Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angouleme
Encyclopedia
Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême (6 August 1775 – 3 June 1844) was the eldest son of Charles X of France
and, from 1824 to 1836, the last Dauphin of France. After his father's abdication in 1830, he enjoyed a disputed reign of twenty minutes, and after his father's death in 1836 was the legitimist pretender
as Louis XIX, King of France and of Navarre.
He was born as petit-fils de France and late became fils de France, duc d'Angoulême.
, the youngest brother of King Louis XVI of France
. His mother was Princess Maria Theresa of Savoy (known as Marie Thérèse in France), the daughter of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia
and Maria Antonietta of Spain
.
From 1780 until 1789, Louis Antoine and his younger brother, Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, were educated by the marquis de Sérent, their gouverneur, in the château de Beauregard
, a few miles from Versailles
. On the outbreak of the French Revolution
in 1789 the two young princes followed their father into exile to first Turin
, then to Germany and finally England.
In 1792, Louis Antoine joined the émigré
army of his cousin, the Prince of Condé
.
In June 1795, his uncle, the comte de Provence proclaimed himself King Louis XVIII
. Later that year, the 20-year old Louis-Antoine led an unsuccessful royalist uprising in the Vendée
. In early 1797, he joined his brother and uncle in the German Duchy of Brunswick
, hoping to join the Austrian Army. The defeat of Austria by France obliged them to flee, and they took refuge in Mittau
, Courland
, under the protection of Tsar Paul I of Russia
.
There, on 10 June 1799, he married his first cousin, Princess Marie Thérèse of France, the eldest child of Louis XVI
and Marie Antoinette
, and the only member of the immediate royal family to survive the French Revolution
. Since her release from the Temple Prison
in 1795, she had been living at the Austrian court. They had no children.
n army and took part in the battle of Hohenlinden
against the French, showing some ability.
In early 1801, Tsar Paul made peace with Bonaparte
, and the French court in exile fled to Warsaw
, then controlled by Prussia
. For the next ten years, Louis-Antoine accompanied and advised his uncle, Louis XVIII. They returned to Russia when Alexander I
became Tsar, but in mid-1807 the treaty between Bonaparte and Alexander
forced them to take refuge in England. There, at Hartwell House, King Louis reconstituted his court, and Louis-Antoine was granted an allowance of £300 a month. Twice (in 1807 and 1813) he attempted to return to Russia to join the fight against Napoleon, but was refused permission by the Tsar. He remained in England until 1814 when he sailed to Bordeaux
, which had declared for the King. His entry into the city on 12 March 1814 was regarded as the beginning of the Bourbon restoration. From there, Louis Antoine fought alongside the Duke of Wellington
to restore his cousin Ferdinand VII to the throne of Spain.
valley, Louis Antoine was unable to prevent Napoleon's return to Paris and was again forced to flee to England during the "Hundred Days
". After the final defeat of Bonaparte at Waterloo
, he loyally served Louis XVIII. In 1823, he commanded a French corps sent into Spain
to restore the King's absolute powers
, known as the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis: he was victorious in the Battle of Trocadero
, after which the reactionary power of King Ferdinand VII of Spain was firmly restored. For this achievement, he was awarded the title of a Prince of Trocadero.
Upon the King's death in 1824, his father became King Charles X
and Louis-Antoine became Dauphin, heir-apparent to the throne. He supported his father's policy of ridding France of her recent revolutionary and imperial past, expelling former imperial officers from the Army.
, masses of angry demonstrators demanded the abdication of Charles and of his descendants, in favour of his cousin Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans
, and sent a delegation to the Tuileries Palace
to force his compliance.
When Charles reluctantly signed the document of abdication on 2 August 1830, Louis Antoine and his wife became king and queen of France, though the brevity of his effective reign makes it often unaccounted for by historians. It is said that the now-King Louis XIX spent the next twenty minutes listening to the entreaties of his wife not to sign, while the former Charles X sat weeping. After that he also abdicated (in favour of his nephew, the Duke of Bordeaux), making history as the shortest-ever reigning king. For the final time he left for exile, where he was known as the "Count of Marnes". He never returned to France.
Louis Antoine and his wife travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland, in November 1830,and took up residence in a house in Regent Terrace
near Holyrood Palace
where Charles X was staying.
The Emperor Francis II of Austria
in 1832 offered the Hradschin palace
in Prague to the royal entourage so Louis-Antoine and Charles X moved there. Francis II, however, died in 1835, and his successor Ferdinand I told the French royal family he needed the palace for his coronation in the summer of 1836. Louis Antoine, Charles X and their entourage therefore left and eventually arrived at the castle of Graffenberg in Gorizia
on 21 October 1836.
Many legitimists did not recognize the abdications as valid, and recognized Charles X as king until his death in 1836, with Louis XIX succeeding him thereafter. Louis Antoine died in Görz, Austria, in 1844, aged 69. He was buried in his father Charles X's crypt in the church of the Franciscan Monastery of Kostanjevica
near Görz, now in Slovenia
n city of Nova Gorica
. Upon his death, his nephew the Duke of Bordeaux, who would use in exile the title of Count of Chambord, became head of the royal family of France.
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
and, from 1824 to 1836, the last Dauphin of France. After his father's abdication in 1830, he enjoyed a disputed reign of twenty minutes, and after his father's death in 1836 was the legitimist pretender
Legitimists
Legitimists are royalists in France who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession of the descendants of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of the July Monarchy of 1830–1848, whose kings were members of the junior...
as Louis XIX, King of France and of Navarre.
He was born as petit-fils de France and late became fils de France, duc d'Angoulême.
Early life
Louis Antoine was born at Versailles, as the eldest son of Charles Philippe, Count of ArtoisCharles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
, the youngest brother of King Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
. His mother was Princess Maria Theresa of Savoy (known as Marie Thérèse in France), the daughter of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus III was King of Sardinia from 1773 until his death. Although he was politically conservative, he carried out numerous administrative reforms until declaring war on revolutionary France in 1792...
and Maria Antonietta of Spain
Maria Antonietta of Spain
Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain was an Infanta of Spain and the youngest daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese. She was the wife of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia whom she married in 1750...
.
From 1780 until 1789, Louis Antoine and his younger brother, Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, were educated by the marquis de Sérent, their gouverneur, in the château de Beauregard
Château de Beauregard, La Celle-Saint-Cloud
Château de Beauregard is a former house in La Celle-Saint-Cloud south-west suburbs of Paris, five kilometers north of Versailles.The name of the domain seems to have its roots in the Middle-Ages...
, a few miles from Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
. On the outbreak of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in 1789 the two young princes followed their father into exile to first Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, then to Germany and finally England.
In 1792, Louis Antoine joined the émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
army of his cousin, the Prince of Condé
Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé
Louis Joseph de Bourbon was Prince of Condé from 1740 to his death. A member of the House of Bourbon, he held the prestigious rank of Prince du Sang.-Biography:...
.
In June 1795, his uncle, the comte de Provence proclaimed himself King Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
. Later that year, the 20-year old Louis-Antoine led an unsuccessful royalist uprising in the Vendée
Revolt in the Vendée
The War in the Vendée was a Royalist rebellion and counterrevolution in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the Loire River in western France. The uprising was closely tied to the Chouannerie, which took place in...
. In early 1797, he joined his brother and uncle in the German Duchy of Brunswick
Brunswick-Lüneburg
The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...
, hoping to join the Austrian Army. The defeat of Austria by France obliged them to flee, and they took refuge in Mittau
Jelgava
-Sports:The city's main football team, FK Jelgava, plays in the Latvian Higher League and won the 2009/2010 Latvian Football Cup.- Notable people :*August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein - linguist, folklorist, ethnographer...
, Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, under the protection of Tsar Paul I of Russia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
.
There, on 10 June 1799, he married his first cousin, Princess Marie Thérèse of France, the eldest child of Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
and Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, and the only member of the immediate royal family to survive the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Since her release from the Temple Prison
Temple (Paris)
The Temple was a medieval fortress in Paris, located in what is now the IIIe arrondissement. It was built by the Knights Templar from the 12th century, as their European headquarters. In the 13th century it replaced earlier works of the Vieille Temple in Le Marais...
in 1795, she had been living at the Austrian court. They had no children.
Military service
In April 1800, Louis Antoine took command of a regiment of cavalry in the BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n army and took part in the battle of Hohenlinden
Battle of Hohenlinden (1800)
The Battle of Hohenlinden was fought on 3 December 1800 during the French Revolutionary Wars. A French army under Jean Victor Marie Moreau won a decisive victory over the Austrians and Bavarians led by Archduke John of Austria. After being forced into a disastrous retreat, the allies were compelled...
against the French, showing some ability.
In early 1801, Tsar Paul made peace with Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, and the French court in exile fled to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, then controlled by Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. For the next ten years, Louis-Antoine accompanied and advised his uncle, Louis XVIII. They returned to Russia when Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
became Tsar, but in mid-1807 the treaty between Bonaparte and Alexander
Treaties of Tilsit
The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon I of France in the town of Tilsit in July, 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France, when they met on a raft in the middle of the Neman...
forced them to take refuge in England. There, at Hartwell House, King Louis reconstituted his court, and Louis-Antoine was granted an allowance of £300 a month. Twice (in 1807 and 1813) he attempted to return to Russia to join the fight against Napoleon, but was refused permission by the Tsar. He remained in England until 1814 when he sailed to Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, which had declared for the King. His entry into the city on 12 March 1814 was regarded as the beginning of the Bourbon restoration. From there, Louis Antoine fought alongside the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
to restore his cousin Ferdinand VII to the throne of Spain.
Flight to England and return
As chief of the royalist army in the southern Rhône RiverRhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...
valley, Louis Antoine was unable to prevent Napoleon's return to Paris and was again forced to flee to England during the "Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
". After the final defeat of Bonaparte at Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, he loyally served Louis XVIII. In 1823, he commanded a French corps sent into Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to restore the King's absolute powers
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
, known as the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis: he was victorious in the Battle of Trocadero
Battle of Trocadero
The Battle of Trocadero, fought on 31 August 1823, was the only significant battle in the French invasion of Spain when French forces defeated the Spanish liberal forces and restored the absolute rule of King Ferdinand VII.-Prelude:...
, after which the reactionary power of King Ferdinand VII of Spain was firmly restored. For this achievement, he was awarded the title of a Prince of Trocadero.
Upon the King's death in 1824, his father became King Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
and Louis-Antoine became Dauphin, heir-apparent to the throne. He supported his father's policy of ridding France of her recent revolutionary and imperial past, expelling former imperial officers from the Army.
Abdication of father and son
In July 1830, in what became known as the July RevolutionJuly Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
, masses of angry demonstrators demanded the abdication of Charles and of his descendants, in favour of his cousin Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
, and sent a delegation to the Tuileries Palace
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace was a royal palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
to force his compliance.
When Charles reluctantly signed the document of abdication on 2 August 1830, Louis Antoine and his wife became king and queen of France, though the brevity of his effective reign makes it often unaccounted for by historians. It is said that the now-King Louis XIX spent the next twenty minutes listening to the entreaties of his wife not to sign, while the former Charles X sat weeping. After that he also abdicated (in favour of his nephew, the Duke of Bordeaux), making history as the shortest-ever reigning king. For the final time he left for exile, where he was known as the "Count of Marnes". He never returned to France.
Louis Antoine and his wife travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland, in November 1830,and took up residence in a house in Regent Terrace
Regent Terrace
Regent Terrace is a residential street of 34 classical 3-bay townhouses built on the tail of Calton Hill in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Regent Terrace is within the Edinburgh New and Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1995.- Houses :...
near Holyrood Palace
Holyrood Palace
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The palace stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle...
where Charles X was staying.
The Emperor Francis II of Austria
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
in 1832 offered the Hradschin palace
Prague Castle
Prague Castle is a castle in Prague where the Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. The Czech Crown Jewels are kept here...
in Prague to the royal entourage so Louis-Antoine and Charles X moved there. Francis II, however, died in 1835, and his successor Ferdinand I told the French royal family he needed the palace for his coronation in the summer of 1836. Louis Antoine, Charles X and their entourage therefore left and eventually arrived at the castle of Graffenberg in Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
on 21 October 1836.
Many legitimists did not recognize the abdications as valid, and recognized Charles X as king until his death in 1836, with Louis XIX succeeding him thereafter. Louis Antoine died in Görz, Austria, in 1844, aged 69. He was buried in his father Charles X's crypt in the church of the Franciscan Monastery of Kostanjevica
Kostanjevica Monastery
Kostanjevica Monastery is a Franciscan monastery in Pristava near Nova Gorica, Slovenia. The locals frequently refer to it simply as Kapela ....
near Görz, now in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n city of Nova Gorica
Nova Gorica
Nova Gorica ; 21,082 ; 31,000 ) is a town and a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy...
. Upon his death, his nephew the Duke of Bordeaux, who would use in exile the title of Count of Chambord, became head of the royal family of France.