{"id":37788,"date":"2026-05-12T10:54:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.realcasadiborbone.it\/the-bourbon-family-three-kingdoms-and-a-duchy\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T16:48:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T14:48:55","slug":"the-bourbon-family-three-kingdoms-and-a-duchy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/realcasadiborbone.it\/en\/the-bourbon-family-three-kingdoms-and-a-duchy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bourbon Family: Three Kingdoms and a Duchy"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Bourbon Family: Three Kingdoms and a Duchy<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Bourbon Family:
Three Kingdoms and a Duchy<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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A most noble, ancient, and glorious family<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Saint Louis IX King of France<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Tradition holds that the main branch of the House of Bourbon dates back to the eighth century AD: the founder, Childeprando, was a brother of Charles Martel, and thus great-uncle of Charlemagne.<\/p>

In any case, the certainty of historical documentation is found as early as the ninth century: the lords of Bourbon, vassals of the Count of Bourges, owned the same castle (today Bourbon-l’Archambault) and a document of the time speaks of a certain Aimar, founder, between 916 and 922, of the monastery of Souvigny, near Moulins, described as “miles clarissimus,” while another from 936 speaks of his brother Guy, Count of Bourbon. <\/p>

Another document from 953 speaks of Aymon I, son of Aimar, and describes him as a man already powerful enough to consider himself no longer subject to the Counts of Bourges and lord of the fief of Bourbon.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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He was succeeded by Archambaud I (980-1031), Archambaud II (1034-1078), who styled himself prince and count of Bourbon, Archambaud III (1078-1105), who should have been succeeded by his son Archambaud IV but the title was usurped by his uncle Aymon II (1105-1116), followed by the latter’s son Archambaud V (1116-1171), who managed to forge blood ties with the Capetians: indeed he married Agnes, Countess of Savoy and sister of Alice, wife of King Louis VI of France.<\/p>

He took part in the crusades and distinguished himself, but lost his only son at a young age, who left to his daughter Matilda (1171-1215) \u2013 whose mother was Alice of Burgundy \u2013 titles and possessions.<\/p>

After an unhappy first marriage, Matilda married a valiant general of King Philip Augustus, Guy de Dampierre, so valiant that their son, Archambaud VI, called The Great (1215-1243), with whom the Bourbon-Dampierre family begins, found his territorial domains greatly enlarged. With his son Archambaud VII the problem of succession arose again: he died as a crusader in Cyprus, leaving two daughters, both married to sons of the Duke of Burgundy. First Matilda II (1249-1262) inherited the paternal titles, then her sister Agnes (1262-1288). And here the great event occurs, destined to change the fate of the Bourbon family. Agnes’s daughter, Beatrice (1277-1310) married Robert of Clermont, sixth son of St. Louis IX, King of France. <\/p>

Thus begins the princely branch of the Bourbons, now related to the main branch of the Capetians, Kings of France. And therefore, direct descendants of St. Louis IX and Charlemagne (from whom they inherited the symbol of the fleur-de-lis of France). <\/p>

[Historians still debate today whether that Eudes, uncle of Hugh Capet, founder of the royal dynasty of France, was or was not a descendant of Charlemagne. Although much suggests this positively, even if one were to lean toward the negative thesis, it is known that the mother of St. Louis IX, Blanche of Castile, descended by certain line from Charlemagne. Therefore, it is equally certain \u2013 beyond Eudes and Hugh Capet and beyond the uncertain tradition of Childeprando brother of Charles Martel \u2013 that the son of Beatrice and Robert, Louis I, grandson of St. Louis, and with him all his descendants, had in their veins the blood of the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, historical incarnation of the very idea of earthly kingship of the Christian world].<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Ducal Line<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The son of Robert and Agnes, Louis I (1310-1341) received the title of Duke from King Charles IV of Valois (the direct line of the Capetians had meanwhile become extinct). But it was not this line that had the best destiny. One must leave it and instead follow that of Louis’s third son, James I (1342-1361), war hero with his firstborn son (both died in battle), who obtained the titles of Constable of France and Count of La Marche (and other fiefs). <\/p>

He was succeeded by his son John (1361-1393), also a valiant man of arms, who married the heiress of the County of Vend\u00f4me, which he assigned to his second son Louis (1393-1446), founder of the Bourbon-Vend\u00f4me line. We recall: John (1446-1478), his son Francis (1478-1495), his son Charles (1495-1537), who in 1515 obtained from King Francis I the title of Duke transmissible to heirs, his son Anthony (1537-1562), heir to the Duchy and, through marriage to Jeanne d’Albret, King of Navarre. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Ascent to the Throne<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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At this point this branch of the Bourbons became, from cadet, the most important, also due to the extinction of the other branches and the royal title of Navarre, to the point that Anthony began to no longer hide his ambitions to conquer the Throne of France. This claim was validated by the tragedy of the wars of religion in France between Catholics and Protestant Huguenots. Anthony became the leader of the Huguenot faction, entering into civil war with the Guise family and with the royal family, represented by the three sons of King Henry II (who died prematurely in 1559) and Catherine de’ Medici. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Coat of Arms of the Bourbons of France (with the Fleurs-de-lis, symbol of the royalty of Charlemagne)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The Royal Line of France<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Henry IV<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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After Anthony’s death, his father’s policy was carried forward by his son Henry, effective victor of the wars of religion (all the sons of Henry II and Catherine and the Guises having died).<\/p>

Henry, as is known, wanted to enter Paris to be crowned King, but the city offered him fierce resistance, imposing as a condition the repudiation of Protestantism and conversion to Catholicism. Henry accepted, and in 1594 he was welcomed in Paris and crowned King of France and Navarre by the grace of God, with papal recognition. The Bourbons had become Kings of France. <\/p>

Having ascended to the Throne in 1594, Henry of Bourbon assumed the title of Henry IV King of France and Navarre (1594-1610). After him the Throne passed to his son Louis XIII (1610-1643) under the regency of his mother Marie de’ Medici until his majority, and then, at the death of Louis XIII, to his son Louis XIV, a child of only five years, under the regency of his mother Anne of Austria, assisted by Mazarin. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Louis XIV<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Louis XIV, the Sun King, had as is known a very long reign (the longest of all time, if one counts the years from the moment when, his father having died in 1643, he officially becomes Louis XIV King of France and Navarre, although under guardianship). In any case one of the longest, if instead one wishes to start from 1661, the year in which \u2013 Mazarin having died \u2013 he takes full possession of sovereignty also from the point of view of the exercise of political power, proclaiming himself, as is known, “first minister of himself”). <\/p>

Until this moment, the House of Bourbon holds only one Throne, the most important and glorious in the world together with that of the Holy Roman Empire (in effect, the two Thrones that ascended directly to Charlemagne). But unpredictable historical events were changing the destiny of the descendants of the Sun King. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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In Spain the Habsburg dynasty had reigned since the time of Charles V; as is known, in 1556 the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire divided his vast domains between his brother Ferdinand, to whom he entrusted the territories of the Empire and the title of Emperor, and his son Philip II, to whom he entrusted the Throne of Madrid and all the overseas and European domains, including the viceroyalty of Naples and Sicily. Thus was born the Spanish Habsburg branch, parallel to the main Austrian branch, holders of the title <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Louis XIV<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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At the end of the seventeenth century the Spanish branch had reached extinction with Charles II, without direct heirs. The problem of succession to the Throne of Spain arose, on which both Louis XIV and Emperor Leopold I of Habsburg advanced claims: both had in fact married the two sisters of Charles II, the elder the French King, the younger the Habsburg. <\/p>

For various reasons, Charles II of Habsburg named in his will as universal heir Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV (he was the son of the Grand Dauphin), with the clause that he would have to renounce his rights to the Crown of France; in subordination he named Archduke Charles of Habsburg, second son of Emperor Leopold.<\/p>

In fact, when Charles II died in 1700, Philip of Anjou ascended as established to the Throne of Madrid with the title of Philip V.<\/p>

But naturally this provoked the reaction of Austria, and also of the other great powers that feared a disproportionate strengthening of Louis XIV (who, moreover, already acted as effective lord of Spain); these therefore supported the candidacy of Charles of Habsburg. Thus began the War of the Spanish Succession. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Bourbons on the Throne of Spain. Philip V and the War of Spanish Succession <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Born at Versailles on December 19, 1683 to Prince Louis, Dauphin of France, and Maria Anna of Bavaria, the Duke of Anjou was only seventeen years old when he found himself heir to the Crown of Spain.<\/p>

Philip V was not prepared for the task of King, but Louis XIV watched over him, who through his grandson counted on governing Spain: he provided him with a Council of State formed by proven ministers, of the Colbertian school, who began reforms in Spain as well. He was comforted by his marriage to the thirteen-year-old Maria Luisa Gabriella, daughter of Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, celebrated by proxy in Turin on September 11, 1701, a sovereign far from lacking in intelligence and energy. <\/p>

A revolt that broke out in Naples forced him to depart for Italy. He entrusted the regency to his young consort, who with the help of ecclesiastics, men of government and especially Princess Orsini, the “camarera mayor” intentionally placed at her side by Louis XIV to defend French interests at Court, knew how to prove herself equal to the task. After having restored order in Naples, the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession forced him to depart for Piedmont and Lombardy, where he fought against the Austrian army of Archduke Charles, proving himself moreover a valiant soldier. Fortune would have favored him if Holland and England had not allied with Austria, giving a decisive turn to the war. <\/p>

The enemy fleet was already entering the port of Cadiz and occupying the southern Spanish territories, while Charles of Habsburg had himself proclaimed in Madrid as Charles III King of Spain.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Philip V<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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In 1709 even Louis XIV began to abandon his grandson to his fate, but Philip, supported also by the loyalty of his wife and the Orsini and by the Castilians, knew how to find the inner strength to resist, to continue fighting for his Throne. In the end his grandfather also returned to actively help him. But he was also helped by the fact that in the meantime, Emperor Leopold having died in Vienna, and then also Emperor Joseph I his firstborn \u2013 the latter without heirs \u2013 the Imperial Crown passed precisely to Charles of Habsburg, who assumed the title of Charles VI Emperor. <\/p>

At this point, the powers that until now had supported him against Philip began to withdraw: in fact, if Charles VI had also obtained the Kingdom of Spain with its domains, the situation of Charles V would have been recreated: and this Louis XIV would never have permitted, at the cost of total war in Europe; and in any case it was a prospect that pleased no one.<\/p>

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The war lasted until 1712 when negotiations for peace began and, with his back against the wall, Philip V had to choose between possible rights to succession in France and the maintenance of Italian territories on one hand and the Kingdom of Spain on the other with the renunciation of Italian domains in favor of the Empire (in this way, the Viceroyalty of Naples and Sicily returned again to the Habsburgs, this time to the Austrian branch).<\/p>

The heirs of the French monarchy committed themselves for their part to renounce any claim on Spain, and with the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, signed by France, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Prussia and Savoy, Philip V was recognized as founder of the Bourbon dynasty of Spain; but with the clear condition of renunciation of all rights to the French Crown and on the other hand with the renunciation by the main branch of France of any right to the Spanish Crown.<\/p>

In this way, now the House of Bourbon reigns sovereign over two distinct Crowns: the French with the Sun King (still alive for a short time; in 1715 he died and the young Louis XV, great-grandson of the King, became King under the regency of the Duke of Orl\u00e9ans), and the Spanish, with Philip V.<\/p>

In February 1714 Queen Maria Luisa Gabriella died; a year later the King married Elisabeth Farnese, heiress to the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a woman as intelligent and capable as his first wife. Tired of long submission to Louis XIV, Philip V, unsteady in health and subject to depressive crises, ended up completely entrusting to his consort and Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, a man of great ingenuity, the cares of State. <\/p>

French influence at Court was replaced by Italian influence: thus comments Nino Cortese, editor of the entry “Philip V” in the “Italian Encyclopedia”: “And it was an era of recovery, for Spain then moved to reconquer part of its ancient positions lost in Europe.” Indeed, as we shall see later, Elisabeth Farnese will be capable of securing, with a decade-long policy, the Kingdom of Naples and the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza for her two sons. <\/p>

Meanwhile, in January 1724 Philip V abdicated in favor of his son Prince of Asturias, born sixteen years earlier to Maria Luisa Gabriella, and who already married to Elisabeth of Montpensier, daughter of the Duke of Orl\u00e9ans, was crowned Louis I King of Spain. Struck by smallpox, the young sovereign returned the crown to his father by dying a few months later, and against his will Philip had to return to occupy himself with the Kingdom. <\/p>

But in reality now Elisabeth was the true protagonist, and her goal one and precise: to secure for her sons the government of the Italian States.<\/p>

Philip died in 1746. He was succeeded to the Throne by the other son he had by his first wife, Ferdinand VI, without heirs, and then in 1759 by Charles son of Elisabeth, already King of Naples, with the name of Charles III, who guaranteed the succession of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon to the Crown of Spain. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Masterpiece of Elisabeth Farnese: Another Throne and a Duchy for the Bourbons<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Elisabeth Farnese<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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It was Cardinal Alberoni who arranged in 1714 the marriage between the widowed Philip V and Elisabeth Farnese, born in Parma in 1692 (she would die in Madrid in 1766). Elisabeth immediately showed what she was made of by courageously dismissing the Orsini and relying on Alberoni. <\/p>

She gave Philip three sons (one became Archbishop of Toledo) and a daughter, and all her fine policy as Queen was marked by the iron will to secure for her sons the Throne (for that of Spain there was the problem that the heir was Ferdinand, the King’s son from his first marriage, and therefore Elisabeth always thought of the reconquest of Naples) and the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza (of which she was heiress due to the extinction of the Farnese house with Duke Anthony, who would die in 1731).<\/p>

The War of the Spanish Succession had ended after fourteen years of struggle with the treaties of Utrecht of July 13, 1713 and Rastatt of March 7, 1714, signed with this purpose: “conservandum in Europa equilibrium.”<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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From the birth of Charles, which occurred in Madrid on January 20, 1716, Spanish foreign policy will pursue and obtain, through a series of operations begun with Spain’s solemn adherence to the Quadruple Alliance through the Treaty of The Hague of February 17, 1720, recognition of Charles’s rights to the double succession of the Farnese and the Medici, which after the congresses and treaties of Cambrai (1721), Vienna (1725) and Seville (1729), the Empire will end up solemnly accepting in the second Treaty of Vienna of 1731: Charles therefore takes possession of the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza under the guardianship of his grandmother, the widowed Duchess of Parma, while at the same time he is proclaimed in Florence successor of the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, in turn designated co-guardian of the young prince.<\/p>

Elisabeth Farnese thus succeeds in achieving her first objective, but without the King of Spain or any of his successors being able to possess the Italian States or be guardians of their possessors. Here then is the first root, the very reason for being of the Houses of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies and Bourbon of Parma. <\/p>

By virtue of the first Family Pact of 1734, which led Spain to intervene in the War of the Polish Succession, Charles reconquered Naples and Sicily after the decisive battle of Bitonto of May 25, 1734 and was recognized as King of Naples and Sicily by the Treaties of Vienna of 1735; as a counterpart he renounced the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Tuscany which would end up, without Tuscany but with Guastalla, in the hands of his younger brother Philip, Head of the Royal House of Bourbon-Parma, second son of Elisabeth Farnese and son-in-law of Louis XV.<\/p>

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of October 18, 1748 then \u2013 when Philip V’s son, Ferdinand VI, already reigned in Spain, without possible descendants \u2013 established, in a particular clause, the system of transfer of office after King Charles had passed to occupy the Throne of Spain. And this is the situation when, on August 10, 1759, King Ferdinand VI of Spain died without leaving heirs. <\/p>

Charles, King of Naples and Sicily, was then called to ascend to the Throne of Spain; but, by virtue of a fundamental law of the House of Bourbon-Spain, called “New Regulation for the Succession of these Kingdoms,” which would be followed barely three days later by his Pragmatic Sanction of October 6, 1759, Charles, having become King of Spain, renounced in favor of his son Ferdinand the Throne of Naples, definitively sanctioning the irreversible process of division of the two Royal Houses.<\/p>

In particular, King Charles specified “that the order of Succession prescribed by me may never bring about the union of the Monarchy of Spain with the Sovereignty and Italian Domains, so that either the Males or the Females of my Descent called above, be admitted to the Italian Sovereignty, provided that they are not King of Spain or Prince of Asturias already declared or to be declared.”<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Charles\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Charles of Bourbon<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Therefore, the descendants of Childeprando (as well as of Charlemagne and St. Louis IX) now sit on four thrones:<\/p>

  • France and Navarre,<\/li>
  • Spain (with its domains),<\/li>
  • Naples and Sicily,<\/li>
  • Duchies of Parma and Piacenza.<\/li><\/ul>

    <\/p>

    Four families, of a single branch, of which none can claim anything over the domains of the other three, but which are united \u2013 in addition to blood ties \u2013 by the “family pact” that allies them against every external and internal enemy.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Bourbon Family: Three Kingdoms and a Duchy The Bourbon Family: Three Kingdoms and a Duchy A most noble, ancient, and glorious family Saint Louis IX King of France Tradition holds that the main branch of the House of Bourbon dates back to the eighth century AD: the founder, Childeprando, was a brother of Charles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37789,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-37788","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Bourbon Family: Three Kingdoms and a Duchy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"History of the Bourbon family, protagonists of three kingdoms and a duchy, and the dynastic legacy of the Royal House of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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