François Louis, Prince of Conti

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Prince of Conti

François Louis de Bourbon (April 30, 1664 - February 9, 1709) was Prince de Conti, succeeding his brother Louis Armand I de Bourbon in 1685. Until this date he used the title of Prince of la Roche-sur-Yon. He was son of Armand de Bourbon and Anne Marie Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Jules Mazarin. He is the most famous member on the Bourbon-Conti family, a younger branch of the Princes of Condé.

François was considered an intelligent child and received an excellent education. In court he was distinguished both for the independence of his mind and the popularity of his manners. On this account he was not received with favor by Louis XIV of France. In 1683 he assisted the Imperialists in Hungary, and while there he wrote some letters in which he referred to Louis XIV as le roi du theatre; because of this and because of an early engagement at the side of the Turks in 1685, on his return to France he was temporarily banished to Chantilly.

Conti was the protégé of his uncle Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé "the Great Condé" whose granddaughter Marie Therese de Bourbon-Condé (1666-1732) he married in 1688 (she bore him seven children). He served in the French army, but he never managed to achieve a rank higher than lieutenant-general. In 1689 he accompanied his intimate friend Marshal Luxembourg to the Netherlands, and shared in the French victories at Fleurus, Steinkirk and Neerwinden. On the death of his cousin, Jean Louis Charles, Duke of Longueville (1646-1694) and in accordance to his will, Conti claimed the principality of Neuchâtel against Marie, Duchesse of Nemours, (1625-1707), a sister of the duke. He failed to obtain military assistance from the Swiss, and by the king's command yielded the disputed territory to Marie, although the courts of law had decided in his favor.

In 1697 Louis XIV offered him the Polish crown, and by means of bribes the abbé de Polignac secured his election. June 27, 1697 he was formally proclaimed as a King of Poland by primate Michał Radziejowski. Conti started rather unwillingly for his new kingdom, probably, as the duc de Saint-Simon remarks, owing to his affection for Louise Françoise, wife of Louis III, Prince of Condé, and daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. When he reached Gdansk, he found his rival Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, already in possession of the Polish crown. Conti returned to France, where he was graciously received by Louis, although Saint-Simon says the king was vexed to see him again. But the misfortunes of the French armies during the earlier years of the War of the Spanish Succession compelled Louis to appoint Conti, whose military renown stood very high, to command the troops in Italy.

While at court Conti was regularly involved in the production of plays and spectacles and sponsored the L'Illustre Théâtre , Moliere's troupe, early on in their career. As a result of his passion for fast living, while attending the celebration of the King's birthday at Versailles he contracted syphilis from a prostitute, an affliction which was to marr the later years of his life. Not only did Conti pass the infection to his wife (little was known about the disease at the time) but he believed it was a punishment from God for his earlier affiliation with actors and musicians, who were seen as the bottom of French society at the time. This resulted in him dismissing all artists under his sponsorship at the behest of his religious advisor (abbé de ?) and joining the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement.

He fell ill before he could take the field, and died on the February 9, 1709, his death calling forth exceptional signs of mourning from all classes. He died from a combination of gout and syphilis. He was buried alongside his mother at his property in L'Isle d'Adam near Paris.

He was succeeded as prince de Conti by his eldest son, Louis Armand (1696 - 1727).