Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon
Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon was the daughter of Henri Jules de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, and Anne Henriette of Bavaria. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, she was a princesse du sang. Forced to marry the Duke of Maine, legitimised son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, she revelled in politics and the arts, and held a popular salon at the Hôtel du Maine as well as at the Château de Sceaux.
Portrait by François de Troy as Cleopatra, c. 1690
Louise Bénédicte in the year of her marriage
The Château de Sceaux at the time of Louise Bénédicte
Philippe d'Orléans pointing to an infant Louis XV for whom he acted as regent for until 1723, Louise Bénédicte was imprisoned by Orléans as a result of her involvement in the Cellamare Conspiracy in 1719.
Henri Jules, Prince of Condé
Henri Jules de Bourbon was prince de Condé, from 1686 to his death. At the end of his life he suffered from clinical lycanthropy and was considered insane.
Portrait of Henri Jules de Bourbon
Henri Jules' four surviving daughters, Gobert.
Image: Pierre Mignard portrait painting of Marie Thérèse de Bourbon (1666 1732), Princess of Conti
Image: 1694 Portrait of Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé from the workshop of Rigaud (Versailles)
