Louis XIV Dies in 1658

CaliGuy

Banned
Also, how much of an issue is Philippe's homosexuality going to be both inside of France and outside of France in this TL?
 
It states here that French King Louis XIV was extremely ill in 1658:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_I,_Duke_of_Orléans#Le_Petit_Monsieur

Anyway, what if Louis died in 1658 and thus his gay younger brother Philippe would have become King of France afterwards?

What kind of a French King would Philippe be?

According to Antonia Fraser's biography of Louis XIV, he fell ill with a sort of camp fever that was cured by giving him cassia (an inferior form of cinnamon) (amongst other things, presumably). Had he died, Philippe would've been king. Which is what's posited in your OP.

Martially, Philippe was the better commander. He commanded the army at some battle, and because he pulled the victory from the jaws of defeat, he earned himself both the praise and the mistrust (unfairly) of his brother. (He never commanded an army again, because Louis XIV was afraid that if the army loved any royal more than they loved the king, it might turn into a Fronde scenario - dauphin and dauphin's son were fine. Orléans was not).

Artistically, France would probably progress along the same lines. Financially they might do better though, since Philippe was a shrewd investor - the foundations for the fortune of the Orléans which first rivalled then surpassed that of the king of France was laid in his lifetime. He was interested in canals and the like - the Canal du Midi (IIRC) was built under his aegis.

However, as always, there's a but. Philippe has been raised his whole life to defer to his older brother (in order to prevent a repeat Gaston (why he was dressed in girls' clothes and deflowered by Mazarin's nephew)). He's a good commander on the battle field, but IDK if that would carry over into the Haut-Conseil. So the chances of an absolutism developing in France is still good, the chances of an alt-Versailles system, not so sure.
 
Philippe would probably marry Maria Theresa, as the Spanish alliance is tantamount to Anne of Austria and Mazarin. They would have some kids, as both know their duty to the throne. If the elder son can take more of the OTL Régent than the OTL Grand dauphin, the better for the future of the monarchy.
 
Philippe would probably marry Maria Theresa, as the Spanish alliance is tantamount to Anne of Austria and Mazarin. They would have some kids, as both know their duty to the throne. If the elder son can take more of the OTL Régent than the OTL Grand dauphin, the better for the future of the monarchy.

The Spanish infanta was Anne's desire, not necessarily Mazarin's. Mazarin helped make it happen, since he knew that any other bride wouldn't have really carried her Majesty's approval. But the possibility exists - as Antonia Fraser points out - that had her niece (Maria Teresa) been unavailable, Anne would've grudgingly settled for another niece (Minette - not Savoy, she felt the daughter of a mere duke wasn't good enough to marry the king of France, and she was in a pout all the way down to Lyons to interview Margherita Violante for the possibility).

Of course, say Maria Teresa is unavailable, so he marries Minette, but she still dies on schedule, then it becomes interesting. Philippe VII can marry Liselotte as OTL, or he can marry some other ladies - like one of the Savoie-Nemours girls (in order to get his hands on their lands) or one of his Orléans' cousins (I think only the OTL duchesse de Guise is left - hunchbacked and the fake abbess though she was); or even Margarita Teresa (assuming that the reason Maria Teresa was out of reach is because she married Ferdinand IV/Leopold I.
 
The Spanish infanta was Anne's desire, not necessarily Mazarin's. Mazarin helped make it happen, since he knew that any other bride wouldn't have really carried her Majesty's approval. But the possibility exists - as Antonia Fraser points out - that had her niece (Maria Teresa) been unavailable, Anne would've grudgingly settled for another niece (Minette - not Savoy, she felt the daughter of a mere duke wasn't good enough to marry the king of France, and she was in a pout all the way down to Lyons to interview Margherita Violante for the possibility).

Of course, say Maria Teresa is unavailable, so he marries Minette, but she still dies on schedule, then it becomes interesting. Philippe VII can marry Liselotte as OTL, or he can marry some other ladies - like one of the Savoie-Nemours girls (in order to get his hands on their lands) or one of his Orléans' cousins (I think only the OTL duchesse de Guise is left - hunchbacked and the fake abbess though she was); or even Margarita Teresa (assuming that the reason Maria Teresa was out of reach is because she married Ferdinand IV/Leopold I.

Sure, if Maria Teresa is out of the game, other girls would be considered ; but I do not think Philippe VII would ever wed a princess from a junior line, be she the Duchess of Nemours or the Duchess of Alençon, especially given their "disadvantages" (bastard ancestry and hunchback). If not the Infanta, at least the English princess.
 
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