Louis XVII of France

Louis XVII of France (March 27, 1785 - June 8, 1795) also known as Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy (1785-1789), Louis-Charles, Dauphin of Viennois (1789-1791), and Louis-Charles, Prince Royal of France (1791-1793), was the son of King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, never actually reigning as king of France.

"Lost Dauphin" claimants

Reports, however, quickly spread that the body was not that of Louis XVII and that he had been spirited away alive, the "Lost Dauphin," by sympathizers with another child's body left in his place. When the Bourbon monarchy was restored in 1814, hundreds of claimants came forward. Would-be royal heirs continued to pop up across Europe for decades, and some of their descendants still have small but loyal retinues of followers today. Popular candidates for the Lost Dauphin included John James Audubon, the naturalist; Eleazer Williams, a missionary from Wisconsin of Mohawk Native American descent; and Karl Wilhelm Naundorff, a German clockmaker. Mark Twain satirized the host of claimants in the characters of the Duke and the Dauphin, the con men of Huckleberry Finn.

Related Topics:
Bourbon monarchy was restored - 1814 - John James Audubon - Eleazer Williams - Wisconsin - Mohawk - Karl Wilhelm Naundorff - Mark Twain - Huckleberry Finn

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The heart changed hands many times. First it was stolen by one of Pelletan's students, who confessed on his deathbed, asking his wife to return it to Pelletan. She sent it to the Archbishop of Paris, where it stayed until the Revolution of 1830. It also spent some time in Spain. In 1975, it was being kept in a crystal vase at the royal crypt in the Saint Denis Basilica outside Paris, burial place of his parents and many other members of France's royal families. Philippe Delorme, the contemporary authority on the subject, arranged for DNA testing of the heart. A Belgian genetics professor, Jean-Jacques Cassiman, and Ernst Brinkmann of Germany's Muenster University conducted the two independent tests. After DNA comparison with that reclaimed from the hair of Marie Antoinette proved the identity of the heart in the year 2000, the remains were finally buried in the Basilica on June 8, 2004.

Related Topics:
Archbishop of Paris - Revolution of 1830 - Spain - 1975 - Saint Denis Basilica - Philippe Delorme - DNA testing - Muenster University - Marie Antoinette - June 8 - 2004

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The story of the "Lost Dauphin" was recently staged in Northern Ireland in the student-produced play "All Those Who Suffered". The playwright explains his motivations at the Monarchist Website: -

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

http://www.angelfire.com/in3/theodore/opinion/articles/russell.html

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~