François Louis de Bourbon, le Grand Conti (30 April 1664 – 22 February 1709), was a French nobleman who held the title Prince de Conti, succeeding his brother, Louis Armand de Bourbon, in 1685. Until this date, he used the title of Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon. He was proclaimed as the King of Poland in 1697. He is the most famous member of the Conti family, a cadet branch of the Princes of Condé. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a prince du sang.
Biography
Early life
left|thumb|205px|Coat of Arms of François Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti
Born at the Hôtel de Conti (quai Malaquais) in Paris, François was the son of Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and Anne Marie Martinozzi, daughter of Girolamo Martinozzi and niece of Cardinal Mazarin, through her mother. He had one older brother, Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti (1661–1685), who married Marie Anne de Bourbon, the illegitimate daughter of King Louis XIV and his mistress, Louise de La Vallière.
Conti's mother, Anne Marie Martinozzi was one of the Mazarinettes, nieces of the powerful Cardinal Mazarin. Conti's mother was described as being possessed of a beautiful appearance, blonde hair, a sweet temper, generous, with a lot of wit and intelligence.
Conti's father on the other hand, although seen as intelligent, suffered from a deformity and was considered something of a cypher. Having a reputation for vacillating between debauchery and extreme piousness, his strange behaviour was noted by his contemporaries.
His father died in 1666 from syphilis when Conti was just two years old. Its possible that he passed down the disease to his son Francois. Conti's mother died when he was eight years old from an apoplexy.
In his parents respective wills, they entrusted their two now orphaned sons to the care of the Duchess of Longueville, their paternal aunt, and the guardianship of the two boys to their uncle the Grand Condé. The Grand Condé despite his enmity against Conti's father, would become particularly attached to François-Louis and make him his protégé hoping to groom him for military life. Louis-Francois cousin, and son of the Grand Condé, Henri Jules was not given to such pursuits and mentally unstable.
François-Louis and his brother were educated by Claude Fleury alongside the Dauphin Louis de Bourbon. Fleury remarked that François-Louis could not sit still, but that this was natural for his age and that nevertheless he had a good memory and remembered what he was taught.
François-Louis also had an Italian valet, who accompanied him throughout his education, and as a result he “spoke Italian almost as if it was his natural language".
Banishment from court
In 1682, Conti and several other young men at the highest levels of the French aristocracy were involved in a scandal, when it was discovered that they had formed a society dedicated to the "italian vice".
Among the other members were the Comte de Vermandois (the king's son), Prince de Turenne, son of the Duke of Bouillon and Anne Marie Mancini, the Chevalier de Sainte-Maure(ménin to the Dauphin), the Chevalier de Mailly, the Comte de Roucy and Marquise de Créquy son of Marechal de Créquy, the comte de Marsan and did not pay his wife much attention. He lived as a libertine, engaging in numerous love affairs with members of both sexes. His scandalous philandering and debaucheries caused tension and distance within the family, and earned him the nickname of le Grand Conti.
He served in the French army, but he never managed to achieve a rank higher than lieutenant-general. In 1689, he accompanied his intimate friend, François Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, to the Netherlands, and shared in the French victories at Fleurus, Steinkirk, and Neerwinden. On the death of his cousin, Jean Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville (1646–1694), and in accordance to his will, Conti claimed the Principality of Neuchâtel against Marie d'Orleans-Longueville, Duchess de Nemours (1625–1707), a sister of the Duke.
When he reached Danzig, he found his rival Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, already in possession of the Polish crown. Conti returned to France, where he was graciously received by King Louis XIV, although Saint-Simon says the King was vexed to see him again. But the misfortunes of the French armies, during the earlier years of the War of the Spanish Succession, compelled the King to appoint Conti, whose military renown stood very high, to command the troops in Italy.