House of Bourbon – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The House of Bourbon (English //; French pronunciation:[bu.b]) is a European royal house of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty //. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France 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 royal Bourbons originated in 1268, when the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon married a younger son of King Louis IX. The house continued for three centuries as a cadet branch, while more senior Capetians ruled France, until Henry IV became the first Bourbon king of France in 1589. Bourbon monarchs then unified France with the small kingdom of Navarre, which Henry's father had gained by marriage in 1555, and ruled until the 1792 overthrow of the monarchy during the French Revolution. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, the senior line of the Bourbons was finally overthrown in the July Revolution of 1830. A cadet branch, the House of Orlans, then ruled for 18 years (18301848), until it too was overthrown.

The Princes of Cond were a cadet branch of the Bourbons descended from an uncle of Henry IV, and the Princes of Conti were a cadet branch of the Cond. Both houses were prominent French nobles 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 who became Philip V of Spain. The strict separation of the French and Spanish thrones was formalized 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 Bourbons (in Spanish, the name is spelled Borbn) have been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 17001808, 18131868, 18751931, and from 1975 to the present day. Bourbons ruled in Naples from 17341806 and in Sicily from 17341816, and in a unified Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 18161860. They also ruled in Parma from 17311735, 17481802 and 18471859.

Grand Duchess Charlotte 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. Princess Isabel, heiress and regent of the Empire of Brazil, married a cadet of the Orlans line and thus their descendants, known as the Orlans-Braganza, would have ascended to that throne had the empire not ended in 1889.

All members of the House of Bourbon and its cadet branches alive today are direct agnatic descendants of Henry IV.

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 or "Maison de Bourbon" could be 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 from the House of Bourbon-Dampierre. 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 lead a life of exile, his title was discontinued after his death.

The remaining line of Bourbons was now descended from the younger son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon, whose grandson became the Count of Vendme through his mother's inheritance. In 1514, Charles, Count of Vendme had his title raised to Duke of Vendme. His son Antoine became King of Navarre, on the northern side of the Pyrenees, by marriage in 1555. Two of Antoine's younger brothers were Cardinal Archbishop Charles de Bourbon and the French and Huguenot general Louis, Prince of Cond. Louis' descendents, the Princes of Cond, continued until 1830. Finally, in 1589, Antoine's son Henry III of Navarre became Henry IV of France.

The first Bourbon King of France was Henry IV. He was born on 13 December 1553 in the Kingdom of Navarre. Antoine de Bourbon, his father, was a ninth generation descendant of King Louis IX of France. Jeanne d'Albret, his mother was the Queen of Navarre and the niece of King Francis I of France. He was baptized Catholic, but raised Calvinist. After his father was killed in 1563, he became Duke of Vendme at the age of 10, with Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (15191572) as his regent. Five years later, the young duke became the nominal leader of the Huguenots after the death of his uncle the Prince of Cond in 1569.

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House of Bourbon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia