Luigi IV di Ludovicia

His Royal Highness

Louis IV of Ludovicia
Louis IV of Ludovicia in an official portrait
King of Ludovicia
Reign	30 november 1844 - 20 december 1883
Coronation	8 october 1844
Predecessor	Louis III
Successor	Louis V
Prime Minister	see Prime ministers of Ludovicia
Personal informations
Born	1 february 1832 at Ludovicia, Kingdom of Ludovicia
Died	20 december 1883 at Ludovicia, Kingdom of Ludovicia
Burial	23 december 1894 at Cathedral of Saint Louis, Ludovicia, Kingdom of Ludovicia
Spouse	Eugénie de La Rochefocauld
Issue	Louis, crown prince Charles Alexandre François Louis Philippe Louis Sophie Josephine Jacques Marie Alexandre
Full name	Louis Marie Philippe Henri
House	Orléans-Ludovicia
Father	Louis III
Mother	Juliette Madeleine de Valois-Saint Remy
Religion	Church of Ludovicia
Signature	---

Louis IV (Louis Marie Philippe Henri; 1 february 1832 - 20 december 1883) was king of Kingdom of Ludovicia from 1844 to 1883.

Biography

First years and ascending to throne

Louis IV was born to Louis the 1st february 1832, the son of king Louis III and his wife, the princess Juliette Madeleine de Valois-Saint Remy. Among his ancestors stood several members of the French royal family: his father was descendent from Louis XIII of France, instead his mother was descendant of Henry II of France. He was baptized in the chapel of the Royal Palace of Ludovicia by the archbishop Charles Marie Bonnivet de Mangin. His godfather was [[]], and his godmother was [[]].

Shy and introverted character, Louis did not consider becoming a sovereign one day since his older brother Louis Alexander was the first born, and for this was started in early studies at the college run by the Franciscans in Mont Royale. Here in 1840 he learned of his older brother's death in 1844, even with the death of his father, he was forced to abandon the college to succeed him to the throne.

Based on the particular situation of the kingdom, the recent change of dynasties and the not yet consolidated Ludovicia economics of the kingdom, the mother of Louis IV, Sophie Josephine de Bourgogne, arranged a commission of regency headed by his brother Philip of Bourgogne, lord of Herbamez, that lasted until the fourteenth year of the prince, when he was declared on age to govern themselves. During these years, the prince become sovereign continued his studies first with private tutors and later returned to Ludovicia where he attended the local university and became a student at the agricultural faculty.

In 1847 he transferred the whole court at the Royal Palace of Ludovicia, making it his favourite residence and centre of ludovician power.

In 1848, following the revolutionary movements in France, he gave its support to the Orleanists and tried to defend the position of his cousin Louis Philipp I, king of France, who however was dethroned and replaced by the republic led by president Louis Napoleon Bonaparte that since 1852, with a coup, proclaimed himself emperor of the french, thus founding the second french empire.

Louis IV, while aware of the stance he had held during the revolutionary period, tried every way to maintain relations with the new France of Napoleon III in 1856 by sending an ambassador to the imperial court to obtain the favors of the new emperor, accompanied by ensigns of Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Ludovicia he recently founded in addition to a number of gifts including a number of rare exotic plants growing in Ludovicia Botanical Gardens. Napoleon III showed to like the gifts of Louis IV and rewarded him with the insignia of the Legion of Honor, though not signing any commercial contract with Ludovicia and not feeling well to encourage that and the last legacy of monarchical government of France.

The establishment of the Ludovicia Botanical Gardens and the promotion of agriculture

Thanks to their passion accumulated from his youth and university studies in Ludovicia, Louis IV in 1854, on the occasion of its tenth anniversary of accession to the throne and the birth of his son, decided to found the Ludovicia Botanical Gardens to order to promote the knowledge and study of exotic plants and rare species from Asia, Africa, America and Europe, as well as creating a great place for the University of Ludovicia where to continue their agricultural studies for local agricultural development. The reforms that Louis IV brought forward also at government level, in fact, increased and strengthened the agricultural sector by over 27% in just ten years, greatly expanding the cultivation of sugar cane that had remained largely unchanged since colonial times French in addition to promoting the cultivation of corn as the main agricultural resource of the country, instructing the same university to study the causes of major diseases and infections that were going to hit the plants so you have the best production in each vintage.

He also gave way to the first cultivations of lives with plants directly imported from France and Italy, by opening one of the first person still working wineries, located in Nancy. Interested also in marine life and fishing, Louis IV also opened the National Oceanographic Museum, supporting personally the creation of the first guards to protect the environment.

Louis IV died in 1883 after reigning for 39 years while were in progress preparations to celebrate its fortieth year of reign that were never completed and were instead converted to celebrate the coronation of his eldest son who ascended the throne under the name Louis V.

Genealogy

Marriage and children

In ?, the king Louis V married the princess Juliette Madeleine de Valois-Saint Remy, descendant of king Henry II of France. The couple had the following children:

• Louis, crown prince
• Charles Alexandre
• François Louis
• Philippe Louis
• Sophie Josephine
• Jacques Marie Alexandre

Honours

National orders

• Grand Master and Knight Companion of the Order of Saint Louis
• Grand Master and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit
• Grand Master and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Ludovicia

Foreigns orders

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Legion d'Honneur (France)

Bibliography

• L. von Altbishofen, The great house of kings of Ludovicia from its origins to the present day, Ludovicia's Royal Print, 2015