The title of duke of Orléans was first created by King Philip VI. in favour of his son Philip, who died without legitimate issue in 1375. The second duke of Orléans, created in 1392, was Louis, a younger son of Charles V., whose heir was his son, the poet Charles of Orléans. Charles’s son Louis, the succeeding duke, became king of France as Louis XII. in 1498, when the duchy of Orléans was united with the royal domain. In 1626 Louis XIII. created his brother, Jean Baptiste Gaston, duke of Orléans, and having become extinct on the death of this prince in 1660 the title was revived in the following year by Louis XIV. in favour of his brother Philip. Descendants of this duke have retained the title until the present day, one of them becoming king of France as Louis Philippe in 1830. Two distinguished families are descended from the first house of Orléans: the counts of Angoulême, who were descended from John, a son of Duke Louis I., and who furnished France with a king in the person of Francis I.; and the counts and dukes of Longueville, whose founder was John, count of Dunois, the bastard of Orléans, a natural son of the same duke. In addition to the dukes of Orléans the most important members of this family are the following: Anne Marie Louise, duchess of Montpensier; Francis, prince of Joinville; Louis-Philippe-Albert, count of Paris; and the traveller Prince Henry of Orléans.
