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PHILLIP II, DUC D ORLEANS, c. 1715 Document

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Autographs

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Duke of Orléans After Whom The City Of New Orleans Was Named

PHILLIP II, DUC D'ORLEANS, Regent of France, After Whom the City of New Orleans was Named.
c. 1715 (undated), Autograph Document Signed, "le duc d'orleans," 1 page, 8.75" x 6.75," being a Grant of 2,000 Francs, and mentioning the port of Marseilles, Fine. In nice overall condition with typical age toning. The city of New Orleans was founded in 1718 by the French as Nouvelle-Orléans, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. The site was selected because it was a rare bit of natural high ground along the flood-prone banks of the lower Mississippi, and was adjacent to the trading route and portage between the Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain via Bayou St. John. It was, from this founding, intended to be an important colonial city. The city was named in honor of the then Regent of France, Philip II, Duke of Orléans.

Philippe II, duc d'Orléans (1674-1723) was Regent of France (1715-1723) during the minority of Louis XV, and the son of Philip I, duke of Orleans, and his second wife, the princess palatine. He had his first experience of arms at the siege of Mons in 1691. His marriage with Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mlle. de Blois, the legitimized daughter of Louis XIV, won him the favor of the king. He fought with distinction at Steinkerk, Neerwinden and Namur (1692-95). During the next few years, being without employment, he studied natural science. He was next given a command in Italy (1706) and in Spain (1707-08) where he gained some important successes, but he cherished lofty ambitions and was suspected of wishing to take the place of Philip V on the throne of Spain. Louis XIV was angry at these pretensions, and for a long time held him in disfavor. In his will, however, he appointed him president of the council of regency of the young King Louis XV (1715). After the death of the king, the Duke of Orleans went to the parliament, had the will annulled, and himself invested with absolute power. At first he made a good use of this, counselling economy, decreasing taxation, disbanding 25,000 soldiers and restoring liberty to the persecuted Jansenists. But the inquisitorial measures which he had begun against the financiers led to disturbances. He was, moreover, weak enough to countenance the risky operations of the banker John Law (1717), whose bankruptcy led to such a disastrous crisis in the public and private affairs of France.

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