Louis XIV endeavoured to ensure his succession from very early on. By his first wife, Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, Louis XIV had 6 children of whom only one survived. Louis of France, nicknamed "the Grand Dauphin" was marked out to succeed his father, but he died before him and would never become King.
On his death, only one heir to Louis the Great would remain : the Duke of Anjou, Louis XIV's great grandchild, the son of the Duke of Burgundy and Marie-Adelaide of Savoy. Louis XV was dauphin on his father's death in 1712 and became King at the age of 5 in 1715. Phillip of Orleans, the son of his brother Phillip of France, nicknamed "Monsieur" acted as Regent.
Louis XIV had sixteen or seventeen known natural children. He legitimised the two children he had by his mistress, the Duchess of La Vallière : Marie Anne de Bourbon, known as "the first Mademoiselle of Blois"; and Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vermandois. He also legitimised the children he had by his mistress, the Marquise of Montespan : Louis Auguste Bourbon, Duke of Maine ; Louise Françoise de Bourbon, "Mademoiselle de Nantes" ; Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, known as "the second Mademoiselle of Blois" and Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse.