Louis Joseph

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, often simply called Vendôme (1 July 1654 – 11 June 1712) was a French general and Marshal of France. One of the great generals of his era, he was one of Louis XIV's most successful commanders in the War of the Grand Alliance and War of the Spanish Succession.

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, was a French general and Marshal of France. He was one of the most successful commanders in the War of the Grand Alliance and War of the Spanish Succession. Vendôme joined the French Army and rose through ranks due to his distinguished combat record. His charisma, courage, and skill won him loyalty from his troops as well as recognition for House of Bourbon's claim to Spanish crown. The Duke was known to be homosexual.[6] Other members of his family, including his brother Philippe and his grandfather César, Duke of Vendôme, were also known for their homosexuality/bisexuality, which led to the family mansion on Place Vendôme being called the Hôtel de Sodome in the 17th century. According to Saint-Simon, Louis-Joseph "plunged...more than anyone else" into sodomy, satisfying his desires with "his valets and officers". Saint-Simon wrote of the Duke's relationship with Louis XIV that, although the King "had always a singular horror of the inhabitants of the Cities of the Plain [homosexuals]...M. de Vendôme, though most odiously stained with that vice - so publicly that he treated it as an ordinary gallantry - never found his favor diminished on that account." Those who wished to curry favor with Vendôme would try and win over his lovers first. One contemporary account alleges that on his estate at the Chateau d'Anet, peasant men from the neighborhood would wait for the Duke in the woods when he went out hunting, hoping to be paid for sexual favors. Louis-Joseph suffered from syphilis and lost part of his nose to the disease. He was the first courtier to seek leave from court to be treated for the disease with Mercury salts, known as the "Great Remedy" (le grand remède).