Régence

2025-09-12T21:41:45Z

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{{redirect|Regence|the Blue Cross Blue Shield licensed health insurance company|The Regence Group}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2024}}
{{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:French words and phrases]].}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2010}}
{{Short description|1715–1723 period in France}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = ''La Régence''
| image = Philippe, duc d'Orléans, régent de France (1674-1723).jpg
| office = Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans
| imagesize = 200px
| term_start = 1 September 1715
| term_end = 15 February 1723
| monarch = [[Louis XV of France]]
| caption = Philippe with [[Marie-Madeleine de Parabère]] as Athena; [[Jean-Baptiste Santerre]], 1716
| predecessor =
| primeminister = [[Guillaume Dubois]] (in 1723)
| successor =
| alma_mater = |
}}

The '''''Régence''''' ({{IPA|fr|ʁeʒɑ̃s}}, ''Regency'') was the period in [[History of France|French history]] between 1715 and 1723 when King [[Louis XV]] was considered a [[minor (law)|minor]] and the country was instead governed by [[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]] (a nephew and son-in-law of [[Louis XIV of France]]) as [[prince regent]]. This was not the only regency in French history, but the name is nevertheless associated with this period.

Philippe was able to take power away from [[Louis-Auguste, Duke of Maine]] (illegitimate son of Louis XIV and [[Madame de Montespan]]) who had been the favourite son of the late king and possessed much influence. From 1715 to 1718 the ''[[Polysynody]]'' changed the system of government in France, in which each minister (secretary of state) was replaced by a council. The ''[[John Law (economist)|système de Law]]'' was also introduced, which transformed the finances of the bankrupted kingdom and its aristocracy. Both [[Guillaume Dubois|Cardinal Dubois]] and [[André-Hercule de Fleury|Cardinal Fleury]] were highly influential during this time.

Contemporary European rulers included [[Philip V of Spain]], [[John V of Portugal]], [[George I of Great Britain]], [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor]], and [[Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia]], the maternal grandfather of Louis XV.

==Chronology==
[[File:Hyacinthe Rigaud - Portrait of Cardinal Guillaume Dubois - 1967.17 - Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Cardinal Dubois]]'' by [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]], 1723. Dubois was [[Chief Minister of France|Chief Minister]] during the Régence.]]
===1714===
*'''29 July 1714''': the [[Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine|Duke of Maine]] and the [[Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse|Count of Toulouse]], Louis XIV's bastard sons, are made [[Prince du Sang|Princes of the Blood]].

===1715===
*'''1 September 1715''': Louis XIV dies, his will entrusts the government of France to a regency council, with [[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]] as an honorary president and the Duke of Maine as the real power, until his great-grandson and successor, the five-year old [[Louis XV]], reaches his majority (13 years old) in 1723.
*'''2 September 1715''': the Duke of Orléans allies himself with the [[Parlement of Paris]], who cancelled Louis XIV's will. As a Prince of the Blood, Philippe of Orléans had been a member of the Parlement.
*'''9 September''': Body of Louis XIV taken to the [[Basilica of Saint-Denis]]; Louis XV sets off for [[Château de Vincennes]] with the Regent, [[Madame de Ventadour]], [[François de Neufville, 2nd Duke of Villeroy|Villeroi]], Toulouse and Maine; Philip V of Spain hears of his grandfather's death;
*'''12 September''': Philippe of Orléans recognised Regent by order of the Parlement;
*'''15 September''': Parlement claims the ''Droit de remontrance'', the right to revoke a law made by a King who had died, further supporting the Regent's claim to power.
*'''1 October 1715''': ''[[Polysynody]]'' was held in Paris; it was composed of the highest nobility of the country.
*'''30 December''': Removal of Louis XV from the Château de Vincennes to the [[Tuileries Palace]];
*Louis XV put under the care of François de Neufville, Duke of Villeroi; [[Guillaume Delisle]] and the Cardinal Fleury are put in charge of Louis' education.

===1716===
*'''2 May''': Philippe d'Orléans allows [[John Law (economist)|John Law]] to found the ''Banque générale'';<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=41827152| last = Nevin | first = Seamus |title=Richard cantillon – The Father of Economics| journal = History Ireland | volume = 21 | issue = 2 | pages = 20–23 | year = 2013 }}</ref>
*'''27 June''': Birth of [[Louise Diane d'Orléans]] at the [[Palais-Royal]]; she was the last child of the Regent;
*'''9/10 October''': [[Anglo-French Alliance (1716–1731)|Alliance with Great Britain]];

===1717===
*'''[[Triple Alliance (1717)]]'''; a treaty between the [[Dutch Republic]], [[Kingdom of France|France]] and [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], against [[History of Spain (1700-1808)|Spain]], attempting to maintain the agreement of the 1713 [[Treaty of Utrecht]];
*'''31 March''': The Regent's second surviving daughter [[Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans|Louise Adélaïde]] takes the veil and becomes a nun under the name of ''Sœur Sainte-Bathilde''.
*'''21 May''': Arrival of [[Peter I of Russia]] in Paris; he visits the King, Versailles, the Regent, his daughter [[Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans]]; he stays in Paris; he does not see the [[Françoise-Marie de Bourbon|Duchess of Orléans]] despite her pleas; Peter stays at the [[Grand Trianon]];
*'''6 June 1717''': Purchase of the [[Regent Diamond]]; later part of the [[French Crown Jewels]];
*'''July''': the Duke of Maine and the Count of Toulouse are stripped of their rank of ''Princes of the Blood'' by the Parlement
*'''September''': Foundation of the ''[[Mississippi Company|Compagnie d'Occident et du Mississippi]]'';

===1718===
*'''March''': Arrival of [[Leopold, Duke of Lorraine]] and his consort, [[Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans]] (sister of the Regent);
*'''31 March''': [[Infante|Infanta]] [[Mariana Victoria of Spain]] born in Madrid; later betrothed to Louis XV;
*'''11 April''': Death of the [[Marie Anne de Bourbon (1678–1718)|Dowager Duchess of Vendôme]];
*'''7 May''': Death of [[Mary of Modena]] at the [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye]]; she was Queen consort of the exiled [[James II of England]];
*'''2 August''': [[War of the Quadruple Alliance|Quadruple Alliance]] with [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]], France, the Dutch Republic and Great Britain – aimed at revising (principally at Spain's expense) the treaties which ended the [[War of the Spanish Succession]];
*'''24 September''': end of the ''[[Polysynody]]'' and the reestablishment of ministers;
*'''4 December''': Banque générale becomes the ''[[Banque de France|Banque Royale]]'';
*'''December''' Exposure of the ''[[Cellamare Conspiracy]]'' headed by the Duke of Maine and his wife [[Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon]], which aimed at placing [[Philip V of Spain]] as regent of France with the help of the Spanish Ambassador, the "príncipe de Cellamare"; the Duke and Duchess are exiled from court and return in 1720 to their home at the [[Château de Sceaux]];

===1719===
*'''9 January''': [[War of the Quadruple Alliance|Declaration of War with Spain]];
*'''15 April''': Death of [[Madame de Maintenon]] at [[Saint-Cyr-l'École]];
*'''May''': Foundation of the [[John Law's Company|French East India Company]] by John Law;
*'''21 July''': Death of [[Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans]]; daughter of the Regent who participated in the hectic nightlife of his court, even during several pregnancies with different men. (Jules Michelet, "Histoire de France, vol.XV, La Régence", Equateurs, 2008).

===1720===
*'''5 January''': John Law made [[Controller-General of Finances]];
*'''11 February''': Marriage of [[Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans]] to the [[Francesco III d'Este|Hereditary Prince of Modena]] at the [[Tuileries Palace]];
*'''March''': [[Great Plague of Marseille]];
*'''21 March''': Death of [[Marie Anne de Bourbon (1689–1720)|Marie Anne de Bourbon]], wife of the Duke of Bourbon;
*'''26 March''': Execution of the leaders of the [[Pontcallec Conspiracy]] against the Regency.

===1721===
*Publication of the ''[[Persian Letters]]'' by [[Montesquieu]]; negotiations between the Regent and Peter I of Russia begin regarding the proposed marriage of the [[Louis, Duke of Orléans (1703–1752)|Regent's only legitimate son]] to a daughter of the Emperor, namely either the [[Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia|Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna]] or the future [[Elizabeth of Russia]]; plans fail and Louis d'Orléans marries in 1724;
*'''6 January''': Arrest of [[Louis Dominique Bourguignon]];
*'''27 March''': Alliance of Spain and France;
*'''May''' : Visit of [[Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi|Mehmet Effendi]], [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] ambassador;
*'''18 July''': Death of [[Antoine Watteau]];
*'''17 September''': Death of the [[Marguerite Louise d'Orléans|Grand Duchess of Tuscany]]; cousin of the Regent;
*'''29 December''' : Birth of the future [[Madame de Pompadour]];
*[[Marie Anne de Bourbon]] is put in charge of the Infanta's education in France;

===1722===
*[[Louise-Françoise de Bourbon|Madame la Duchesse Douairière]] starts the construction of the [[Palais Bourbon]] in Paris to a design by the Italian architect ''Lorenzo Giardini'', approved by [[Jules Hardouin-Mansart]];
*''' 20 January''': Marriage of [[Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans]] to the future [[Louis I of Spain]];
*'''10 March''': Arrival of Infanta [[Mariana Victoria of Spain]] in Paris; daughter of Philip V of Spain and [[Elisabeth of Parma]];
*'''15 June''': Louis XV and the court return to Versailles; the Regent takes the old apartments of his dead cousin, the late [[Louis, Dauphin of France (1661–1711)]];
*'''22 August''': [[Guillaume Dubois]] made the Chief Minister of the Regent;
*'''25 October''': Coronation of Louis XV at [[Reims Cathedral]];
*'''8 December''': Death of [[Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate]] ''(Madame)'', mother of the Regent;

===1723===
*Louis XV orders plans for the future ''[[Salon d'Hercule]]'' to begin;
*'''2 February''': Secret marriage of the [[Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse|Count of Toulouse]] and [[Marie Victoire de Noailles]] (already widowed daughter in law of Mme de Montespan) in Paris; their marriage was only announced after the death of the Regent;
*'''16 February''': Louis XV attains his majority upon turning 13 years old
*'''23 February''': Death of [[Anne Henriette of Bavaria]], Dowager Princess of Condé;
*'''10 August''': Death of Dubois; role later took on by [[Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon]];
*'''2 December''': Death of the Regent at the [[Palace of Versailles]];

==The Polysynody==
There were seven parts of the Polysynody all of which had their own ministers for the Regency:

#''Council of Conscience'' (Conseil de Conscience)<br>Members included [[Louis-Antoine de Noailles|Cardinal de Noailles]], Armand Bazin de Bezons (Archbishop of Bordeaux), [[Henri François d'Aguesseau]], René Pucelle, [[André-Hercule de Fleury|Cardinal Fleury]].
#''Council of Foreign Affairs'' (Conseil des Affaires étrangères, headed by [[Nicolas Chalon du Blé]])
#''Council of War'' (Conseil de la Guerre)<br>Members included: [[Claude Louis Hector de Villars|Duke of Villars]], Dominique-Claude Barberie de Saint-Contest, [[Louis Armand II de Bourbon, prince de Conti|Prince of Conti]], [[Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine|Duke of Maine]], [[Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne]], [[Antoine V de Gramont|Duke of Gramont]], [[Claude le Blanc]].
#''[[Council of the Navy (Polysynody)|Council of the Navy]]'' (Conseil de la Marine, headed by the [[Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse|Count of Toulouse]])
#''Council of Finances'' (Conseil des Finances, headed by the [[Anne-Jules, 2nd duc de Noailles|Duke of Noailles]])
#''Council of the Affairs the Kingdom'' (Conseil des Affaires du Dedans du Royaume, headed by the [[Louis Antoine de Pardaillan de Gondrin|Duke of Antin]] – half brother of the Duke of Maine and Count of Toulouse)<br>Members included: marquis de Harlay, de Goissard, [[Marc-René de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson (1652–1721)|Marquis of Argenson]],
#''Council of Commerce'' (Conseil du Commerce)

==General==

===People===
'''''The Men'''''

*'''[[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]]''' (2 August 1674 – 2 December 1723) born at his father's [[Château de Saint-Cloud]], he was the Duke of Chartres from birth; his mother, whom he was very close to, was a German princess of the Palatinate named [[Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate|Elizabeth Charlotte]]. In 1692 he married his first cousin, [[Françoise-Marie de Bourbon]] – the youngest illegitimate daughter of Philippe's uncle [[Louis XIV]] and [[Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan|Madame de Montespan]]. He died at Versailles in the arms of his mistress;
*'''[[Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon]]''' (18 August 1692 – 27 January 1740) son of [[Louis III, Prince of Condé]] and [[Louise-Françoise de Bourbon]], he was thus the nephew of Philippe d'Orléans and was the [[Chief minister of France]] 1723–26; he was a great rival of the Regent and the House of Orléans in general;
*'''[[Louis-Auguste, Duke of Maine]]''' (31 March 1670 – 14 May 1736) favourite but illegitimate son of Louis XIV and [[Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon|Madame de Maintenon]], he was despised by the Princes of the Blood due to his constant honours and great wealth he accumulated from his father. He died at Sceaux aged 66;
*'''[[John Law (economist)|John Law]]''' (pronounced ''Jean Lass'') (21 April 1671 – 21 March 1729) was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange that did not constitute [[wealth]] in itself and that national wealth depended on trade. He was responsible for the [[Mississippi Scheme|Mississippi Bubble]] and a chaotic economic collapse in France; he died in [[Venice]].

{{multiple image
| align =center
| direction =horizontal
| image1 = Portrait of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans in armour by Jean-Baptiste Santerre.png
| width1 = 158
| caption1 = The Duke of Orléans, ''Régent du royaume''
| image2 = Lodewijk XV-Kroningsgewaad.jpg
| width2 = 155
| caption2 = [[Louis XV of France]] in 1723; Rigaud
| image3 = Louis IV Henri de Bourbon-Conde.jpg
| width3 = 171
| caption3 = [[Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon]]
| image4 = John Law.jpg
| width4 = 151
| caption4 = [[John Law (economist)|John Law]] who reformed French Finances
}}

'''''The Women'''''

*'''[[Infante|Infanta]] [[Mariana Victoria of Spain]]''' (31 March 1718 – 15 January 1781) was the eldest daughter of [[Philip V of Spain]] and his second wife [[Elisabeth of Parma]]; born in Madrid, she moved to France in 1721 and lived at the Tuileries Palace in Paris with her proposed husband; the engagement was broken off due to tense relations regarding the marriages of the Regent's daughters to Philip V's sons. The Infanta was sent back to Spain and later married the future [[Joseph I of Portugal]]; the present [[Brazilian Imperial Family]] descends from Philippe d'Orléans, Louis XV as well as Mariana Victoria;
*'''[[Françoise Marie de Bourbon]]''' (4 May 1677 – 1 February 1749) was an [[Illegitimacy|illegitimate]] child of [[Louis XIV]] and [[Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan|Madame de Montespan]]. She married Philippe d'Orléans and was mother of 8 of his children including the next Duke of Orléans; she died at the [[Château de Saint-Cloud]] aged 71;
*'''[[Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon]]''' (8 November 1676 – 23 January 1753) was the wife of the Duke of Maine and thus daughter-in-law of Louis XIV; she was one of the Regent's most ardent enemies and was the aunt of the [[Duke of Bourbon]]; she was also the granddaughter of the ''[[Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé|Le Grand Condé]]''; she held court at Sceaux and was exiled to [[Dijon]] after the [[Cellamare Conspiracy]] was discovered; she died in Paris having outlived most of her generation;

{{multiple image
| align = center
| direction = horizontal
| image1 = María Ana Victoria de Borbón.jpg
| width1 = 158
| caption1 = The [[Infante|Infanta]] [[Mariana Victoria of Spain]]
| image2 = Portrait painting of Françoise Marie de Bourbon, later Duchess of Orléans by François de Troy.jpg
| width2 = 175
| caption2 = [[Françoise-Marie de Bourbon]], ''duchesse d'Orléans''
| image3 = Duchesse du Maine.jpeg
| width3 = 165
| caption3 = [[Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon]], ''duchesse du Maine''
}}

===Places===
*''[[Palace of Versailles]]'' : Birthplace of Louis XV and the home of the French court before and after the Regency; it was at Versailles that the Duke of Orléans died in 1723;
*''[[Palais-Royal]]'' : Paris home of the [[House of Orléans]]; it was from there that the Regent handled state affairs; his last daughter, Louise Diane, was also born at the palace;
*''[[Tuileries Palace]]'' : the childhood home of Louis XV during the Regency; Louis XV was installed in the ''Grand Appartements'' of Louis XIV located on the second floor.

===Politics===
The Régence marked the temporary eclipse of [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]] as centre of policymaking, since the Regent's court was at the [[Palais Royal]] in Paris. It marked the rise of Parisian [[Salon (gathering)|salon]]s as cultural centres, as literary meeting places and nuclei of discreet liberal resistance to some official policies. In the Paris salons aristocrats mingled more easily with the ''higher [[Bourgeoisie]]'' in a new atmosphere of relaxed decorum, comfort and intimacy.

===Art history===
In the arts, the style of the Régence is marked by early [[Rococo]], characterised by the paintings of [[Antoine Watteau]] (1684–1721).

Rococo developed first in the decorative arts and interior design. Louis XIV's succession brought a change in the court artists and general artistic fashion. By the end of the old king's reign, [[Louis XIV style|rich Baroque designs]] were giving way to lighter elements with more curves and natural patterns. These elements are obvious in the architectural designs of [[Nicolas Pineau]]. During the Régence, court life moved away from Versailles and this artistic change became well established, first in the royal palace and then throughout French high society. The delicacy and playfulness of Rococo designs is often seen as perfectly in tune with the excesses of Louis XV's regime.

The 1730s represented the height of Rococo development in France. The style had spread beyond architecture and furniture to painting and sculpture, exemplified by the works of Watteau and [[François Boucher]]. Rococo still maintained the Baroque taste for complex forms and intricate patterns, but by this point, it had begun to integrate a variety of diverse characteristics, including a taste for Oriental designs and asymmetric compositions.

===Colonialism===
The ''Régence'' is also the customary French word for the pre-independence regimes in the western North African countries, the so-called [[Barbary Coast]]. It was applied to:
*First the Barbary Coast (Maghrebinian countries in North Africa) was formally [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]], but de facto independent (dominated by military governors, soon de facto princes, styled [[dey]], [[bey]] or [[beylerbey]], and by the [[raïs]], Muslim [[Barbary corsairs|corsairs]]).

==See also==
* {{ill|Liège–Aachen Baroque furniture|de|Aachen-Lütticher Möbelstil}}

==References==
*[https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Algeria.html#Algiers WorldStatesmen- see every present country; here Algeria]
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regence}}
[[Category:French nobility]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]
[[Category:1710s in France]]
[[Category:1720s in France]]
[[Category:House of Bourbon]]
[[Category:House of Orléans]]
[[Category:Louis XIV]]
[[Category:Louis XV]]
[[Category:Political history of France by period]]
[[Category:Political history of the Ancien Régime]]
[[Category:Regency (government)]]
[[Category:Rococo art]]
[[Category:1715 in France]]
[[Category:1723 in France]]

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Régence