Louise Françoise, Princess of Condé

Louise Françoise
Princess of Condé
Duchess of Bourbon
Légitimée de France
Portrait by Pierre Gobert, ca. 1692
Born(1673-06-01)1 June 1673
Tournai, France
Died16 June 1743(1743-06-16) (aged 70)
Palais Bourbon, Paris, France
Burial
Carmel du faubourg Saint-Jacques, Paris, France
Spouse
(m. 1685; died 1710)
Issue
Detail
HouseBourbon
FatherLouis XIV of France
MotherFrançoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan
Signature

Louise Françoise, Duchess of Bourbon (French pronunciation: [lwiz fʁɑ̃swaz]; 1 June 1673 16 June 1743) was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman her mother had replaced as the King's mistress. Before her marriage, she was known at court as Mademoiselle de Nantes.

Married at the age of 11, Louise Françoise became known as Madame la Duchesse, a style she kept as a widow. She was Duchess of Bourbon and Princess of Condé by marriage. She was later a leading member of the cabale de Meudon, a group centered on her half-brother Louis, Grand Dauphin. While her son Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, was Prime Minister of France, she tried to further her political influence, but to little avail.

Considered attractive, Louise Françoise had a turbulent love life and was frequently part of scandals during her father's reign. Later in life, she built the Palais Bourbon in Paris, the present seat of the National Assembly, with the fortune she amassed having invested greatly with John Law.