First Cousins: Louis XV, King of France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Louis XV, King of France (1710 – 1774)

(All media credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Louis XV reigned as King of France from 1715 until 1774, succeeding his great-grandfather, King Louis XIV. He was born on February 15, 1710, at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France, the third son of Prince Louis, Duke of Burgundy and Princess Marie Adélaïde of Savoy. At birth, he was created Duke of Anjou. His paternal grandparents were Louis, Le Grand Dauphin and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. Louise XV’s maternal grandparents were Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy.

At the time of Louis XV’s birth in 1710, his great grandfather Louis XIV was King of France. The succession to the throne of France was:

  1. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin (1661 – 1711) – Louis XV’s grandfather, the only one of the six legitimate children of Louis XIV who did not die in infancy
  2. Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin (1682 – 1712) – Louis XV’s father, eldest son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin
  3. Louis, Duke of Brittany (1707 – 1712) – Louis XV’s brother, the second but the eldest surviving son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin
  4. Louis, Duke of Anjou (1710 – 1774) – the future King Louis XV

In the spring of 1711, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin caught smallpox, apparently from a priest who was distributing Holy Communion after he had visited a smallpox victim, and died on April 14, 1711, at the age of 49. His son Louis, Duke of Burgundy who had been styled Le Petit Dauphin, became Dauphin of France, the heir to the French throne, but in less than a year, he too was dead. On February 12, 1712, the wife of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, 26-year-old wife Marie Adélaïde died from measles. Louis, Duke of Burgundy dearly loved his wife and had stayed by her side throughout her illness. He caught the disease and died six days after her death, on February 18, 1712, aged 29.

The five-year-old elder surviving son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Louis, Duke of Brittany, then became Dauphin but he also developed measles. He died three weeks later on March 8, 1712, apparently from being bled to death by the doctors. Louis, Duke of Burgundy’s younger son, the future King Louis XV, also developed measles but he survived because of his governess Charlotte de La Motte Houdancourt, Duchess of Ventadour. Deciding that she would not allow her younger charge to be bled by the doctors, Madame de Ventadour locked herself up with three nursery maids and refused to allow the doctors near the boy. The two-year-old survived and became King of France upon the death of his great-grandfather, King Louis XIV, three years later.

In 1725, Louis XV married Maria Leszczyńska, the daughter of the deposed King Stanisław I of Poland, and they had ten children. Unfortunately, like several other Dauphins that preceded him, Louis XV’s eldest son Louis, Dauphin of France died prematurely of tuberculosis, and never became King of France. When Louis XV died from smallpox in 1774, he was succeeded by his grandson, the ill-fated King Louis XVI.

King Louis XV had twenty-one paternal first cousins and twelve maternal first cousins.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin and his first wife Princess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and his second wife Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy

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Paternal First Cousins

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Felipe V, King of Spain (born Prince Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou) and his first wife Maria Luisa of Savoy

Luis I, King of Spain (1707 – 1724)

In 1722, Luis married Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, a first cousin of Luis’ father. The couple had no children. Two years later, Felipe V, King of Spain abdicated in favor of his seventeen-year-old Luis, for reasons still subject to debate. Luis reigned for only seven months as he died from smallpox. After his son’s death, Felipe V returned to the Spanish throne.

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Infante Felipe of Spain (born and died 1709)

Felipe was born on July 2, 1709, and died sixteen days later, on July 18, 1709.

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Infante Felipe Pedro of Spain (1712 – 1719)

Seven-year-old Felipe Pedro became very ill on December 24, 1719,  and died on December 28, 1719.

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Fernando VI, King of Spain (1713 – 1759)

Fernando’s reign was peaceful as he kept Spain out of European conflicts. In1729, he married Infanta Barbara of Portugal, daughter of João V, King of Portugal. The marriage was childless. The last years of Fernando’s reign were marked by mental instability, much like the mental condition of his father Felipe V. Upon his death, Fernando was succeeded by his half-brother Carlos III, King of Spain.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Felipe V, King of Spain (born Prince Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou) and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese

Carlos III, King of Spain (1716 – 1788)

In 1731, 15-year-old Carlos became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza following the death of his childless great-uncle Antonio Farnese. He also became King of Naples and King of Sicily in 1734. Carlos married Maria Amalia of Saxony in 1738, and they had thirteen children. In 1759, upon the death of his childless half-brother King Ferdinand VI of Spain, Carlos succeeded him as King Carlos III of Spain. Because of treaties, Carlos could not be the sovereign of all three kingdoms. His eldest son Felipe was excluded from the succession because of intellectual disability and his second son Carlos was the heir apparent to the Spanish throne. That left the third son Ferdinando to become King of Naples and King of Sicily.

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Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain, Queen of Portugal (1718 – 1781)

Mariana Victoria of Spain was the wife of José I, King of Portugal, and they had four daughters. In 1776, after José I suffered a series of strokes, Mariana Victoria was created Regent of Portugal and remained Regent until José’s death in 1777, when her eldest daughter became the first queen regnant of Portugal, reigning as Maria I. Portugal and Spain were in conflict over territorial possessions in the Americas. Maria Victoria tried to improve relations with Spain, which was ruled by her brother Carlos III, King of Spain. She left Portugal and traveled to Spain, where she stayed for just over a year. With Mariana Victoria’s influence, the Treaty of El Pardo, which resolved many longtime disputes between Portugal and Spain, was signed on October 1, 1778.

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Infante Felipe of Spain, Duke of Parma (1720 – 1765)

In 1748, after a period of ten years being in the hands of the House of Habsburg, the Duchy of Parma was ceded back to the Bourbons, and Infante Felipe of Spain became Duke of Parma and was the founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma, a cadet branch of the Spanish House of Bourbon. He married Princess Louise Élisabeth of France and the couple had three children.

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Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, Dauphine of France (1726 – 1746)

Maria Teresa Rafaela married her first cousin once removed, Louis, Dauphin of France, the elder son and heir apparent of his father Louis XV, King of France. Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela had one daughter but sadly, Maria Teresa Rafaela died three days later, on July 22, 1746, at the age of twenty. Louis’ sorrow was so intense that his father Louis XV had to physically drag his son away from Maria Teresa Rafaela’s deathbed. Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela’s daughter died three months before her second birthday. Louis, Dauphin of France did marry again and had children but he never succeeded to the throne. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 36.

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Infante Luis of Spain (1727 – 1785)

At the age of eight, Luis was ordained Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain and shortly thereafter was named Cardinal-Priest of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala in Rome. He was the youngest ever Cardinal. When he was twenty-seven, Luis renounced his ecclesiastical titles for lack of vocation and assumed the title 13th Count of Chinchón. Luis married morganatically to Spanish aristocrat María Teresa de Vallabriga. They had four children who did not have royal titles because their parents’ marriage was morganatic.

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Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen of Sardinia (1729 – 1785)

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda was the wife of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia with whom she had twelve children. Three of their children died in childhood, and only two of their children had children.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Charles of France, Duke of Berry and Marie Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans

Prince Charles of France, Duke of Alençon (born and died 1713)

Charles lived for twenty-one days. He was born on March 26, 1713, and died on April 16, 1713.

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Princess Marie Louise Élisabeth of France (born and died 1714)

Marie Louise Élisabeth was born at the Palace of Versailles on J, and died the next day.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and his first wife Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria

Prince Leopold Ferdinand of Bavaria (born and died 1689)

Leopold Ferdinand was born in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria on May 22, 1689, and died three days later.

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Prince Anton of Bavaria (born and died 1690)

Anton was born on November 28, 1690, in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, and died the same day.

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Joseph Ferdinand, Electoral Prince of Bavaria (1692 – 1699)

Besides being the heir to the Electorate of Bavaria, for the last three years of his short life, Joseph Ferdinand was also the heir to the Spanish throne and a footnote in European history. His death would ultimately lead to the War of the Spanish Succession. Joseph Ferdinand’s mother Maria Antonia of Austria, the daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, was the maternal granddaughter of Felipe IV, King of Spain. Felipe IV’s son and heir Carlos II, King of Spain had been married twice but had no children. Unlike many other European thrones, the Spanish succession could go through a female line, and so Carlos II named Joseph Ferdinand as his heir.

On February 3, 1699, six-year-old Joseph Ferdinand died suddenly after suffering seizures, vomiting, and loss of consciousness. He was rumored to have been poisoned, but nothing has been ever been proven. Carlos II, King of Spain then named Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou as his heir. Philippe’s father Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, son of King Louis XV of France, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain because his mother Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Philippe’s father nor his elder brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. When Carlos II, King of Spain died in 1700, Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou became the first King of Spain from the House of Bourbon as Felipe V.

However, many European countries took issue with this. Disputes over the separation of the Spanish and French crowns, division of territories, and commercial rights led to the War of the Spanish Succession (1701 – 1714) between the Bourbons, who now ruled in France and Spain, and the Grand Alliance (Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Habsburg Spain). Peace was finally made in 1714. In return for his confirmation as King of Spain, Felipe V renounced succession rights to the French throne for both himself and his descendants. Any union of the French and Spanish crowns was forbidden.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and his second wife Princess Theresa Kunegunda Sobieska of Poland

Princess Maria Anna Karoline of Bavaria (1696 – 1750)

Deeply religious from an early age, Maria Anna Karoline, the only daughter of her parents,  decided to become a nun despite the strong objections from her parents. On July 3, 1719, she declared her final decision to enter the Order of Saint Clare. She would be required to live a strict life that would require strict prayer, fasting, weekly flagellations, regular sleep deprivation, and no contact whatsoever outside the monastery walls. On October 28, 1719, the day she entered the convent, Maria Anna Karoline saw her parents for the last time. Her religious name, Sister Theresa Emanuela, came from the first names of her parents. In 1747, Maria Anna Karoline suffered a stroke and remained partially paralyzed for the last three years of her life.

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Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria, King of Bohemia (1697 – 1745)

The election of Karl, from the House of Wittelsbach, as Holy Roman Emperor, marked the end of three centuries of uninterrupted Habsburg imperial rule although he was related to the Habsburgs by both blood and marriage. Karl married Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria and they had seven children.

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Prince Philipp Moritz of Bavaria (1698 – 1719)

In 1717, Philipp Moritz went with his younger brother Clemens August to study theology in Rome, where he died from measles, aged 20, on March 12, 1719.

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Prince Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria (1699 – 1738)

Ferdinand Maria served in the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire. His highest rank was Field Marshal. He married Maria Anna Carolina of Neuburg and they had three children.

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Prince Clemens August of Bavaria, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (1700 – 1761)

Clemens August’s uncle Joseph Clemens, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne ensured that his nephew received several appointments. He was not considered to have talent or intelligence for any of his positions. Clement August was seen as brainless, incompetent, and not in the least interested in governing anything.

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Prince Wilhelm of Bavaria (1701 – 1704)

Wilhelm was born on July 12, 1701, in Schlessheim Palace Oberschleißheim, a suburb of Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria. He died on February 12, 1704, in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria

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Prince Alois Johann Adolf of Bavaria (1702 – 1705)

Alois Johann Adolf was born in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, on born June 21, 1702, and died on June 18, 1705, in Munich.

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Prince Johann Theodor of Bavaria, Cardinal, Prince-Bishop of Regensburg, Freising and Liege (1703 – 1763)

In addition to his clerical duties, Johann Theodor loved to hunt, played the cello, and was a patron of music and theater. He had affairs with several women, had at least two illegitimate children, and was liked by the people of his bishopric.

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Prince Maximilian Emanuel Thomas of Bavaria (1704 – 1709)

Maximilian Emanuel Thomas was born on December 21, 1704, in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, and died February 18, 1709, in Munich.

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Works Cited

  • Lundy, D. (2022). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2022). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2022 Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)