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Louis Joseph Xavier Francois
Louis Joseph Xavier Francois
	Dauphin of France
	Portrait by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
Father	Louis XVI of France
Mother	Marie Antoinette
Born	22 October 1781; Palace of Versailles, France
Died	4 June 1789 (aged 7); Château de Meudon, France

For other uses of "Louis, Dauphin", see Louis, Dauphin.

Louis Joseph Xavier Francois of France, Dauphin of France (Versailles, 22 October, 1781 – Meudon, 4 June, 1789) was the second child and first son of King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette. As the heir apparent to the French throne, he was called the Dauphin. As the eldest son of the king, he was a Fils de France. Louis Joseph died amidst the Estates-General of 1789 in which his parents were so heavily criticised.

[edit] Biography

Louis Joseph Xavier Francois de France was born at the Palace of Versailles on 22 October 1781; he was the long awaited Dauphin of France, females such as his sister Princess Marie Thérèse Charlotte were not allowed to succeed to the throne due to the Salic Law. The birth of Louis Joseph at that point ruined his uncle's hopes of becoming the King of France^[1]

His private household was created upon his birth and he was put into the care of Geneviève Poitrine, one of his Wet nurses. It was Geneviève that was later accused of transmitting Tuberculosis to the young Dauphin. His Sous gouverneur was Antoine Charles Augustin d'Allonville - a Field Marshal. Another member of his household was his mothers great friend, Yolande de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac.

He was very close to his sister and his parents, who closely monitored his education. Louis Joseph was always praised for being a very bright child for his young age, however, it was often noted that he had very fragile health.

[edit] Illness

Around April 1784, when he was just three years old, Louis Joseph had a series of very bad fevers. Out of fear for his health he was transported to the Château de La Muette^[2] where the air was reputed to have healing properties. The time at La Muette seemed to help Louis Joseph recover and, almost a year later in March 1785, Louis Joseph returned to La Muette where he received an Inoculation. However, in spite of this, his health would remain fragile.

In 1786 the fevers returned but his household regarded them as being of no importance. These fevers however were the first signs of tuberculosis. In the same year, Louis Joseph was transmitted from female company to an education led by men, as was customary at the time. At the ceremony it was noted that Louis Joseph had trouble walking which was, in fact, caused by a curvature of the spine - something which was treated through the use of corsets en fer - iron corsets.

The Royal Family of France, 1787

Queen Marie Antoinette with her children, 1787 at Versailles; (L-R); Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, known as Madame Royale at court; the Queen with the Duke of Normandy on her lap; the Dauphin is on the right pointing into an empty cradle; the cradle used to show Madame Sophie; she died later in the year and had to be painted out; by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun; the Fleur-de-lis of France and the Bourbons can be seen behind on the cabinet

From as early as January 1788 the fevers grew more frequent and the disease progressed quickly. The young Dauphin, Louis Joseph died at Meudon aged seven and he was buried at the Basilica of St Denis, where his tomb, along with many Bourbon graves at St Denis, was destroyed during the French Revolution.

On his death the title of Dauphin passed to his younger brother Louis Charles, Duke of Normandy (1785–1795), who would survive his father and die in prison at the age of ten.

Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, is named for him (Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France). The Pennsylvania legislature, meeting in Philadelphia in 1785, to thank France for helping America win her independence from Great Britain, named the newly formed county, "Dauphin", northwest of Lancaster and north of York, in which Harrisburg is located.

[edit] Ancestry

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms

[edit] Titles and styles

22 October 1781 – 4 June 1789 His Royal Highness the Dauphin of France (Monseigneur le Dauphin)

[edit] References

^ Later Louis XVIII of France; he married Princess Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy but had no issue
^ Personal property of his father, Louis XVI

[edit] Bibliography

History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Historical Commission, Harrisburg, PA

[edit] Titles

Titles and Succession

French royalty
Louis-Joseph, Dauphin of France House of Bourbon Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty Born: 22 October 1781 Died: 4 June 1789
Preceded by Vacant Louis Auguste	Dauphin of France 22 October, 1781 – 4 June, 1789	Succeeded by Louis Charles
Preceded by Louis, Count of Provence	Heir to the Throne as Heir apparent 22 October 1781 — 4 June 1789	Succeeded by Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France

[0] Later Louis XVIII of France; he married Princess Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy but had no issue

[1] Personal property of his father, Louis XVI

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