Jean IV

### Regent

Marie Louise de Savoie (1713 - 1714)Charles Auguste, Duc d'Alençon (1714 - 1721)

## Biography

### Born

14th May 1708Château de Fontainebleau, France (age 19)

### Issue

Louise Marguerite Josèphe, Princesse de FranceJeanne-Baptiste du Sacré-Cœur, Mademoiselle de Vexin

### Romantic Interests

Charlotte de Lorraine-Armagnac, Duchesse de Saint-Simon

### Siblings

Louise Henriette, Madame Royale (half)
Louis Joseph, Dauphin de France † (half)

Louise Marguerite Antoinette de France

Charles Sébastien Xavier, Duc d'Angoulême

### Religion

Roman Catholicism

**Jean IV, Roi de France** (Jean Marie Antoine; 14th May 1708 - Present) is a monarch descending from the illustrious Capetian maison d’Évreux as Roi de France and Navarre beginning in 1713 and independently in 1722. He is the eldest child of Charles XI and his second consort, Marie Louise de Savoie, second son of Charles XI, and overall the oldest surviving one. After the death of his father in 1713 and soon thereafter his mother in 1714, the orphaned Roi, his brother (Charles Sébastien Xavier) and sister (Louise Marguerite Antoinette) were placed in the care of their great uncle, Charles Auguste d’Évreux d’Alençon, Duc d’Alençon, and Charlotte de Saint-Simon (née: Lorraine-Armagnac), Duchesse de Saint-Simon.

Capricious, shallow, and at times, boring, Jean holds little impact on the French court in which he resides, and instead allows his former governor, Duc d’Alençon, and former governess—now mistress, the Duchesse de Saint-Simon—control his every move. The pair making decisions to further themselves in power and influence on the young and rather simple-minded Roi. Little is expected from him, causing him to be overshadowed by the accomplishments of past rulers, including his grandfather.

## Biography

### Birth

Jean IV was born on the 14th of May, 1708, at the Château de Fontainebleau. He is the third child of Charles XI, Roi de France et Navarre, and the first child from his father’s second marriage to the Princesse de Savoie; Marie Louise Gabrielle. He has two older siblings from Charles XI’s first marriage to Angèlique Catherine d’Este, a Princesse de Modène, Louise Henriette Augustine (1681-) and Louis Joseph (1683-1703). After the death of the Dauphin Louis de France and soon thereafter the Reine de France, the inheritance to the Kingdom of France was in great disarray. Jean Marie Antoine’s birth in 1708 changed this, declaring him upon birth as the new Monseigneur le Dauphin. It is reported that when the birth of an heir was announced to the Grand maître des cérémonies, the Marquis de Dreux, passed out from the heavy workload he would experience in order to properly celebrate the birth of the French Prince. On the 28th of May, after the health of the young Prince was confirmed, a grand feast was hosted at Fontainebleau followed by a ball. Throughout the entire day, the bells of Notre-Dame rang. During the two weeks leading up to this, parades and celebrations were held in Paris to celebrate.

When Jean was just a month old, Charles XI became ill with influenza. Fearing the worst, the aging Roi de France ordered for his son to be baptized. In a procession to the Chapelle de Saint Saturnin were the Duc d’Alençon, the Reine Marie Louise de Savoie, the Madame Royale, Duchesse d’Alençon, Dauphine Douairière de France, the Cardinal de Bouillon, and Duc de Saint-Simon. Monsieur d’Alençon, who stood proxy for the ailing Roi de France, and his wife standing in for the child’s first godmother and aunt, Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, Reina de España. The Duc de Saint-Simon, husband to the governess of the royal children, stood in for the Rey de España, Juan III, his first godfather. Cardinal de Bouillon stood as proxy for the Prince’s second godfather, Pope Clement XI, who was paired with the boy’s older sister and second godmother, Madame Royale. The Reine de France handed her son over to the Cardinal-archevêque de Cambrai, who successfully baptized him. He was given the name Jean in honor of his great-great grandfather, Jean III, Marie for the Virgin Mary, and Antoine as his chosen name. Days after, his father’s health stabilized and his infancy returned to normal.

### Personal Reign

On the eve of Jean IV’s thirteenth birthday, Monsieur d’Alençon, as a last resort to continue his control on the royal family of France, created a position that would allow him to maintain and regulate the diets of the Roi and his two siblings as he did throughout their childhood. On the 14th of May, 1722, he resigned from his position as Régent de France and took up the newly created post as Comptroller of the bouche du Roi and eventually became the Principal Ministre d'État. The child’s former governess, Madame la Duchesse de Saint-Simon, resorted to a  different means of continuing her control over the weak-willed sovereign. With the handover of Princesse Gabrielle Louise de Lorraine months away, the question of whether Jean was able to properly consummate was brought up by the Duchesse, who argued that in order to have a successful union, the Roi de France should have knowledge on how the process worked.

The Duc d’Alençon, who had little concern or care for his nephew, made no argument to her suggestion. With the former régent’s permission, Charlotte de Lorraine-Armagnac, at the age of thirty-three, made her way to the thirteen year old’s bedroom in the middle of the night. It is rumored that the Duchesse de Saint-Simon visited the Roi’s rooms every night up until the handover of the Lorrainer Princesse. Further speculations claim that the woman fell pregnant with his child but it ended in miscarriage. Jean officially declared her as his maîtresse-en-titre when he was only fifteen and she has held the title since. Due to the bizarre nature of their relationship, many women at court attempted to sabotage her by gaining favor with the Roi de France. Marie Hortense Victoire de La Tour d'Auvergne, the Mademoiselle de Bouillon, entered the Roi de France’s chambers in nothing but a sheer chemise to which he said to her,

*“Mademoiselle, I would rather bear witness to a naked old man than see you in this state.”*

The girl, who had began to sob, was then led back to her own apartment by his guards’. Upon hearing of the situation, Madame la Duchesse de Saint-Simon had the younc woman banished from Fontainebleau and her success as the maîtresse continued. In 1726, the now 28 year old woman fell pregnant with the Roi’s child, it is expected to arrive in September of the next year. Overall, his reign is one lacking in importance, with the most pressing issue being his sister Antoinette’s marriage and his brother’s outlandish behaviors.

## Issue

With Gabrielle Louise de Lorraine, he has had one child:

* Louise Marguerite Josèphe, Princesse de France (28th September, 1727 - Present)

With his mistress, Charlotte de Lorraine-Armagnac, Duchesse de Saint-Simon, he has had one child:

* Jeanne-Baptiste du Sacré-Cœur, Mademoiselle de Vexin (28th September, 1727 - Present)