Louis, duke of Burgundy (August 16, 1682 - February 18, 1712) was the son of Louis, the Grand Dauphin, and grandson of King Louis XIV of France. Born in Versailles, he succeeded his father as heir (dauphin) to the throne of France after the death of the latter in 1711. However, both he and his wife Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy contracted an illness and died within six days of one another in early 1712. Their eldest son Louis, duke of Brittany, also succumbed to the same illness, leaving a two-year-old son who became King Louis XV of France in 1715.

Political role

A wicked and arrogant young prince who respected no one, the duke of Burgundy was turned after much effort into a very pious and religious man by his tutor Fénelon (the famous archbishop of Cambrai). As early as 1702, the 20-year-old duke of Burgundy was admitted by his grandfather Louis XIV in the High Council (Conseil d'en haut), in charge of secrets of State regarding religion, diplomacy, and war.

The duke of Burgundy was influenced by the devout party (see dévots), and he was surrounded by a circle of people, known as the faction of Burgundy, most notably made up of his old tutor Fénélon, his old governor the duc de Beauvillier, the duc de Chevreuse (son-in-law of Colbert), and the duc de Saint-Simon (author of famous historical memoirs). These high ranking aristocrats were reformists advocating a return to a less absolute monarchy with councils and intermediary organs of powers (between the king and the people) made up of aristocrats (as opposed to commoners from the bourgeoisie who were appointed by Louis XIV) which would assist the king in the exercise of government power. There was the utopian ideal of a monarchy controlled by the aristocracy (seen as the representation of the people) and non-centralized (with vast powers granted to the provinces), which the duke of Burgundy would probably have applied had he become king.

The premature death of the duke of Burgundy ruined the hopes of his faction, and most of the men surrounding him died soon afterwards of natural death. However, the Regency (Régence) that started in 1715 put into practice some of their ideas, with the creation of the so-called polysynody, which was soon abandoned in 1718 with a return to the Louis XIV style of absolute monarchy.

Marriage and Children

• In 1696 he was married to Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy (1685-1712). They had three children:
  • Louis, Duke of Brittany (1704-1705)
  • Louis, Duke of Brittany (1707-1712)
  • Louis XV (1710-1774)