| Louis Joseph | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dauphin of France | |||||
 Portrait byAdolf Ulrik Wertmüller, 1784. (Nationalmuseum) | |||||
| Born | (1781-10-22)22 October 1781 Palace of Versailles, France | ||||
| Died | 4 June 1789(1789-06-04) (aged 7) Château de Meudon, France | ||||
| Burial | |||||
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| House | Bourbon | ||||
| Father | Louis XVI | ||||
| Mother | Marie Antoinette | ||||
Louis Joseph (Louis Joseph Xavier François; 22 October 1781 – 4 June 1789) wasDauphin of France as the second child and first son of KingLouis XVI andMarie Antoinette. As son of a king of France, he was afils de France ("Child of France"). Louis Joseph died aged seven fromtuberculosis and was succeeded as Dauphin (and thus heir-apparent) by his four-year-old brotherLouis Charles.
Louis Joseph Xavier François de France was born at thePalace of Versailles on 22 October 1781.[1] He was baptized on the day of his birth, in thechapel of the Palace of Versailles byLouis René Édouard de Rohan, Grand Chaplain of France, in the presence of Honoré Nicolas Brocquevielle, priest of Notre Dame de Versailles: his godfather wasEmperor Joseph II of Austria, represented byLouis Stanislas Xavier, Comte de Provence and his godmother wasMarie Clotilde of France, princess of Piedmont, represented byÉlisabeth, younger sister of KingLouis XVI. The newborn was the long-awaitedDauphin, his father's heir to the throne of France, asSalic Law, which excluded women from acceding to the throne, applied to his elder sister,Marie Thérèse Charlotte,Madame Royale. The birth of Louis Joseph put an end to the hopes of his uncle, thecomte de Provence, of succeeding his brother Louis XVI.
His private household was created upon his birth. He was under the care ofVictoire de Rohan, theGoverness of the Children of France, until she was replaced in 1782 byYolande de Polastron,duchesse de Polignac, one of his mother's favourites. Hissous-gouverneur was theMaréchal de campAntoine Charles Augustin d'Allonville. Hiswet nurse wasGeneviève Poitrine, who was later accused of transmitting tuberculosis to the young Dauphin.
Louis Joseph was very close to his sister and to his parents, who watched attentively over his education. He was always praised for being a very bright child for his age; however, it soon became apparent that he was of fragile health.
Around April 1784, when he was three years old, Louis Joseph had a series of high fevers. Out of fear for his health, he was transported to theChâteau de La Muette[2] where the air was reputed to have healing properties. The time spent at La Muette seemed to have helped Louis Joseph recover, and almost a year later, in March 1785, he returned there and wasinoculated againstsmallpox. However, his health remained fragile.
In 1786, the fevers returned, but his household regarded them as being of no importance.[citation needed] These fevers, however, were the first signs of tuberculosis. In the same year, Louis Joseph's education was turned over to men, as was customary for the sons of the kings of France. At the ceremony, it was noted that Louis Joseph had trouble walking, which was in fact caused by a curvature of the spine – something which was treated through the use ofmetal corsets. By January 1788 the fevers grew more frequent and the disease progressed quickly.
Louis Joseph died at 1:00 a.m. at Château de Meudon on June 4, 1789,[3] at the age of seven and a half, during theEstates General,40 days before thestorming of the Bastille.[3] He was the last prince to live in the castle.[4] For five years, Louis Joseph had been battling what appeared to be a form of smallpox. He died in his mother's arms shortly after midnight.[5] His father, who had been at his bedside on the previous day, had returned to Versailles the afternoon before his son's death to meet with a political delegation.[6] Louis Joseph was buried on 13 June in a simple ceremony at theBasilica of St Denis, a month before the storming of the Bastille. On 10 August 1793, on order of theNational Convention during theReign of Terror, his tomb was desecrated, together with those of the kings and queens of France, members of the royal family, high dignitaries, and abbots.[7]
At the death of Louis Joseph, the title ofDauphin passed to his younger brotherLouis Charles, Duke of Normandy (1785–1795), who died during theFrench Revolution, at theTemple prison in Paris.
Dauphin County,Pennsylvania, in whichHarrisburg is located, is named after him.[8] The Pennsylvania legislature, meeting in Philadelphia in 1785, named the newly formed county northwest of Lancaster and north of York to thank France for helping the United States win its independence from the British Empire. Within the county, the borough ofDauphin, so named when it was incorporated in 1845, is thus indirectly also named for him.
| Ancestors of Louis Joseph of France |
|---|
History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Historical Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Media related toLouis-Joseph, Dauphin of France at Wikimedia CommonsLouis Joseph, Dauphin of France Cadet branch of theCapetian dynasty Born: 22 October 1781 Died: 4 June 1789 | ||
| French royalty | ||
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| Vacant Title last held by Louis Auguste | Dauphin of France 22 October 1781 – 4 June 1789 | Succeeded by |
The first generation are the children ofHenri IV; these males held the rank ofSon of France orGrandson of France; | ||
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