Assassinations in History
Who
got slain, almost slain, when, how,
why, and by whom?
Go to the
Assassination Archive
Voyages in History
When did what
vessel arrive with whom onboard and where
did it sink if it didn't?
Go to the
Passage-Chart
The Divine Almanac
Who all roamed the heavens in
olden times? The Who's Who of
ancient gods.
Check out
the Divine Almanac
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Castle at Bourbon l'Archambault, France
House of Bourbon
The Bourbons were, and still are,
nobles from France, where the castle of Bourbon used to be their home.
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By the way, Bourbon whiskey derives its
name from Bourbon county, Kentucky. These royals here had
nothing to do with it, at least not directly.
However, many locations in the U.S.
were named in honor of French assistance in the
American Revolution. It so happened
that Bourbon whiskey was first distilled at Paris, Bourbon county,
KY, in 1790.
Back to the Bourbons in France.
With interruptions, the Bourbon
dynasty provided kings of France from 1589-1848.
These were the Bourbon kings who ruled
France from 1589 to 1792:
Henry IV
who ruled 1589-1610,
the first Bourbon
king of France
Louis XIII
who ruled 1610-1643
Louis XIV
who ruled 1643-1715
Louis XV
who ruled 1715-1774
Louis XVI
who ruled 1774-1792
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The Bourbon Kings
After 1792
The
French Revolution ended Louis XVI's reign and life.
After he had
been guillotined on January 21, 1793,
French royalists proclaimed his son Louis-Charles
as the next King Louis XVII.
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Louis XVI
(lived 1754-1793) |
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Louis-Charles
(lived 1785-1795) |
But wee Louis-Charles died on June 8,
1795, age ten.
Next in line was the younger brother of Louis XVI.
His name was Louis-Stanislas-Xavier and he was eager to be
King Louis XVIII.
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Either way, with a Bourbon king
available or not, France had officially abolished the monarchy on
September 21, 1792.
What is the
Restoration?
From the root word restore, the
Restoration with capital R refers to a reestablishment of the
monarchy, either the action of restoring or the period marked by
this event, or both.
In English history, for example, the
Restoration period refers to the years 1600-1688, following
Cromwell's Commonwealth, which
was replaced by the monarchy under
Charles
II (who ruled 1660-1685) and under
James II (who ruled 1685-1688).
In French history, the Restoration
refers to the reinstatement of the Bourbons in 1814. And there we
have the first and the second Bourbon Restoration.
The
First Bourbon
Restoration
After
Napoleon had been shipped to
Elba in April 1814, the Bourbons
reclaimed the throne with
Louis XVIII.
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Louis XVIII
(lived 1755-1824) |
Louis could thank
Charles-Maurice Talleyrand for
this diplomatic accomplishment. Considering what the French went through since 1789 in order to get rid of the monarchy, it was
not a given that another monarch would be welcome — a member of the
Bourbon family at that.
Louis XVIII reigned until 1824, but the First Bourbon Restoration lasted
only from May 3, 1814 to March 13, 1815.
What happened?
The
Second Bourbon
Restoration
The reign of Louis XVIII was
interrupted by Napoleon's return, also called
Napoleon's
Hundred Days, which
lasted from March 20 - July 8, 1815.
Interestingly, Louis XVIII
chose to flee the country during this time rather than to trust his army
and his subjects not to turn
traitor and defect to Napoleon. And it turned out that that was a
smart decision.
The Second Bourbon Restoration lasted
from July 8, 1815 to August 2, 1830.
The Last Bourbon
Monarch Over France
After Charles X had abdicated,
Louis-Philippe became the king of France on August 9, 1830, also
called the Citizen King.
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Louis-Philippe
(lived 1773-1850) |
Louis-Philippe, however, was a member
of a different branch in the Bourbon family tree, the line of
Bourbon-Orléans. And it is
connected as follows:
Louis-Phillippe
(lived 1773-1850) was the son of
Philippe Égalité.
Philippe
Égalité (lived 1747-1793) was the son of
Louis-Philippe, duc d'Orléans.
Louis-Philippe, duc d'Orléans (lived
1725-1785) was the son of Louis, duc
d'Orléans.
Louis, duc
d'Orléans (lived 1703-1752) was the son
of Philippe II, duc d'Orléans.
Philippe
II, duc d'Orléans (lived 1674-1723) was
the son of Philippe I de France, duc
d'Orléans. When Louis XV became king, by
the way, it was Philippe II, who ruled
during Louis' minority.
Philippe I
de France, duc d'Orléans (lived
1640-1701) was the son of King Louis
XIII and Anne of Austria, and the
younger brother of
King Louis XIV.
The Bourbons in Spain
In Spain, the House of Bourbon is the
Casa de Borbón.
And whiskey is el whisky,
but that just as a useful side-note.
The Bourbon's ascent to the Spanish
throne was rather bumpy. As the second of Louis XIV's grandsons,
Philippe duc d'Anjou qualified
and became Philip V, or Felipe V.
See also
War of the Spanish Succession
With interruptions, members of the Bourbon dynasty are the kings and
queen of Spain since 1700. Here they are:
Philip V
(Felipe V)
who ruled 1700-1724
Louis
(Luis)
who ruled January 15 - August 31, 1724
Philip V
(Felipe V) again
who continued to rule 1724-1746
Ferdinand VI
(Fernando VI)
who ruled 1746-1759
Charles III
(Carlos III)
who ruled 1759-1788
Charles IV
(Carlos IV)
who ruled 1788-1808
Ferdinand VII
(Fernando VII)
who ruled in 1808
[interruption by Joseph Bonaparte
1808-1813]
Ferdinand VII
(Fernando VII) again
who continued to rule 1814-1833
Isabella II (Isabel II)
who ruled 1833-1868
[Interregnum 1868-1870]
[interruption by Amadeus I 1870-1873]
[Republic 1873-1874]
Alfonso XII
who ruled 1874-1885
Alfonso XIII
who ruled 1886-1931
[Republic 1931-1939]
[Nationalist regime / Franco
1939-1975]
Juan Carlos
who rules since 1975
The Bourbons in France
& Spain Simultaneously
At times, both France and Spain were
ruled by members of the Bourbon family simultaneously. This led to three treaties
between them, called the Pacte de Famille, or
Family Compact.
These agreements were concluded between:
Philip V of
Spain and Louis XV of France
Family Compact of 1733
Philip V of Spain and
Louis XV of France
Family Compact of 1743
Charles III of Spain and
Louis XV of France
Family Compact of 1761
Regarding the Family Compact and its impact on foreign politics in
view of the
American
Revolution, see also
Vergennes.
Map of Bourbon Ruled
Territory
1560 Europe
1713-1763
Treaties
1740 Europe
See also
Governments of France.
And maybe
Timeline of the Napoleonic Wars - 1814
Timeline of the Napoleonic Wars - 1815
More History
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