Philippe, Duke of Vendôme

Philippe was born on 23 August 1655 in Paris[1] and baptised together with his elder brother Louis-Joseph in the Sainte Chapelle of the Château de Vincennes on 17 October 1656 by Cardinal Antonio Barberini.[2] Philippe was the second son of Louis de Bourbon, and his wife Laura Mancini.[3][4]

His father was, at the time of his birth, known as duke of Mercœur, while Philippe's grandfather César was duke of Vendôme. César was an illegitimate son of Henri IV by Gabrielle d'Estrées. The king had created the second House of Bourbon-Vendôme for him. In 1665 this grandfather died and his father succeeded as the 2nd duke of Vendôme.

His mother was the eldest daughter of Baron Lorenzo Mancini and his wife Girolama, a sister of Cardinal Mazarin. She and her four sisters were part of the Mazarinettes, as the cardinal's nieces were called.

His parents had married in 1651.

In 1666 Philippe became a knight of Malta.[5] In 1669 the young Chevalier de Vendôme, aged 14, participated in the expedition to Candia in the suite of his uncle François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort. This expedition aimed to help the Venetians in the Siege of Candia, the capital of Crete, which was besieged by the Turks. His uncle commanded the sailing vessels of the fleet.[6] Philippe fought in the desastrous sortie undertaken by the French on 25 June, shortly after their arrival at Candia, in which his uncle disappeared. At the eve of their departure he initiated a meeting with the Turks to find out what happened to his uncle, but they did not know.[7]

In his later position of grand prior of France in the Order of Malta,[6] Philippe was able to attain numerous military commands, fighting in engagements including Fleurus, Steenkirk and Marsaglia.[8]

During the Spanish War of Succession Philippe was briefly in command of French forces in Italy. The opposing Austrian forces were commanded by Prince Eugene of Savoy, a more skilled commander than Philippe, whose brother Louis Joseph, another senior French commander, had to assist him during the Battle of Cassano. He was subsequently demoted to a position subordinate to that of his brother, and served in this role during further campaigning in Flanders.

After the death of Louis-Joseph, Philippe inherited his brother's ducal title (except Duke of Penthièvre which had been sold to Marie Anne de Bourbon in 1696).

The Vendôme name was annexed into the royal domain by Louis XIV of France in 1712, on the pretext that Philip's membership in the Order of Malta as grand prior of France prevented him from holding it, but he retained the title.

He died unmarried and without issue. The dukedom became extinct at his death.

• Anselme, Père (1726). Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France [Genealogical and Chronological History of the Royal House of France] (in French). Vol. Tome premier (Troisième édition ed.). Paris: Compagnie des libraires associez. – House of France (cited for him and his brother Louis-Joseph)
• Anselme, Père (1730). Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France [Genealogical and Chronological History of the Royal House of France] (in French). Vol. Tome cinquième (Troisième édition ed.). Paris: Compagnie des libraires associez. OCLC 831196124. – Dukes
• Bardakçı, Özkan; Pugnière, François (2008). La dernière croisade: Les Français et la guerre de Candie, 1669 (in French). Presses universitaires de Rennes.
• La Roque, Louis de (1891). Catalogue des chevaliers de Malte [Catalogue of the knights of Malta] (in French). Paris: Desaide. OCLC 562124827.
• Lottin, Alain (2002). Deux mille ans du "Nord-Pas-de-Calais": Des Gaulois à la veille de la Révolution (in French). La Voix du Nord.
• Sheriff, Mary D. (2018). Enchanted Islands: Picturing the Allure of Conquest in Eighteenth-Century France. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-48324-5.

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