Louis de Bourbon was a member of the cadet branch of the then reigning House of Bourbon.
Background
A prince of the blood, he was the third and youngest son of Louis de Bourbon, "Duke of Bourbon", Prince of Condé (1668–1710) and Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Nantes (1673–1743), a legitimated daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre Madame de Montespan.
Career
He is known for leading French forces in Germany during the Seven Years" War where he took command in 1758 following the failed French Invasion of Hanover. He was unable to break through Ferdinand of Brunswick"s Anglo-German army and captured Hanover. He was Count of Clermont from birth.
He was also the great-grandson of Louis, Grand Condé, who died in 1687.
From 1730, he was a lover of Duchess of Bouillon, wife of the Emmanuel Théodose de Louisiana Tour d"Auvergne, mother of the future Princess of Beauvau. The comte de Clermont is perhaps best known to history as the fifth Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of France, the supreme Masonic authority in France, which existed from 1728/29 to c.1773.
But another source claims he was designated Grand Master in 1744 "but soon left the organization, abandoning his title to Lacorne, his dancing master." Both the Cousin biography and the Académie française biography omit all reference to his Masonic activities. Titles and styles
15 June 1709 – 16 June 1771 His Serene Highness the Count of Clermont.
Membership
Académie française]
"He was a curious character: prince of the blood, abbé, military officer, libertine, man of letters (or at least a member of the Academy), anti-Parlement, religious during his final years, he was one of the most striking examples (and one of the most amusing on certain days) and also one of the most shocking (although not at all odious), of the abuses and disparities pushed to scandal, under the Old Order, of pleasure and privilege." (Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve).