Title given to male offsprings of the King of France
This article is about the children of the King of France. For the 17th century female immigrants to Quebec, seeLes filles du roi. For the film, seeSon of France.
Fils de France (French pronunciation:[fisdəfʁɑ̃s],Son of France) was thestyle andrank held by the sons of thekings anddauphins of France. A daughter was known as afille de France (French pronunciation:[fijdəfʁɑ̃s],Daughter of France).
The children of the dauphin (a title reserved for the king'sheir apparent, whether son, grandson or great-grandson of the monarch) were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his grandchildren or great-grandchildren.[1]
The king, queen,queen dowager,enfants de France (children of France) andpetits-enfants de France (grandchildren of France) constituted thefamille du roi (royal family).[2] More remote legitimate,male-line descendants of France's kings held the designation and rank ofprinces du sang (princes of the blood) or, if legally recognised despite abar sinister on theescutcheon, they were customarily deemedprinces légitimés (legitimated princes).[3]
The dauphin, the heir to the French throne, was the most senior of thefils de France and was usually addressed asMonsieur le dauphin.[4] The king's next younger brother, also afils de France, was known simply asMonsieur, and his wife asMadame.[5]
Daughters were referred to by their given name prefaced with thehonorificMadame, while sons were referred to by their mainpeerage title (usuallyducal), with the exception of the dauphin. The king's eldest daughter was known asMadame Royale until she married, whereupon the next eldestfille de France succeeded to that style.
Although the children of monarchs are often referred to in English asprince orprincess, those terms were used as general descriptions for royalty in France but not as titular prefixes or direct forms of address for individuals (with the exception ofMonsieur le Prince for the seniorprince du sang) prior to theJuly Monarchy (1830–1848). Collectively, thelegitimate children of the kings and dauphins were known asenfants de France ("children of France"), while examples abound in reputable works offils de France andfille de France being converted into other languages as "Prince/Princess of France" (however the same works, as cited, leave the Spanish equivalent,Infante/Infanta de España, untranslated).[6][7][8][9] The illegitimate children of French kings, dauphins, andprinces du sang were not entitled to any rights or stylesper se, but often they werelegitimised by their fathers. Even then, however, they were never elevated to the rank offils de France, although they were sometimes accorded the lower rank and/or privileges associated with theprinces du sang.
Allenfants de France were entitled to the style ofRoyal Highness (altesse royale) from the reign of Louis XIII.[10] However, in practice that formal honorific was less often used than the more traditionally French styles ofMonsieur, Madame orMademoiselle.[4][10] The styles of the royal family varied as follows:
Under the Valois monarchs, the titles borne by the sons of kings became regularized.Philip VI made his eldest sonDuke of Normandy and his second sonDuke of Orléans. Normandy would have become the regular title of the heirs apparent of kings, but the acquisition ofDauphiné and the request of its last count ensured that the heirs apparent would be calledDauphin instead.
John II made his eldest son Duke of Normandy, and his younger sons dukes of Anjou, Berry, and Burgundy. Anjou and Burgundy established long-lived dynasties, while the Duke of Berry lived for a long time. Orléans was reused for the younger son ofCharles V, while Berry was reused for the younger son ofCharles VII. By the accession ofFrancis I, all of the cadet branches descended from Valois kings had either succeeded to the throne or become extinct. Thus the king had a wide selection of traditional titles to choose from. Orléans was the most preferred, followed by Anjou.
The Bourbon kings followed the traditional titling, with Berry used for the third son. As lifespans extended, Burgundy was used for the eldest son of the Dauphin, and Brittany for the eldest son of the eldest son of the Dauphin. But as fortune would have it, only the title of Orléans would be transmitted hereditarily until the Revolution.
This was a form of address for the dauphin. Thedauphin de France (strictly speaking thedauphin de Viennois), was the title used for theheir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791 and then from 1824 to 1830.
Louis de France (1661–1711), the only surviving legitimately born son ofLouis XIV (1638–1715), was usually not addressed by this style as he was usually referred to at court as eitherMonseigneur (see more below) or, informally, asle Grand Dauphin.[4]
Louis de France, (1682–1712), son of the preceding, who became the dauphin in 1711, was informally known asle Petit Dauphin.[4]
Louis de France, calledle Grand Dauphin, officially known at court asMonseigneur.
This was another way of addressingLe Grand Dauphin, the only legitimate son of Louis XIV. After the death ofle Grand Dauphin, the heir apparent to the throne of France for half a century, the style ofMonseigneur was not used again to describe the dauphin himself. Rather, it became the style used by his sons as prefix to their peerages. During the lifetime of theGrand Dauphin, his three sons were addressed as:
Princess Christine Marie of France (1606–1663), the second daughter of Henry IV and Marie de' Medici. In 1619, Christine was married toVictor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (1587–1637). She assumed the style ofMadame Royale upon the death of her older sister, the Queen of Spain.
Princess Marie Louise Élisabeth of France (1727–1759), eldest daughter of Louis XV and his queen,Maria Leszczyńska (1703–1768). As a twin, Louise-Élisabeth rarely if ever used this title. She preferred being calledMadame Première, to distinguish herself from her younger twin,Henriette-Anne of France (1727–1752), who was referred to asMadame Seconde. See more on this below.
Between the death, in 1672, of Marie-Thérèse of France, the longest living daughter of Louis XIV and his Queen, and the birth, in 1727, of Louise Élisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of Louis XV, there were no legitimate daughters of a French king. Because of this, the style was occasionally used by the most senior unmarried princess at the French Court during that period. It was briefly used by the eldest niece of Louis XIV,Marie Louise d'Orléans (1662–1689), later known as justMademoiselle. After her marriage to KingCharles II of Spain (1661–1700), in 1679, the style was assumed briefly by her younger sister,Anne Marie d'Orléans (1669–1728), before she marriedVictor Amadeus II of Sardinia (1666–1732).
Henri de Valois,Duke of Anjou (1551–1589), younger brother of Francis II and Charles IX, was known asMonsieur during the reign of Charles IX. He became King of France as Henry III from 1574 to 1589;
François de Valois,Duke of Anjou (1555–1584), youngest brother of Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III, was known asMonsieur during the reign of Henry III;
Gaston of France,Duke of Orléans (1608–1660), younger brother ofLouis XIII (1601–1643), was known asMonsieur during the reign of Louis XIII and was the firstfils de France to assume the use ofaltesse royale abroad;[10]
Philippe de France, duc d'Anjou (1640–1701), Gaston's nephew was known asle Petit Monsieur and Gaston asle Grand Monsieur when Louis XIII died in 1643;
Louis Stanislas Xavier of France, Count of Provence (1755–1824), younger brother of Louis XVI, known asMonsieur during the reign of Louis XVI, and was later King of France as Louis XVIII from 1814 to 1824;
Charles Philippe of France, Count of Artois (1757–1836) was the youngest brother of Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, and known asMonsieur at the beginning of the reign of Louis XVIII, later King of France as Charles X from 1824 to 1830.
King Louis XV and his wife, Marie Leszczyńska, had ten children, eight of whom were girls. To distinguish between these eight princesses, the daughters were known in birth order asMadame 'number', such asMadame Première,Madame Seconde, etc. This style was not a traditional right and was merely a way the court used to distinguish between the many daughters of Louis XV.
Princess MarieLouise Élisabeth (1727–1759), twin with her younger sister, Henriette; marriedPhilip, Duke of Parma (1720–1765), who was also aninfante of Spain. Before her marriage, she was known asMadame Première. After her marriage she was theDuchess of Parma, and as such was known asMadame Infante, duchesse de Parme.
Princess Anne Henriette (1727–1752), twin with her older sister, Louise-Élisabeth, known asMadame Seconde.
Princess MarieAdélaïde (1732–1800), originally known asMadame Quatrième; after her elder sister died in 1733, she was known asMadame Troisième. Later, she was known asMadame Adélaïde.
Petit-fils de France ("Grandson of France"). This was the style and rank accorded to the sons of thefils de France, who were themselves the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. However, as surnames, they used the paternal main peerage title. Females had the stylepetite-fille de France ("Granddaughter of France").
Thepetits-enfants de France, like theenfants de France, were entitled to be addressed asson altesse royale ("His/Her Royal Highness"). Additionally, they traveled and lodged wherever the king did, could dine with him, and were entitled to an armchair in his presence.
Yet as hosts, they only offered armchairs to foreign monarchs—whom they addressed asMonseigneur rather than "Sire". Nor did they pay visits to foreign ambassadors, nor extend to them a hand in greeting. They only wore fullmourning for deceased members of the royal family.
When entering a town, they were greeted with apresentation of arms by the royalgarrison, by the firing ofcannon, and by a delegation of local officials. However, only the sons and daughters of France were entitled to dineau grand couvert, that is, alone on a canopieddais amidst non-royal onlookers.[12]
Marie Louise d'Orléans (1662–1689), the eldest daughter of King Louis XIV's younger brother, Philippe I, duc d'Orléans; later the wife of King Charles II of Spain.
Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (1674–1744), youngest child of Philippe I, duc d'Orléans and his second wife. Married to the Duke of Lorraine, she was the paternal grandmother of Queen Marie Antoinette.
Louise Anne de Bourbon (1695–1758), fourth child ofLouis III, Prince of Condé, was given the style ofMademoiselle as her cousinLouis d'Orléans had no daughter. When Louis's daughter Louise Marie was born in 1726, the title went to her. Louise Marie died in 1728 and the style reverted to Louise-Anne.
Younger daughters ofMonsieur were named after one of hisappanages, e.g.Mademoiselle de Chartres (1676–1744), the third surviving daughter of Philippe I, duc d'Orléans.
This custom was not confined to the royal family. Even untitled noble families followed the same habit.
After 1662,Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, who was originally calledMademoiselle as the eldest daughter of Gaston duc d'Orléans, became known asla Grande Mademoiselle at court, in order to distinguish her from her younger cousin,Marie Louise d'Orléans, now also calledMademoiselle, as the daughter of Anne's first cousin, the newMonsieur. After her death in 1693, the style ofGrande Mademoiselle was not used again. Thus, this was not an official style but simply a means the court used to distinguish between the two princesses who held the style ofMademoiselle at the same time.
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