Louis XVIII of France
Encyclopedia
Louis XVIII known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days
in 1815. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, during the French Revolution
and the First French Empire
, and again in 1815, for 100 days, upon the return of Napoleon
from Elba
. While in exile, he lived in Prussia
, the United Kingdom
and Russia
.
The First French Republic abolished the monarchy and deposed King Louis XVI
on 21 September 1792. Although the monarchy had been disestablished, Louis XVIII succeeded his nephew, Louis XVII
, as titular King, when the latter died in prison in June 1795. When the coalition
armies captured Paris from Napoleon in 1814, Louis XVIII was restored to what he, and Royalists, considered his rightful place. Louis XVIII ruled as king for slightly less than a decade, during the Bourbon Restoration
period. The Bourbon Restoration was a constitutional monarchy
(unlike the Ancien Régime, which was absolute
). As a constitutional monarch, Louis XVIII's royal prerogative was reduced substantially by the Charter of 1814
, France's new constitution. Louis had no children; therefore, upon his death, the crown passed to his brother, Charles, Count of Artois
. Louis XVIII was the last French monarch to die while reigning.
, the son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and of his wife, Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony. He was the grandson of the reigning King Louis XV
. As a son of the Dauphin he was a Fils de France
. Louis Stanislas was christened Louis Stanislas Xavier six months after his birth, in accordance with Bourbon family tradition, being homeless before his baptism
. By this act, he became also a Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit.
The name of Louis was bestowed because it was typical of a Prince of France; Stanislas after his great-grandfather King Stanisław Leszczyński of Poland; and Xavier for Saint Francis Xavier
, whom his mother's family held as one of their patron saints.
At the time of his birth, Louis Stanislas was fourth in line to the throne of France, behind his father, the Dauphin; and his two elder brothers, Louis Joseph Xavier, Duke of Burgundy
and Louis Auguste, Duke of Berry
. The former died in 1761, leaving Louis Auguste as heir apparent until the Dauphin's own premature death in 1765. The two deaths elevated Louis Stanislas to second in the line of succession, while Louis Auguste, acquired the title of Dauphin.
Louis Stanislas found displeasure in his governess, Madame de Marsan, Governess of the Children of France
, (Gouvernante des Enfants de France), as he was her favourite among his siblings. Louis Stanislas was taken away from his governess when he turned seven, age at which the education of boys of royal blood and of the nobility was turned over to men. Antoine de Quélen de Stuer de Caussade, Duke of La Vauguyon, a friend of his father, was named his governor.
Louis Stanislas was an intelligent boy, excelling in classics. His education was of the same quality and consistency as that of his older brother, Louis Auguste, despite the fact that Louis Auguste was heir and Louis Stanislas was not. Louis Stanislas' education was quite religious in nature, several of his teachers being ecclesiastics. La Vauguyon drilled into young Louis Stanislas and his brothers the way he thought princes should "know how to withdraw themselves, to like to work," and "to know how to reason correctly".
In April 1771, Louis Stanislas's education was formally concluded, and his own independent household was established, which astounded contemporaries with its extravagance: in 1773, the number of servants reached 390. In the same month his household was founded, Louis was granted several titles by his grandfather, Louis XV: Duke of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Perche and Count of Senoches.
On 17 December 1773 he was ordained as Grand Master of the Order of St. Lazarus.
.
A luxurious ball followed the wedding on 20 May. Louis Stanislas was repulsed by his wife, the new Countess of Provence, who was considered to be ugly, tedious and ignorant of the court at Versailles. The marriage remained unconsummated; biographers disagree about the reason, maintaining that it was due to Louis Stanislas' alleged impotence (according to biographer Antonia Fraser
) or his unwillingness to sleep with his wife, due to her poor personal hygiene. She never brushed her teeth, plucked her eyebrows, or used any perfumes. At the time of his marriage, Louis Stanislas was obese and waddled instead of walked. He never exercised and continued to eat enormous amounts of food.
Despite the fact that Louis Stanislas was not infatuated with his wife, he boasted that the two enjoyed vigorous conjugal relations — such declarations were held in low esteem by courtiers at Versailles. He also proclaimed his wife to be pregnant, merely to spite Louis Auguste and his wife Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria
, who had not yet consummated their marriage. The Dauphin and Louis Stanislas did not enjoy a harmonious relationship, and often quarrelled, as did their wives. Louis Stanislas impregnated his wife in 1774, having conquered his aversion to Marie Joséphine. However, the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.
On 27 April 1774, Louis XV fell ill after having contracted smallpox
, and died the following 4 May. The Dauphin, Louis Auguste, succeeded his grandfather as King Louis XVI. Louis Stanislas longed for political influence. He attempted to gain admittance to the King’s council in 1774, ultimately failing. Louis Stanislas was left in a political limbo that he called "a gap of 12 years in my political life". Louis XVI granted Louis Stanislas revenues from the Duchy of Alençon
in December 1774. The duchy was given to enhance Louis Stanislas' prestige; however, his appanage
turned over only 300,000 livres
per annum, an amount much lower than it had been at its peak in the fourteenth century. King Louis XVI, his brothers and Marie Antoinette became fellows of the masonic lodge
Trois Frères à l'Orient de Versailles.
Louis Stanislas travelled more through France than other members of the royal family, who rarely left the Île-de-France
. In 1774, he accompanied his sister Madame Clotilde to Chambéry
, on the journey to meet her bridegroom Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont
, heir to the throne of Sardinia. In 1775, he visited Lyon
and also his spinster aunts, Madame Adélaïde and Madame Victoire, while they were taking the waters at Vichy
. The four provincial tours that Louis Stanislas took before the year 1791 amounted to a total of three months.
On 5 May 1778, Dr. Lassonne, Marie Antoinette's private physician, confirmed her pregnancy. On 19 December 1778, the Queen gave birth to a daughter, who was named Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France, and given the honorific title Madame Royale
. The birth of a girl came as a relief to the comte de Provence, who kept his position as heir to Louis XVI, since Salic Law
excluded women from acceding to the throne of France. However, Louis Stanislas did not remain heir to the throne much longer, as, on 22 October 1781, Marie Antoinette gave birth to the Dauphin, Louis Joseph. Louis Stanislas and the comte d’Artois served as godfathers by proxy for the Holy Roman Emperor
, the Queen’s brother. When Marie Antoinette gave birth to her second son, Louis Charles
, in March 1785, Louis Stanislas slid further down the line of succession.
In 1780, Anne Nompar de Caumont de La Force, comtesse de Balbi
entered the service of Marie Joséphine. Louis Stanislas soon fell in love with his wife's new lady-in-waiting, and installed her as his mistress, which resulted in the couple's already small affection for each other cooling entirely. Louis Stanislas commissioned a pavilion for his mistress on a parcel that became known as the Parc Balbi, near the Pièce d’eau des Suisses
and the Potager du Roi
at Versailles.
Louis Stanislas lived a quiet and sedentary lifestyle at this point, not having a great deal to do since his self-proclaimed political exclusion in 1774. He kept himself occupied with his vast library of over 11,000 books at Balbi's pavilion, reading for several hours each morning. In the early 1780, he also incurred huge debts totaling 10 million livres, which his brother Louis XVI paid for him.
An Assembly of Notables
(the members consisted of magistrates, mayors, nobles and clergy) was convened in February 1787 to ratify the financial reforms sought by the Controller-General of Finance Charles Alexandre de Calonne
. This provided Louis Stanislas, who abhorred the radical reforms proposed by Calonne, the opportunity he had long been waiting for to establish himself in politics. The reforms proposed a new property tax, and new elected provincial assemblies that would have a say in local taxation. Calonne's proposition was rejected outright by the notables, and, as a result, Louis XVI dismissed him. The Archbishop of Toulouse, Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne
, acquired Calonne's ministry. Brienne attempted to salvage Calonne's reforms, but ultimately failed to convince the notables to approve them. A frustrated Louis XVI dissolved the assembly.
Brienne's reforms were then submitted to the Parlement de Paris in the hopes that they would be approved. (A parlement was responsible for ratifying the King’s edicts. Each province had its own parlement, but the parlement de Paris was the most significant of all.) The Parlement de Paris refused to accept Brienne’s proposals, and pronounced that any new taxation would have to be approved by an Estates-General
(the nominal parliament of France). Louis XVI and Brienne took a hostile stance against the parlement's rejection, and Louis XVI had to implement a Lit de justice
(which automatically registered an edict in the Parlement de Paris) to ratify the desired reforms. On 8 May, Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil
and Goislard de Montsabert, two of the leading members of the Parlement de Paris were arrested. There was rioting in Brittany
, Provence, Burgundy and Béarn
in reaction to their arrest. This unrest was engineered by local magistrates and nobles, who enticed the people to revolt against the Lit de Justice, which was quite unfavourable to the nobles and magistrates. The clergy also joined the provincial cause, and condemned Brienne's tax reforms. Brienne conceded defeat in July and agreed to calling the Estates-General to meet in 1789. He resigned from his post in August and was replaced by the Swiss magnate Jacques Necker
.
In November 1788, a second Assembly of Notables was convened by Jacques Necker, to consider the makeup of the next Estates-General. The Parlement de Paris recommended that the Estates should be the same as they were at the last assembly, in 1614 (this would mean that the clergy and nobility would have more representation than the Third Estate). The notables rejected the "dual representation" proposal. Louis Stanislas was the only notable to vote to increase the size of the Third Estate. Necker disregarded the notables' judgment, and convinced Louis XVI to grant the extra representation — Louis duly obliged on 27 December.
were convened in May 1789 to ratify financial reforms. Louis Stanislas favoured a stalwart position against the Third Estate and its demands for tax reform. On 17 June, the Third Estate declared itself a National Assembly
, an Assembly not of the Estates, but of the People.
Louis Stanislas urged the King to act strongly against the declaration, while the King's popular minister, Jacques Necker
, intended to compromise with the new assembly. Louis XVI was characteristically indecisive. On 9 July, the assembly declared itself a National Constituent Assembly
, that would give France a Constitution. On 11 July, Louis XVI dismissed Jacques Necker, which led to widespread rioting across Paris. On 12 July, the sabre charge of Charles-Eugène de Lorraine, prince de Lambesc's cavalry regiment, the Royal-Allemand, on a crowd gathered at the Tuileries gardens
, sparked the Storming of the Bastille
two days later.
On 16 July, the comte d’Artois left France with his wife and children, along with many other courtiers. Artois and his family took up residence in Turin
, the capital city of his father-in-law’s Kingdom of Sardinia
, with the Condé family.
Louis Stanislas decided to remain at Versailles
. When the royal family plotted to abscond from Versailles to Metz
, Louis Stanislas advised the King not to leave, to which the latter duly agreed.
The royal family was ripped away from their Palace at Versailles, the day after the 5 October 1789 women's march on Versailles. In Paris, the Comte and his wife lodged in the Luxembourg Palace
, while the rest of the royal family stayed in the Tuileries Palace
. In March 1791, the National Assembly created a law outlining the regency of Louis Charles in case his father died while he was still too young to reign. The law created the potential regency as follows: Louis Charles' nearest male relative in France (presently the comte de Provence Louis Stanislas), and after him, the regency would be given to the duc d’Orléans
, and if he were unavailable, the regency would go to election.
The comte de Provence and his wife fled to the Austrian Netherlands in conjunction with the royal family’s failed Flight to Varennes
in June 1791.
, he proclaimed himself de facto regent
of France. Louis Stanislas was exploiting a document that he and Louis XVI had written before the latter's failed escape to Varennes. The document gave Louis Stanislas the regency in the event of his brother's death, or inability to perform his role as King. Louis Stanislas would join the other princes-in-exile at Coblenz soon after his escape. It was there that the comte d’Artois, the Condés and the comte de Provence, proclaimed that their objective was to invade France. Louis XVI was greatly annoyed by his brothers' behaviour. Provence sent emissaries to various European courts asking for financial aid, soldiers, and munition. Artois secured a castle for the court in exile in the Electorate of Trier, where their maternal uncle, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony
, was the Archbishop-Elector
. Louis Stanislas' rallying bore fruit when the rulers of Prussia
and Austria
gathered at Dresden
. They released the Declaration of Pillnitz
in August 1791, which urged Europe to intervene in France if Louis XVI or his family were threatened. Provence's endorsement of the declaration was not well received in France, by the people, or by Louis XVI.
In January 1792, the Legislative Assembly declared that all the émigrés were traitors to France. Their property and titles were confiscated. The monarchy of France was abolished by the National Convention
on 21 September 1792.
Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. This left his young son, Louis Charles, as titular King Louis XVII of France
. The princes-in-exile proclaimed Louis Charles "King Louis XVII". Louis Stanislas now unilaterally declared himself regent for his nephew, who was too young to be head of the House of Bourbon (since the French monarchy had been abolished for several months, Louis XVII never actually ruled, and any claim to regency would have been in name only).
Young Louis XVII's reign did not last long as he died in June 1795, survived by his sister Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France, Madame Royale. On 16 June, the princes-in-exile declared the comte de Provence "King Louis XVIII". The new King accepted their declaration soon after. Louis XVIII busied himself drafting a manifesto in response to Louis XVII's death. The manifesto, known as "The Declaration of Verona" was Louis XVIII's attempt to introduce the French people to his politics (after all, he had just been declared King by the exiles). The Declaration of Verona beckoned France back into the arms of the monarchy, "which for fourteen centuries was the glory of France".
Louis XVIII negotiated Marie-Thérèse’s release from her Paris prison in 1795. Louis XVIII desperately wanted Marie-Thérèse to marry her first cousin, Louis Antoine, duc d’Angoulême
, the son of the comte d'Artois. Louis XVIII deceived his niece by telling her that her parents' last wishes were for her to marry Louis Antoine, and Marie-Thérèse duly agreed to her uncle-king's wishes.
Louis XVIII was forced to abandon Verona when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the Republic of Venice
.
Louis XVIII had been vying for the custody of his niece Marie-Thérèse since her release from the Temple Tower in December 1795. Louis succeeded when Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
agreed to relinquish custody of Marie-Thérèse in 1796. She had been staying in Vienna
with her Habsburg
relatives since January 1796. Louis XVIII moved to Blankenburg
in the Duchy of Brunswick
(Braunschweig) after his departure from Verona. He lived in a modest two-bedroom apartment over a shop. Louis XVIII was forced to leave Blankenberg when King Frederick William II of Prussia
died. In light of this, Marie-Thérèse decided to wait a while longer before reuniting with her uncle.
In 1798, Emperor Paul I
of Russia offered Louis the use of Jelgava Palace
in Courland
(now Latvia). Paul I also guaranteed Louis's safety and bestowed upon him a generous pension, however, the Emperor later disregarded this allowance. Marie-Thérèse finally joined Louis XVIII at Jelgava in 1799. In the winter of 1798–1799, Louis XVIII wrote a biography on Marie Antoinette
titled Réflexions Historiques sur Marie Antoinette. He attempted to recreate the court life of Versailles at Jelgava, where many old courtiers lived, reestablishing all the court ceremonies, including the lever and coucher (ceremonies that accompanied waking and bedding, respectively).
Marie-Thérèse married her cousin Louis Antoine on 9 June 1799, at Jelgava Palace. Louis XVIII ordered his wife to attend the marriage ceremony in Courland
without her long-time friend (and rumoured lover) Madame de Gourbillon. Queen Marie Joséphine lived apart from her husband in Schleswig Holstein. Louis XVIII was trying desperately to display to the world a united family front. The Queen refused to leave her friend behind with unpleasant consequences that rivalled the wedding in notoriety. Louis XVIII knew that his nephew Louis Antoine was not compatible with Marie-Thérèse. Despite this, he still pressed for the marriage, which proved to be quite unhappy and produced no children.
Louis XVIII attempted to strike up a correspondence with Napoleon Bonaparte (now First Consul of France) in 1800. Louis XVIII urged Bonaparte to restore the Bourbons to their throne, but the future emperor was immune to Louis's requests and continued to consolidate his position as ruler of France.
Louis XVIII encouraged his niece to write her memoirs, as he wished them to be used as Bourbon propaganda. Louis also used the diaries of Louis XVI's final attendants in the same way, in 1796 and in 1803. In January 1801, Tsar Paul told Louis XVIII that he could no longer live in Russia. The court at Jelgava was so low on funds that it had to auction some of its possessions to afford the journey out of Russia. Marie-Thérèse even sold a diamond necklace that the Emperor Paul had given her as a wedding gift.
Marie-Thérèse convinced Queen Louise of Prussia to give her family refuge in Prussian territory. Louise consented, but the Bourbons were forced to assume pseudonyms. With Louis XVIII using the title Comte d'Isle (named after his estate in Languedoc
), he and his family assumed residence in Warsaw
in the Lazienki Palace from 1801 to 1804, after an arduous voyage from Jelgava. It was very soon after their arrival that they learned of the death of Paul I. Louis hoped that Paul's successor, Alexander I of Russia
, would repudiate his father's banishment of the Bourbons (which he later did). Louis XVIII then intended to set off to the Neapolitan court. Charles, comte d'Artois, asked Louis to send his son, Louis Antoine, and daughter-in-law, Marie-Thérèse, to him in Edinburgh
. Charles had an allowance from King George III of Great Britain and sent some money to Louis. He requested that his son Louis Antoine and daughter-in-law Marie Thérèse to join him in Edinburgh, but they did not at this time. Louis XVIII's court in exile was being spied on by French police. The court-in-exile was being financed mainly by interest owed from Francis II on valuables his aunt, Marie Antoinette, had removed from France and had to cut its expenses significantly.
In 1803, Napoleon tried to force Louis XVIII to renounce his right to the throne of France, but Louis refused. In May 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Emperor of the French
. Louis XVIII and his nephew departed for Sweden in July for a Bourbon family conference, where Louis XVIII, the comte d’Artois, and the duc d'Angoulême issued a statement condemning Napoleon's decision to declare himself emperor. The King of Prussia issued a proclamation saying that Louis XVIII would have to leave Prussian territory, which meant leaving Warsaw. Alexander I of Russia invited Louis XVIII to resume residence in Jelgava. Louis XVIII had to live under less generous conditions than those enjoyed under Paul I, and he intended to embark for England as soon as possible.
Louis XVIII created another policy in 1805: a declaration that was far more liberal than his former ones. It repudiated his Declaration of Verona, promised to abolish conscription, keep Napoleon I's administrative and judicial system, reduce taxes, eliminate political prisons, and guarantee amnesty to everyone who did not oppose a Bourbon Restoration. The opinions expressed in the declaration were largely those of the comte d’Avaray
(Louis's best friend in exile).
Louis XVIII was forced once again to leave Jelgava when Alexander of Russia informed him that his safety could not be guaranteed on continental Europe. In July 1807, Louis boarded a Swedish frigate
to Stockholm
, bringing with him only the duc d'Angoulême. Louis did not stay in Sweden for long, and arrived in Great Yarmouth
, Norfolk, England, in November 1807. He took up residence in Gosfield Hall
, leased to him by the Marquess of Buckingham.
Louis brought his wife and Queen, Marie Joséphine, from mainland Europe in 1808. Louis's stay at Gosfield Hall did not last long, and he moved to Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire, where over one hundred courtiers were housed. The King paid £500 in rent each year to the proprietor, Sir George Lee. The Prince Regent
of the United Kingdom was very charitable to the exiled Bourbons, granting them permanent asylum
and giving them extremely generous allowances.
The comte d'Artois did not join the court-in-exile in Hartwell, continuing his frivolous life in London. Louis's friend the comte d'Avaray left Hartwell for Madeira
in 1809, and died there in 1811. Louis replaced Avaray with the Comte de Blacas
. Louis XVIII's wife, Queen Marie Joséphine, died on 13 November 1810. That same winter, Louis suffered a particularly severe case of gout, which was a recurring problem for him at Hartwell, and he had to be put in a wheelchair.
Napoleon I embarked on an invasion of Russia
in 1812. This war would prove to be the turning point in his fortunes, as the expedition failed miserably and Napoleon was forced to retreat with an army in tatters.
In 1813, Louis XVIII issued another declaration while at Hartwell. "The Declaration of Hartwell" was more liberal than his "Declaration of 1805", asserting that all those who served Napoleon or the Republic would not suffer repercussions for their acts, and that the original owners of the Biens nationaux
(lands confiscated from the nobles and clergy during the Revolution) were to be compensated for their losses.
Allied troops entered Paris on 31 March 1814. Louis was, however, unable to walk, and so sent the comte d'Artois to France in January 1814. Louis XVIII issued letters patent
appointing Artois Lieutenant General of the Kingdom in the event of the Bourbons being restored. Napoleon I abdicated on 11 April, five days after his Senate
had invited the Bourbons to re-assume the throne of France.
the same day. His niece, the duchesse d'Angoulême, fainted at the sight of the Tuileries.
Napoleon's senate called Louis XVIII to the throne on the condition that he would accept the new constitution, which entailed recognition of the Republic and the Empire, a bicameral parliament elected every year, and the tri-colour flag of the aforementioned regimes. Louis XVIII opposed the senate's constitution, and stated that he was "disbanding the current senate in all the crimes of Bonaparte, and appealing to the French people". The senatorial constitution was burned in a theatre in royalist Bordeaux, and the Municipal Council of Lyon voted for a speech that defamed the senate.
The armies occupying Paris demanded that Louis XVIII implement a constitution. The Charter of 1814
that Louis created entailed all that Saint-Ouen wished for and more: Freedom of Religion
, a legislature composed of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Peers, the press would enjoy a degree of freedom, the biens nationaux
, would remain in the hands of their current owners. The constitution had 76 articles. Taxation was to be voted on by the chambers.
Catholicism was the official religion of France. To be eligible for election to the Chamber of Deputies, one had to pay over 1,000 francs per year in tax, and be over the age of forty. The King appointed peers to the Chamber of Peers on a hereditary basis, or for life at his discretion. Deputies were elected every five years, with one fifth of them up for election each year. There were 90,000 citizens eligible to vote.
Louis XVIII signed the Treaty of Paris
on 30 May 1814. The treaty gave France her 1792 borders, which extended east of the Rhine. She had to pay no war indemnity, and the occupying armies of the Sixth Coalition
withdrew instantly from French soil. These generous terms would be reversed in the next Treaty of Paris after the Hundred Days
(Napoleon's return to France in 1815).
It did not take Louis XVIII long to go back on one of his many promises. He and his Controller-General of Finance Baron Louis
were determined not to let the exchequer fall into deficit (there was a 75 million franc debt inherited from Napoleon I), and took fiscal measures to ensure this. Louis XVIII assured the French that the unpopular tax on tobacco, wine and salt would be abolished when he was restored, but he failed to do so, which led to rioting in Bordeaux. Expenditure on the army was slashed in the 1815 budget — in 1814, the military had accounted for 55% of government spending.
Louis XVIII admitted the comte d'Artois and his nephews, the duc d'Angoulême, and the duc de Berry into the King's council in May 1814, upon its establishment. The council was informally headed by the Prince de Talleyrand. Louis XVIII took a large interest in the goings-on of the Congress of Vienna
(set up to redraw the map of Europe after Napoleon's demise). Talleyrand represented France at the proceedings. Louis was horrified by Prussia's intention to annex the Kingdom of Saxony
, to which he was attached because his mother was born a Saxon princess, and he was also concerned that Prussia would dominate Germany. He also wished the Duchy of Parma
to be restored to the Parmese Bourbons, and not to Empress Marie Louise of France
, as was being suggested by the Allies. Louis also protested the Allies' inaction in Naples, where he wanted the Napoleonic usurper Joachim Murat
removed in favour of the Neapolitan Bourbons, who had ruled for centuries.
On behalf of the Allies, Austria agreed to send a force to the Two Sicilies to depose Murat in February 1815, when it became apparent that Murat corresponded with Napoleon I, which was explicitly forbidden by a recent treaty. Murat never actually wrote to Napoleon, but Louis, intent on restoring the Neapolitan Bourbons at any cost, forged the correspondence, and subsidised the Austrian expedition with 25 million francs.
Louis XVIII succeeded in getting the Neapolitan Bourbons restored immediately. Parma was bestowed upon Empress Marie Louise for life, and the Parmese Bourbons were given the Duchy of Lucca
until the death of Marie Louise.
On 26 February 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped his island prison of Elba
and embarked for France. He arrived with about 1,000 troops near Cannes
on 1 March. Louis XVIII was not particularly worried by Bonaparte's excursion, as such small numbers of troops could be easily overcome. There was, however, a major underlying problem for the Bourbons: Louis XVIII had failed to purge the military of its Bonapartist
troops. This led to mass desertions from the Bourbon armies to Bonaparte's. Furthermore, Louis XVIII could not join the campaign against Napoleon in the south of France because he was suffering from another case of gout. Minister of War Marshall Soult dispatched Louis Philippe d'Orléans, the comte d'Artois and Marshall MacDonald to apprehend Napoleon.
Louis XVIII's underestimation of Bonaparte proved disastrous. On 19 March, the army stationed outside Paris defected to Bonaparte, leaving the city vulnerable to attack. That same day, Louis XVIII quit the capital with a small escort at midnight. Louis decided to go first to Lille
, and then crossed the border into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
, staying in Ghent
. Other leaders, most prominently Alexander I of Russia
, debated that in case of a second victory over the French Empire
, the First Prince of the Blood
Louis Philippe d'Orléans should be proclaimed king instead of Louis XVIII.
However, Napoleon did not rule France again for very long, suffering a decisive defeat at the hands of the armies of the Duke of Wellington
and Field Marshal Blücher
at the Battle of Waterloo
on 18 June. Leaders came to the consensus that Louis XVIII should be restored to the throne of France.
Louis XVIII returned to France promptly after Napoleon's defeat, to ensure his second restoration "in baggage train of the enemy", i.e. with Wellington's troops. The Duke of Wellington used King Louis's person to open up the route to Paris, as some fortresses refused to surrender to the Allies, but agreed to do so for their King. King Louis arrived at Cambrai
on 26 June, where he released a proclamation stating that all those who served the Emperor in the Hundred Days would not be persecuted, except for the "instigators". It was also acknowledged that Louis XVIII's government might have made mistakes during the First Restoration. On 29 June, a deputation of five from the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Peers approached Wellington about putting a foreign Prince on the throne of France. Wellington rejected their pleas outright, declaring that "[Louis XVIII is] the best way to preserve the integrity of France". Wellington ordered the deputies to espouse King Louis's cause. Louis XVIII entered Paris on 8 July to a boisterous reception: the Tuileries Palace gardens were thronged with bystanders, and, according to the Duke of Wellington, the acclamation of the crowds there were so loud that evening, that he could not converse with the King.
Louis XVIII's role in politics from the Hundred Days onward was voluntarily diminished, he resigned most of his duties to his council. He and his ministry embarked on a series of reforms through the summer of 1815. The King's council, an informal group of ministers that advised Louis XVIII, was dissolved and replaced by a tighter knit privy council
, the "Ministère de Roi". Artois, Berry and Angoulême were purged from the new "ministère", and Talleyrand was appointed as the first Président du Conseil, i.e. Prime Minister of France. On 14 July, the ministry dissolved the units of the army deemed "rebellious". Hereditary peerage was re-established to Louis's behest by the ministry.
In August elections for the Chamber of Deputies returned unfavourable results for Talleyrand. The ministry wished for moderate deputies, but the electorate voted almost exclusively for ultra-royalists, resulting in the Chambre introuvable
. The duchesse d'Angoulême and the comte d'Artois pressured King for the dismissal of his obsolete ministry. Talleyrand tendered his resignation on 20 September. Louis XVIII chose Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de Richelieu
to be his new Prime Minister. Richelieu was chosen because he was accepted by Louis's family and the reactionary Chamber of Deputies.
Anti-Napoleonic sentiment was high in Southern France, and this was prominently displayed in the White Terror
. The White Terror saw the purge of all important Napoleonic officials from government, and the execution of others. The people of France committed barbarous acts against some of these officials. Guillaume Marie Anne Brune
(a Napoleonic marshal) was savagely assassinated, and his remains thrown into the Rhône River
. Louis XVIII deplored such illegal acts, but vehemently supported the prosecution of those marshals that helped Napoleon I in the Hundred Days. Louis XVIII’s government executed Napoleon's Marshal Ney, Prince de la Moskowa
, in December 1815 for treason. His confidants the Marquis de Bonnay and the Duc de la Chatre advised him to inflict firm punishments on the “traitors”.
The King was reluctant to shed blood, and this greatly irritated the ultra-reactionary chamber of deputies, who felt that Louis XVIII was not executing enough. The government issued a proclamation of amnesty to the “traitors” in January 1816, but the trials that had already begun were finished in due course. That same declaration also banned any member of the House of Bonaparte from owning property in, or entering, France. It is estimated that between 50,000 – 80,000 officials were purged from the government during what was known as the Second White Terror
.
In November 1815, Louis XVIII’s government had to sign another Treaty of Paris
, formally ending Napoleon’s hundred days. The previous treaty had been quite favourable to France, but this one took a hard-line. France’s borders were retracted to their extent at 1790. France had to pay for an army to occupy her, for at least five years, at a cost of 150 million francs per year. France also had to pay a war indemnity of 700 million francs to the allies.
In 1818, the Chambers passed a military law, which increased the size of the army by over 100,000. In October of the same year, Louis XVIII’s foreign minister, the Duc de Richelieu
, succeeded in convincing the powers to withdraw their armies early, in exchange for a sum of over 200 million francs.
Louis XVIII chose many centrist cabinets, as he wanted to appease the populace. Much to the dismay of his brother, the ultra-royalist
comte d’Artois, he always dreaded the day he would die, believing that his brother, and heir, Artois, would abandon the centrist government for an ultra-royalist autocracy, which would not bring favourable results.
King Louis disliked the First Prince of the Blood, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, and took every opportunity to snub him. King Louis's nephew, the duc de Berry, was assassinated at the Paris Opera, on 14 February 1820. The royal family was grief-stricken and Louis XVIII broke an ancient tradition to attend his nephew's funeral, as previous Kings of France could not have any association with death.
Berry was the only member of the family thought to be able to beget children. His wife gave birth to a posthumous son in September Henri, duc de Bordeaux
. The future of the Bourbons as kings of France was in still doubt. The Chamber of Deputies proposed amending the Salic law
to allow the Duchesse d’Angoulême to accede to the throne. On 12 June 1820, the Chambers ratified legislation that increased the number of deputies from 258 to 430. The extra deputies were to be elected by the wealthiest quarter of the population in each département. These individuals now effectively had two votes. Around the same time as the “law of the two votes”, Louis XVIII began to receive visits every Wednesday from a lady named Zoé Talon, comtesse du Cayla
, and ordered that nobody should disturb him while he was with her. It was rumoured that he inhaled snuff
from her breasts, which earned her the nickname of tabatière (snuffbox). In 1823, France embarked on a military intervention in Spain, where a revolt had occurred against the King Ferdinand VII. France succeeded in crushing the rebellion, which the duc d’Angoulême headed.
Louis XVIII's health began to fail in the spring of 1824. He was suffering from obesity, gout
and gangrene
, both dry and wet, in his legs and spine. Louis died on 16 September 1824, surrounded by the extended royal family and some government officials. He was succeeded by his youngest brother, the comte d’Artois, as Charles X
.
Louis XVIII was the only French monarch of the 19th century to die while still ruling. He was interred at the Basilica of St Denis, the necropolis of French kings.
, by Alexandre Dumas
. The Count of Provence was portrayed by Sebastian Armesto
in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette
, a biographical film written and directed by Sofia Coppola
, based on the book, Marie Antoinette: The Journey
by Lady Antonia Fraser. In contradiction with historical facts, he is portrayed in the film as having a son.
In the 1970 film Waterloo, Louis XVIII was portrayed by Orson Welles
.
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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...
in 1815. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, during 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...
and the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
, and again in 1815, for 100 days, upon the return of Napoleon
Napoleon I
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...
from Elba
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
. While in exile, he lived in 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...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
.
The First French Republic abolished the monarchy and deposed King 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....
on 21 September 1792. Although the monarchy had been disestablished, Louis XVIII succeeded his nephew, Louis XVII
Louis XVII of France
Louis XVII , from birth to 1789 known as Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy; then from 1789 to 1791 as Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France; and from 1791 to 1793 as Louis-Charles, Prince Royal of France, was the son of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette...
, as titular King, when the latter died in prison in June 1795. When the coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
armies captured Paris from Napoleon in 1814, Louis XVIII was restored to what he, and Royalists, considered his rightful place. Louis XVIII ruled as king for slightly less than a decade, during the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
period. The Bourbon Restoration was a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
(unlike the Ancien Régime, which was absolute
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...
). As a constitutional monarch, Louis XVIII's royal prerogative was reduced substantially by the Charter of 1814
Charter of 1814
The French Charter of 1814 was a constitution granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after his restoration. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before he was restored. It guaranteed many of the rights that most other countries in western Europe had...
, France's new constitution. Louis had no children; therefore, upon his death, the crown passed to his brother, Charles, Count of Artois
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...
. Louis XVIII was the last French monarch to die while reigning.
Youth
Louis Stanislas Xavier, titled comte de Provence at birth, was born on 17 November 1755 in the Palace of VersaillesPalace 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....
, the son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and of his wife, Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony. He was the grandson of the reigning King Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
. As a son of the Dauphin he was a Fils de France
Fils de France
Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...
. Louis Stanislas was christened Louis Stanislas Xavier six months after his birth, in accordance with Bourbon family tradition, being homeless before his baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
. By this act, he became also a Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit.
The name of Louis was bestowed because it was typical of a Prince of France; Stanislas after his great-grandfather King Stanisław Leszczyński of Poland; and Xavier for Saint Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534...
, whom his mother's family held as one of their patron saints.
Louis of France (1751-1761)
Louis Joseph Xavier de France, Duke of Burgundy was a French Prince du Sang of the House of Bourbon.-Life:...
and Louis Auguste, Duke of Berry
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....
. The former died in 1761, leaving Louis Auguste as heir apparent until the Dauphin's own premature death in 1765. The two deaths elevated Louis Stanislas to second in the line of succession, while Louis Auguste, acquired the title of Dauphin.
Louis Stanislas found displeasure in his governess, Madame de Marsan, Governess of the Children of France
Governess of the Children of France
In France, the Governess of the Children of France , was charged with the education of the children and grand children of the monarch. The holder of the office was taken from the highest ranking nobility of France...
, (Gouvernante des Enfants de France), as he was her favourite among his siblings. Louis Stanislas was taken away from his governess when he turned seven, age at which the education of boys of royal blood and of the nobility was turned over to men. Antoine de Quélen de Stuer de Caussade, Duke of La Vauguyon, a friend of his father, was named his governor.
Louis Stanislas was an intelligent boy, excelling in classics. His education was of the same quality and consistency as that of his older brother, Louis Auguste, despite the fact that Louis Auguste was heir and Louis Stanislas was not. Louis Stanislas' education was quite religious in nature, several of his teachers being ecclesiastics. La Vauguyon drilled into young Louis Stanislas and his brothers the way he thought princes should "know how to withdraw themselves, to like to work," and "to know how to reason correctly".
In April 1771, Louis Stanislas's education was formally concluded, and his own independent household was established, which astounded contemporaries with its extravagance: in 1773, the number of servants reached 390. In the same month his household was founded, Louis was granted several titles by his grandfather, Louis XV: Duke of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Perche and Count of Senoches.
On 17 December 1773 he was ordained as Grand Master of the Order of St. Lazarus.
Marriage
On 14 May 1771, Louis Stanislas married Princess Maria Giuseppina of Savoy. Marie Joséphine (as she was known in France) was a daughter of the then Duke and Duchess of Savoy, future king Victor Amadeus III of SardiniaVictor 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...
.
A luxurious ball followed the wedding on 20 May. Louis Stanislas was repulsed by his wife, the new Countess of Provence, who was considered to be ugly, tedious and ignorant of the court at Versailles. The marriage remained unconsummated; biographers disagree about the reason, maintaining that it was due to Louis Stanislas' alleged impotence (according to biographer Antonia Fraser
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...
) or his unwillingness to sleep with his wife, due to her poor personal hygiene. She never brushed her teeth, plucked her eyebrows, or used any perfumes. At the time of his marriage, Louis Stanislas was obese and waddled instead of walked. He never exercised and continued to eat enormous amounts of food.
Despite the fact that Louis Stanislas was not infatuated with his wife, he boasted that the two enjoyed vigorous conjugal relations — such declarations were held in low esteem by courtiers at Versailles. He also proclaimed his wife to be pregnant, merely to spite Louis Auguste and his wife Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria
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....
, who had not yet consummated their marriage. The Dauphin and Louis Stanislas did not enjoy a harmonious relationship, and often quarrelled, as did their wives. Louis Stanislas impregnated his wife in 1774, having conquered his aversion to Marie Joséphine. However, the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.
At his brother's court
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, and died the following 4 May. The Dauphin, Louis Auguste, succeeded his grandfather as King Louis XVI. Louis Stanislas longed for political influence. He attempted to gain admittance to the King’s council in 1774, ultimately failing. Louis Stanislas was left in a political limbo that he called "a gap of 12 years in my political life". Louis XVI granted Louis Stanislas revenues from the Duchy of Alençon
Counts and dukes of Alençon
Several counts and then royal dukes of Alençon have figured in French history. The title has been awarded to a younger brother of the French sovereign.-History:...
in December 1774. The duchy was given to enhance Louis Stanislas' prestige; however, his appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
turned over only 300,000 livres
French livre
The livre was the currency of France until 1795. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.-Etymology:...
per annum, an amount much lower than it had been at its peak in the fourteenth century. King Louis XVI, his brothers and Marie Antoinette became fellows of the masonic lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
Trois Frères à l'Orient de Versailles.
Louis Stanislas travelled more through France than other members of the royal family, who rarely left the Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
. In 1774, he accompanied his sister Madame Clotilde to Chambéry
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...
, on the journey to meet her bridegroom Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont
Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia
Charles Emmanuel IV was King of Sardinia from 1796 to 1802. He abdicated in favour of his brother Victor Emmanuel I...
, heir to the throne of Sardinia. In 1775, he visited Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and also his spinster aunts, Madame Adélaïde and Madame Victoire, while they were taking the waters at Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
. The four provincial tours that Louis Stanislas took before the year 1791 amounted to a total of three months.
On 5 May 1778, Dr. Lassonne, Marie Antoinette's private physician, confirmed her pregnancy. On 19 December 1778, the Queen gave birth to a daughter, who was named Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France, and given the honorific title Madame Royale
Fils de France
Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...
. The birth of a girl came as a relief to the comte de Provence, who kept his position as heir to Louis XVI, since Salic Law
Salic law
Salic law was a body of traditional law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the early Middle Ages during the reign of King Clovis I in the 6th century...
excluded women from acceding to the throne of France. However, Louis Stanislas did not remain heir to the throne much longer, as, on 22 October 1781, Marie Antoinette gave birth to the Dauphin, Louis Joseph. Louis Stanislas and the comte d’Artois served as godfathers by proxy for the Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
, the Queen’s brother. When Marie Antoinette gave birth to her second son, Louis Charles
Louis XVII of France
Louis XVII , from birth to 1789 known as Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy; then from 1789 to 1791 as Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France; and from 1791 to 1793 as Louis-Charles, Prince Royal of France, was the son of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette...
, in March 1785, Louis Stanislas slid further down the line of succession.
In 1780, Anne Nompar de Caumont de La Force, comtesse de Balbi
Anne Nompar de Caumont
Anne Jacobée Nompar de Caumont de La Force, countess of Balbi was a mistress of the count of Provence, who later became Louis XVIII.-Separation and final years:She died in 1832, three years before her husband....
entered the service of Marie Joséphine. Louis Stanislas soon fell in love with his wife's new lady-in-waiting, and installed her as his mistress, which resulted in the couple's already small affection for each other cooling entirely. Louis Stanislas commissioned a pavilion for his mistress on a parcel that became known as the Parc Balbi, near the Pièce d’eau des Suisses
Gardens of Versailles
The Gardens of Versailles occupy part of what was once the Domaine royal de Versailles, the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover some 800 hectares of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French Garden style perfected here by...
and the Potager du Roi
Potager du roi
The potager du Roi , near the Palace of Versailles, produced fresh vegetables and fruits for the table of the court of Louis XIV. It was created between 1678 and 1783 by Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, the director of the royal fruit and vegetable gardens...
at Versailles.
Louis Stanislas lived a quiet and sedentary lifestyle at this point, not having a great deal to do since his self-proclaimed political exclusion in 1774. He kept himself occupied with his vast library of over 11,000 books at Balbi's pavilion, reading for several hours each morning. In the early 1780, he also incurred huge debts totaling 10 million livres, which his brother Louis XVI paid for him.
An Assembly of Notables
Assembly of Notables
The Assembly of Notables was a group of notables invited by the King of France to consult on matters of state.-History:Assemblies of Notables had met in 1583, 1596–97, 1617, 1626, 1787, and 1788. Like the Estates General, they served a consultative purpose only...
(the members consisted of magistrates, mayors, nobles and clergy) was convened in February 1787 to ratify the financial reforms sought by the Controller-General of Finance Charles Alexandre de Calonne
Charles Alexandre de Calonne
Charles Alexandre, vicomte de Calonne was a French statesman, best known for his involvement in the French Revolution.-Rise to prominence:...
. This provided Louis Stanislas, who abhorred the radical reforms proposed by Calonne, the opportunity he had long been waiting for to establish himself in politics. The reforms proposed a new property tax, and new elected provincial assemblies that would have a say in local taxation. Calonne's proposition was rejected outright by the notables, and, as a result, Louis XVI dismissed him. The Archbishop of Toulouse, Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne
Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne
Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne was a French churchman, politician and finance minister of Louis XVI.-Life:...
, acquired Calonne's ministry. Brienne attempted to salvage Calonne's reforms, but ultimately failed to convince the notables to approve them. A frustrated Louis XVI dissolved the assembly.
Brienne's reforms were then submitted to the Parlement de Paris in the hopes that they would be approved. (A parlement was responsible for ratifying the King’s edicts. Each province had its own parlement, but the parlement de Paris was the most significant of all.) The Parlement de Paris refused to accept Brienne’s proposals, and pronounced that any new taxation would have to be approved by an Estates-General
French States-General
In France under the Old Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...
(the nominal parliament of France). Louis XVI and Brienne took a hostile stance against the parlement's rejection, and Louis XVI had to implement a Lit de justice
Lit de Justice
Lit de Justice is an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Robert Sangster's Swettenham Stud, and purchased by the French racing operation Mise de Moratalla who named him for a famous Parlement of Paris known as the Lit de justice...
(which automatically registered an edict in the Parlement de Paris) to ratify the desired reforms. On 8 May, Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil
Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil
Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil , French magistrate and politician, was born in India at Pondicherry, his father being a colleague of Dupleix....
and Goislard de Montsabert, two of the leading members of the Parlement de Paris were arrested. There was rioting in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, Provence, Burgundy and Béarn
Béarn
Béarn is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Basque provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms in the...
in reaction to their arrest. This unrest was engineered by local magistrates and nobles, who enticed the people to revolt against the Lit de Justice, which was quite unfavourable to the nobles and magistrates. The clergy also joined the provincial cause, and condemned Brienne's tax reforms. Brienne conceded defeat in July and agreed to calling the Estates-General to meet in 1789. He resigned from his post in August and was replaced by the Swiss magnate Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789.-Early life:...
.
In November 1788, a second Assembly of Notables was convened by Jacques Necker, to consider the makeup of the next Estates-General. The Parlement de Paris recommended that the Estates should be the same as they were at the last assembly, in 1614 (this would mean that the clergy and nobility would have more representation than the Third Estate). The notables rejected the "dual representation" proposal. Louis Stanislas was the only notable to vote to increase the size of the Third Estate. Necker disregarded the notables' judgment, and convinced Louis XVI to grant the extra representation — Louis duly obliged on 27 December.
The outbreak of the French Revolution
The Estates-GeneralEstates-General of 1789
The Estates-General of 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the nobility, the Church, and the common people...
were convened in May 1789 to ratify financial reforms. Louis Stanislas favoured a stalwart position against the Third Estate and its demands for tax reform. On 17 June, the Third Estate declared itself a National Assembly
National Assembly (French Revolution)
During the French Revolution, the National Assembly , which existed from June 17 to July 9, 1789, was a transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly.-Background:...
, an Assembly not of the Estates, but of the People.
Louis Stanislas urged the King to act strongly against the declaration, while the King's popular minister, Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789.-Early life:...
, intended to compromise with the new assembly. Louis XVI was characteristically indecisive. On 9 July, the assembly declared itself a National Constituent Assembly
National Constituent Assembly
The National Constituent Assembly was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. It dissolved on 30 September 1791 and was succeeded by the Legislative Assembly.-Background:...
, that would give France a Constitution. On 11 July, Louis XVI dismissed Jacques Necker, which led to widespread rioting across Paris. On 12 July, the sabre charge of Charles-Eugène de Lorraine, prince de Lambesc's cavalry regiment, the Royal-Allemand, on a crowd gathered at the Tuileries gardens
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...
, sparked the Storming of the Bastille
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint...
two days later.
On 16 July, the comte d’Artois left France with his wife and children, along with many other courtiers. Artois and his family took up residence in 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...
, the capital city of his father-in-law’s Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
, with the Condé family.
Louis Stanislas decided to remain at 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....
. When the royal family plotted to abscond from Versailles to Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
, Louis Stanislas advised the King not to leave, to which the latter duly agreed.
The royal family was ripped away from their Palace at Versailles, the day after the 5 October 1789 women's march on Versailles. In Paris, the Comte and his wife lodged in the Luxembourg Palace
Luxembourg Palace
The Luxembourg Palace in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, north of the Luxembourg Garden , is the seat of the French Senate.The formal Luxembourg Garden presents a 25-hectare green parterre of gravel and lawn populated with statues and provided with large basins of water where children sail model...
, while the rest of the royal family stayed in 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...
. In March 1791, the National Assembly created a law outlining the regency of Louis Charles in case his father died while he was still too young to reign. The law created the potential regency as follows: Louis Charles' nearest male relative in France (presently the comte de Provence Louis Stanislas), and after him, the regency would be given to the duc d’Orléans
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror...
, and if he were unavailable, the regency would go to election.
The comte de Provence and his wife fled to the Austrian Netherlands in conjunction with the royal family’s failed Flight to Varennes
Flight to Varennes
The Flight to Varennes was a significant episode in the French Revolution during which King Louis XVI of France, his wife Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family attempted unsuccessfully to escape from Paris in order to initiate a counter-revolution...
in June 1791.
The early years
When the comte de Provence arrived in the Low CountriesLow Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, he proclaimed himself de facto regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of France. Louis Stanislas was exploiting a document that he and Louis XVI had written before the latter's failed escape to Varennes. The document gave Louis Stanislas the regency in the event of his brother's death, or inability to perform his role as King. Louis Stanislas would join the other princes-in-exile at Coblenz soon after his escape. It was there that the comte d’Artois, the Condés and the comte de Provence, proclaimed that their objective was to invade France. Louis XVI was greatly annoyed by his brothers' behaviour. Provence sent emissaries to various European courts asking for financial aid, soldiers, and munition. Artois secured a castle for the court in exile in the Electorate of Trier, where their maternal uncle, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony
Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony
Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony was a German prince from the House of Wettin and the Archbishop-Elector of Trier from 1768 until 1803, the Prince-Bishop of Freising from 1763 until 1768, the Prince-Bishop of Regensburg from 1763 until 1769, and the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg from 1768 until...
, was the Archbishop-Elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
. Louis Stanislas' rallying bore fruit when the rulers of 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...
and Austria
Archduchy of Austria
The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire...
gathered at Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. They released the Declaration of Pillnitz
Declaration of Pillnitz
The Declaration of Pillnitz was a statement issued on 27 August 1791 at Pillnitz Castle near Dresden by the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Frederick William II of Prussia...
in August 1791, which urged Europe to intervene in France if Louis XVI or his family were threatened. Provence's endorsement of the declaration was not well received in France, by the people, or by Louis XVI.
In January 1792, the Legislative Assembly declared that all the émigrés were traitors to France. Their property and titles were confiscated. The monarchy of France was abolished by the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
on 21 September 1792.
Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. This left his young son, Louis Charles, as titular King Louis XVII of France
Louis XVII of France
Louis XVII , from birth to 1789 known as Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy; then from 1789 to 1791 as Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France; and from 1791 to 1793 as Louis-Charles, Prince Royal of France, was the son of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette...
. The princes-in-exile proclaimed Louis Charles "King Louis XVII". Louis Stanislas now unilaterally declared himself regent for his nephew, who was too young to be head of the House of Bourbon (since the French monarchy had been abolished for several months, Louis XVII never actually ruled, and any claim to regency would have been in name only).
Young Louis XVII's reign did not last long as he died in June 1795, survived by his sister Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France, Madame Royale. On 16 June, the princes-in-exile declared the comte de Provence "King Louis XVIII". The new King accepted their declaration soon after. Louis XVIII busied himself drafting a manifesto in response to Louis XVII's death. The manifesto, known as "The Declaration of Verona" was Louis XVIII's attempt to introduce the French people to his politics (after all, he had just been declared King by the exiles). The Declaration of Verona beckoned France back into the arms of the monarchy, "which for fourteen centuries was the glory of France".
Louis XVIII negotiated Marie-Thérèse’s release from her Paris prison in 1795. Louis XVIII desperately wanted Marie-Thérèse to marry her first cousin, Louis Antoine, duc d’Angoulême
Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angouleme
Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême was the eldest son of Charles X of France and, from 1824 to 1836, the last Dauphin of France...
, the son of the comte d'Artois. Louis XVIII deceived his niece by telling her that her parents' last wishes were for her to marry Louis Antoine, and Marie-Thérèse duly agreed to her uncle-king's wishes.
Louis XVIII was forced to abandon Verona when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
.
1796 – 1807
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...
agreed to relinquish custody of Marie-Thérèse in 1796. She had been staying in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
with her Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
relatives since January 1796. Louis XVIII moved to Blankenburg
Blankenburg
Blankenburg may refer to:* Blankenburg am Harz, a German town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt* Blankenburg Castle , the castle in Blankenburg am Harz * Bad Blankenburg, a German town in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia...
in the Duchy of Brunswick
Duchy of Brunswick
Brunswick was a historical state in Germany. Originally the territory of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the Holy Roman Empire, it was established as an independent duchy by the Congress of Vienna in 1815...
(Braunschweig) after his departure from Verona. He lived in a modest two-bedroom apartment over a shop. Louis XVIII was forced to leave Blankenberg when King Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II was the King of Prussia, reigning from 1786 until his death. He was in personal union the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg and the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel.-Early life:...
died. In light of this, Marie-Thérèse decided to wait a while longer before reuniting with her uncle.
In 1798, Emperor Paul I
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:...
of Russia offered Louis the use of Jelgava Palace
Jelgava Palace
Jelgava Palace or Mitava Palace is the largest Baroque style palace in the Baltic states. It was built in the 18th century based on the design of Bartolomeo Rastrelli as a residence for the Dukes of Courland in their capital - Mitava , Latvia...
in 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 :...
(now Latvia). Paul I also guaranteed Louis's safety and bestowed upon him a generous pension, however, the Emperor later disregarded this allowance. Marie-Thérèse finally joined Louis XVIII at Jelgava in 1799. In the winter of 1798–1799, Louis XVIII wrote a biography on 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....
titled Réflexions Historiques sur Marie Antoinette. He attempted to recreate the court life of Versailles at Jelgava, where many old courtiers lived, reestablishing all the court ceremonies, including the lever and coucher (ceremonies that accompanied waking and bedding, respectively).
Marie-Thérèse married her cousin Louis Antoine on 9 June 1799, at Jelgava Palace. Louis XVIII ordered his wife to attend the marriage ceremony in 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 :...
without her long-time friend (and rumoured lover) Madame de Gourbillon. Queen Marie Joséphine lived apart from her husband in Schleswig Holstein. Louis XVIII was trying desperately to display to the world a united family front. The Queen refused to leave her friend behind with unpleasant consequences that rivalled the wedding in notoriety. Louis XVIII knew that his nephew Louis Antoine was not compatible with Marie-Thérèse. Despite this, he still pressed for the marriage, which proved to be quite unhappy and produced no children.
Louis XVIII attempted to strike up a correspondence with Napoleon Bonaparte (now First Consul of France) in 1800. Louis XVIII urged Bonaparte to restore the Bourbons to their throne, but the future emperor was immune to Louis's requests and continued to consolidate his position as ruler of France.
Louis XVIII encouraged his niece to write her memoirs, as he wished them to be used as Bourbon propaganda. Louis also used the diaries of Louis XVI's final attendants in the same way, in 1796 and in 1803. In January 1801, Tsar Paul told Louis XVIII that he could no longer live in Russia. The court at Jelgava was so low on funds that it had to auction some of its possessions to afford the journey out of Russia. Marie-Thérèse even sold a diamond necklace that the Emperor Paul had given her as a wedding gift.
Marie-Thérèse convinced Queen Louise of Prussia to give her family refuge in Prussian territory. Louise consented, but the Bourbons were forced to assume pseudonyms. With Louis XVIII using the title Comte d'Isle (named after his estate in Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
), he and his family assumed residence in 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...
in the Lazienki Palace from 1801 to 1804, after an arduous voyage from Jelgava. It was very soon after their arrival that they learned of the death of Paul I. Louis hoped that Paul's successor, Alexander I of Russia
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....
, would repudiate his father's banishment of the Bourbons (which he later did). Louis XVIII then intended to set off to the Neapolitan court. Charles, comte d'Artois, asked Louis to send his son, Louis Antoine, and daughter-in-law, Marie-Thérèse, to him in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. Charles had an allowance from King George III of Great Britain and sent some money to Louis. He requested that his son Louis Antoine and daughter-in-law Marie Thérèse to join him in Edinburgh, but they did not at this time. Louis XVIII's court in exile was being spied on by French police. The court-in-exile was being financed mainly by interest owed from Francis II on valuables his aunt, Marie Antoinette, had removed from France and had to cut its expenses significantly.
In 1803, Napoleon tried to force Louis XVIII to renounce his right to the throne of France, but Louis refused. In May 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Emperor of the French
Emperor of the French
The Emperor of the French was the title used by the Bonaparte Dynasty starting when Napoleon Bonaparte was given the title Emperor on 18 May 1804 by the French Senate and was crowned emperor of the French on 02 December 1804 at the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, in Paris with the Crown of...
. Louis XVIII and his nephew departed for Sweden in July for a Bourbon family conference, where Louis XVIII, the comte d’Artois, and the duc d'Angoulême issued a statement condemning Napoleon's decision to declare himself emperor. The King of Prussia issued a proclamation saying that Louis XVIII would have to leave Prussian territory, which meant leaving Warsaw. Alexander I of Russia invited Louis XVIII to resume residence in Jelgava. Louis XVIII had to live under less generous conditions than those enjoyed under Paul I, and he intended to embark for England as soon as possible.
Louis XVIII created another policy in 1805: a declaration that was far more liberal than his former ones. It repudiated his Declaration of Verona, promised to abolish conscription, keep Napoleon I's administrative and judicial system, reduce taxes, eliminate political prisons, and guarantee amnesty to everyone who did not oppose a Bourbon Restoration. The opinions expressed in the declaration were largely those of the comte d’Avaray
Avaray
Avaray is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department in central France.-History:Avaray is a French territorial title belonging to a family some of whose members have been conspicuous in history. The Béarnaise family named Besiade moved into the province of Orléanais in the 17th century, and there...
(Louis's best friend in exile).
Louis XVIII was forced once again to leave Jelgava when Alexander of Russia informed him that his safety could not be guaranteed on continental Europe. In July 1807, Louis boarded a Swedish frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, bringing with him only the duc d'Angoulême. Louis did not stay in Sweden for long, and arrived in Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
, Norfolk, England, in November 1807. He took up residence in Gosfield Hall
Gosfield Hall
Gosfield Hall near Braintree in Essex, England was built in 1545 by Sir John Wentworth, a member of Cardinal Wolsey’s household, and hosted Royal visits by Queen Elizabeth I and her grand retinue throughout the middle of the 16th century....
, leased to him by the Marquess of Buckingham.
England
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
of the United Kingdom was very charitable to the exiled Bourbons, granting them permanent asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
and giving them extremely generous allowances.
The comte d'Artois did not join the court-in-exile in Hartwell, continuing his frivolous life in London. Louis's friend the comte d'Avaray left Hartwell for Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
in 1809, and died there in 1811. Louis replaced Avaray with the Comte de Blacas
Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas
Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas d'Aulps, first comte, then duc, and finally prince de Blacas d'Aulps was a French antiquarian, nobleman and diplomat during the Bourbon Restoration.-Youth:He was baptized at Avignon on 11 January 1771...
. Louis XVIII's wife, Queen Marie Joséphine, died on 13 November 1810. That same winter, Louis suffered a particularly severe case of gout, which was a recurring problem for him at Hartwell, and he had to be put in a wheelchair.
Napoleon I embarked on an invasion of Russia
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
in 1812. This war would prove to be the turning point in his fortunes, as the expedition failed miserably and Napoleon was forced to retreat with an army in tatters.
In 1813, Louis XVIII issued another declaration while at Hartwell. "The Declaration of Hartwell" was more liberal than his "Declaration of 1805", asserting that all those who served Napoleon or the Republic would not suffer repercussions for their acts, and that the original owners of the Biens nationaux
Biens nationaux
Biens nationaux, or "national property", was a concept in French history. During the French Revolution, the possessions of the Roman Catholic Church were declared national property by the decree of November 2, 1789. These were sold to resolve the financial crisis that caused the Revolution...
(lands confiscated from the nobles and clergy during the Revolution) were to be compensated for their losses.
Allied troops entered Paris on 31 March 1814. Louis was, however, unable to walk, and so sent the comte d'Artois to France in January 1814. Louis XVIII issued letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
appointing Artois Lieutenant General of the Kingdom in the event of the Bourbons being restored. Napoleon I abdicated on 11 April, five days after his Senate
French Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...
had invited the Bourbons to re-assume the throne of France.
Bourbon Restoration
Restoration I
The comte d'Artois ruled as Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom until his brother's arrival in Paris on 3 May. Upon his return, the King displayed himself to his subjects by creating a procession through the city. He took up residence in the Tuileries PalaceTuileries 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...
the same day. His niece, the duchesse d'Angoulême, fainted at the sight of the Tuileries.
Napoleon's senate called Louis XVIII to the throne on the condition that he would accept the new constitution, which entailed recognition of the Republic and the Empire, a bicameral parliament elected every year, and the tri-colour flag of the aforementioned regimes. Louis XVIII opposed the senate's constitution, and stated that he was "disbanding the current senate in all the crimes of Bonaparte, and appealing to the French people". The senatorial constitution was burned in a theatre in royalist Bordeaux, and the Municipal Council of Lyon voted for a speech that defamed the senate.
The armies occupying Paris demanded that Louis XVIII implement a constitution. The Charter of 1814
Charter of 1814
The French Charter of 1814 was a constitution granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after his restoration. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before he was restored. It guaranteed many of the rights that most other countries in western Europe had...
that Louis created entailed all that Saint-Ouen wished for and more: Freedom of Religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
, a legislature composed of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Peers, the press would enjoy a degree of freedom, the biens nationaux
Biens nationaux
Biens nationaux, or "national property", was a concept in French history. During the French Revolution, the possessions of the Roman Catholic Church were declared national property by the decree of November 2, 1789. These were sold to resolve the financial crisis that caused the Revolution...
, would remain in the hands of their current owners. The constitution had 76 articles. Taxation was to be voted on by the chambers.
Catholicism was the official religion of France. To be eligible for election to the Chamber of Deputies, one had to pay over 1,000 francs per year in tax, and be over the age of forty. The King appointed peers to the Chamber of Peers on a hereditary basis, or for life at his discretion. Deputies were elected every five years, with one fifth of them up for election each year. There were 90,000 citizens eligible to vote.
Louis XVIII signed the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1814)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, following an armistice signed on 23 May between Charles, Count of Artois, and the allies...
on 30 May 1814. The treaty gave France her 1792 borders, which extended east of the Rhine. She had to pay no war indemnity, and the occupying armies of the Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
withdrew instantly from French soil. These generous terms would be reversed in the next Treaty of Paris after 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...
(Napoleon's return to France in 1815).
It did not take Louis XVIII long to go back on one of his many promises. He and his Controller-General of Finance Baron Louis
Joseph Dominique, baron Louis
Joseph Dominique, baron Louis , French statesman and financier, was born at Toul .At the outbreak of the Revolution the abbé Louis had already some reputation as a financial expert...
were determined not to let the exchequer fall into deficit (there was a 75 million franc debt inherited from Napoleon I), and took fiscal measures to ensure this. Louis XVIII assured the French that the unpopular tax on tobacco, wine and salt would be abolished when he was restored, but he failed to do so, which led to rioting in Bordeaux. Expenditure on the army was slashed in the 1815 budget — in 1814, the military had accounted for 55% of government spending.
Louis XVIII admitted the comte d'Artois and his nephews, the duc d'Angoulême, and the duc de Berry into the King's council in May 1814, upon its establishment. The council was informally headed by the Prince de Talleyrand. Louis XVIII took a large interest in the goings-on of the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
(set up to redraw the map of Europe after Napoleon's demise). Talleyrand represented France at the proceedings. Louis was horrified by Prussia's intention to annex the Kingdom of Saxony
Kingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...
, to which he was attached because his mother was born a Saxon princess, and he was also concerned that Prussia would dominate Germany. He also wished the Duchy of Parma
Duchy of Parma
The Duchy of Parma was created in 1545 from that part of the Duchy of Milan south of the Po River, as a fief for Pope Paul III's illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese, centered on the city of Parma....
to be restored to the Parmese Bourbons, and not to Empress Marie Louise of France
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
Marie Louise of Austria was the second wife of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and later Duchess of Parma...
, as was being suggested by the Allies. Louis also protested the Allies' inaction in Naples, where he wanted the Napoleonic usurper Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
removed in favour of the Neapolitan Bourbons, who had ruled for centuries.
On behalf of the Allies, Austria agreed to send a force to the Two Sicilies to depose Murat in February 1815, when it became apparent that Murat corresponded with Napoleon I, which was explicitly forbidden by a recent treaty. Murat never actually wrote to Napoleon, but Louis, intent on restoring the Neapolitan Bourbons at any cost, forged the correspondence, and subsidised the Austrian expedition with 25 million francs.
Louis XVIII succeeded in getting the Neapolitan Bourbons restored immediately. Parma was bestowed upon Empress Marie Louise for life, and the Parmese Bourbons were given the Duchy of Lucca
Duchy of Lucca
The Duchy of Lucca was an Italian state existing from 1815 to 1847. It was centered on the city of Lucca.The Duchy was formed in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, out of the former Republic of Lucca and the Principality of Lucca and Piombino, which had been ruled by Elisa Bonaparte...
until the death of Marie Louise.
Hundred days
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
and embarked for France. He arrived with about 1,000 troops near Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
on 1 March. Louis XVIII was not particularly worried by Bonaparte's excursion, as such small numbers of troops could be easily overcome. There was, however, a major underlying problem for the Bourbons: Louis XVIII had failed to purge the military of its Bonapartist
Bonapartist
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. In a strict sense, this term refers to people who aimed to restore the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis...
troops. This led to mass desertions from the Bourbon armies to Bonaparte's. Furthermore, Louis XVIII could not join the campaign against Napoleon in the south of France because he was suffering from another case of gout. Minister of War Marshall Soult dispatched Louis Philippe d'Orléans, the comte d'Artois and Marshall MacDonald to apprehend Napoleon.
Louis XVIII's underestimation of Bonaparte proved disastrous. On 19 March, the army stationed outside Paris defected to Bonaparte, leaving the city vulnerable to attack. That same day, Louis XVIII quit the capital with a small escort at midnight. Louis decided to go first to Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, and then crossed the border into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
, staying in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
. Other leaders, most prominently Alexander I of Russia
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....
, debated that in case of a second victory over the French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
, the First Prince of the Blood
Prince du Sang
A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
Louis Philippe d'Orléans should be proclaimed king instead of Louis XVIII.
However, Napoleon did not rule France again for very long, suffering a decisive defeat at the hands of the armies of 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...
and Field Marshal Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
at the Battle of 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...
on 18 June. Leaders came to the consensus that Louis XVIII should be restored to the throne of France.
1815 – 1824
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
on 26 June, where he released a proclamation stating that all those who served the Emperor in the Hundred Days would not be persecuted, except for the "instigators". It was also acknowledged that Louis XVIII's government might have made mistakes during the First Restoration. On 29 June, a deputation of five from the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Peers approached Wellington about putting a foreign Prince on the throne of France. Wellington rejected their pleas outright, declaring that "[Louis XVIII is] the best way to preserve the integrity of France". Wellington ordered the deputies to espouse King Louis's cause. Louis XVIII entered Paris on 8 July to a boisterous reception: the Tuileries Palace gardens were thronged with bystanders, and, according to the Duke of Wellington, the acclamation of the crowds there were so loud that evening, that he could not converse with the King.
Louis XVIII's role in politics from the Hundred Days onward was voluntarily diminished, he resigned most of his duties to his council. He and his ministry embarked on a series of reforms through the summer of 1815. The King's council, an informal group of ministers that advised Louis XVIII, was dissolved and replaced by a tighter knit privy council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
, the "Ministère de Roi". Artois, Berry and Angoulême were purged from the new "ministère", and Talleyrand was appointed as the first Président du Conseil, i.e. Prime Minister of France. On 14 July, the ministry dissolved the units of the army deemed "rebellious". Hereditary peerage was re-established to Louis's behest by the ministry.
In August elections for the Chamber of Deputies returned unfavourable results for Talleyrand. The ministry wished for moderate deputies, but the electorate voted almost exclusively for ultra-royalists, resulting in the Chambre introuvable
Chambre introuvable
La Chambre introuvable was the first Chamber of Deputies elected after the Second Bourbon Restoration in 1815. It was dominated by Ultra-royalists who completely refused to accept the results of the French Revolution...
. The duchesse d'Angoulême and the comte d'Artois pressured King for the dismissal of his obsolete ministry. Talleyrand tendered his resignation on 20 September. Louis XVIII chose Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de Richelieu
Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu
Armand Emmanuel Sophie Septimanie de Vignerot du Plessis, 5th Duke of Richelieu was a prominent French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration...
to be his new Prime Minister. Richelieu was chosen because he was accepted by Louis's family and the reactionary Chamber of Deputies.
Anti-Napoleonic sentiment was high in Southern France, and this was prominently displayed in the White Terror
Second White Terror
The second White Terror occurred in 1815. Following the return of King Louis XVIII of France to power, people suspected of having ties with the governments of the French Revolution or of Napoleon suffered arrest and execution....
. The White Terror saw the purge of all important Napoleonic officials from government, and the execution of others. The people of France committed barbarous acts against some of these officials. Guillaume Marie Anne Brune
Guillaume Marie Anne Brune
Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, 1st Comte Brune was a French soldier and political figure who rose to Marshal of France....
(a Napoleonic marshal) was savagely assassinated, and his remains thrown into the Rhône River
Rhône 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...
. Louis XVIII deplored such illegal acts, but vehemently supported the prosecution of those marshals that helped Napoleon I in the Hundred Days. Louis XVIII’s government executed Napoleon's Marshal Ney, Prince de la Moskowa
Michel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
, in December 1815 for treason. His confidants the Marquis de Bonnay and the Duc de la Chatre advised him to inflict firm punishments on the “traitors”.
The King was reluctant to shed blood, and this greatly irritated the ultra-reactionary chamber of deputies, who felt that Louis XVIII was not executing enough. The government issued a proclamation of amnesty to the “traitors” in January 1816, but the trials that had already begun were finished in due course. That same declaration also banned any member of the House of Bonaparte from owning property in, or entering, France. It is estimated that between 50,000 – 80,000 officials were purged from the government during what was known as the Second White Terror
Second White Terror
The second White Terror occurred in 1815. Following the return of King Louis XVIII of France to power, people suspected of having ties with the governments of the French Revolution or of Napoleon suffered arrest and execution....
.
In November 1815, Louis XVIII’s government had to sign another Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1815)
Treaty of Paris of 1815, was signed on 20 November 1815 following the defeat and second abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte. In February, Napoleon had escaped from his exile on Elba; he entered Paris on 20 March, beginning the Hundred Days of his restored rule. Four days after France's defeat in the...
, formally ending Napoleon’s hundred days. The previous treaty had been quite favourable to France, but this one took a hard-line. France’s borders were retracted to their extent at 1790. France had to pay for an army to occupy her, for at least five years, at a cost of 150 million francs per year. France also had to pay a war indemnity of 700 million francs to the allies.
In 1818, the Chambers passed a military law, which increased the size of the army by over 100,000. In October of the same year, Louis XVIII’s foreign minister, the Duc de Richelieu
Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu
Armand Emmanuel Sophie Septimanie de Vignerot du Plessis, 5th Duke of Richelieu was a prominent French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration...
, succeeded in convincing the powers to withdraw their armies early, in exchange for a sum of over 200 million francs.
Louis XVIII chose many centrist cabinets, as he wanted to appease the populace. Much to the dismay of his brother, the ultra-royalist
Ultra-royalist
Ultra-Royalists or simply Ultras were a reactionary faction which sat in the French parliament from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration...
comte d’Artois, he always dreaded the day he would die, believing that his brother, and heir, Artois, would abandon the centrist government for an ultra-royalist autocracy, which would not bring favourable results.
King Louis disliked the First Prince of the Blood, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, and took every opportunity to snub him. King Louis's nephew, the duc de Berry, was assassinated at the Paris Opera, on 14 February 1820. The royal family was grief-stricken and Louis XVIII broke an ancient tradition to attend his nephew's funeral, as previous Kings of France could not have any association with death.
Berry was the only member of the family thought to be able to beget children. His wife gave birth to a posthumous son in September Henri, duc de Bordeaux
Henri, comte de Chambord
Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such...
. The future of the Bourbons as kings of France was in still doubt. The Chamber of Deputies proposed amending the Salic law
Salic law
Salic law was a body of traditional law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the early Middle Ages during the reign of King Clovis I in the 6th century...
to allow the Duchesse d’Angoulême to accede to the throne. On 12 June 1820, the Chambers ratified legislation that increased the number of deputies from 258 to 430. The extra deputies were to be elected by the wealthiest quarter of the population in each département. These individuals now effectively had two votes. Around the same time as the “law of the two votes”, Louis XVIII began to receive visits every Wednesday from a lady named Zoé Talon, comtesse du Cayla
Zoé Talon, comtesse du Cayla
Zoé Victoire Talon , styled comtesse du Cayla, was an intimate friend and confidante of Louis XVIII of France, and was his maîtresse-en-titre.She was born at Le Boullay-Thierry...
, and ordered that nobody should disturb him while he was with her. It was rumoured that he inhaled snuff
Snuff
Snuff is a product made from ground or pulverised tobacco leaves. It is an example of smokeless tobacco. It originated in the Americas and was in common use in Europe by the 17th century...
from her breasts, which earned her the nickname of tabatière (snuffbox). In 1823, France embarked on a military intervention in Spain, where a revolt had occurred against the King Ferdinand VII. France succeeded in crushing the rebellion, which the duc d’Angoulême headed.
Death
Gout
Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
and gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
, both dry and wet, in his legs and spine. Louis died on 16 September 1824, surrounded by the extended royal family and some government officials. He was succeeded by his youngest brother, the comte d’Artois, as 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...
.
Louis XVIII was the only French monarch of the 19th century to die while still ruling. He was interred at the Basilica of St Denis, the necropolis of French kings.
Ancestors
In fiction
Louis XVIII appears briefly in the novel The Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
, by Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
. The Count of Provence was portrayed by Sebastian Armesto
Sebastian Armesto
-Television and film:Armesto played Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in the series The Tudors. He also starred alongside Jane Asher in the 2008 ITV drama series The Palace as the King's carefree younger brother Prince George. He then played the character of Edmund Sparkler in the 2008 BBC version of...
in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (2006 film)
Marie Antoinette is a 2006 biographical film, written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It is very loosely based on the life of the Queen consort in the years leading up to the French Revolution. It won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design...
, a biographical film written and directed by Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American screenwriter, film director, actress, and producer.In 2003 she received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and became the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing...
, based on the book, Marie Antoinette: The Journey
Marie Antoinette: The Journey
Marie Antoinette: The Journey is a sympathetic 2001 biography of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France by Lady Antonia Fraser. It is the basis for the 2006 Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette....
by Lady Antonia Fraser. In contradiction with historical facts, he is portrayed in the film as having a son.
In the 1970 film Waterloo, Louis XVIII was portrayed by Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
.
Sources
- Lever, ÉvelyneÉvelyne LeverÉvelyne Lever is a contemporary French historian and writer. She is married to a French historian, Maurice Lever, who is the author of Sade....
, Louis XVIII, Fayard, Paris, 1988. (paperback, ISBN 2-213-7801-01 (French) - Mansel, Philip. Louis XVIII. Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, 1999 (paperback, ISBN 0-7509-2217-6).
External links
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