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Charlotte-Eleonore-Madeleine de la Motte Houdancourt, Duchesse de Ventadour was the Governess to King Louis XV Of France (great-grandson of King Louis XIV ). In 1712 Measles hit the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Louis XIV hard. Soon the French Royal Family began to die off. First the future Louis XV's mother, Marie-Adélaïde Of Savoy , died. Within the week, the future king's father ( Louis, Duke Of Burgundy ), a second cousin, and some uncles became fatally ill. Only three heirs were left to the throne (Louis himself; his older brother, Louis, Duke Of Brittany ; and their second cousin, Philippe D'Orléans ). But both brothers got the measles. Madame de Ventadour watched helplessly as the court doctors bled the Duke of Brittany to death in the hope of saving him. Madame de Ventadour decided that she could not watch them do the same thing to the younger Prince Louis, so she took him into a room along with three nursery maids and locked the door. Miraculously, Louis not only survived but completely conquered his disease. If Madame de Ventadour had not done this, Louis almost certainly would have died and claims to the throne would have appeared everywhere, with widespread war throughout Europe and its colonies as a result. Louis XIV died when his great-grandson was five years old, thus making the boy Louis XV. Philippe d'Orléans became the Regent for Louis XV. France was happy that Louis XV survived, although his reign was marked by steady decline. |
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