House of Bourbon

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House of Bourbon
Grand Royal Coat of Arms of France.svg
Country France, Italy, Navarre, Spain, Luxembourg
Parent house Capetian dynasty
Founded 1268
Of the French: Louis Philippe I (1830–1848)
Parma: Roberto I (1854–1859)
Two Sicilies: Francis II (1859–1861)
Current head Louis Alphonse (Louis XX)
Deposition France and Navarre, 1830: July Revolution
France, 1848: February Revolution
Parma, 1859: Annexation by Kingdom of Sardinia
Two Sicilies, 1861: Italian unification
Ethnicity French, Spanish, Italian (in Parma and the Two Sicilies), Luxembourger, Brazilian
Cadet branches

Bourbons of Spain

House of Orléans

House of Condé

The House of Bourbon (English /ˈbɔːrbən/; French: [buʁˈbɔ̃]) is a European royal house of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty (/kəˈpʃən/). Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have Bourbon monarchs.


The Princes de Condé were a cadet branch of the Bourbons descended from an uncle of Henry IV, and the Princes de Conti were a cadet branch of the Condé. Both houses were prominent in French affairs, even during exile in the French Revolution, until their respective extinctions in 1830 and 1814.

When the Bourbons inherited the strongest claim to the Spanish throne, the claim was passed to a cadet Bourbon prince, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, who became Philip V of Spain.[1] Permanent separation of the French and Spanish thrones was secured when France and Spain ratified Philip's renunciation, for himself and his descendants, of the French throne in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1714, and similar arrangements later kept the Spanish throne separate from those of the Two Sicilies and Parma. The Spanish House of Bourbon (rendered in Spanish as Borbón [borˈβon]) has been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, and since 1975. Bourbons ruled in Naples from 1734–1806 and in Sicily from 1734–1816, and in a unified Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1816–1860. They also ruled in Parma from 1731–1735, 1748–1802 and 1847–1859.

Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg married a cadet of the Parmese line and thus her successors, who have ruled Luxembourg since her abdication in 1964, have also been members of the House of Bourbon. Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, regent for her father, Pedro II of the Empire of Brazil, married a cadet of the Orléans line and thus their descendants, known as the Orléans-Braganza, were in the line of succession to the Brazilian throne and expected to ascend its throne had the monarchy not been abolished by revolution in 1889.

All legitimate, living members of the House of Bourbon, including its cadet branches, are direct agnatic descendants of Henry IV.

Part of a series on the
History of France
National Emblem National Emblem National Emblem


The castle of Bourbon-l'Archambault

The pre-Capetian House of Bourbon was a noble family, dating at least from the beginning of the 13th century, when the estate of Bourbon was ruled by the Sire de Bourbon who was a vassal of the King of France. The term House of Bourbon ("Maison de Bourbon") is sometimes used to refer to this first house and the House of Bourbon-Dampierre, the second family to rule the seigneury.

In 1268, Robert, Count of Clermont, sixth son of King Louis IX of France, married Beatrix of Bourbon, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon and member of the House of Bourbon-Dampierre.[1] Their son Louis was made Duke of Bourbon in 1327. His descendant, the Constable of France Charles de Bourbon, was the last of the senior Bourbon line when he died in 1527. Because he chose to fight under the banner of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and lived in exile from France, his title was discontinued after his death.

The remaining line of Bourbons henceforth descended from James I, Count of La Marche, the younger son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon.[1] With the death of his grandson James II, Count of La Marche in 1438, the senior line of the Count of La Marche became extinct. All future Bourbons would descend from James II's younger brother, Louis, who became the Count of Vendôme through his mother's inheritance.[1] While the most senior branch of the family, the House of Valois, continued to occupy the throne of France, at the death of Charles IV, Duke of Alençon in 1525, all of the princes of the blood royal were Bourbons.

In 1514, Charles, Count of Vendôme had his title raised to Duke of Vendôme. His son Antoine became King of Navarre, on the northern side of the Pyrenees, by marriage in 1555.[1] Two of Antoine's younger brothers were Cardinal Archbishop Charles de Bourbon and the French and Huguenot general Louis de Bourbon, 1st Prince of Condé. Louis' male-line, the Princes de Condé, survived until 1830. Finally, in 1589, the House of Valois died out and Antoine's son Henry III of Navarre became Henry IV of France.[1]

List of Bourbons[edit]

Blason comte fr Clermont (Bourbon).svg
Dukes of Bourbon
Blason Boubon-La Marche.svg
Blason Bourbon Vendôme.svg
Blason pays fr Dombes.svg
Blason duche fr Orleans (moderne).svg
Blason duche fr Anjou (moderne).svg

Bourbon branches[edit]

Families claiming to be a branch


Rise of Henry IV[edit]


Henry succeeded to Navarre as Henry III when his mother died in 1572. That same year Catherine de' Medici, mother of King Charles IX of France, arranged for the marriage of her daughter, Margaret of Valois, to Henry, ostensibly to advance peace between Catholics and Huguenots. Many Huguenots gathered in Paris for the wedding on 24 August, but were ambushed and slaughtered by Catholics in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Henry saved his own life by converting to Catholicism. He repudiated his conversion in 1576 and resumed his leadership of the Huguenots.

The period from 1576 to 1584 was relatively calm in France, with the Huguenots consolidating control of much of the south with only occasional interference from the royal government. Extended civil war erupted again in 1584, when François, Duke of Anjou, younger brother of King Henry III of France, died, leaving Navarre next in line for the throne. Thus began the War of the Three Henrys, as Henry of Navarre, Henry III, and the ultra-Catholic leader, Henry of Guise, fought a confusing three-cornered struggle for dominance. After Henry III was assassinated on 31 July 1589, Navarre claimed the throne as the first Bourbon king of France, Henry IV.

Much of Catholic France, organized into the Catholic League, refused to recognize a Protestant monarch and instead recognized Henry IV's uncle, Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, as rightful king, and the civil war continued. Henry won a crucial victory at Ivry on 14 March 1590 and, following the death of the Cardinal the same year, the forces of the League lacked an obvious Catholic candidate for the throne and divided into various factions. Nevertheless, as a Protestant, Henry IV was unable to take Paris, a Catholic stronghold, or to decisively defeat his enemies, now supported by the Spanish. He reconverted to Catholicism in 1593—he is said to have remarked, "Paris is well worth a mass"[2]—and was crowned king retroactively to 1589 at the Cathedral of Chartres on 27 February 1594.

Early Bourbons in France[edit]

Henry granted the Edict of Nantes on 13 April 1598, establishing Catholicism as an official state religion but also granting the Huguenots a measure of religious tolerance and political freedom short of full equality with the practice of Catholicism. This compromise ended the religious wars in France. That same year the Treaty of Vervins ended the war with Spain, adjusted the Spanish-French border, and resulted in a belated recognition by Spain of Henry as king of France.


Henry IV of France, the first Bourbon King of France



Richelieu advanced an anti-Habsburg policy. He arranged for Louis' sister, Henrietta Maria, to marry King Charles I of England, on 11 May 1625. Her pro-Catholic propaganda in England was one of the contributing factors to the English Civil War. Richelieu, as ambitious for France and the French monarchy as for himself, laid the ground for the absolute monarchy that would last in France until the Revolution. He wanted to establish a dominating position for France in Europe, and he wanted to unify France under the monarchy. He established the role of intendants, non-noble men whose arbitrary powers of administration were granted (and revocable) by the monarch, superseding many of the traditional duties and privileges of the noble governors.

Although it required a succession of internal military campaigns, he disarmed the fortified Huguenot towns that Henry had allowed. He involved France in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) against the Habsburgs by concluding an alliance with Sweden in 1631 and, actively, in 1635. He died in 1642 before the conclusion of that conflict, having groomed Cardinal Jules Mazarin as a successor. Louis XIII outlived him but by one year, dying in 1643 at the age of forty-two. After a childless marriage for twenty-three years his queen, Anne, delivered a son on 5 September 1638, whom he named Louis after himself.[1]

Louis XIV and Louis XV[edit]

Main article: Louis XIV of France
Main article: Louis XV of France

Louis XIV succeeded his father at four years of age;[1] he would go on to become the most powerful king in French history. His mother Anne served as his regent with her favorite Jules, Cardinal Mazarin, as chief minister. Mazarin continued the policies of Richelieu, bringing the Thirty Years' War to a successful conclusion in 1648 and defeating the nobility's challenge to royal absolutism in a series of civil wars known as the Frondes. He continued to war with Spain until 1659.

In that year the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed signifying a major shift in power, France had replaced Spain as the dominant state in Europe. The treaty called for an arranged marriage between Louis and his cousin Maria Theresa, a daughter of King Philip IV of Spain by his first wife Elisabeth, the sister of Louis XIII. They were married in 1660 and had a son, Louis, in 1661.[1] Mazarin died on 9 March 1661 and it was expected that Louis would appoint another chief minister, as had become the tradition, but instead he shocked the country by announcing he would rule alone.

For six years Louis reformed the finances of his state and built formidable armed forces. France fought a series of wars from 1667 onward and gained some territory on its northern and eastern borders. Maria Theresa died in 1683 and the next year he secretly married the devoutly Catholic Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon. Louis XIV began to persecute Protestants, undoing the religious tolerance established by his grandfather Henry IV, culminating in his revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.


Initially, most of the other powers were willing to accept Anjou's reign as Philip V, but Louis's mishandling of their concerns soon drove the English, Dutch and other powers to join the Austrians in a coalition against France. The War of the Spanish Succession began in 1701 and raged for 12 years. In the end Louis's grandson was recognized as king of Spain, but he was obliged to agree to the forfeiture of succession rights in France, the Spanish Habsburgs' other European territories were largely ceded to Austria, and France was nearly bankrupted by the cost of the struggle. Louis died on 1 September 1715 ending his seventy-two year reign, the longest in European history.



Following Orléans' death in 1723, the Duke of Bourbon, representative of the Bourbon-Condé cadet line, became prime minister. It was expected that Louis would marry his cousin, the daughter of King Philip V of Spain, but this engagement was broken by the duke in 1725 so that Louis could marry Maria Leszczynska, the daughter of Stanislas, former king of Poland. Bourbon's motive appears to have been a desire to produce an heir as soon as possible so as to reduce the chances of a succession dispute between Philip V and the Duke of Orléans in the event of the sickly king's death. Maria was already an adult woman at the time of the marriage, while the infanta was still a young girl.


Nevertheless, Bourbon's action brought a very negative response from Spain, and for his incompetence Bourbon was soon replaced by Cardinal Andre Hercule de Fleury, the young king's tutor, in 1726. Fleury was a peace-loving man who intended to keep France out of war, but circumstances presented themselves that made this impossible.

The first cause of these wars came in 1733 when Augustus II, the elector of Saxony and king of Poland died. With French support, Stanislas was again elected king. This brought France into conflict with Russia and Austria who supported Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and son of Augustus II.

Stanislas lost the Polish crown, but he was given the Duchy of Lorraine as compensation, which would pass to France after his death. Next came the War of the Austrian Succession in 1740 in which France supported King Frederick II of Prussia against Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary. Fleury died in 1743 before the conclusion of the war.

Shortly after Fleury's death in 1745 Louis was influenced by his mistress the Marquise de Pompadour to reverse the policy of France in 1756 by creating an alliance with Austria against Prussia in the Seven Years' War. The war was a disaster for France, which lost most of her overseas possessions to the British in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Maria, his wife, died in 1768 and Louis himself died on 10 May 1774.

French Revolution[edit]

Main article: French Revolution

Louis XVI had become the Dauphin of France upon the death of his father Louis, the son of Louis XV, in 1765. He married Marie Antoinette of Austria, a daughter of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, in 1770. Louis intervened in the American Revolution against Britain in 1778, but he is most remembered for his role in the French Revolution. France was in financial turmoil and Louis was forced to convene the Estates-General on 5 May 1789.




Napoleon conquered Parma in 1800 and compensated the Bourbon duke with Etruria, a new kingdom he created from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It was short-lived, counting only two monarchs, Louis and Charles, as Napoleon annexed Etruria in 1807.


Bourbon Restoration[edit]

Main article: Bourbon Restoration











Bourbons of Spain and Italy[edit]

Philip V[edit]

Arms of the present King of Spain of the House of Bourbon






Ferdinand VI and Charles III[edit]




Bourbons of Parma[edit]


Later Bourbon monarchs outside France[edit]

Coat of Arms of the Royal House of Bourbon Spain-Two Sicilies
Coat of Arms of the House of Bourbon Spain-Parma











The House of Bourbon, in its surviving branches, is believed to be the oldest royal dynasty of Europe (and the oldest documented European family altogether) that is still existing in the direct male line today: The House of Capet's male ancestors, the Robertians, go back to Robert of Hesbaye (d. 807) as their first secured ancestor and he is believed to be a direct male descendant of Charibert de Haspengau (c. 555–636). Should this be true, only the Imperial House of Japan would outmatch the Bourbon's age, being reliably documented - as a ruling house already - from about 540. The House of Hesse traces its line back to 841, the House of Welf-Este and the House of Wettin are both emerging in the 10th century (and so do some Italian non-ruling houses like the Caetani or the Massimo family), whereas most of the other ruling families of Europe only turn up to the light of history after the year 1000.

List of Bourbon rulers[edit]


Monarchs of France[edit]

Dates indicate reigns, not lifetimes.

Claimants to the throne of France[edit]

Dates indicate claims, not lifetimes.

Monarchs of France[edit]

Dates indicate reigns, not lifetimes.

Legitimist claimants in France[edit]

Dates indicate claims, not lifetimes.

Legitimist claimants in France (Spanish branch)[edit]

Dates indicate claims, not lifetimes.

Orléanist and Unionist claimants in France[edit]

Dates indicate claims, not lifetimes.

Kingdom of Spain[edit]

Monarchs of Spain[edit]


"Carlist" claimants in Spain[edit]

Dates indicate claims, not lifetimes.

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg[edit]


Grand Dukes of Luxembourg[edit]

Dates indicate reigns, not lifetimes.

Other significant Bourbon titles[edit]

Surnames used[edit]







Family trees[edit]


From Louis IX to Henry IV[edit]

Louis IX
Robert, Count of Clermont
Louis I, Duke of Bourbon
Peter I, Duke of Bourbon
James I, Count of La Marche
Louis II, Duke of Bourbon
John I, Count of La Marche
John I, Duke of Bourbon
Louis, Count of Vendôme
Charles I, Duke of Bourbon
Louis I, Count of Montpensier
John VIII, Count of Vendôme
John II, Duke of Bourbon
Charles II, Duke of Bourbon
Peter II, Duke of Bourbon
Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège
Gilbert, Count of Montpensier
Francis, Count of Vendôme
Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon
Peter of Bourbon-Busset (illegitimate male-line)
Charles III, Duke of Bourbon
Charles, Duke of Vendôme
Philip of Bourbon-Busset (illegitimate male-line)
Antoine de Bourbon
Louis, Prince of Condé
Bourbon-Busset (illegitimate male-line)
Princes of Condé


Below is a simplified picture showing the relationships between the lines of the House of Bourbon.

House of Bourbon (simple picture)

Descent from Henry IV[edit]

King of France
Henry IV
Kingdom of France King of France (1589–1610)
King of France
Louis XIII
Kingdom of France King of France (1610–43)
King of France
Louis XIV
Kingdom of France King of France (1643–1715)
Duke of Orléans
Philippe I
Duke of Orléans
Arms of the Dauphin of France.svg
"Le Grand Dauphin" of France
Duke of Orléans
Philippe II
Duke of Orléans
Regent of France

"Le Petit Dauphin" of France
King of Spain
Philip V
Spain King of Spain (1700–46)
Duke of Orléans
Duke of Orléans
King of France
Louis XV
Kingdom of France King of France (1715–74)
King of Spain
Louis I
Spain King of Spain (1724)
King of Spain
Ferdinand VI
Spain King of Spain (1746–59)
King of Spain
Charles III
Spain King of Spain (1759–88)
Duke of Parma (1748–65)
Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe I
Duke of Orléans
Arms of the Dauphin of France.svg
Dauphin of France
King of Spain
Charles IV
Spain King of Spain (1788–1808)
Duke of Parma (1765–1802)
Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe II (Philippe Égalité)
Duke of Orléans
King of France
Louis XVI
Kingdom of France King of France (1774–91)
King of the French (1791–92)

Titular King of France (1792–93)
King of France
Kingdom of France Titular King of France (1795–1804)
Legitimist pretender (1804–14)
King of France (1814–24)
King of France
Charles X
King of France (1824–30)
Legitimist pretender (1830–36)
King of Spain
Ferdinand VII
Spain King of Spain (1808; 1813–33)
Francisco de Paula
Count of Molina
as Carlos V
Spain Carlist pretender (1833–45)
Louis I
King of the French
Louis-Philippe I
France King of the French (1830–48)
Orléanist Pretender (1848-50)
Arms of the Dauphin of France.svg King of France
Dauphin of France
Titular King of France
as Louis XVII
Titular King of France (1793–95)
Duke of Angoulême
Dauphin of France

Titular King of France
as Louis XIX
Legitimist pretender (1836–44)
Charles Ferdinand
Duke of Berry
Queen of Spain
Isabella II
Spain Queen of Spain (1833–68)
Duke of Cádiz
King consort of Spain
Count of Montemolin
as Carlos VI
Spain Carlist pretender (1845–61)
Count of Montizón
as Juan III
Spain Carlist pretender (1861–68)
Titular King of France
as Jean III
Legitimist pretender (1883–87)
Louis II
as Charles I
Duchy of Lucca Duke of Lucca (1824–47)
as Charles II
Duke of Parma (1847–48)
Duke of Orléans
Ferdinand Philippe
Duke of Orléans
King of France
Count of Chambord
Titular King of France
as Henri V
Legitimist pretender (1844–83)
King of Spain
Alfonso XII
Spain King of Spain (1874–85)
Duke of Madrid
as Carlos VII
Spain Carlist pretender (1868–1909)
Titular King of France
as Charles XI
Legitimist pretender (1887–1909)
Alfonso Carlos
Duke of San Jaime
as Alfonso Carlos I
Spain Carlist pretender (1931–36)
Titular King of France
as Charles XII
Legitimist pretender (1931–36)
Charles III
Duchy of Parma Duke of Parma (1848–54)
Count of Paris
Titular King of France
as Philippe VII
France Orléanist pretender (1850–94)
Duke of Chartres
Personal Coat of Arms of Francisco Franco as Head of Spanish State
Francisco Franco
Spain Caudillo of Spain (1936–75)
Regent of the Kingdom (1947–75)
King of Spain
Alfonso XIII
Spain King of Spain (1886–1931)
Titular King of France
as Alphonse I
Legitimist pretender (1936–41)
Duke of Madrid
as Jaime III
Spain Carlist pretender (1909–31)
Titular King of France
as Jacques I
Legitimist pretender (1909–31)
Robert I
Duchy of Parma Duke of Parma (1854–59)
Duke of Orléans
Titular King of France
as Philippe VIII
France Orléanist pretender (1894–1926)
Duke of Guise
Titular King of France
as Jean III
France Orléanist pretender (1926–40)
Carmen Franco y Polo
1st Duchess of Franco
Duke of Segovia
as Jaime IV
Spain Legitimist pretender (1941-75)
Titular King of France
as Jacques II or Henri VI
Legitimist pretender (1941–75)
Count of Barcelona
Duke of Parma
Spain Carlist regent (1936-52)
as Javier I
Spain Carlist pretender (1952-77)
Prince of Luxembourg
Count of Paris
Titular King of France
as Henri VI
France Orléanist pretender (1940–99)
María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco
Duke of Anjou and Cádiz
as Alfonso XIV
Spain Legitimist pretender (1975-89)
Titular King of France
as Alphonse II
Legitimist pretender (1975–89)
King of Spain
Juan Carlos I
Spain King of Spain (1975–2014)
Carlos Hugo
Duke of Parma
as Carlos Hugo I
Spain Carlist pretender (1977–79)
Sixtus Henry
Prince of Parma
as Enrique V
Spain Carlist pretender (1979–present)
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Luxembourg Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1964–2000)
Count of Paris
Duke of France

Titular King of France
as Henri VII
France Orléanist pretender (1999–present)
Duke of Anjou
Titular King of France
as Louis XX
Legitimist pretender (1989–present)
as Luis II
Spain Legitimist pretender (1989-present)
King of Spain
Felipe VI
SpainKing of Spain (2014–present)
Duke of Parma
as Carlos Xavier II
Spain Carlist pretender (2011–present)
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Luxembourg Grand Duke of Luxembourg (2000–present)
Duke of Vendome
Duke of Burgundy, Dauphin of France
Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg

See also[edit]


  2. ^ Frieda, Leonie, Catherine de Medici
  4. ^ Durant, Will and Durant, Ariel. “The Story of Civilization, Part XI, The Age of Napoleon”. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1975. pp. 730-731, 774.
  6. ^ "Documents relating to the Spanish succession". 

Further reading[edit]

Royal house
House of Bourbon
Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty
Founding year: 1272
Preceded by
House of Valois
Ruling House of France
Monarchy Abolished
See French Revolution;

eventually House of Bonaparte
Preceded by
House of Bonaparte
Ruled as French Emperor
Ruling House of France
Succeeded by
House of Orléans
Preceded by
House of Habsburg
Ruling House of the Duchy of Burgundy and the Burgundian Netherlands
Succeeded by
House of Habsburg
Ruling House of Spain
Succeeded by
House of Bonaparte
Title last held by
House of Trastámara
Ruling House of Naples and Sicily
Preceded by
House of Bonaparte
Ruling House of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Kingdom Abolished
Italian Unification under the House of Savoy
Ruling House of Spain
Bourbon Monarchy overthrown in Glorious Revolution;

eventually House of Savoy
Title last held by
House of Savoy
Ruling House of Spain
Second Republic Declared
Title last held by
House of Bourbon
Ruling House of Spain
Preceded by
House of Nassau-Weilburg
Ruling House of Luxembourg