Difference between revisions of "Bourbon"

<p> (1): (n.) A member of a family which has occupied several European thrones, and whose descendants still claim the throne of France. </p> <p> (2): (n.) A politician who is behind the age; a ruler or politician who neither forgets nor learns anything; an obstinate conservative. </p>

<p> A family of French origin, hailing from Bourbonnais, members of which occupied for generations the thrones of France, Naples, and Spain, and who severally ruled their territories under a more or less overweening sense of their rights as born to reign. Two branches, both of which trace back to [[Henry]] IV., held sway in France, one beginning with Louis XIV., eldest son of Louis XIII., and the other, called the Orleans, with [[Philip]] of Orleans, second son of Louis XIII., the former ending with [[Charles]] X. and his family, and the latter ending with Louis Philippe and his line. The branches of the family ruling in [[Spain]] and [[Naples]] began with Philip VI., grandson of Louis XIV., the former branch still in power, the latter ending with Francis II. in 1860. </p>