Louis dauphin de France ¹⁵⁷⁰

   Cause of his death was Tuberculosis.¹⁵⁷⁰

  General Notes:

Louis, dauphin de France (1729-1765), born in Versailles, was the eldest and only surviving son of King Louis XV of France and Queen Marie Leszczynska, and thus heir apparent (dauphin) to the throne of France.

The birth of an heir to the throne had long been awaited since the tragic decimation of the French royal family in the early 1710s (see Louis XV of France). When the third pregnancy of Marie Leszczynska gave birth to a son in 1729, there was great rejoicing and celebrations complete with fireworks (memorialized in engravings) in all the major cities of France, and indeed in most European courts. For the first time in 15 years, the future of the dynasty seemed assured.

In 1745, the 16-year-old dauphin Louis was married to the first cousin of his father, the 19-year-old infanta Maria-Teresa of Spain, daughter of King Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth Farnese. This marriage followed a tradition of alliances with Catholic powers and wars against Protestant countries going back to Louis XIV of France, as well as an alliance of the two Bourbon dynasties against the Habsburg Austrian Empire, the hereditary enemy of the House of Bourbon. However, the frail and delicate Maria Teresa died shortly after giving birth to her first child on July 22, 1746. Said child was Princess Marie-Thérèse of France (July 19, 1746 - April 27, 1748).

18-year-old Louis was re-married in 1747 to 16-year-old Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, daughter of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, who gave birth to three kings of France.

The dauphin Louis was rather plump, but well educated and not dim-witted in the least. A man of study, cultivated and lover of music, he preferred the pleasures of conversation to those of hunting, balls, or spectacles. With a keen sense of morality, very much committed to his wife Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, he was a fervent supporter of the Jesuits, like his very Catholic mother and sisters, and was led by them to worship the Sacred Heart. He appeared in the eyes of his sisters as the ideal of the Christian prince, in sharp contrast with their father Louis XV whose morality was most compromised after 1740.

Kept away from government affairs by his father, the dauphin Louis was at the center of the devout party (see dévots), which hoped to gain power with his accession to the throne.

The dauphin Louis died of tuberculosis at Fontainebleau in 1765 at the age of 36, while his father was still alive, thus never becoming king of France. His eldest surviving son Louis, duke of Berry, became the new dauphin, and later ascended the throne as Louis XVI at the death of Louis XV. ¹⁵⁷⁰

Louis married María Teresa of Spain, daughter of Philip V King of Spain and Elizabeth Farnese, in 1745.¹⁵⁷⁰ (María Teresa of Spain was born on 11 Jun 1726 ¹⁵⁷⁰ and died on 22 Jul 1746 ¹⁵⁷⁰.)

Louis next married Marie-Josèphe of Saxony on 9 Feb 1747.¹⁵⁷⁰ (Marie-Josèphe of Saxony was born on 4 Nov 1731 ¹⁵⁷⁰ and died on 13 Mar 1767 ¹⁵⁷⁰.)