Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France  Louis Joseph de France (Louis Joseph Xavier François; 22 October 1781 – 4 June 1789) was the second child and first son of King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette. As son of a king of France, he was a "fils de France" ("Son of France"), and as the eldest son and heir apparent, he was Dauphin of France (the twenty-sixth "heir to the throne" of the Valois and Bourbon monarchies). Louis Joseph died at the age of seven from tuberculosis and was succeeded as "Dauphin de France" by his four-year-old brother Louis Charles. Louis Joseph Xavier François de France was born at the Palace of Versailles on 22 October 1781. He was named after his maternal uncle, Joseph II. The new-born was the long-awaited "Dauphin", his father's heir to the throne of France, as the Salic Law, which excluded women from acceding the throne, applied to his elder sister, Marie Thérèse Charlotte, "Madame Royale". The birth of Louis Joseph ruined the hopes of his uncle, the "comte de Provence", of succeeding his brother Louis XVI. His private household was created upon his birth. He was under the care of Victoire de Rohan, the Governess of the Children of France, until she was replaced in 1782 by Yolande de Polastron, "duchesse de Polignac", one of his mother's favourites. His "sous-gouverneur" was the "Maréchal de camp" Antoine Charles Augustin d'Allonville. His wet nurse was Geneviève Poitrine, who was later accused of transmitting tuberculosis to the young Dauphin. Louis Joseph was very close to his sister and to his parents, who watched attentively over his education. He was always praised for being a very bright child for his age; however, it soon became apparent that he was of fragile health. Around April 1784, when he was three years old, Louis Joseph had a series of high fevers. Out of fear for his health, he was transported to the Château de La Muette where the air was reputed to have healing properties. The time spent at La Muette seemed to have helped Louis Joseph recover, and almost a year later, in March 1785, he returned there and was inoculated against smallpox.