mountain range of Tibet, and the fruits of their observations, submitted to the Geographical Society of Paris (and later incorporated in De Paris au Tonkin à travers le Tibet inconnu, published in 1892), brought them conjointly the gold medal of that society. In 1892 the prince made a short journey of exploration in East Africa, and shortly afterwards visited Madagascar, proceeding thence to Tongking. From this point he set out for Assam, and was successful in discovering the sources of the river Irrawaddy, a brilliant geographical achievement which secured the medal of the Geographical Society of Paris and the cross of the Legion of Honour. In 1897 he revisited Abyssinia, and political differences arising from this trip led to a duel with the comte de Turin, in which both combatants were wounded. While on a trip to Assam in 1901 he died at Saigon on the 9th of August. Prince Henri was a somewhat violent Anglophobe, and his diatribes against Great Britain contrasted rather curiously with the cordial reception which his position as a traveller obtained for him in London, where he was given the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society.
ORLEANS, HENRIETTA, Duchess of (1644–1670), third
daughter of the English king, Charles I., and his queen, Henrietta
Maria, was born during the Civil War at Exeter on the 16th of
June 1644. A few days after her birth her mother left England,
and provision for her maintenance having been made by Charles
she lived at Exeter under the care of Lady Dalkeith (afterwards
countess of Morton) until the surrender of the city to the parliamentarians,
when she was taken to Oatlands in Surrey. Then
in July 1646 Lady Dalkeith carried the princess in disguise to
France, and she rejoined her mother in Paris, where her girlhood
was spent and where she was educated as a Roman Catholic.
Henrietta was present at the coronation of Louis XIV., and was
mentioned as a possible bride for the king, but she was betrothed,
not to Louis, but to his only brother Philip. After the restoration
of her brother Charles II., she returned to England with her
mother, but a few months later she was again in Paris, where
she was married to Philip, now duke of Orleans, on the 30th of
March 1661. The duchess was very popular at the court of
Louis XIV., and was on good terms with the grand monarch
himself; she shared in the knowledge of state secrets, but was
soon estranged from her husband, and at the best her conduct
was very imprudent. In 1670, at the instigation of Louis, she
visited England and obtained the signature of Charles II.’s
ministers to the treaty of Dover; her success in this matter
greatly delighted Louis, but it did not improve her relations with
Philip, who had long refused his consent to his wife’s visit to
England. Shortly after returning to France, Henrietta died at
St Cloud on the 30th of June 1670. She was buried at St Denis,
her funeral oration being pronounced by her friend Bossuet,
and it was asserted that she had been poisoned by order of her
husband. She left two daughters, Marie Louise, wife of Charles II.
of Spain, and Anne Marie, wife of Victor Amadeus II. of Savoy.
According to legitimist principles, the descendants of Henrietta,
through her daughter Marie of Savoy, are entitled to wear the
British crown.
ORLEANS, JEAN BAPTISTE GASTON, Duke of (1608–1660),
third son of the French king Henry IV., and his wife Marie de
Medici, was born at Fontainebleau on the 25th of April 1608.
Known at first as the duke of Anjou, he was created duke of
Orleans in 1626, and was nominally in command of the army
which besieged La Rochelle in 1628, having already entered
upon that course of political intrigue which was destined to
occupy the remainder of his life. On two occasions he was
obliged to leave France for conspiring against the government of
his mother and of Cardinal Richelieu; and after waging an
unsuccessful war in Languedoc, he took refuge in Flanders.
Reconciled with his brother Louis XIII., he plotted against
Richelieu in 1635, fled from the country, and then submitted
to the king and the cardinal. Soon afterwards the same process
was repeated. Orleans stirred up Cinq-Mars to attempt Richelieu's
murder, and then deserted his unfortunate accomplice.
In 1643, on the death of Louis XIII., Gaston became lieutenant-general
of the kingdom, and fought against Spain on the northern
frontiers of France; but during the wars of the Fronde he passed
with great facility from one party to the other. Then exiled by
Mazarin to Blois in 1652 he remained there until his death
on the 2nd of February 1660. Gaston’s first wife was Marie
(d. 1627), daughter and heiress of Henri de Bourbon, duc de Montpensier
(d. 1608), and his second wife was Marguerite (d. 1672),
sister of Charles III., duke of Lorraine. By Marie he left a
daughter, Anne Marie, duchesse de Montpensier (q.v.); and by
Marguerite he left three daughters, Marguerite Louise (1645–1721),
wife of Cosimo III., grand duke of Tuscany; Elizabeth
(1646–1696), wife of Louis Joseph, duke of Guise; and Françoise
Madeleine (1648–1664), wife of Charles Emmanuel II., duke of
Savoy. (M. P.*)
ORLEANS, LOUIS, Duke of (1372–1407), younger son of the French king, Charles V., was born on the 13th of March 1372. Having been made count of Valois and of Beaumont-sur-Oise, and then duke of Touraine, he received the duchy of Orleans from his brother Charles VI. in 1392, three years after his marriage with Valentina (d. 1408), daughter of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, duke of Milan. This lady brought the county of Asti to her husband; but more important was her claim upon Milan, which she transmitted to her descendants, and which furnished Louis XII. and Francis I. with a pretext for interference in northern Italy. When Charles VI. became insane in 1392, Orleans placed himself in opposition to his uncle Philip II., duke of Burgundy, who was conducting the government; and this quarrel was not only the dominating factor in the affairs of
France, but extended beyond the borders of that country.
Continued after Philip’s death in 1404 with his son and successor, John the Fearless, it culminated in the murder of Orleans by one of John’s partisans on the 23rd of November 1407. The duke, who was an accomplished and generous prince, was suspected of immoral relations with several ladies of the royal house, among them Isabella of Bavaria, the queen of Charles VI. He had eight children by Valentina Visconti, including his successor, Charles of Orleans, the poet, and one of his natural sons was the famous bastard of Orleans, John, count of Dunois.
See E. Jarry, La Vie politique de Louis d’Orléans (Paris, 1889).
ORLEANS, LOUIS, Duke of (1703–1752), only son of Duke Philip II., the regent Orleans, was born at Versailles on the 4th of August 1703. A pious, charitable and cultured prince, he took very little part in the politics of the time, although he was conspicuous for his hostility to Cardinal Dubois in 1723. In 1730 Cardinal Fleury secured his dismissal from the position of colonel-general of the infantry, a post which he had held for nine years; and retiring into private life, he spent his time mainly in translating the Psalms and the epistles of St Paul. Having succeeded his father as duke of Orleans in 1723, he died in the abbey of St Genevieve at Paris on the 4th of February 1752. His wife Augusta (d. 1726), daughter of Louis William, margrave of Baden, bore him an only son, Louis Philippe, who succeeded his father as duke of Orleans.
ORLEANS, LOUIS PHILIPPE, Duke of (1725–1785), son of Louis, duke of Orleans, was born at Versailles on the 12th of May 1725, and was known as the duke of Chartres until his father’s death in 1752. Serving with the French armies he distinguished himself in the campaigns of 1742, 1743 and 1744, and at the battle of Fontenoy in 1745, retiring to Bagnolet in 1757, and occupying his time with theatrical performances and the society of men of letters. He died at St Assise on the 18th of November 1785. The duke married Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti, who bore him a son Philip (Egalité), duke of Orleans, and a daughter, who married the last duke of Bourbon. His second wife, Madame de Montesson, whom he married
secretly in 1773, was a clever woman and an authoress of some repute. He had two natural sons, known as the abbot of St Far and the abbot of St Albin.
See L’Automne d’un prince, a collection of letters from the duke to his second wife, edited by J. Hermand (1910).
ORLEANS, LOUIS PHILIPPE JOSEPH, Duke of (1747–1793), called Philippe Égalité, son of Louis Philippe, duke of Orleans, and of Louise Henriette of Bourbon-Conti, was born at St Cloud
