Louis Henri | |||||
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![]() Portrait by Pierre Gobert | |||||
Prince of Condé | |||||
Tenure | 4 March 1710 – 27 January 1740 | ||||
Predecessor | Louis III | ||||
Successor | Louis Joseph | ||||
First Minister of State | |||||
In office 2 December 1723 – 11 June 1726 | |||||
Preceded by | Philippe II, Duke of Orléans | ||||
Succeeded by | André-Hercule de Fleury | ||||
Born | Palace of Versailles, Île-de-France, France. | 18 August 1692||||
Died | 27 January 1740 Château de Chantilly, Île-de-France, France. | (aged 47)||||
Burial | Église Collégiale Saint-Martin, Colmar, France. | ||||
Spouse | |||||
Issue |
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House | Bourbon-Condé | ||||
Father | Louis III, Prince of Condé | ||||
Mother | Louise Françoise de Bourbon | ||||
Signature | ![]() |
Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon (Louis Henri Joseph; 18 August 1692 – 27 January 1740), was a French nobleman and politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1723 to 1726. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a prince du sang.
Louis Henri was the second child and eldest son of Louis III, Prince of Condé, and Louise Françoise de Bourbon, the eldest daughter of King Louis XIV and his mistress Madame de Montespan. Following the death of his father in 1710, he became head of the Bourbon-Condé cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. As such, he was entitled to be known as Prince of Condé, but he used the title Duke of Bourbon instead and was known at court as Monsieur le Duc. After his maternal grandfather died in 1715, Louis Henri became a member of the regency council led by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the regent for the new minor king Louis XV.
In 1723, Louis Henri succeeded the Duke of Orléans as chief minister to Louis XV. He negotiated the King's marriage to the Polish princess Marie Leszczyńska. In 1726, Louis XV dismissed Louis Henri as chief minister and replaced him with Cardinal de Fleury. Louis Henri died at his manor, the Château de Chantilly, in 1740. His titles were inherited by his 4-year-old son, Louis Joseph.