The Wealthiest Man in France: Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon-Penthièvre

Of the numerous minor branches of the house of Bourbon, that of Bourbon-Penthièvre became one of the richest families in Europe. When the last Duc de Penthièvre, Louis Jean Marie, came into his title, he was therefore amongst the richest - if not the - men at court. But where did that vast fortune come from?

Family Affairs

Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon-Penthièvre was the son of Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse - this made Louis Jean Marie the grandson of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. It also meant that he was a legitimated prince; his brother was the Duc du Maine. The family fortune stemmed from the will of the Grande Mademoiselle, Louis XIV's unmarried cousin. She herself had been known as the wealthiest heiress in Europe which had made her a much sought-after bride for many unsuccessful suitors.

Eyeing up his cousin's fortune, Louis XIV stipulated that she would be allowed to marry the Duc de Lauzun (a love match, on her part, at least) - on the condition that she left her vast fortune to the Duc du Maine. While the Grande Mademoiselle was eager to marry Lauzun, she was not entirely stupid either. She refused to part with anything but the principality of Dombes and the duchy of Eu; once those had been transferred to the Duc du Maine, Louis XIV promptly refused to let her marry Lauzun.

This made the Duc du Maine a very wealthy man; his personal fortune was further enlarged by the numerous gifts from his devoted father, the king. While the Duc du Maine did have two surviving male heirs, both happened to die without heirs of their own. When the latter of these sons died in 1775, the fortune went straight to Louis Jean Marie.

Furthermore, Louis Jean Marie was the only son of the Comte de Toulouse. Thus, he did not have to share his father's already immense fortune with a cumbersome sibling.

Louis Jean Marie

Châteaux, land and forests!

As was the case with most of the aristocracy, the majority of the Duc de Penthièvre's fortune stemmed from landed property. Over the years, Louis Jean Marie managed to accumulate a very impressive property portfolio. From his own father, he had inherited the Château de Rambouillet which he later sold to Louis XVI, as well as the Hôtel de Toulouse in Paris.

Upon the death of the Duc du Maine's sons the following châteaux were added: Sceaux, d'Anet, Dreux, Gisors and Aumale. Naturally, being that rich from such a young age, Louis Jean Marie purchased several estates of his own during his lifetime, including the Châteaux de Chanteloup, d'Amboise, de La Ferté-Vidame and Châteauneuf-sur-Loire.

It should be kept in mind that the châteaux were the figureheads of the owner's landed estates. The real income came from the agriculture which could be carried out on the estate's fields. Typically, the lordly owner would either let out the managing of this to tenants and claim a part of the surplus.

Jean Duma has gathered the information needed to establish the sources of income for the Duc de Penthièvre by 1789. This is from Duma's book: Les-Bourbon-Penthièvres: une nébuleuse aristocratique au XVIIIé Siécle:

As can be seen, thirteen of the eighteen properties had immense value from their forestry while three had quarries - even the least valuable property (Nogent sur Seine) was still worth 37.161 livres!

While land income was the leading source of income in the 18th century, the profits from it decreased steadily over the decades. When he inherited the title of Duc de Penthièvre in 1737 (at the age of 12) his income was made up of 65 % landed income. In comparison, the forestry income was 28, 24 % while his feudal rights only amounted to 6,67 %. However, upon the outbreak of the revolution in 1789 - when Louis Jean Marie was still Duc de Penthièvre, those numbers were quite different. Landed income was then less than half of the total income (44 %) while forestry income had risen to 48,65 % - feudal rights had risen to 7,18 %.

The feudal - or seigneurial rights - usually covered a wide variety of smaller rights, such as monopolies or market rights. For Louis Jean Marie, such rights could be very lucrative indeed - for instance, the income yielded by his duchy of Penthièvre was made up of 60 % seigneurial rights.

Also by 1789, the total of the Duc de Penthièvre's landed estates was a staggering 104.000.000 livres.

Court income

If the considerable wealth in landed properties were not enough, Louis Jean Marie was amongst the highest-ranking men at court. Besides being a legitimated prince, he was a duke and possessed several of the elite posts at court. These naturally brought in considerable incomes as well.

The Duc de Penthièvre was the Grand Maitre de France and Grand Écuyer de France - both top-posts in the king's civilian household. Both posts also entitled him to a royal pension. As was typically the case within the royal households, it was not the wages for such posts that made the jobs lucrative. The post of Grand Maître paid "only" 3.600 livres per year in wages while that of Grand Écuyer varied from 1.200 - 3.600 livres. However, both posts came with considerable possibilities for supplementary incomes. That of Grand Maître could claim 56.800 livres, the Grand Écuyer 30.000.

As a Marèchal de France - and Admiral! - he was at the top of the military hierarchy, as well. Finally, Louis Jean Marie was governor of Brittany where the duchy of Penthièvre was located.

Duc de Penthièvre in his older years

Debt

Finances - especially amongst the aristocracy - were handled much different than today. It was almost unheard of for a nobleman to have no debt; even the Duc de Penthièvre was not exempt. Yet, his finances were extremely sound, primarily because his debt by 1789 "only" amounted to about 10 % of his entire fortune. This meant that he was not only solvent but doing very well - especially compared to his co-courtiers whose debts could be up to half of their fortune.

Generally, it appears that Louis Jean Marie was a capable financial manager. He had inherited a fortune worth 13,4 million livres. As mentioned, by 1789, that fortune had been increased to over 104 million. Even when one factors in inflation, that is an immense increase, largely due to the fact that he inherited the Maine-fortune as well. 

Louis Jean Marie had married Marie Thérèse d'Este with whom he had had seven children before she died in childbirth. Only two of those children survived past childhood: Louis Alexandre Joseph Stanislas and Louise Marie Adélaide.

His son was known at court as the Prince the Lamballe - husband of Marie Antoinette's close friend. Sadly, he was deeply debauched and utterly irresponsible in both his own behaviour and finances. His libertine lifestyle led him to dying at just 22 years old without an heir. This meant that Louise Marie Adélaide became the sole heiress of the vast Penthièvre-fortune. She had been married to the equally dissolute Duc de Chartres which made her the Duchesse d'Orléans. Yet, she would not inherit her fortune during the Ancien Régime.

Louis Jean Marie was caught up in the revolution but was never a target for the revolutionary masses. At first glance, it might seem odd that the richest man in the kingdom would somehow escape particular notice but Louis Jean Marie's reputation preceded him. During his life, he had been immensely charitable with his fortune, generously aiding those in need with his fortune. As he was not notorious for any scandals - that was left for his son - the people simply remembered that he was a benefactor. Thus, he died of natural causes at the age of 67. 

It was not until the Bourbon restoration that his daughter was successful in reclaiming a good portion of her rightful inheritance.