When Louis de Bourbon-Condé was born on 10 November 1668, he was immediately given the title of Duc de Bourbon. The third of his parents nine children, he would spent the majority of his childhood in relative obscurity. It was not until he turned 18 years old that Louis began to play his part as a courtier of Louis XIV.
By 1686, he was given the rank of Chevalier de Saint-Esprit. From then on, his military career blossomed. In quick succession he became first a colonel, then a Marèchal de Camp and finally a Lieutenant General. The mid-1680's were generally a busy time for Louis. Besides his newfound military life, he was also destined to make an illustrious match.
Undoubtedly, his future bride's identity had been discussed for years by his parents. They could hardly have imagined that they would be obliged to marry off their son to a woman who had been born illegitimate. The redeeming aspect was that that woman's father happened to be Louis XIV. Mademoiselle de Nantes was born by Madame de Montespan and fathered by Louis XIV. When the match was proposed, the majority of the court expected a prompt refusal on behalf of the young man's father. However, Henri-Jules de Bourbon-Condé had other ideas. In an attempt to gain royal favour, he agreed to the mésalliance.
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| Louis III de Bourbon-Condé |
Thus provided with a wife, Louis entered Versailles were he was known as Monsieur le Duc. He did not cut a very striking figure. His family were generally known to be remarkably short - even for the times. Even though he was not as short as his doll-like sisters, he was still quite short. The more notable feature was his head. Louis suffered from macrocephaly, a condition that results in an unusually large head.
His education had been quite good and he appears to have had a sound understanding. Nevertheless, he was not exceptionally bright and had no need to further himself beyond his already exalted position. At Versailles, this meant that he faded into the background. The one point that did mark him out for attention was an unfortunate legacy from his father: insanity. Whereas Henri-Jules was known to have been incurably insane, Louis appears to have slipped further into madness as he got older but never reached the complete mental collapse of his father.
Louis' semi-royal bride provided him with nine children; the first of which was born a few years after the marriage.
By 1709, Louis inherited the title of Prince de Condé as well as the considerable assets of this title. However, he would not enjoy them for long. One night, he was driving across the Pont Neuf in Paris when he suffered a fit of apoplexy. Louis died on 4 March 1710.
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