Charles Ferdinand (left) with his older brother Louis Antoine and sister Sophie, 1781.Arms of the Duke of Berry showing the fleurs-de-lis of France and the red bordure embattled used by his father (as Count of Artois) before ascending the throne.
In 1814, the duke set out for France. His frank, open manners gained him some favour with his countrymen, and Louis XVIII named him commander-in-chief of the army at Paris on the return of Napoleon from Elba. He was, however, unable to retain the loyalty of his troops, and retired to Ghent during the Hundred Days war. On 17 June 1816, following negotiations by the French ambassador, the Duke of Blacas, he married Princess Maria-Carolina of Naples (1798–1870), oldest daughter of then hereditary Prince Francis of Naples.[2]
Assassination of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, while departing a Parisian opera house at night.Death of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, 13 february 1820.
Three children were born before the duke's death, with one surviving infancy. His daughter, Louise d'Artois, born in 1819, married Charles III of Parma.[4]
On 13 February 1820, the Duke of Berry was stabbed and mortally wounded when leaving the opera house in Paris with his wife, and died the next day. The assassin was a saddle maker named Louis Pierre Louvel, a Bonapartist opposed to the monarchy. Seven months after his death, the Duke's wife gave birth to their fourth child, Henri, who received the title of Duke of Bordeaux, but is better known in history as the Count of Chambord,[5][6] and who in the view of Legitimists, was (from 1844 to 1883) King of France, as Henry V. His grandson Athanase-Charles-Marie Charette de la Contrie would later become a prominent military commander for France and other nations.
Issue
With his wife, Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Sicily, the Duke of Berry had four children, of whom only two survived for more than a day:
Louise Élisabeth d'Artois (13 July 1817 – 14 July 1817).
Louise Marie Charlotte de Bourbon, comtesse de Vierzon (29 December 1809 – 26 December 1891), married in 1827 to Charles-Athanase de Charette, Baron de la Contrie. Her son Athanase-Charles-Marie Charette de la Contrie was a military commander and became a general for France and other nations.
With Eugénie Virginie Oreille (1795 – 1875):
Charles Louis Auguste Oreille de Carrière (4 March 1815 – 30 August 1858), married in 1846 to Elisabeth Jugan, with whom he had a son Charles, a lyric artist, married but without surviving issue.
Ferdinand Oreille de Carrière (10 October 1820 – 27 December 1876), married in 1860 to Louise Eugénie Ancelle, with whom he had a daughter, Léonie, who married and left several children.[7]
Louise Charlotte Antoinette Aglaé Thiryfoq (15 October 1819 – 25 May 1843), married in 1839 to Gaston du Charron, Comte du Portail.
With Lucie Cosnefroy de Saint-Ange (1797 – 1870):
Alix Mélanie Cosnefroy de Saint-Ange (16 September 1820 – 11 June 1892).
Four of his children, the Count of Chambord, Ferdinand Oreille de Carrière, Charles de La Roche and Mélanie Cosnefroy de Saint-Ange, were born after his death.