Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, governed France as Regent from 1715 to 1723 and gave his name to a period of relaxation after Louis XIV. Born in 1674, he was the nephew of Louis XIV and was married against his wishes to one of the king's legitimised daughters by Madame de Montespan. He was an able soldier, distinguishing himself in Italy and in Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession, and was intelligent and widely curious — he painted, studied chemistry, and read widely — which the court found suspect. He was rumoured, without evidence, to have poisoned the relatives whose deaths cleared his path. Louis XIV died in September 1715 leaving a five-year-old great-grandson as Louis XV, and a will restricting Philippe's authority. Philippe had the Parlement of Paris annul it in exchange for restoring its right of remonstrance, and took full regency powers. He reversed much of the previous reign. He made peace and allied with Britain and the Dutch, ended the persecution of Jansenists for a period, released prisoners, and briefly replaced the ministries with aristocratic councils — the polysynody — which failed within three years. His great gamble was John Law's financial system. Law established a note-issuing bank and the Mississippi Company, consolidated the royal debt into its shares, and the resulting speculation drove the price up more than twentyfold before collapsing in 1720. It ruined many, discredited paper money and banking in France for a generation, and arguably contributed to the fiscal paralysis that ended the monarchy. He moved the court from Versailles to Paris, and his own reputation for debauched suppers is largely deserved. He died in 1723.
- Lived: 1674 CE – 1723 CE
- Nationality: French
- Roles: regent, duke
