The Duke of England is a French prince, representative of one of the branches of the royal house of the Bourbons. His life took place at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. Throughout almost his entire biography, he was a notable and remarkable figure, but still managed to leave a mark on history. His fame was shot in the ditch of the Vincennes castle by personal order of Emperor Napoleon I.
Prince's family
Duke of England was born in 1772. He was born in the town of Chantilly in the north of France. He was the only son of Louis VI, who bore the title of Duke de Bourbon, and Louise-Maria-Theresa-Batilda of Orleans.
His father was remembered by the fact that at the beginning of the French Revolution he left the country and served in the emigrant corps until his dissolution. After a long time settled in England. When Napoleon returned from Elba, Louis XVIII appointed him commander in the western departments of the country. However, under Nantes, he was forced to surrender and surrender.
In the last years of her life, she was influenced by Sophie Dawes, a prostitute from England who even received the title of Baroness Fesher. He left her a will most of his fortune.
In the summer of 1830, Louis VI was discovered hanged in his own castle of Saint-Le. This happened shortly after the end of the July Revolution, which led to the overthrow of Charles X and the accession of the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe. His relatives tried to challenge the will in various instances, but failed.
According to one version, his potential killer was the same Sophie Dawes. When the 74-year-old father of the Duke of Engiensky was found hanging in a loop of two scarves on a window handle, an investigation was carried out that decided that it was suicide. However, on the basis of the testimony of the servant, many doubted this conclusion, becoming suspicious of his mistress. There was even a very piquant rumor about Conde's accidental death during erotic asphyxiation. Despite the official excuse, the public hatred of Sophie Dawes was so great that she left France for London, where she died ten years later, when she was only 50.
The mother of the Duke of Engienne was the sister of a prominent French military and political figure, Philippe Egalite, who was considered one of the richest people in France in the 18th century. Thanks to a successful marriage, he managed to further increase his fortune. He was remembered for being distinguished by liberal views; during the years of the French Revolution he sided with the revolutionaries, renouncing his title. In the Convention, he voted for the execution of Louis XVI, who was his relative.
However, already in 1793, Egalite himself died. It turned out that his son was implicated in a conspiracy against General Dumourier, betraying the ideals of the revolution and hastily emigrated from the country. For this, his father was arrested and executed.
Before entering the guillotine, Philippe Egalite asked for two bottles of champagne, after drinking them, ascended the scaffold, without fear of anything. Even the royalists who hated him noted that he died with dignity.
Childhood and youth
The Duke of England of England, Antoine Henri de Bourbon-Conde received his home education, which was responsible for Commodore de Vigne and Abbot Millau. In 1788, he enlisted in the royal army.
When the Great French Revolution began, he hastily emigrated from the country with his father and grandfather, since he was actually on the side of the losers. This happened a few days after the fall of the Bastille, which became a symbol of change.
Participation in counter-revolutionary activities
From the beginning of 1792, the duke begins to fight in counter-revolutionary detachments under the command of the Duke of Braunschweig, and after that, under the command of his own grandfather in the so-called Conde Army.
During the fighting, it was repeatedly noted for courage and courage. When the Luneville Peace was concluded, the hero of the article married the niece of Cardinal Rogan, who, although he was elected to the General States from representatives of the clergy, protested against the destruction of the rights of the nobility. The spouse's name was Charlotte. After the wedding, Louis Antoine settled in the Duchy of Baden in the small town of Ettenheim in modern Germany. There he received an English pension.
Mention in a Tolstoy novel
It is interesting that the duke is found on the pages of Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. There is a joke about how he and Napoleon became rivals for a romantic relationship with Margarita-Josephine Wimer, known as Mademoiselle Georges.
According to biographers and researchers, if Napoleon really was in touch with her, then the Duke of Louis is most likely not.
Life in exile
When the French Revolution ended, the duke found himself in forced emigration. Despite the fact that the royalists and the British at that time actively conspired against Napoleon, Louis Antoine was able to live on modest maintenance from the British, without taking any part in anti-Napoleonic activity.
In the spring of 1804, the French emperor received reliable information from his minister, Talleyrand, that the Duke of England was connected with the so-called conspiracy of Cadudal-Pishegru. At that time, he was considered the main threat and danger to the regime. Information has been received that a certain prince accompanies the traitor and traitor Dumourier during his secret visits to France. Soon the name of the companion Dumourier became known, he was not Louis Antoine, but still Napoleon ordered to steal the duke according to a plan developed by Talleyrand himself.
Abduction
Unsuspecting Louis Antoine at that time lived in Ettenheim. He spent time in idleness and romantic hobbies. It was on his weakness that Napoleon’s undercover agent Carl Ludwig Schulmeister played.
The French spy captured a young girl who was the duke's lover, took her to the city of Belfort, located in the border zone. Upon learning of this, Louis Antoine rushed to her rescue. A role in this was played by a letter falsified by Schulmeister, in which her lover allegedly asked to help her out of captivity.
Arriving at Belfort, the duke expected to bribe the guards, but was trapped by Schulmeister. He was captured, the Baden authorities were given a document accusing him, which was transmitted to them immediately after the operation was completed.
Sending to Paris
When the duke was in France, he was arrested. March 15, 1804 he was taken to Paris. He appeared before the military tribunal, and at night the duke of Engien was executed in the Vincennes forest. The gendarmes carried out the sentence.
As it turned out later, after the sentencing, the duke wanted to see Napoleon, but Talleyrand did not allow this. He was only allowed to write a letter to the emperor, a copy of which, according to his own statements, was seen by Stendhal. The duke was shot. At the same time, eyewitnesses claimed that Louis Antoine was forced to hold a lantern in front of him so that it would be easier for the gendarmes to aim.
His lover, who served as the bait, was released. She did not know what role she played in this matter.
Reaction to execution
Modern historians are convinced that the assassination of the Duke of Engien accelerated the process of creating the Third Anti-French Coalition, which took place in 1805. Then many were struck by the cruelty and meaninglessness of this sentence, noting that it was a monstrous mistake.
At the same time, the death of the duke was beneficial to some politicians, for example, the Minister of Police Joseph Foucher, as it made impossible the reconciliation of Napoleon with the Bourbons.
Burial of Louis Antoine
In 1816, the remains of the duke were reburied in a chapel on the territory of the Vincennes castle. His grandfather and father survived Louis Antoine, but after their death, the Conde clan was interrupted.
In 1818, Talleyrand informed the relatives of the hero of our article that he was not involved in his murder, claiming that, on the contrary, he tried to warn him of the danger. This version even seemed plausible to the father of the deceased, during a personal meeting, he thanked the minister for his dedication. It is now known that since the spring of 1814, Talleyrand was striving by any means to get rid of his defaming documents.
Why did Napoleon kill the duke?
By 1804, when Louis Antoine was killed, Napoleon was in power for several years. He was placed at the head of the revolution in 1799 to stabilize the situation. The situation was extremely unstable: the bloody terror began, then attempts were made to restore the monarchy. The true goal of the revolutionaries was to establish a system of government in the country by analogy with the English, when the monarch is at the head of the state, but the real power belongs to the top of the bourgeoisie, which governs through a controlled parliament.
Louis XVI was preparing for the role of such a monarch, but he was executed in revolutionary frenzy. Therefore, a new legitimate figure of the ruler from the highest aristocracy was required. Apparently, Napoleon received information that the 31-year-old Duke of Engien was being prepared for this role.
During the French coup, the British supported the option of a constitutional monarchy ruled by a parliament controlled by it. So Napoleon’s actions were also directed against the interests of the British Masonic revolutionary lobby, which was located in France.
To prevent such an option, Napoleon performed an operation that resulted in the death of the Duke of Engien. That is why he was so hastily shot shortly after being on French territory.
History of the Conde Princes
The family of the French princes of the blood of Conde dates back to the beginning of the 16th century. In fact, not a single duke of England and Isabella of Castile (Queen of Leon and Castile before 1504) ever met, because the title of Prince Conde was first assigned to Louis of Bourbon by Henry of Navarre in 1546. Their residence was in the castle of Conde, from which they received their title.
One duke of Engien is the brother of the king of France, Henry IV. True, only a cousin. It was Henry I of Bourbon Conde, which did not prevent him from remaining an ardent opponent of the monarch. Moreover, he was a convinced Protestant, who repeatedly organized numerous military campaigns that were directed against the royal troops.
But the brother of the king of France in the 15th century, the Duke of England was never. The fact is that the branch itself originated several decades later. So in the 15th century, no one knew about the Duke of Engiensky.
The Conde branch existed until 1830, after which it was interrupted.