View source for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

{{Short description|Regent of France from 1715 to 1723}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Philippe
| title        = [[duc d'Orléans]]
| image        = Portrait of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans in armour by Jean-Baptiste Santerre.png
| caption      = Portrait by [[Jean-Baptiste Santerre]], {{circa|1710–1717}}
| succession   = [[Regent of France]]
| reign        = {{no wrap|1 September 1715 –<br />15 February 1723}}
| reign-type   = [[Régence|Regency]]
| regent       = [[Louis XV]]
| reg-type     = Monarch
| birth_name   = Philippe Charles, duc de Chartres
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1674|08|02|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Château de Saint-Cloud]], [[Kingdom of France|France]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1723|12|02|1674|08|02|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Palace of Versailles]], France
| burial_place = [[Basilica of St Denis]], France
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Françoise Marie de Bourbon]]|1692}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
*[[Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans|Princess Louise Élisabeth, Duchess of Berry]]
*[[Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans|Adélaïde, Abbess of Chelles]]
*[[Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans|Charlotte Aglaé, Duchess of Modena]]
*[[Louis, Duke of Orléans (1703–1752)|Louis, Duke of Orléans]]
*[[Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans|Louise Élisabeth, Queen of Spain]]
*[[Philippine Élisabeth d'Orléans|Philippine Élisabeth, Mademoiselle de Beaujolais]]
*[[Louise Diane d'Orléans|Louise Diane, Princess of Conti]]
*[[Jean Philippe d'Orléans]] (ill.)
*[[Angélique de Froissy]] (ill.)}}
| issue-link   = #Issue
| house        = [[House of Orléans|Orléans]]
| father       = [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans]]
| mother       = [[Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate]]
| succession1  = [[Chief minister of France|First Minister of State]]
{{Infobox officeholder/office
| termstart    = 10 August 1723 
| termend      = 2 December 1723
| predecessor  = [[Guillaume Dubois]]
| monarch      = Louis XV 
| successor    = [[Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon]]
}}
| signature    = Signature of Philippe d'Orléans (1708), Duke of Orléans future Regent of France.jpg
}}

'''Philippe, duc d'Orléans''' (Philippe Charles; 2 August 1674 &ndash; 2 December 1723), who was known as '''the Regent''', was a French prince, soldier, and statesman who served as [[Regent]] of the [[Kingdom of France]] from 1715 to 1723. He is referred to in [[French language|French]] as ''le Régent''. He was the son of [[Philippe&nbsp;I, Duke of Orleans]], and [[Elisabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orléans]]. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth by the title of Duke of Chartres.

In 1692, Philippe married his first cousin [[Françoise Marie de Bourbon]], the youngest legitimised daughter (''légitimée de France'') of [[Louis XIV|King Louis&nbsp;XIV]] and [[Madame de Montespan]]. Named regent of France during the minority of [[Louis XV]], his great-nephew and first cousin twice removed,<ref>The grandson of Philippe's half-sister [[Anne Marie d'Orléans]] and of his cousin and brother-in-law [[Louis, Grand Dauphin]]</ref> the period of his ''[[de facto]]'' rule was known as the Regency ({{langx|fr|la [[Régence]]}}) (1715&ndash;1723). The Regency came to an end in February 1723, and the Duke of Orléans died at Versailles in December.

==Parents==
In March 1661, [[Monsieur]] [[Philippe I, Duke of Orleans]], married his first cousin [[Princess Henrietta of England]], known as ''[[Madam]]e'' at court; she was the sister of [[King Charles II of England]]. The marriage was stormy; Henrietta was a famed beauty, sometimes depicted as flirtatious by those at the [[court (royal)|court]] of [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]]. Nonetheless, the marriage produced three children: [[Marie Louise d'Orléans (1662–1689)|Marie Louise]], later [[List of Spanish royal consorts|Queen of Spain]]; [[Philippe Charles, Duke of Valois]], who died in infancy; and [[Anne Marie d'Orléans|Anne Marie]], later [[Queen of Sardinia]]. Madame Henrietta died at Saint-Cloud in 1670; rumors abounded that she had been poisoned by her husband or his long-term lover, the [[Chevalier de Lorraine]]; the two would remain together till the death of the Duke of Orléans in 1701.

In the following year, the Duke of Orléans married [[Princess Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate]], only daughter of [[Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine]], and [[Landgravine Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel]]. The new Duchess of Orléans, who had converted from [[Protestantism]] to [[Catholicism]] just before entering France, was popular at court upon her arrival in 1671. In 1673 the Duke and Duchess had a son named Alexandre Louis, another short-lived Duke of Valois. The next year, the Duchess gave birth to Philippe Charles, the future Regent. A daughter, [[Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans|Élisabeth Charlotte]], later [[Duchess of Lorraine]], was born in 1676.

==Youth==
[[File:Louis14-Versailles1685.jpg|thumb|left|The 10-year-old Duke of Chartres in red on the right; the scene depicts the ''[[Doge of Genoa]] at [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]] on 15 May 1685''.]]
Philippe Charles d'Orléans was born at the [[Château de Saint-Cloud]], some ten kilometers west of Paris. As the grandson of King [[Louis XIII]], Philippe was a ''[[petit-fils de France]]''. This entitled him to the [[style (manner of address)|style]] of ''[[Royal Highness]]'' from birth, as well as the right to be seated in an armchair in the king's presence.<ref name="brother">Nancy Nicholas Barker, ''Brother to the Sun king:Philippe, Duke of Orléans'', p. 1.</ref>

At his birth, he was titled [[Duke of Chartres]] and was formally addressed as ''Monseigneur le Duc de Chartres''. As the second living son of his parents, his birth was not greeted with the enthusiasm the Duke of Valois had received in 1673.<ref name=Pevitt>{{cite book|last=Pevitt|first=Christine|title=Philippe, Duc d'Orléans: Regent of France|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|location=London|year=1997|url=https://archive.org/details/philippeducdorle00pev|url-access=registration|isbn=0-87113-695-3|oclc=1150973261|via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/philippeducdorle00pevi/page/9 9]}}

Philippe was born fourth in [[order of succession|line to the throne]], coming after [[Louis, Grand Dauphin|Louis, Dauphin of France]], his own father, and his older brother. When Philippe was born, his uncle Louis XIV was at the height of his power.

In 1676, his older brother the Duke of Valois died at the [[Palais-Royal]] in Paris, making Philippe the new heir to the House of Orléans; the future heirs of the family would be known as Duke of Chartres (''Duc de Chartres'') for the next century. The distraught mother of Philippe was pregnant at the time with [[Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans]] (1676–1744), future Duchess and regent of Lorraine. Élisabeth Charlotte and Philippe would always remain close.<ref>Fraser, Antonia, ''Love and Louis XIV'', Anchor Books, 2006, p. 134.</ref>[[File:Philippe, duc d'Orléans, Régent de France - Versailles MV 4300.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Philippe c. 1678]]

The Duke of Chartres grew up at his father's "private" court at Saint-Cloud and in Paris at the Palais-Royal, the Parisian residence of the Orléans family until the arrest of [[Philippe Égalité]] (his grandson) in April 1793, during the [[French Revolution]].<ref>At the time of Philippe's birth, the Palais-Royal was only occupied by the Dukes of Orléans as a grace and favour residence; it was later given to Philippe when he married Louis XIV's illegitimate daughter ''Mademoiselle de Blois'' in 1692.</ref> The Palais-Royal was frequented by, among others, [[Marie Anne Mancini]], Duchess of Bouillon, part of Philippe's father's libertine circle.

==Education==
[[File:Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres by Nicolas de Largillière.jpg|thumb|Philippe in 1686 by [[Nicolas de Largillière]]]]
A program of how best to educate a prince was drawn up exclusively for him by [[Guillaume Dubois]], his preceptor.<ref>V. de Seilhac, ''L'Abbé Dubois, premier ministre de Louis XV'' (Paris, 1862), especially pp. 5-11, 185-205, for the prince's education.</ref> Dubois had entered Philippe's household in 1683 as his "under-preceptor". Philippe's education was carried out by the respected instructor Nicholas-François Parisot de Saint-Laurent until 1687.<ref name=Pevitt/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/philippeducdorle00pevi/page/23 23]}}

Each course of study taught the ''Duc de Chartres'' the "principles" or "elements" of a subject. Some of the best historians, genealogists, scientists and artists in the kingdom participated in this educational experiment, which started around 1689. For example, Philippe learned physics and mathematics from [[Joseph Sauveur]]; and from [[Étienne Loulié]]<ref>Patricia M. Ranum, "Étienne Loulié (1654-1702), musicien de Mademoiselle de Guise, pédagogue et théoricien", (part 1) ''Recherches'', 25 (1987), especially pp. 67-75, on the prince's education; and (part 2), ''Recherches'', 26 (1988-90), especially pp. 5-10, on the prince's subsequent protection of Loulié.</ref> he learned musical notation, elementary musical theory, plus the basics of playing the viol and the recorder.

Chartres was reared alongside [[Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon]], later famous for his memoirs and defense of the rights of the [[peerage of France]]; Saint-Simon often accompanied the duke, and his wife was later a [[lady-in-waiting]] to Philippe's daughter, [[Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans|Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans]], Duchesse de Berry.

Next, collaborating to link physics and music, Sauveur and Loulié demonstrated vibrating strings and the Galilean pendulum, and how the mathematical principles on which these devices depend are related to music. Finally, in 1693 the prince studied composition with [[Marc-Antoine Charpentier]]. With Charpentier's help, he composed an opera, ''Philomèle'', performed at his residence in 1694; and in 1705 the prince wrote a second opera, ''Penthée'', to a libretto by the [[Charles Auguste de la Fare|Marquis de La Fare]]. In the late 1690s Chartres studied the [[viol]] with [[Antoine Forqueray]] the elder. Meanwhile, he was studying diplomacy and riding, as preparations for a military career.

In May 1685 the ''Duc de Chartres'', then just ten years old, made his first public appearance at Versailles; the occasion was the arrival of the [[Doge of Genoa]], [[Francesco Maria Imperiale Lercari]], at the French court. Chartres was put on a stage with his uncle, cousin and father. On 2 June 1686 Chartres was invested with the [[Order of the Holy Spirit]] at Versailles; on the same day his future brother-in-law, [[Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duc du Maine]], also joined the order as did his cousins [[Louis III, Prince of Condé|Louis III, prince de Condé]] and [[François Louis, Prince of Conti|François Louis, Prince de Conti]].

==Military career==
His father gained military distinction in the [[Battle of Cassel (1677)|Battle of Cassel]] and during the decisive French victory against [[William III of England|William of Orange]], Chartres would similarly demonstrate military prowess. He had his first experience of battle at the siege of [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]] in 1691, the year before his marriage. He fought with great distinction at the [[Battle of Steenkerque]] on 3 August 1692. In the same year he also served at the [[Siege of Namur (1692)|Siege of Namur]]. The following year he served at the [[Battle of Landen]]; he fought alongside the ''prince de Conti'', who was wounded.

During a hiatus between military assignments, Chartres studied [[natural science]].

In the next century, he would serve in the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. He was next given a command in Italy (1706) and gained much credit for the [[Battle of Turin]]. Later he went to Spain and took part in the [[Battle of Almansa]], a major step in the consolidation of Spain under the Bourbons (1707), where he achieved some important successes.

==Marriage==
[[File:Portrait painting of Françoise Marie de Bourbon, later Duchess of Orléans by François de Troy.jpg|thumb|Philippe's wife, [[Françoise Marie de Bourbon]], youngest daughter of Madame de Montespan, by [[François de Troy]].]]
Constant wars with many of the [[major powers]] in Europe rendered a significant marriage with a foreign princess unlikely, or so Louis XIV told his brother, ''Monsieur'', when persuading him to accept the king's legitimised daughter, [[Françoise Marie de Bourbon]] (known as ''Mademoiselle de Blois''), as wife for Philippe. The king offered a [[dowry]] of two million ''[[French livre|livre]]s'' with his daughter's hand (not to be paid until the [[Nine Years' War]] was over),<ref name=Pevitt/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/philippeducdorle00pevi/page/41/ 41]}} as well as the ''Palais-Royal'' for the bridegroom's parents. Upon hearing that her son had agreed to the marriage, Philippe's mother slapped his face in full view of the court and turned her back on the king as he bowed to her. Nonetheless, on 18 February 1692, the cousins were married.<ref>The previous day there had been a formal engagement party at Versailles.</ref>

The lavish ceremony took place in the chapel of the [[Palace of Versailles]]. The service was conducted by the [[Cardinal de Bouillon]]&mdash;a member of the [[House of La Tour d'Auvergne]]. In 1685, the Cardinal de Bouillon had refused to take part in the marriage of the Duke of Bourbon and Françoise Marie's sister, ''Mademoiselle de Nantes'', and, as a result, had been sent into exile, but he was recalled for the wedding of Françoise-Marie and the Duke of Chartres. After the ceremony, a banquet was given in the [[Hall of Mirrors (Palace of Versailles)|Hall of Mirrors]] with all the [[prince du sang|princes and princesses of the blood royal]] in attendance.<ref name="ReferenceA">[https://archive.org/stream/unrulydaughtersr00willrich/unrulydaughtersr00willrich_djvu.txt The Unruly Daughter of the Regent]</ref> Guests included the exiled [[James II of England]] and his consort, [[Mary of Modena]]. At the newlyweds' [[bedding ceremony]] later that evening, the exiled Queen of England had the honour of handing the new Duchess of Chartres her bed clothes.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> ''Madame de Montespan'' had not been invited to the wedding of her daughter.

The young couple, mismatched from the start, never grew to like each other, and soon the young Philippe gave his wife the nickname of ''Madame Lucifer''.<ref>Dufresne,
Claude, ''Les Orléans'', Criterion, Paris, 1991, p. 74-78, (French).</ref> In spite of this, they had eight children (see below).

There were contemporary rumors of an incestuous relationship between the duke and his daughter, Marie Louise Elisabeth of Berry.<ref name="Nancy Mitford 1966">{{cite book
 | author =Nancy Mitford
 | title = Solkonungen (The Sun King)
 | year = 1966
 | language = sv
}}</ref><ref name="hare">
{{cite book
 | author = Simon Sebac Montefiore
 | title = Potemkin och Katarina den stora- en kejserlig förbindelse (Potemkin and Catherine the Great – an Imperial liaison)
 | year = 2005
 | page= 237
 | language = sv
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 | author = Joan Haslip
 | title = Marie Antoinette
 | isbn = 978-1555841836
 | year = 1991
 | page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781555841836/page/38 38]
 | publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson
 | url-access = registration
 | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781555841836/page/38
 }}
</ref>
These rumors were never confirmed, although the duke reacted to them by demonstrating affectionate behavior towards her at court.<ref name="Nancy Mitford 1966"/>  The rumors were also used by the opposition during his period as regent, and were the inspiration of libelous songs and poems<ref name="hare" />

==Court life==
On the death of his father in June 1701, Philippe inherited the Dukedoms of Orléans, [[Duke of Anjou|Anjou]], [[Duke of Montpensier|Montpensier]] and [[Duke of Nemours|Nemours]], as well as the princedom of [[Joinville, Haute-Marne|Joinville]].<ref name="brother"/>  Philippe had died at Saint-Cloud after an argument with Louis XIV at Marly about Chartres' flaunting his pregnant mistress, Marie-Louise de Séry, before Françoise Marie.<ref name=Pevitt/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/philippeducdorle00pevi/page/56 56]}} It has also been claimed that Philippe became so infuriated with Louis for not paying his daughter's dowry that he suffered a stroke.<ref>Mitford, Nancy, ''The Sun King'', Hamish Hamilton, 1966</ref>

Throughout his life Philippe had many [[mistress (lover)|mistress]]es; his wife came to prefer living quietly at Saint-Cloud, the Palais-Royal, or her house at Bagnolet.  His most famous mistress was arguably [[Marie-Thérèse de Parabère]], who was his main mistress during almost the entire regency, with other high profile affairs being those with [[Louise-Charlotte de Foix-Rabat, comtesse de Sabran|Madame de Sabran]], [[Sophie de Brégis, comtesse d'Averne |Madame d'Averne ]] and [[Marie-Thérèse Blonel de Phalaris]].<ref name="Lescure, M. de (Mathurin)">Lescure, M. de (Mathurin): ''[https://archive.org/stream/lesmatressesdu00lesc/lesmatressesdu00lesc_djvu.txt  Les maitresses du régent; études d'histoire et de mœurs sur le commencement du xviiie siècle]''</ref> 
[[File:Philippe II, Duke of Orléans - bust.jpg|thumb|A bust of Philippe by [[Jean-Louis Lemoyne]], 1713, [[Palace of Versailles]]]]
Upon the death of the [[Henry III Jules de Bourbon, prince de Condé|''prince de Condé'']] in 1709, the rank of ''[[Prince du Sang|Premier Prince du Sang]]'' passed from the [[Princes of Condé|House of Condé]] to the [[House of Orléans]]. Philippe was thus entitled to the style of [[Prince du Sang|''Monsieur le Prince'']].<ref>ib. Spanheim, Ézéchiel, pp. 104-105.</ref> But the rank of ''petit-fils de France'' being higher than that of ''premier prince'', Philippe did not change his style; nor did his son or other heirs make use of the ''Monsieur le Prince'' style, which had been so long associated with the [[cadet branch]] of the ''[[Princes of Condé|Princes de Condé]]'' that the heads of the [[House of Orléans]] preferred to be known at court by their ducal title.

In December 1697, the son of the Dauphin [[Louis of France, Duke of Burgundy|Louis de France]] married [[Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy]], eldest daughter of Philippe's half sister Anne Marie. The match was negotiated as part of the Treaty of Turin, which ended Franco-Savoyard conflict during the [[Nine Years' War]]. The couple were the parents of two dauphins of France, [[Louis, Duke of Brittany (1707–1712)|Louis, Duke of Brittany]], who died in 1712, and [[List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou|Louis, Duke of Anjou]], the future Louis XV.

In 1710, his eldest (and favourite) surviving daughter [[Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans|Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans]] married her second cousin [[Charles, Duke of Berry (1686–1714)|Charles, Duke of Berry]]; he was a son of the Dauphin and thus outranked Philippe and his wife; this meant that Louise Élisabeth took precedence over her parents. The Berry couple would have no children that lived more than a year.

In 1711, the Dauphin died at [[Meudon]] at the age of forty-nine and the title passed to his son, who died in 1712. Until his death in 1723, Orléans was generally considered to be first in line to the throne, although [[legitimism|legitimists]] considered that [[Philip V of Spain]], ''[[née|né]]'' Duke of Anjou and ''fils de France'', held that place, on the contention that his renunciation in 1700 was constitutionally invalid. The deaths within three years of the Dauphin, two of his three sons, his daughter-in-law and the little Duke of Brittany led to widespread rumours that Orléans had poisoned them all to gain the throne. In fact, the Dauphin died of [[smallpox]], the Duc de Berry in a riding accident and the others of [[measles]], but they did great damage to Orléans' reputation, and even [[Louis XIV]] seems to have at least half-believed them. Only in Orléans' last years did the obvious affection between himself and [[Louis XV]], and the young King's  robust health, cause the rumours to die away.

In his will, Louis XIV appointed Orléans president of the council of regency for the young king [[Louis XV of France|Louis XV]].

==The Regency==
{{Main|Régence}}
Months before the death of Louis XIV, Philippe was present at the [[Persian embassy to Louis XIV]]. [[Mohammad Reza Beg]]<ref>In French sources, ''Méhémet Riza Beg''.</ref> was a high-ranking official to the Persian governor of the [[Yerevan]] province ([[Armenia]]). He had been chosen by the [[Safavid]] Persian emperor [[Sultan Husayn]] for the mission and travelled with a grand entourage, as suitable to the diplomat of a mighty empire.

The scene of the Persian ambassador's entry into Paris, 7 February 1715, was described by [[François Pidou de Saint-Olon]] (1646–1720), a nobleman who was delegated the diplomatic position of liaison officer to the Persian delegation.<ref>He had been the French ambassador in [[Morocco]], of which he published a description, ''Relation de l'empire de Maroc. Oú l'on voit la situation du pays, Les mœurs, les Coûtumes, Religion, gouvernement et Politique des Habitans...''<!-- title in 17th/18th century French, do not correct spelling/FW -->. his brother, Louis-Marie Pidou de Saint-Olon (1637–1717), became French consul in [[Ispahan]] under the terms of the commercial treaty.</ref>

===Louis XIV's will===
On 29 July 1714, upon the insistence of his [[Morganatic marriage|morganatic]] wife, the [[Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon|marquise de Maintenon]], Louis XIV elevated his legitimised children to the rank of [[Prince du Sang|Princes of the Blood]], which "entitled them to inherit the crown if the legitimate lines became extinct".<ref>Erlanger, Philippe, ''Louis XIV'', translated from the French by Stephen Cox, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1970, p. 363</ref> Thus, [[Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine|Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, ''Duke of Maine'']] and [[Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse|Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, ''Count of Toulouse'']] were officially inserted into the [[line of hereditary succession]] following all of the legitimate, acknowledged ''[[prince du Sang|princes du sang]]''.

<blockquote>Mme de Maintenon would have preferred Philip V [King of Spain] to be Regent and the duc du Maine to be Lieutenant Général and consequently in control. Fearing a revival of the war, Louis named the duc d'Orléans joint President of a Regency Council, but one that would be packed with his enemies, reaching its decisions by a majority vote that was bound to go against him. The real power would be in the hands of the duc du Maine, who was also appointed guardian of the young sovereign.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Louis XIV |last=Erlanger |first=Philippe |publisher=[[Praeger Publishers]] |year=1970 |isbn= |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=373 |translator-last=Cox |translator-first=Stephen}} </ref></blockquote>

On 25 August 1715, a few days before his death, Louis XIV added a [[codicil (will)|codicil]] to his [[will (law)|will]]:
<blockquote>
He sent for the Chancellor and wrote a last codicil to his will, in the presence of Mme de Maintenon. He was yielding, out of sheer fatigue, to his wife and confessor, probably with the reservation that his extraordinary action would be set aside after his death, like the will itself. Otherwise he would have been deliberately condemning his kingdom to perpetual strife, for the codicil appointed the duc du Maine commander of the civil and military Household, with Villeroy as his second-in-command. ''By this arrangement they became the sole masters of the person and residence of the King; of Paris ... and all the internal and external guard; of the entire service ... so much so that the Regent did not have even the shadow of the slightest authority and found himself at their mercy.''<ref>{{Cite book |title=Louis XIV |last=Erlanger |first=Philippe |publisher=[[Praeger Publishers]] |year=1970 |isbn= |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=373 |translator-last=Cox |translator-first=Stephen}} </ref>
</blockquote>

The evening of 25 August, Louis XIV had a private audience with the Duke of Orléans, his nephew and son-in-law, re-assuring him: <blockquote>
''You will find nothing in my will that should displease you. I commend the Dauphin to you, serve him as loyally as you have served me. Do your utmost to preserve his realm. If he were to die, you would be the master. [...] I have made what I believed to be the wisest and fairest arrangements for the well-being of the realm, but, since one cannot anticipate everything, if there is something to change or to reform, you will do whatever you see fit...''<ref name=autogenerated1>ib. Erlanger, p. 373.</ref></blockquote>

{{Children of Philippe, Duke of Orléans}}

Louis XIV died at Versailles on 1 September 1715, and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson, Louis XV. On 2 September, the Duke of Orléans went to meet the ''parlementaires'' in the ''Grand-Chambre du Parlement'' in Paris in order to have Louis XIV's will annulled and his previous right to the regency restored. After a break that followed a much-heated session, the ''Parlement'' abrogated the recent codicil to Louis XIV's will and confirmed the Duke of Orléans as regent of France.<ref>ib. Dufresne, pp. 123-126.</ref>

On 30 December 1715, the regent decided to bring the young Louis XV from the [[Château de Vincennes]] to the [[Tuileries Palace]] in Paris<ref>Antoine, Michel, ''Louis XV'', Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris, 1989, p. 43.</ref> where he lived until his return to Versailles in June 1722. The regent governed from his Parisian residence, the ''Palais-Royal''.

Philippe disapproved of the hypocrisy of Louis XIV's reign and opposed [[censorship]], ordering the reprinting of books banned during the reign of his uncle. Reversing his uncle's policies again, Philippe formed an alliance with Great Britain, Austria, and the Netherlands, and fought a successful war against Spain that established the conditions of a European peace. During this time he opened up diplomatic channels with Russia which resulted in a state visit by Tsar [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]].

He acted in plays of [[Molière]] and [[Jean Racine|Racine]], composed an [[opera]], and was a gifted painter and [[engraver]]. Philippe favoured [[Jansenism]] which, despite [[Pope|papal]] condemnation, was accepted by the French bishops, and he revoked Louis XIV's compliance with the bull ''[[Unigenitus]]''.

At first, he decreased taxation and dismissed 25,000 soldiers. But the inquisitorial measures which he had begun against the financiers led to disturbances, notably in the province of [[Brittany]] where a rebellion known as the [[Pontcallec conspiracy]] unfolded. He countenanced the risky operations of the banker [[John Law (economist)|John Law]], whose [[bankruptcy]] led to the [[Mississippi Scheme|Mississippi bubble]], a disastrous crisis for the public and private affairs of France. It was an early example of the bursting of an economic bubble.<ref>Subject of the first section of Charles Mackay's "[[Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds]]", which is available from http://gutenberg.org</ref>

On 6 June 1717, under the influence of Law and the [[Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon|duc de Saint-Simon]], the Regent persuaded the Regency Council to purchase from [[Thomas Pitt]] for £135,000 the world's largest known diamond, a 141&nbsp;carat (28.2&nbsp;g) cushion brilliant, for the [[French Crown Jewels|crown jewels of France]]. The diamond was known from then on as ''[[Regent Diamond|Le Régent]]''.

===Cellamare conspiracy===
{{main|Cellamare conspiracy}}
[[File:Hyacinthe Rigaud 009.jpg|thumb|[[Louis XV of France|Louis XV]] as a child, by [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]] (1715)]]
There existed a party of malcontents who wished to transfer the regency from Orléans to his cousin, the young king's uncle, King [[Philip V of Spain]]. A conspiracy was formed, under the inspiration of [[Giulio Alberoni|Cardinal Alberoni]], the first minister of Spain. It was directed in France by the Prince of Cellamare, the Spanish ambassador, with the complicity of the Duchess of Orléans' older brother, the duc du Maine, and [[Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon]], the latter's wife. In 1718, the Cellamare conspiracy was discovered and its participants exiled. Two years later its aims were revived in the Pontcallec conspiracy, four leaders of which were executed.

[[Guillaume Dubois]], formerly tutor to the Duke of Orléans, and now his [[List of Prime Ministers of France|chief minister]], caused war to be declared against Spain, with the support of Austria, England and the Netherlands ([[War of the Quadruple Alliance|Quadruple Alliance]]). After some successes of the [[Marshal of France|French marshal]], the [[James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick-upon-Tweed|Duke of Berwick]], in Spain, and of the imperial troops in [[Sicily]], Philip V made peace with the regent (1720).

From the beginning of 1721, [[Philip V of Spain]], and the Duke of Orléans had been negotiating the project of three Franco-Spanish marriages in order to cement tense relations between Spain and France. The young Louis XV of France would marry the three-year-old [[Mariana Victoria of Spain|Infanta Mariana Victoria]] who would thus become Queen of France; the [[Louis of Spain|Infante Luis]] would marry the fourth surviving daughter of Philippe, [[Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans]]; and the [[Charles III of Spain|Infante Charles]] would be engaged to the pretty [[Philippine Élisabeth d'Orléans]] who was the fifth surviving daughter of Philippe. Only one of these marriages actually ever occurred.

[[File:Portrait of Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Duchess of Orléans (Rigaud, 1713).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate|Elizabeth Charlotte]], Philippe's mother to whom he would always be close, by Rigaud (1722)]]

In March 1721, the Infanta Mariana Victoria arrived in Paris amid much joy. Known as ''l'infante Reine'' (Queen-Infanta) while in France, she was placed in the care of the old [[Marie Anne de Bourbon|Dowager Princess of Conti]], Philippe's sister in law, and lived in the [[Tuileries Palace]].

In November 1721, at the age of twelve, Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans was married by proxy in Paris,<ref name="Nouvelle biographie générale">''Nouvelle biographie générale''</ref> Louise Élisabeth and her younger sister left for [[Madrid]]. Despite a cold reception from the Spanish royal family, especially by [[Elisabeth of Parma]], the stepmother of her husband, she married Louis of Spain on 20 January 1722 at Lerma. Her dowry was of 4&nbsp;million [[French livres|livres]]. The last of this triple alliance was Philippine Élisabeth who never married Charles; the marriage, though never officially carried out was annulled; the French sent back Mariana Victoria and in retaliation, Louise Élisabeth and Philippine Élisabeth were sent back to France. Franco-Spanish relations only recovered in 1743 when Louis XV's son [[Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765)|Louis de France]] married Mariana Victoria's sister [[Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain]].

On 15 June 1722, Louis XV and the court left the Tuileries Palace for the [[Palace of Versailles]] where the young king wanted to reside. The decision had been taken by the Duke of Orléans who, after the fall of Law's System, was feeling the loss of his personal popularity in Paris.<ref>Antoine, p. 102.</ref> Philippe took the apartments of his cousin the late Dauphin on the first floor of the Palace; the King's apartments were above his.

On 25 October of that year, the twelve-year-old Louis XV was anointed King of France in the cathedral of [[Notre-Dame de Reims]]. At the end of the ceremony, he threw himself in the arms of Orléans.<ref>Dufresne, p. 170.</ref>

In December 1722, the Regent lost his mother to whom he had always been close; the Dowager Duchess of Orléans died at Saint-Cloud at the age of seventy, with her son at her side, but he did not attend her funeral service because he had been called away on official business.<ref name=Pevitt/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/philippeducdorle00pevi/page/306 306]}} Philippe was greatly affected by his mother's death.

On the [[adulthood|majority]] of the king, which was declared on 15 February 1723, the Duke stepped down as regent. At the death of Cardinal Dubois on 10 August of that year, the young king offered the Duke the position of [[prime minister]], and he remained in that office until his death a few months later.

The regent died in Versailles on 2 December 1723 in the arms of his mistress the duchesse de Falari. Louis XV mourned him greatly. The Duke of Bourbon took on the role of Prime Minister of France.

On 3 December, the Duke of Orléans' body was taken to Saint-Cloud where funeral ceremonies began the following day. His heart was taken to the ''[[Val de Grâce]]'' church in Paris and his body to the Basilica of Saint Denis, (about 10&nbsp;km north of Paris), the [[necropolis]] of the French kings and their family.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sS82AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA305 |pages=93–94 |title=Mʹemoirs complets et authentiques du duc de Saint-Simon sur le siècle du Louis XIV et la rʹegence|last=Chéruel|first=Adolphe|year=1858}}</ref>

The heart of the Duke of Orléans is now at the [[Chapelle royale de Dreux|Chapelle Royale de Dreux]], the necropolis of all the members of the Orléans family, built in 1816 by his descendant [[Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon]], Duchess of Orléans, wife of [[Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans|Philippe Égalité]]. The chapel was completed as the Orléans family royal Chapel during the reign of his great-great-grandson [[Louis-Philippe I, King of the French]].

The Cellamare conspiracy is the subject of one of [[Alexandre Dumas]]' novels, ''The Conspirators'' (''Le Chevalier d'Harmental'').

===Legacy===
*The duke assembled the [[Orléans Collection]], one of the finest collections of paintings ever made by a non-monarch, which was mostly sold in London after the [[French Revolution]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}
*He promoted education, making the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] tuition-free and opening the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Royal Library]] to the public (1720).{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}
*The city of [[New Orleans]], in [[Louisiana]], U.S., was named after him.<ref>{{Cite web|title=French History in New Orleans|url=https://www.neworleans.com/things-to-do/multicultural/cultures/french/|access-date=2020-10-28|website=www.neworleans.com}}</ref>

==Issue==
#Marie Isabelle d'Orléans (17 December 1693 – 17 October 1694) died in infancy.
#[[Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans]] (20 August 1695 – 21 July 1719) married [[Charles, Duke of Berry (1686-1714)|Charles of France, Duke of Berry]] and had no surviving issue.
#[[Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans]] (13 August 1698 – 10 February 1743) Abbess of Chelles died unmarried.
#[[Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans]] (22 October 1700 – 19 January 1761)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vatout |first1=Jean |title=Le chateau d'eu: notices historiques, Volume 4 |date=1836 |publisher=Félix Malteste & Co. |pages=438 |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=yqU5AAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA438&hl=en |access-date=7 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Hugh Noel |title=Unruly daughters; a romance of the house of Orléans |date=1913 |publisher=Hutchinson & Co. |page=10 |url=https://archive.org/details/unrulydaughtersr00willrich/page/10/mode/2up?q=Charlotte+Agla%C3%A9 |access-date=7 June 2022}}</ref> married [[Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena]] and had issue.
#[[Louis, Duke of Orléans (1703–1752)|Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans]] (4 August 1703 – 4 February 1752) married [[Margravine Johanna of Baden-Baden]] and had issue.
#[[Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans]] (11 December 1709 – 16 June 1742) married [[Louis I of Spain]], no issue.
#[[Philippine Élisabeth d'Orléans]] (18 December 1714 – 21 May 1734) engaged to [[Charles III of Spain|Infante Carlos of Spain]], no issue.
#[[Louise Diane d'Orléans]] (27 June 1716 – 26 September 1736) married [[Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de Conti|Louis François de Bourbon]] and had issue.

===Illegitimate issue===
Philippe also had several illegitimate children with several women, four of whom he acknowledged.

*By Léonore N, a [[doorman (profession)|doorkeeper]] at the [[Palais-Royal]]:
#N, bâtarde d'Orléans (c. 1688 – ), married Henri de Charency
*By [[Florence Pellerin]], dite la Florence, a dancer at the [[Opera House]]:
#[[Charles de Saint-Albin]], dit l'Abbé d'Orléans, [[Archbishop of Cambrai]], legitimized in 1706 (Paris, 1698 – Paris, 1764, bur Paris)
*By [[Marie Louise Madeleine Victoire d’Argenton|Marie-Louise Madeleine Victorine Le Bel de La Bussière]], dite comtesse d'Argenton or madame d'Argenton or mademoiselle de Séry (1684–1748), a lady of noble family, who was [[Lady-in-Waiting]] to the Dowager Duchess of Orléans, daughter of Daniel Le Bel de La Bussière and wife Anne de Masparant:
#[[Jean Philippe d'Orléans|Jean Philippe, dit le Chevalier d'Orléans]] ([[Chilly-Mazarin]], 28 August 1702 – Paris, 16 June 1748)
*By [[Charlotte Desmares|Christine Antoinette ''Charlotte'' Desmares]] (1682–1753), an actress with the [[Théâtre-Français]], daughter of actors [[Nicolas Desmares]] and Anne d'Ennebault:
#[[Angélique de Froissy|Philippe Angélique de Froissy]] (1700 – Paris, 15 October 1785, bur [[Église Saint-Eustache, Paris]])

==Ancestors==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
| 1 = 1. '''Philippe II, Duke of Orléans'''
| 2 = 2. [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans]]
| 3 = 3. [[Elizabeth Charlotte, Madame Palatine|Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate]]
| 4 = 4. [[Louis XIII]] of France
| 5 = 5. [[Anne of Austria]]
| 6 = 6. [[Charles I Louis]], Elector Palatine
| 7 = 7. [[Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel]]
| 8 = 8. [[Henry IV of France]]
| 9 = 9. [[Marie de' Medici]]
| 10 = 10. [[Philip III of Spain]]
| 11 = 11. [[Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain|Margaret of Austria]]
| 12 = 12. [[Frederick V of the Palatinate]]
| 13 = 13. [[Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia|Elizabeth Stuart]]
| 14 = 14. [[William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel]]
| 15 = 15. [[Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Commons category|Philippe, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France}}
{{Portal|Biography|Europe}}
* Antoine, Michel, ''Louis XV'', Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris, 1989 (French).
* Dufresne, Claude, ''Les Orléans'', CRITERION, Paris, 1991, (French).
* Erlanger, Philippe, ''Louis XIV'', Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris 1965, reprinted by Librairie Académique Perrin, Paris, 1978, (French).
* Erlanger, Philippe, ''Louis XIV'', translated from the French by Stephen Cox, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1970, (English).
* Haggard, Andrew C.P., ''The Regent of the Roués'', Hutchison & Co, London, 1905, (English)
* Lewis, W. H., ''[https://archive.org/details/scandalousregent0000lewi/ The Scandalous Regent]'', André Deutsch, London, 1961, (English).
* Meyer, Jean, ''Le Régent (1674–1723)'', Editions Ramsay, Paris, 1985, (French).
* Petitfils, Jean-Christian, ''Le Régent'', Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris, 1986, (French).
* Pevitt, Christine, ''[https://archive.org/details/philippeducdorle00pev Philippe, Duc d'Orléans: Regent of France]'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1997, (English).
* Ranum, Patricia M., ''Portraits around Marc-Antoine Charpentier'' (Baltimore, 2004), pp.&nbsp;324–27 (where Philippe is attributed the number "III", as some genealogies do.)
* [[Shennan, J. H.]], ''Phillippe, Duke of Orléans: Regent of France'', Thames and Hudson, London, 1979, (English).

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Orléans]]|15 February|1674|23 December|1723|[[House of Bourbon]]}}
{{S-reg|fr}}
{{S-bef|rows=2|before=[[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe I]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Duke of Orléans]]<br>[[Duke of Montpensier]]<br>[[Duke of Nemours]]<br>[[Prince of Joinville]]|years=9 June 1701 – 2 December 1723}}
{{S-aft|rows=2|after=[[Louis of Bourbon, Duke of Orléans|Louis I]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Duke of Chartres]]|years=1674&ndash;1703}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Prime Minister of France]]|before=[[Guillaume Dubois|Cardinal Guillaume Dubois]]|after=[[Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon|Louis Henri, Prince de Condé]]|years=1723}}
{{S-end}}
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{{Princes of Orléans}}
{{Princes of France (House of Bourbon)}}
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{{Dukes of Orléans}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippe 02, Duke of Orleans}}
[[Category:1674 births]]
[[Category:1723 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century peers of France]]
[[Category:18th-century art collectors]]
[[Category:18th-century French philanthropists]]
[[Category:18th-century peers of France]]
[[Category:18th-century regents]]
[[Category:18th-century dukes of Orléans]]
[[Category:Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis]]
[[Category:Burials at the Chapelle royale de Dreux]]
[[Category:Dukes of Chartres]]
[[Category:Dukes of Montpensier]]
[[Category:Dukes of Nemours]]
[[Category:Dukes of Valois]]
[[Category:French art collectors]]
[[Category:Heirs presumptive to the French throne]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain]]
[[Category:People from Saint-Cloud]]
[[Category:People of the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans]]
[[Category:Princes of France (Bourbon)]]
[[Category:Regents of France|Orleans, Philip II, duc d']]