18.3.09

A Royal Chapel

There is a small Royal Chapel close to Porte Maillot. It may be small, but it is referred to with two long names: Chapelle Royale Saint Ferdinand or Chapelle Notre Dame de la Compassion. One Royal person is buried here, Prince Ferdinand d’Orléans, eldest son of King Louis-Philippe and Queen Amélie.

Maybe a bit of history? Louis Philippe (the father of the buried Prince) was the last king to rule in France, 1830-48. He belonged to the Royal “cadet branch”, supposed to take over if the “elder branch” died out. In the “elder branch” you found the direct descendants of Henri IV – de Bourbon (Louis XIII, Louis XIV... until Charles X, who was the brother of the guillotined Louis XVI), whereas the “cadet branch” descended from Philippe, Duc d’Orléans, who was the younger brother of Louis XIV. Although Charles X had an heir, the 1830 revolution (another one) forced the senior Bourbon branch to abdicate and the Orléans branch took over. Louis Philippe reigned thus until 1848, when again another revolution forced him to abdicate. France became for the second time a Republic and the nephew of Napoleon I became President. Three years later he declared himself Emperor with the name Napoleon III. Let’s hold the history lesson here! Or maybe not quite! (Maybe this graph could make it all more clear?) It may be worth to mention that Louis Philippe’s father obviously supported the 1789 Revolution, took the name of Philippe Egalité and, as a deputy, voted in favour of the death sentence for Louis XVI. The immediate execution was proclaimed with one vote’s majority!

Coming back to Prince Ferdinand - the one buried in the Royal Chapel at Porte Maillot and who would have become King one day, if the 1848 Revolution had not taken place -, he simply died in a carriage accident – in 1842 – at Porte Maillot. The chapel which was built where the accident took place, one year later, stood earlier closer to the centre of the Place, but was removed to its present place, piece by piece, in 1970, when the present Congress Palace and one of Paris’ biggest hotels were built. It may be noted that the stained glass windows were designed by Ingres. (There is still a conflict between the descendents of the Bourbon and the Orléans families about who has the right to the French throne, although it’s highly questionable that France will ever get a King or a Queen again.)

34 comments:

James said...

Very Interesting. I was in Paris last month but missed this.

Thanks for the post!

Cezar and Léia said...

Many thanks for the history lesson!Very interesting! I want to visit this Chapel someday.The stained glass is perfect and I loved the sculpture in the centre of first picture!
:-) kind regars
Léia

James said...

Marburg looks wonderful, I really hope to see it in person someday.
Until then, thanks for sharing your photos!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Wow! Splendid Chapel! I guess I have told you abt the Chapel in St. Aloysius College too, India?

Thanks also for the write-up! It is informative! Apart from the French Royals, the Spanish too were part of the House of Bourbon?

hpy said...

Le fils de mon grand père avait un oncle qui lui-même avait un fils, dont le fils avait du mal à suivre les fils de l'histoire. Non, c'est très bien expliqué, mais je ne dois pas être bien réveillée encore. Et puis, je n'ai jamais connu l'oncle de mon grand père - que je n'ai pas connu non plus - alors comment pourrais-je savoir si oui ou non il était de la famille des buveurs de Bourbon, ou si tout simplement il était arrivé à Paris par la Porte d'Orléans. D'ailleurs, je parie qu'il n'est jamais venu à Peter's Paris. Je m'en vais donc lui tirer les oreilles pour qu'il mette les pendules à l'heure.

Olivier said...

un beau cour d'histoire, bien accompagné par les photos. La Chapelle est magnifique.

Anonymous said...

ça ne rigole pas avec Peter ... l'histoire c'est l'Histoire !!
ça fait du bien d'ailleurs de nous rafraichir les neurones de tps en tps et d'aiguiser notre vue par toutes ces magnifiques détails architecturaux.
J'ai aussi beaucoup apprécié la pyramide de nuit, c'est magique !

Anonymous said...

Paris is such a big city, you can never have enough of it.

Adam said...

I'm never on that side of Paris so didn't know about this but it's rather an oddity. Is it actually ever used for services today?

My second question would be to wonder what a carriage accident actually is and how a prince could die in one. It almost sounds like a euphemism!

Cergie said...

Il avait 32 ans ce prince héritier lorsqu'il est mort (merci qui ? Merci Wiki). C'est lui qui a été béatifié ? En Allemagne, Berlin notamment des églises portent le nom de "Royals".
Je ne pense pas que celle ci ait été construite pour servir de tombeau, non ? (Merci Peter pour la réponse) à la différence des chapelles dans les cimetières qui sont de vrais maisons à entretenir pour la descendance....
(Bonne journée de baby sitting)

Ruth said...

We should have ridden our bikes up there from the Bois. :)

THANK YOU for the Louis graph!! I get sooo confused by all the Louises, but no doubt I am not alone.

I was just writing up a Notre-Dame post, and telling my husband about the coronation of Napoleon I (1803?), and he remarked how close in time it was to the Revolution of 1789. Strange how history is, non?

This is a sweet chapel, the light is lovely. Imagine, Ingres windows! As my husband always says in Paris when we come to something new: "It's not fair!" :)

Jessica said...

Royal history always seems so complicated but you have made this much simpler to understand. That chart was particularly helpful.

I can just picture the descendents running into each other at a bar and arguing over whose family is rightfully in control of the non-existent throne. I'm sure that's not really how it happens but this funny scenario played itself out in my mind.

Anonymous said...

Just visited The Orlean's house in London yesterday. Near Twickenham. The last Duc' d'Orleans rented it for 2 years. Not much of it remains now, but the round room that does (now an art gallery) is quite stunning.

alice said...

Yes, in France, we still have some princes and potential kings but no throne anymore ha ha!
Beautiful and unrecognized place.

Rob said...

Thank you for this little history lesson. I find this history fascinating.

lyliane six said...

J'ai assez tourné autour de cette place Maillot, mais n'ai jamais vu cette chapelle, Tu sais dénicher des endroits magiques.
Quel méli-mélo l'histoire des rois de France ils sont tous cousins et combien il doit y avoir de batards?

Azer Mantessa said...

that's quite a history lesson.
nice interior the chapel is.

claude said...

Elle est vraiment royale cette chapelle ! Que de beautés recèle Paris !

Maxime said...

La généalogie étant ma seconde passion après la photo, je n'ai aucun mal à te suivre. Mais pas de roi dans mon ascendance... alors je n'ai aucun scrupule à affirmer que, lorsqu'on est de sang royal, ça fait tout de même plus sérieux de finir guillotiné que de mourir d'un banal accident de fiacre ! C'est ce qui différencie les amateurs des professionnels.

alice said...

Bonne balade printanière avec tes amis, Peter, il fait trop beau pour rester enfermé, les blogs attendront!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the gorgeous photos and directions - anothe one to add to my list of places to see in Paris

Alain said...

Qui sait, s'il n'était pas mort ainsi, la France serait peut etre toujours un royaume !

Anonymous said...

I am anxious to get outside more often. I hope I have nice spring here like you do there.

Catherine said...

Voilà où cela mène d'avoir une histoire bien chargée. Donner du souci au collègiens qui renaclent à l'apprendre, bien qu'on leur simplifie la tache.

Et longtemps après, les années aidant, on ouvre un blog, et tout devient limpide. Parce qu'il arrive un temps où on ouvre un livre d'histoire ou un blog pour le plaisir. La méthode pédagogique, c'est cela qui manque à notre système scolaire.

Kate said...

I think that Parisians made a very strong statement about royalty many years ago!

PeterParis said...

James:
Don't worry, there are so many places to visit and you can hardly make them all! :-)

Léia:
Don't forget to mention when you and Cezar are here! :-)

Rakesh:
Yes, a branch under the name of "Anjou" descends from the grandson of Louis XIV (King Philippe V in Spain). The present king Juan Carlos belongs to this family, but there is another discussion about the male and the female heritage...

PeterParis said...

hpy:
La prochaine fois tu dois lire mes posts une fois bien reveillée! :-)

Olivier:
Je suis content que tu as mieux compris que hpy! :-)

mum:
Oui, je crois que c'est bien ... dans des doses raisonables! :-)

PeterParis said...

Cuckoo:
Nice to hear it! :-)

Adam:
Yes, it's used by the parish for normal services.
They must have gone really fast... and of course the streets were not always of the highest standard! :-)

Cergie:
Tu aurais pu trouver son age dans mon post!
Non, ce n'est pas lui. Il existe un vrai Saint Ferdinand!
Oui, c'est son vrai tombeau!
:-)

PeterParis said...

Ruth:
Yes, if you are interested, it's probaly good to have a list of the "Louis"!
The coronation took place in December 1804.
Maybe it's not quite "fair"! :-)

Jessica:
Thanks for appreciating the graph... it took me some time to make it!
You are right, the discussion between the branches has not always been really friendly! :-)

Mo:
I have also seen it once! Already busy after your return! :-)

PeterParis said...

Alice:
No royalties in your family? :-)

Dusty Lens:
Thanks! :-)

Lyliane:
Je suppose que tu cherchais plutôt une place pour te garer? :-)

PeterParis said...

Azer:
I will be back in a couple of weeks to see what you remember form the "lesson"! :-)

Claude:
... et oui! :-)

Maxime:
Je suis donc content que tu n'as pas trouvé d'erreur!
Pour le reste de ton commentaire... :-))!

PeterParis said...

Alice:
Merci de tes encouragements! :-)

Anonymous:
How long is your list? :-)

Alain:
Qui sait? ... encore que, peu probable! :-)

PeterParis said...

Abe:
I'm sure that the spring is just around the corner! :-)

Catherine:
Merci d'être une bonne élève (enfin)! :-))

Kate:
I think that the message has been quite clear! :-))

Anonymous said...

I am sorry but I am confused. I visited the chappelle today and it piqued my curiousity. But all the references I checked indicate the Prince is not buried there but at the Chapelle Royale outside of Paris - so perhaps this is just a monument?
Here is a reference:

Unlike the vast majority of arranged marriages between the Royal households of Europe, Duchess Helen Louise adored her husband but tragically, Prince Ferdinand-Philippe was only 32 years of age when he died in a carriage accident in Sablonville in the Hauts-de-Seine département.

The Prince was interred in an elaborate tomb in the Chapelle Royale, in Dreux, Eure-et-Loir but because his wife was Protestant, the Roman Catholic Church would not allow any space to be made next to him for her later interment.

Nearly 16 years later, the still grieving Princess Helen Louise died, on May 18, 1858 in Richmond, Surrey, England where members of the French royal family had been forced to flee after the revolt against King Louis-Philippe and the election of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as President of France.

On their death, the government of France allowed these ex-royals to be returned to France for interment. So, for Duchess Helen Louise, a room with a separate entrance was built attached to the Chapelle Royale and a window was opened between her tomb and her husband's. The sculpture of the Protestant Princess rests atop her tomb, reaching through the opening to the tomb of her beloved Catholic Prince.

****
Please clarify - are the Prince's remains here in Paris or not?