the whole World.

He moved the court of the House of Bourbon from Paris to Versailles. He insisted that all members of the aristocracy lived there too. He named himself the Sun King, as he was the centre of his universe.

Louis XIV married Maria Theresa, the infanta of Spain. They met on 7 June 1660 and the marriage took place two days later on June 9th. They had 6 children.
Five of them died at a young age.

Louis XIV lived in Versailles Palace for 33 years, until his death in 1715.

Maria Theresa lived in Versailles for only a year, as she died in 1683, a year after the Royal family moved there.

Louis de France
(1 November 1661- 14 April 1711)

Anne Élisabeth de France
(18 November 1662-30 December 1662)

Marie Anne de France
(16 November 1664 - December 1664)

Marie Thérèse de France
(2 January 1667- 1 March 1672)

Philippe Charles de France, duc d'Anjou
(5 August 1668- 10 July 1671)

Louis François de France, duc d'Anjou
(14 June 1672- 4 November 1672)

The family of Louis de France, le Grand Dauphin

Louis de France, le Grand Dauphin
(1 November 1661- 14 April 1711).

Son of Louis XIV.

Duchess Maria Anna of Bavaria
(28 November 1660 – 20 April 1690).

Wife of Louis de France. Dauphine of France.

Louis married Maria Anna on 7 March 1680. They had 3 sons.
Louis was the only son of Louis XIV, but did not outlive his father and thus never became a Bourbon King. He was dauphin of France his whole life.

Louis of France
(16 August 1682 – 18 February 1712)

Duke of Burgundy

Philippe of France
(19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746)

Duke of Anjou

The later king of Spain Philip V

Charles of France
(31 July 1686 – 5 May 1714)

Duke of Berry

The family of Louis de France, Le Petit Dauphin

Louis de France, Le Petit Dauphin
(16 August 1682 – 18 February 1712).

Grandson of Louis XIV.

Marie Adélaïde of Savoy
(6 December 1685 – 12 February 1712)

Louis and Marie Adélaïde married on 7 December 1697. They had 7 children, 4 of them were stillborn.
The grandson of Louis XIV became the official Daupin of France when his father died in 1711. Unfortunatley he too died within a year and never became king of France.

Louis, Duke of Brittany

(25 June 1704 – 13 April 1705)

Louis, Duke of Brittany
(8 January 1707 – 8 March 1712)

Louis, Duke of Anjou
(15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774)

As you can see above in the years 1711- 1712 disaster struck for the House of Bourbon. Both the father, (Louis le petit Dauphin) and brother (Duke of Brittany) of Louis, Duke of Anjou died of measles.

His grandfather (Louis le grand Dauphin) died a year earlier in 1711, leaving the two-year old Louis as the sole heir of the Fench monarchy. In these horrible years also his mother and other members of the family died of the same disease.

Bourbon kings, the family of Louis XV

Louis XV of France
(15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774)

King of France

Great-Grandson of Louis XIV

Marie Leczinska
(23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768)

Marie Leczinska married Louis XV 5 September 1725. They had never met each other before this day. They had 11 children, of which one stillborn.

King Louis XV had some famous mistresses like Madame de Pompadour and Madame du Barry.

Louise Élisabeth
(14 August 1727-6 December 1759)

Marie Adélaïde
(23 March 1732 27 February 1800)

Anne Henriette
(14 August 1727-10 February 1752)

Marie Louise Thérèse Victoire (11 May 1733-7 June 1799)

Marie Louise
(28 July 1728-19 February 1733)

Sophie Philippine Élisabeth Justine (17 July 1734-3 March 1782)

Louis Ferdinand
(4 September 1729-20 December 1765)

Unnamed child
(28 March 1735)

Marie Thérèse Félicité
(16 May 1736-28 September 1744)

Philippe
(30 August 1730-17 April 1733)

Louise Marie
(5 July 1737-23 December 1787)

The family of Louis Ferdinand, Dauphin of France

Louis Ferdinand
(4 September 1729-20 December 1765)

Dauphin of France

María Teresa Antonia Rafaela
(11 June 1726 – 22 July 1746)

Dauphine of France

Louis Ferdinand married Maria Teresa on 18 December 1744. She was the daughter of King Philip V of Spain, the brother of Louise the petit dauphin, and therefor the first cousin of Louis XV. She died three days after giving birth to her only daughter Princess Marie Thérèse of France (19 July 1746 – 27 April 1748). She was only 20 years old.

Since there was no heir it was important for Louis to get married again soon.

He married Maria Josepha on 10 January 1747. They had 8 surviving children. Maria Josepha had 5 more children who were stillborn.

Louis Ferdinand was the father of three kings of France, but never became king himself. He died of tuberculosis in 1765, when his father was still alive.

Louis Ferdinand
(4 September 1729-20 December 1765)

Dauphin of France

Maria Josepha Karolina Eleonore Franziska Xaveria
(4 November 1731 – 13 March 1767)

Dauphine of France

Marie Zéphyrine
(26 August 1750 – 1 September 1755)

Louis Stanislas Xavier (17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824)

Louis Joseph
(13 September 1751 – 22 March 1761)

Charles Philippe
(9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836)

Xavier
(8 September 1753 – 22 February 1754)

Marie Clotilde
(23 September 1759 – 7 March 1802)

Louis XVI
(23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793)

Élisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène
(3 May 1764 – 10 May 1794)

Bourbon kings, the family of Louis XVI

Louis XVI of France
(23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793)

Marie Antoinette
(2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793)

The fifteen-year old Louis married the fourteen-year old Marie Antoinette on May 16th 1770. They had four children. They were the last family to live in Versailles Palace. They left Versailles 6 October 1789 by force and moved to the Tuileries Palace in Paris.

During the French Revolution both Louis and Marie Antoinette where beheaded. The children of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI suffered tremendously during the French Revolution. Only the eldest daughter Marie Thérèse

survived.