Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Duke of Berry, was born at Versailles. As a son of a fils de France not being heir apparent, he was himself only a petit-fils de France, and thus bore his father's appanage title as surname in emigration. However, during the Restoration, as his father was heir presumptive to the crown, he was allowed the higher rank of a fils de France. His maternal grandparents were Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Spain. She was the youngest daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese. Since he was already dead when his father became king, he and his surviving daughter always had "Artois" as surname. At the French Revolution he left France with his father, then Count of Artois, and served in the émigréarmy of his cousin, Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé, from 1792 to 1797. As a member of Conde's emigre army, he fought in the Rhine Campaign of 1796, and achieved particular distinction at the Battle of Emmendingen and the Battle of Schliengen. He afterwards joined the Russian army, and in 1801 took up his residence in England, where he remained for thirteen years. During that time he had a relationship with an Englishwoman, Amy Brown Freeman. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica described her as his wife, but that is highly unlikely. In 1814, the duke set out for France. His frank, open manners gained him some favour with his countrymen, and Louis XVIII named him commander-in-chief of the army at Paris on the return of Napoleon from Elba. He was, however, unable to retain the loyalty of his troops, and retired to Ghent during the Hundred Days war. On 17 June 1816, following negotiations by the French ambassador, the Duke of Blacas, he married Princess Maria-Carolina of Naples, oldest daughter of then hereditary Prince Francis of Naples. Three children were born before the duke's death, with one surviving infancy. His daughter, Louise d'Artois, born in 1819, married Charles III of Parma. On 13 February 1820, the Duke of Berry was stabbed and mortally wounded when leaving the opera house in Paris with his wife, and died the next day. The assassin was a saddle maker named Louis Pierre Louvel, a Bonapartist opposed to the monarchy. Seven months after his death, the Duke's wife gave birth to their fourth child, Henri, who received the title of duc de Bordeaux, but is better known in history as the comte de Chambord, and who in the view of Legitimists, was heir to the throne of France.
Issue
With his wife, Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Sicily, the Duke of Berry had four children, of whom only two survived for more than a day:
In addition to them, the Duke had several illegitimate offspring:
With Mary Bullhorn, a Scottish actress:
Marie de la Boulaye, married Henri-Louis Bérard. No issue.
With Amy Brown Freeman :
Charlotte Marie Augustine de Bourbon, comtesse d'Issoudun, married in 1823 to Ferdinand de Faucigny-Lucinge, Prince de Lucinge.
Louise Marie Charlotte de Bourbon, comtesse de Vierzon, married in 1827 to Charles de Charette, Baron de la Contrie.
With Eugénie Virginie Oreille :
Charles Louis Auguste Oreille de Carrière, married in 1846 to Elisabeth Jugan, with whom he had a son Charles, a lyric artist, married but without surviving issue.
Ferdinand Oreille de Carrière, married in 1860 to Louise Eugénie Ancelle, with whom he had a daughter, Léonie, who married and left several children.
Ferdinand de La Roche, married in 1849 to Claudine Gabrielle Claire de Bachet de Méziriac. No issue.
Charles de La Roche, married in 1840 to Julie Dolé, with whom he had four children.
With Louise Melanie Thiryfoq :
Louise Charlotte Antoinette Aglaé Thiryfoq, married in 1839 to Gaston du Charron, Comte du Portail.
With Lucie Cosnefroy de Saint-Ange :
Alix Mélanie Cosnefroy de Saint-Ange.
Four of his children, the Count of Chambord, Ferdinand Oreille de Carrière, Charles de La Roche and Mélanie Cosnefroy de Saint-Ange, were born after his death.
