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Souvenirs of the duchess de Berry and of lil' Henri d'Artois in Maupas castle

Henri d'Artois | Leipzig University Library / Public domain
Castle Marie-Caroline of Naples and Sicily Maupas castle

I, the count’s private tutor

Blood linen and hairs locks

Let's talk about Auguste Agard, marquis of Maupas. Emperor Napoleon I gave him the Légion d'Honneur, then he became governor of count de Chambord, Henri de Bourbon, in 1827.

Little Henri adored him, he sent him drawings, and August answered him with letters: touching souvenirs we still can see in Maupas castle!

They also kept hairs locks belonging to the royal family, or a piece of cloth full of duke de Berry’s blood, mortally wounded by his murderer...

Bourbon in the turmoil

Count Henri’s mum, the duchess of Berry, came in Maupas while she was going in Vendée (Western France) during the July Monarchy. Maupas family and Bourbon became friends.

The count and the duchess

Gory murder

In the beginning of the 19th century, the political situation wasn’t pretty good in France. The king was Louis XVIII, old and sick.

His nephew, duke of Berry, had to succeed him. But this one was murdered by a man named Louvel, in 1820…

So, the French throne was vacant! Wait… duchess of Berry, Marie-Caroline of Bourbon-Sicily, gave birth to a son, little Henri de Bourbon, duke of Bordeaux and count of Chambord. ″The miraculous child″ said French poet Lamartine!

The future Henri V of France spent his childhood in exile, letting the free hand to his cousins, the d’Orléans. People hated them because they considered them as regicides. So Louis-Philippe became the new king...

Checkmate!

Henri’s mum, in exile abroad with her son, decided to do everything she could to get the French crown back. Because Henri was the real king, according to the legitimists! Marie-Caroline came back in France in 1832, and went in Vendée to rally people behind her cause.

On her way, she stopped at Maupas, to see her friend Auguste’s house. But her return in France was a big fail! She took shelter in Nantes, then she was arrested and locked in the citadel of Blaye (Gironde)…

What about her son? Well, he was officially recognized by the d’Orléans like the legitimate king, in 1873. But Henri refused to recognize the tricolor flag like the real emblem of the Republic.

So he definitively disappeared from the political life… He died in 1866, childless, letting quarrels between Bourbon and d’Orléans...

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!