Louis, Duke of Joyeuse (1694–1724)

Louis
Prince of Epinoy Duke of Joyeuse
Full name	Louis de Melun
Born	October 1694 Paris, France
Died	31 July 1724 (aged 29–30)
Noble family	Melun
Spouse(s)	Armande de La Tour d'Auvergne ​ ​ (m. 1716; died 1717)​ Marie Anne de Bourbon ​ ​ (m. 1719)​
Father	Louis de Melun
Mother	Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine

Louis de Melun, Duke of Joyeuse (October 1694 – 31 July 1724) was a French nobleman. He was the Prince of Epinoy, Baron then Duke of Joyeuse (1714) and Peer of France, Baron of Cysoing, Antoing and Wiers, Earl of Saint-Pol, Viscount of Gand, châtelain de Bapaume, Lord of Villemareuil, of Vaucourtois and of Saint-Jean-les-Deux-Jumeaux.

Biography

Louis was the only son born to his parents. His sister Anne Julie Adélaïde de Melun was born in 1698 and was an ancestor of the future maréchal de Soubise, princesse de Condé Madame de Guéméné and the murdered duc d'Enghien.

His father died in 1704 of smallpox making the infant Louis the Prince of Epinoy. Ten years later he was also made ducal-peer of Joyeuse.

On 23 February 1716 he married Armande de La Tour d'Auvergne, daughter of Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne and a grand daughter of the famous Marie Anne Mancini.

After being widowed in 1717, it was well known that he also contracted a secret marriage to Marie Anne de Bourbon in 1719. Marie Anne, known as Mademoiselle de Clermont was a daughter of Louis de Bourbon and Louise Françoise de Bourbon who was in turn an illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. Marie Anne was also the head of the future Queen's household.

Louis died in 1724, during a hunting party at Marie Anne's ancestral home, the Château de Chantilly.^[1] Naturally distraught, Marie Anne never married again. She was never to have any children.

As Louis had no children with Armande either, the county of Saint-Pol, as well as the principality of Joyeuse went to his eldest nephew, the young Duke of Rohan, who was a son of his sister Anne Julie.^[2]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Louis, Duke of Joyeuse (1694–1724)

16. Pierre de Melun, Prince of Epinoy 8. Guillaume de Melun, Prince of Epinoy 17. Hippolyte de Montmorency 4. Alexandre Guillaume de Melun, Prince of Epinoy 18. Charles d'Arenberg, Prince of Arenberg, Duke of Aerschot 9. Princesse Ernestine d'Arenberg 19. Anne de Croÿ, Duchess of Aerschot & Croÿ Daughter of Philipe de Croÿ, Duke of Aerschot 2. Louis de Melun 20. Charles Chabot, Lord of Sainte-Aulaye 10. Henri Chabot, Duke of Rohan 21. Henriette de Lur 5. Jeanne Pélagie de Rohan-Chabot, Lady of Montlieu 22. Henri, Duke of Rohan 11. Marguerite de Rohan 23. Marguerite de Béthune 1. Louis (II) de Melun 24. Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf 12. Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf 25. Marguerite de Chabot 6. François Marie de Lorraine, Prince of Lillebonne 26. Henry IV of France 13. Catherine Henriette de Bourbon, Légitimée de France 27. Gabrielle d'Estrées 3. Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine, Princess of Lillebonne 28. Francis II, Duke of Lorraine 14. Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine 29. Christina of Salm 7. Anne de Lorraine 30. Claude François de Cusance, Baron of Belvoir 15. Béatrix de Cusance 31. Ernestine de Witthem, Countess of Walhain

References and notes

1. "L Abeille de la Ternoise: Louis II de Melun, comte de Saint-Pol, tué à la chasse, en 1724". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-03-18.
2. Velde, François. "The Rank/Title of Prince in France". Heraldica.org. Retrieved 2009-12-02.

Sources

• M.-Fr. Dantine, Ch. Clémencet et al., L'art de vérifier les dates..., vol. 12, impr. Valade, 1818 (réimpr. 4e), p. 413
• de la Chenaye-Desbois, Dictionnaire de la noblesse, contenant les généalogies, l'histoire..., vol. X, impr. Antoine Boudet, Paris, 1775 (réimpr. 2e), p. 22