Louis XV of France
Encyclopedia
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. Cardinal de Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinal's death in 1743, at which time the young king took over control of the Kingdom.
Louis enjoyed a favorable reputation at the beginning of his reign and earned the epithet "le Bien-Aimé" ("the Beloved"). In time, the debauchery of his court, his ill-advised financial policies, the return of the Austrian Netherlands (which were gained following the Battle of Fontenoy
) at Aix-la-Chapelle
, and the cession of New France
at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War
led Louis to become one of the most unpopular kings in the history of France
and suffered an assassination attempt
in 1757. However, his reign saw the incorporation of Lorraine
and Corsica
to the Kingdom.
Uninterested in politics and largely influenced by his chief mistress
, Louis XV's decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and arguably led to the French Revolution
which broke out 15 years after his death. He was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI
in 1774.
Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles
on 15 February 1710 during the reign of his great-grandfather Louis XIV
. He was the third son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Marie Adélaïde of Savoy. At birth, he received a customary title of younger sons, the "Duke of Anjou". His grandfather Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, had three sons with his wife, Marie Anne Victoire of Bavaria: Burgundy (Louis XV's father), Philippe, Duke of Anjou
(who became King of Spain) and Charles, Duke of Berry
.
Louis's mother, Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, was the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy
, and Anne Marie d'Orléans. Through her mother, Marie Adélaïde was the granddaughter of Philippe of France
, younger brother of Louis XIV, and was the second cousin of her husband, Burgundy. She was betrothed to him by the Treaty of Turin in 1695, and they married in December 1697. Marie Adélaïde was a very lively young woman who revitalized and rejuvenated the court of the aging Louis XIV, and she became the centre of attraction in Versailles. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the prospects of the House of Bourbon
seemed secure. Louis XIV's only surviving son was alive and healthy, and there were thriving grandsons as well. Later, the vitality of the French royal line was confirmed in Louis XIV's observation that he was the first king of France to have a great-grandson born to him while still healthy and capable of ruling on his own.
Subsequent events, however, caused a number of members of the French royal family to be removed from the line of succession. In 1700, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, Louis XV's uncle, became King of Spain as Philip V
, inheriting the crown through the claims of his grandmother, Marie Thérèse of Spain
, the first wife of Louis XIV and a Spanish Infanta. Upon his accession, Louis XIV had perfunctorily confirmed in the Parlement of Paris
Philip V's rights to the French throne, which could not be altered or removed according to the constitutional laws of the Ancien Régime of France. As a result, European fears of a Franco-Spanish union increased and led to the War of the Spanish Succession
. The war did not proceed smoothly for France and the chances of peace on terms allowing Philip V to govern Spain while at the same time retaining his right to the French throne were slight. These chances faded even more as a result of the events of 1711–12.
In April 1711, Louis XIV's son, the Grand Dauphin, suddenly died, making the Duke of Burgundy the new dauphin. While unfortunate, this in itself was not great cause for concern, since Burgundy still had two living sons, Louis, Duke of Bretagne, and the future Louis XV. This situation changed less than a year later when Marie Adélaïde contracted smallpox
(or measles
) and died on 12 February 1712. Her husband, who had reputedly remained by her side all through her sickness, was heartbroken by the death of his wife and died before the end of the week of the same disease. Within a week of his death, it was clear that the couple's two children had been infected. The elder son, Bretagne, was repeatedly treated by bloodletting
in an effort to save him. This effort was unsuccessful and he died on 8 March 1712. His younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, was personally treated by his governess, Madame de Ventadour
, who forbade any bloodletting. Finally, the Duke of Berry, youngest son of the Grand Dauphin and the likely regent for the latest Dauphin after the death of his elder brother, died in a 1714 hunting accident.
As a result of these deaths, the fate of the dynasty now lay in the survival of a four-year-old child. The death of this child would have left Louis XIV with two possible successors: Philip V, the king of Spain, or Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV and the first cousin of the late Grand Dauphin. Philip V, however, had renounced all rights to the French succession as a result of the Treaty of Utrecht
of 1713. He nevertheless claimed that no legitimate descendant of Hugh Capet could be deprived of his rights to the throne of France according to the French Law of Succession. Because most European powers at the time saw the direct union of France and Spain under one ruler as a significant threat, the prospect of such a union threatened to unleash another European war in addition to a civil war in France.
As a young child, Louis XV was made aware of the heavy responsibility that rested on his shoulders. He was now an orphan, with no surviving siblings, no legitimate uncles or aunts except for Philip V, and no legitimate first cousins living in France. His only close relation was his great-uncle, the Duke of Orléans, Louis XIV's nephew and son-in-law.
On 1 September 1715, Louis XIV died of gangrene
after having reigned for 72 years. In August 1714, he made a will
which stipulated that until the new king reached the age of majority, the nation was to be governed by a Regency Council made up of fourteen members. The Duke of Orléans was named president of the council, but all decisions were to be taken by majority vote. The composition of the council, including the late king's legitimised sons, Maine and Toulouse, and various members of Louis XIV's administration, meant that Orléans would often be outvoted.
The content of the will had become known before Louis XIV died, and the various factions had already begun the process of gaining supporters. Orléans enjoyed the support of many among the old sword nobility
(noblesse d'épée), who were descended from medieval knights, as opposed to the noblesse de robe, the new aristocracy of recently ennobled lawyers and civil servants. Louis XIV had often excluded the noblesse d'épée from government in favour of commoners from the bourgeoisie
who often entered the noblesse de robe and whom he could control better. Thus the noblesse d'épée yearned for a change of policy more favourable to them, and were greatly displeased with the legitimisation of Maine and Toulouse, which they regarded as an affront to the traditional rules of inheritance.
The Parlement of Paris
, another political entity which Louis XIV had shut out of power, also supported the Orléans regency and hoped that a change of course in the government would increase its influence. Religion was also a factor. Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV's widow, was a supporter of the Jesuits
, the Pope
, and the Pope's controversial Bull Unigenitus
, a 1713 papal bull
directed against the Jansenists
, a Catholic group popular in France who were deemed to have Protestant tendencies. Orléans, by contrast, was supported by the Jansenists and the Gallicans
(French Catholics who wanted their church to be more independent from Rome) who hoped he would dislodge the Jesuit-Papist group from power after his accession to the regency.
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In the final weeks before his death, Louis XIV arrived at a reconciliation with his nephew, Philippe, Duke of Orléans. Bidding adieu to the closest courtiers and ministers on 26 August, Louis told them:
Always obey the orders my nephew Philippe d'Orléans will give you; he will govern the kingdom².
During the days prior to the king's death, the Duke of Orléans met with and made promises to various aristocrats, clergymen, and members of the Parlement of Paris to secure their support. He promised the aristocrats places on the new government councils he intended to form, which would be known as the polysynody
; he assured Jansenists and Gallicans he would be lenient regarding Unigenitus
; and he promised the Parlement he would restore the right of remonstrance (the right to criticize and delay royal edicts), which had been taken away from the Parlement by Louis XIV in 1673.
On 2 September, the day after Louis XIV died, there was a special session of the Parlement of Paris. It was attended not only by the magistrates who were usually there, but also by the peers and princes of the blood. The king's will was read, and the future of the government decided. The Duke of Orléans addressed the assembly. He stated his claim to the regency, and asked that he be given full power. He mentioned the recent conversation he had with Louis in which the king had stated that he would govern. He reminded those present of the arrangements he had negotiated with them over the preceding days.
The Parlement responded positively to these arguments. As a result, he was granted the right to choose his own Regency Council. Thus the king's written will was to a large extent nullified, and the Duke of Orléans became regent. In exchange, the Parlement recovered its right of remonstrance. This court coup was recorded in detail by Saint-Simon
. Orléans also made the important symbolic decision to relocate the government to Paris, and disbanded the court in Versailles.
The regent conducted affairs of state from his Parisian palace, the Palais Royal
. The young Louis XV was moved to the modern lodgings attached to the medieval fortress of Vincennes
, located 7 km/4.5 miles east of Paris in the Forest of Vincennes, where the air was deemed more wholesome and healthy than in Paris. But, a few weeks later, as the severity of winter fell upon Vincennes, the young king was moved to the Tuileries Palace
, in the center of Paris, near the Palais Royal.
, who had been designated as his governor in Louis XIV's will of August 1714 and whose secretary was the young Pierre-François Godard de Beauchamps
. The duc de Villeroi served under the formal authority of the duc du Maine, who was charged with overseeing the king's education. He was aided by André-Hercule de Fleury (later to become Cardinal de Fleury), who served as the king's tutor.
As his tutor, Fleury gave him an excellent education. Louis was also taught by renowned professors such as the geographer Guillaume Delisle
. Louis XV had an inquisitive and open-minded nature. He was an avid reader, and he developed eclectic tastes. Later in life he advocated the creation of departments in physics (1769) and mechanics (1773) at the Collège de France
.
During the Régence
, Philippe d'Orléans, in keeping with his promises, favoured the nobility (aristocrats) who had been deprived of power during the reign of Louis XIV. He established the so-called polysynody
(15 September 1715), a short-lived structure of councils that gave the aristocracy more input in decision making. He concluded an alliance with Great Britain
and the Netherlands in 1717 (Triple Alliance
) in an effort to prevent Philip V of Spain
from claiming the crown of France should the young Louis XV die.
Confronted with a total lack of expertise among the aristocracy in government affairs, the regent reverted to the monarchical organisation of government that existed under Louis XIV and, by 1718, reinstated secretaries of state
. Cardinal Dubois
, close confidant of the regent, was made prime minister in 1722. In an attempt to replenish the French treasury, the regency tried a number of original financial experiments, notable among them the famous inflationary scheme of John Law
. The bursting of the speculative bubble fueled by Law's system brought about the ruin of many aristocrats.
In 1721, Louis XV was betrothed to his first cousin, Infanta Maria Anna Victoria of Spain
. The eleven-year-old king was not interested in the arrival of his future wife, the three-year-old Spanish Infanta. In June 1722, the young king and the court returned to Versailles, where they would stay until the end of the reign. In October of the same year, Louis XV was officially crowned in Reims Cathedral.
On 15 February 1723, the king's majority was declared by the Parlement of Paris. This ended the Regency. Initially, Louis XV left the Duke of Orléans
in charge of state affairs. The Duke of Orléans was made first minister on the death of Cardinal Dubois in August 1723, and he himself died in December of the same year. Following the advice of Fleury, Louis XV appointed his cousin, Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, to replace the late Duke of Orléans.
The Duke of Bourbon was worried by the health of the young king. His primary motivation was a desire to prevent the family of the late regent, the House of Orléans
, from ascending the throne should the king die, seeing the House of Orléans as his own enemy. The king was quite frail, and several alerts led to concern for his life. Moreover, the Spanish infanta was still too young to produce an heir. To remedy this precarious situation, the Duke of Bourbon set about choosing a European princess old enough to produce an heir.
Eventually, the 21-year-old Marie Leszczyńska, daughter of Stanisław Leszczyński, the deposed King of Poland
, was chosen. An impoverished and plain-looking princess who had followed her father's misfortunes, she was nonetheless said to be virtuous. The marriage was celebrated in September 1725.
Louis's marriage to Marie Leszczyńska produced many children, but the king was persistently (and notoriously) unfaithful. Some of his mistresses, such as Madame de Pompadour
and Madame du Barry
, are as well known as the king himself, and his affairs with three Mailly-Nesle sisters are documented by the formal agreements into which he entered. In his later years, Louis developed a penchant for young girls, keeping several at a time in a personal seraglio
known as the Parc aux Cerfs ("Deer Park"), one of whose inhabitants, Marie-Louise O'Murphy
, was immortalised in a painting by Boucher. Scandalous rumours spread across France, in which it was alleged that the king bathed in the blood of virgins and had ninety illegitimate children.
In practice the king's several mistresses exercised the dominant influence in selecting or removing his ministers of state. The most famous of Louis's mistresses were the sisters of Mailly-Nesle (four of the five sisters were king's mistresses, notably Louise-Julie, Comtesse de Mailly from 1738 to 1742 and Marie Anne, Duchesse de Châteauroux in 1743-44); Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour
(called Madame de Pompadour, the official mistress from 1745 to 1764); and Marie Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry
(official mistress from 1768 until the king's death in 1774). The status of maîtresse-en-titre
was a court position that was sometimes retained even if the king and his mistress ceased being physical lovers. For instance, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour ended their sexual relationship after 1750 but she remained his official mistress
for fourteen more years, until her death. To secure her position, she managed to always provide herself a lot of occasional young mistresses to satisfy the king. The most famous was the French-Irish Marie-Louise O'Murphy
, who after two years as the king's young lover, made the fatal mistake of trying to unseat Madame de Pompadour and supplant her as favorite. This unwise move resulted in O'Murphy's immediate banishment from the court.
The Triumvirate arose in 1771, when Louis XV banished Étienne François, duc de Choiseul
, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1758, and reshuffled the cabinet. René Nicolas de Maupeou
was appointed Chancellor of France and Minister of Justice, Joseph Marie Terray
became Minister of Finance, and Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon
, Minister for Foreign Affairs. They fought against the Parlements and had the judiciary run by the Council of State. Louis XVI
restored the Parlements and removed the triumvirs from their posts.
Behind the splendor and glitter of 18th-century Versailles there existed a contentious and dangerous hotbed of royal family politics. Throughout the second half of his reign, Louis XV experienced opposition and intrigue from his children, particularly his son Louis (the dauphin) and his eldest surviving daughter Adélaïde. Fortunately for the king, this intrigue of family politics took place within the environs of Versailles, an environment that was under his control. Louis XV was able to use this palatial space to oversee and counter his children's politics and intrigues. Louis XV communicated his satisfaction and displeasure within the transformations he made at Versailles.
From 1726 until his death in 1743, Cardinal de Fleury ruled France with the king's assent. It was the most peaceful and prosperous part of the reign of Louis XV, despite some unrest caused by the Parlements and the Jansenists. After the financial and human losses suffered at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, the rule of Fleury is seen by historians as a period of "recovery" (French historians speak of a gouvernement "réparateur"). It is hard to determine exactly what part the king took in the decisions of the Fleury government, but he certainly supported Fleury against the intrigues of the court and the conspiracies of the courtiers.
With the help of controllers-general of finances
Michel Robert Le Peletier des Forts (1726–1730) and Philibert Orry
(1730–1745), Fleury stabilized the French currency (1726) and balanced the budget in 1738. Economic expansion was also a central goal of the government: communications were improved with the completion of the Saint-Quentin canal (linking the Oise
and Somme
rivers) in 1738, later extended to the Escaut River and the Low Countries
and the systematic building of a national road network. By the middle of the 18th century, France had the most modern and extensive road network in the world.
The ponts et chaussées engineers
built modern highways, many of which are still in use today, stretching from Paris to the most distant borders of France. Trade was also stimulated by the Bureau and the Council of Commerce, and French foreign maritime trade increased from 80 to 308 million livres
between 1716 and 1748. However, rigid Colbertist
laws (prefiguring dirigisme
) hindered industrial development.
The power of the absolute monarchy
was demonstrated by its quelling of Jansenist and Gallican opposition. The troubles caused by the convulsionaries of the Saint-Médard graveyard in Paris (a group of Jansenists claiming that miracles took place in this graveyard) were put to an end in 1732. As for the Gallican opposition, after the "exile" of 139 parlementaires in the provinces, the Parlement of Paris had to register the Unigenitus papal bull and was forbidden to hear religious cases in the future.
In foreign relations, Fleury sought peace by attempting to maintain the alliance with England and pursuing reconciliation with Spain. In September 1729, at the end of her third pregnancy, the queen finally gave birth to a male child, an heir to the throne, the dauphin Louis (1729–1765). The birth of a long-awaited heir, which ensured the survival of the dynasty for the first time since 1712, was welcomed with tremendous joy and celebration in all spheres of French society. The young king was extremely popular at the time. The birth of a male heir also dispelled the risks of a succession crisis and the likely war with Spain that would have resulted.
In 1733, on the advice of his secretary of state for foreign affairs
Germain Louis Chauvelin
(1727–1737), the king abandoned Fleury's peace policy to intervene in the War of the Polish Succession
. In addition to attempting to restore his father-in-law Stanisław Leszczyński to the Polish throne, the king also hoped to wrest the long-coveted duchy of Lorraine from its duke, Francis III
. The duke's expected marriage to Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI
's daughter, Maria Theresa
, would bring Austrian power dangerously close to the French border. In the end, the half-hearted French intervention did not allow Stanisław to recover his throne.
In the west, however, French troops rapidly overran Lorraine, and peace was restored as early as 1735. By the Treaty of Vienna
(November 1738), Stanisław was compensated for the loss of his Polish throne with the duchy of Lorraine, which would eventually pass to King Louis as his son-in-law, while Duke Francis III of Lorraine was made heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
as compensation for the loss of Lorraine. The war cost France very little, compared to the financial and human drains of Louis XIV's wars, and was a clear success for French diplomacy. The acquisition of Lorraine (effective in 1766 at Stanislaus' death) was to be the last territorial expansion of France on the continent before the French Revolution
.
Shortly after this favourable result, France's mediation in the war between the Holy Roman Empire
and the Ottoman Empire
led to the Treaty of Belgrade
(September 1739) which favoured the Ottoman Empire, beneficiary of a Franco-Ottoman alliance
against the Habsburg
s since the early 16th century. As a result, the Ottoman Empire in 1740 renewed the French capitulations, which marked the supremacy of French trade in the Middle East. With these successes, Louis XV's prestige reached its highest point.
In 1740, the death of Emperor Charles VI and his succession by his daughter Maria Theresa started the European War of the Austrian Succession
. The elderly Cardinal de Fleury had too little energy left to oppose this war, which was strongly supported by the anti-Austrian party at court. Renewing the cycle of conflicts so typical of Louis XIV's reign, the king entered the war in 1741 on the side of Prussia
. The war would last seven years. Fleury did not live to see the end of the war. After Fleury's death, in January 1743, the king followed his predecessor's example, ruling from then on without a first minister.
Out of ten children born of the queen, there were only two sons, only one of whom survived to adulthood, Louis, Dauphin of France (1729-1765). This did not help dispel the concerns about the future of the dynasty brought about by the repeated deaths of the early 1710s. In 1734, for the first time, the queen complained to her father about the king's infidelities. The king found love with Madame de Mailly
, then with her younger sister Madame de Vintimille
, then at her death with yet another sister Marie-Anne de Mailly
, while the queen took refuge in religion and charities.
In June 1744, the king left Versailles for the front in order to take personal command of his armies fighting in the War of the Austrian Succession. This otherwise popular move was marred by the king's indiscreet decision to bring along Madame de Châteauroux. In August, the king fell gravely ill in Metz
. Death appeared imminent, and public prayers were held all across France to ask God to save the king from a certain death.
Pressed by the dévot
party, Msgr.
de Fitz-James, First Chaplain (premier aumônier) of the king, refused to give the king the absolution unless the king renounced his mistress. The king's confession was then publicly announced, embarrassing him and tarnishing the prestige of the monarchy. Madame de Châteauroux was forced to leave to the boos of the public. Although Louis's recovery earned him the 'well-beloved' epithet from a public relieved by his survival, the events at Metz
(August 1744) appear to have left profound scars on his psyche as well as on French political life. Nevertheless, the king soon returned to his adulterous ways.
Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, later the marquise de Pompadour
, who met Louis XV in February 1745 at a masked ball given in honour of the Dauphin's marriage, was the most famous mistress of the reign, and the most honourable one. She was the daughter of a chief agent of the powerful Pâris family of financiers who became embroiled in the intrigue that ousted the Duke of Bourbon
as head of the Regency council in favour of Cardinal de Fleury. A beautiful woman, educated, cultured, intelligent, and sincerely attached to the king, she nonetheless possessed one major shortcoming in the everyone's eyes: she was a commoner, from the bourgeoisie
, and even worse, a commoner who meddled in royal politics.
The public had generally accepted the mistresses of Louis XIV, who, apart from Madame de Maintenon, were all chosen in the highest spheres of the aristocracy and had very little influence on the government. But that the king would thus compromise himself with a commoner was felt to be a profound disgrace. Soon there were hundreds of libels called poissonnades (a word akin to "fish stew", a pun
based on the marquise de Pompadour's family name, Poisson, which means "fish" in French), violently attacking the Marquise, as in this example: "Daughter of leech
, and leech herself, Poisson ["Fish"], with an extreme arrogance, flaunts in this château, without fear or dread, the substance of the people and the shame of the King."
Despite the critics, the marquise de Pompadour had an undeniable influence on the flourishing of French arts during the reign of Louis XV, a reign that is often considered the peak of French architecture and interior design (see: Louis XV style). A patron of the arts, the Marquise amassed a considerable amount of furniture
and objets d'art
in her various estates. She was responsible for the tremendous development of the porcelain manufactory of Sèvres
, which became one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers in Europe, and her commands ensured the living of artists and families of craftsmen for many years. She was also a prominent patron of architecture, being responsible for the building of the Place Louis XV (now called Place de la Concorde
) and the École Militaire
in Paris, both built by her protégé Ange-Jacques Gabriel
.
The École Militaire, for the creation of which she successfully lobbied the king, showed her commitment to the training of officers from poor families of the aristocracy. The Marquise was a liberal at heart and she steadily defended the Encyclopédie
against the attacks of the Church. She was a supporter of the Philosophy of the Enlightenment
, and tried to win the king to its new ideas, albeit not quite as successfully as she hoped. She was criticised for the lavish display of luxury in her various estates, although her rich family of financiers in many instances gave money to the government and saved the monarchy from bankruptcy. All her estates, which she had bequeathed to the state, reverted to the crown at her death.
The marquise de Pompadour was officially settled on the third floor (second storey) of the Palace of Versailles
, in small but comfortable apartments that can still be visited today. There, she organised fine suppers for the king, with chosen guests, far from the pomp and etiquette of the court. The atmosphere in these private quarters was so relaxed that the king was said to serve coffee during the suppers. She often entertained the king, trying to relieve him from the state of boredom in which the court often plunged him. The king, who liked a more bourgeois lifestyle than his forefather Louis XIV, found in the private apartments of the marquise de Pompadour, located above his own office and bedchamber, the intimacy and reassuring feminine presence of which he had been deprived during his childhood.
The marquise de Pompadour, who was reportedly in frail health, was no more than a friend after 1750. Although their sexual relationship stopped, she remained the close confidante and friend of the king until her death, quite a feat in the history of royal mistresses. She, more than anyone else, was adept at understanding the complex and demanding personality of the king. After 1750, the king was mired in a series of short-lived love affairs and sexual relationships, hiding his temporary conquests in a small mansion at the Parc-aux-Cerfs ("Stags' Park"), whose most famous occupant was Marie-Louise O'Murphy
. Legend later enormously exaggerated the events occurring at the Parc-aux-Cerfs, contributing to the dark reputation still associated with Louis XV's name today. In fact, the king's womanising behavior was not very different from that of many of his illustrious ancestors, such as kings Francis I
, Henry IV
, Louis XIV, to say nothing of other European monarchs such as Charles II of England
.
Starting in 1743 with the death of Fleury, the king ruled alone without a first minister. He had read many times the instructions of Louis XIV: "Listen to the people, seek advice from your Council, but decide alone." Although he was without a doubt more intelligent and cultured than his great-grandfather, Louis XV lacked self-confidence. His political correspondence reveals his deep knowledge of public affairs as well as the soundness of his judgment. However, the king was often afraid of making firm decisions, fearing that he might be wrong and other people might be right. It was only when pushed to the limit, often when it was too late, that he suddenly resolved to bold action, with a brutality that stunned people.
Always supportive and friendly towards his ministers in appearance, his displeasure was felt suddenly and without warning. This led to a reputation for deviousness. It was very difficult for ministers to decipher the king, or to know if their behavior was in agreement with his desires. Usually, they were given great independence of action in their own ministries with the king never really directing them. Very often, they never received any warning or sign of disagreement from the king before a sudden fall from grace. Moreover, the king often kept them in the dark concerning his true line of reasoning, frequently communicating without their knowledge with foreign courts through a network of diplomats and spies called the secret of the king.
Most government work was conducted in committees of ministers which met without the king. The king reviewed policy only in the Conseil d'en haut, the High Council, which was composed of the king, the dauphin, the chancellor, the contrôleur général des finances, and the secretary of state in charge of foreign affairs. Created by Louis XIV, the council was in charge of state policy regarding religion, diplomacy, and war. There, he let various political factions oppose each other and vie for influence and power: the dévot party, led by the Comte d'Argenson, secretary of state for war, opposed the parti philosophique, which supported Enlightenment
philosophy and was led by Machault d'Arnouville
, controller-general of finances.
The parti philosophique was supported by the marquise de Pompadour, who acted as a sort of minister without portfolio
from the time she became royal mistress in 1745 until her death in 1764. The Marquise was in favour of reforms. Supported by her clan of financiers (Pâris-Duverney, Montmartel, etc.), she obtained from the king the appointment of ministers (Bernis, secretary of state for foreign affairs
, in 1757), as well as their dismissal (Orry
, controller-general of finances, in 1745; Maurepas
, secretary of state for the Navy, in 1749). On her advice, the king supported the policy of fiscal justice designed by Machault d'Arnouville. In order to finance the budget deficit, which amounted to 100 million livres
in 1745, Machault d'Arnouville created a tax on the twentieth of all revenues which affected also the privileged classes (Edict of Marly, 1749).
This breach in the privileged status of the aristocracy and the clergy, normally exempt from taxes, was a first in French history, although it had already been advocated by visionary minds such as Vauban
under Louis XIV. However, the new tax was received with violent protest from the privileged classes sitting in the provincial estates (états provinciaux) of the few provinces which still kept the right to decide over taxation (most provinces had long lost their provincial estates, theétats provinciaux, and the right to decide over taxation that came with it). The new tax was also violently opposed by the clergy and by the parlements. Pressed and eventually won over by his entourage at court, the king gave in and exempted the clergy from the twentieth in 1751. Eventually, the twentieth became a mere increase in the already existing taille
, the most important direct tax of the monarchy from which privileged classes were exempted. It was the first defeat in the "taxation war" waged against the privileged classes.
As a result of these attempts at reform, the Parlement of Paris, using the quarrel between the clergy and the Jansenists as a pretext, addressed remonstrances to the king (April 1753). In these remonstrances, the Parlement, which was made up of privileged aristocrats and ennobled commoners, proclaimed itself the "natural defender of the fundamental laws of the kingdom" against the arbitrariness of the monarchy.
(1740–1748), which pitted the French and Prussians against the Austrians, British, and Dutch, culminated in a series of major French victories: the Battle of Fontenoy
(1745), the Battle of Rocourt
(1746), and the Battle of Lauffeld
(1747). The Battle of Fontenoy, won by the Maréchal de Saxe
, is still remembered as one of the most decisive French victories against the British. In 1746 French forces besieged and occupied Brussels
which Louis then entered in triumph. By 1748, France occupied the entire Austrian Netherlands
(modern-day Belgium
), then the wealthiest area of Europe, and appeared on its way to fulfilling its traditional dream of extending its north-eastern border to the Rhine. The embarrassment at Metz (1744) now largely forgotten, the king was at the peak of his popularity.
in 1748, Louis shocked his people and the rest of Europe by agreeing to restore all his conquests to Austria. Louis XV, who at heart was not a bellicose king, unlike his great-grandfather Louis XIV, felt content to rule a nearly hexagon-shaped kingdom, which he called his pré carré (i.e. "square field"), a term still used in French politics today. He thought it better to cultivate the pré carré rather than trying to expand it. The king declared he had made peace "as a king and not as a merchant". The attitude of the king was hailed in Europe, and he became overnight the "arbiter of Europe".
At home, however, his popularity sharply declined. The people had forgiven Louis XV for his high taxes, his mistresses, and his lavish expenditures, as long as he was successful in wars. But the news that the king had restored the Southern Netherlands to Austria was met with disbelief and bitterness. Parisians coined the phrase: "As stupid as the peace" ("Bête comme la paix"). Historians usually consider that the year 1748 saw the first true manifestation of public opinion
in France, a nationalist public opinion that the king did not understand. The year proved a turning point in the king's popularity: after 1748, pamphlets against the king's mistresses became increasingly widely published and read, and his popularity steadily declined.
without a declaration of war. In 1755, the British seized 300 French merchant ships, in violation of international law
. A few months later, on 16 January 1756, Great Britain and Prussia signed a treaty of "neutrality". In Paris and Versailles, the parti philosophique could not hide their disappointment at this betrayal by King Frederick II of Prussia
, who was until then seen as an enlightened sovereign friend of the Philosophers.
Frederick II had even welcomed Voltaire
in Potsdam
when the famous writer had run into trouble with the dévot party in France. But the truth was that Frederick II was motivated first and foremost by personal interests and the desire to expand the territory of Prussia by any means available. He had already abandoned his French ally during the War of Austrian Succession, signing a separate peace treaty with Austria in December 1745. The Marquise de Pompadour particularly disliked Frederick II, who had always showed contempt for her, and even named one of his poodles "Pompadour". At the same time, French officials realized that the Habsburg
empire of Austria
was no more the danger it had been in the heyday of the Habsburgs, back in the 16th and 17th centuries, when they controlled Spain and most of Europe and presented a formidable challenge to France. The new dangerous power looming now on the horizon was Prussia. In a "reversal of alliances
", the king signed the Treaty of Versailles
with Austria on 1 April 1756, overruling his ministers and putting an end to more than 200 years of conflict with the Habsburgs. The new Franco-Austrian Alliance
would last intermittently for the next thirty five years.
Louis apparently expected that joining with Austria would prevent another war on the continent by confronting Prussia with a counter-coalition. He was mistaken. Austria was bent on regaining Silesia, which Prussia had grabbed in 1740 and had not returned. At the end of August 1756, having learned that Austria was negotiating to enlist Russia against him, Frederick II invaded Saxony
without a declaration of war. He soon defeated the unprepared Saxon and Austrian armies and occupied the whole of Saxony. The Saxon ruler
's younger daughter was the Dauphin's wife and his elder daughter was married to Charles VII of Naples, a Bourbon cousin. Frederick's treatment of the Polish–Saxon royal family was seen as uncommonly disrespectful; moreover, Queen Maria Josepha
, the dauphine
's mother, died from a stroke some in France attributed to maltreatment, without evidence. Rumors of these actions by Frederick II profoundly shocked the French. The dauphine had a miscarriage as a result of the news coming from Saxony. Louis XV decided he was left with no choice but to enter the war.
Meanwhile, Britain had already declared war on France on 18 May 1756. The ensuing Seven Years' War
(1756–1763) was to have profound consequences for France and Britain.
In 1757 French troops invaded Hanover
, but were driven out by a counter-attack led by Ferdinand of Brunswick the following year. While called the "Seven Years War", the actual conflicts amounted to nine years of war.
At home, discontent grew, fuelled by the perceived political incompetence of the king and the spending spree of the court. As previously highlighted, modern historians have shown that the king was in fact not incompetent, albeit not resolute enough. The spending at court was also not particularly high under Louis XV, at any rate not any higher than under previous French kings, and certainly much lower than in some other European courts, such as in Russia, where Peter the Great
and Empress Elizabeth spent enormous amounts of money to build palaces in and around Saint Petersburg
. Court spending also helped to carry French arts to their zenith under Louis XV, and supported thousands of families of artists and craftsmen. French arts were admired and copied all over Europe. Even today, 250 years later, "Louis XV" style is still a favourite among the rich and famous around the world. Yet at the time, the French public, influenced as it was by a violent campaign of libels against the king and the Marquise de Pompadour starting in the mid-1740s, could only see royal incompetence and spending sprees.
This was what may have inspired the assassination attempt on the king by Robert Damiens. On 5 January 1757, would-be assassin
Damiens entered the Palace of Versailles, as did thousands of people every day to petition the king. At 6 pm, as night had fallen on a cold Versailles covered in snow, the king, who was visiting his daughter, left her apartments to return to the Trianon
where he was staying. As he was walking in the Marble Courtyard between two lines of guards lighting the way with torches, headed toward his carriage which was waiting at the edge of the Marble Courtyard, Damiens suddenly emerged from the dark, passed through the guards, and stabbed the king in the side with a penknife.
The 8.1 cm (3.2 inch) blade entered the king's body between the fourth and fifth ribs. The king, who was bleeding, remained calm and called for a confessor as he thought he would die. Thoughts of poison came to his mind. At the sight of the queen, who had come in a hurry, he asked for forgiveness for his misbehaviour. However, the king survived. He was probably saved by the thick layers of clothes he wore on that cold day, which cushioned the blade, protecting the internal organs. Allegedly, the blade penetrated only 1 cm (0.4 inch) into the king's body, leading Voltaire
to mock what he called a "pinprick".
Damiens, who was mentally unstable, had been a servant of members of the Parlement of Paris where he had heard much criticism of the king. This, combined with the violent pamphlets and general discontent with the king, convinced him that he had to commit regicide
in order to save France. Other sources say that he did not want to kill the king, but merely to give him a warning and thus force him to change his behaviour. In any case, it was the first attempt at regicide in France since the murder of King Henry IV
by Ravaillac in 1610.
The king, bent on forgiving Damiens, could not avoid a trial for regicide. Tried by the Parlement of Paris, Damiens was executed on the Place de Grève
on 28 March 1757, following the horrible procedure applied to regicides: after numerous tortures, Damiens was carried to the Place de Grève in the cold afternoon of that day. There, he was first tortured with red-hot pincers; his hand, holding the knife used in the attempted murder, was burnt using sulphur; molten wax, lead, and boiling oil were poured into his wounds. Horses were then harnessed to his arms and legs for his dismemberment. Damiens's joints would not break; after some hours, representatives of the Parlement ordered the executioner and his aides to cut Damiens's joints. Damiens was then dismembered, to the applause of the crowd. His trunk, apparently still living, was then burnt at the stake. There was an immense crowd to watch this gruesome spectacle, which nobody had witnessed in 147 years. Balconies in buildings above the Place de Grève were rented to women of the aristocracy for the exorbitant price of 100 livres
per balcony (approx. $700 in 2005 US dollars). This tale of Damiens' brutal execution, recounted in the opening pages of Michel Foucault
's Discipline and Punishment has been disputed by numerous historians.
This gruesome execution was harshly criticized by the “philosophes”, who saw it as a remnant of a more brutal age. In truth, the king himself had nothing to do with the method of execution, and the people rejoiced at the king having escaped Damiens's knife unharmed. It was the members of the Parlement of Paris who selected such a horrific execution, as they thought it would please the king, willing as they were to reconcile themselves with the king after their opposition to the tax on the twentieth and their support of the Jansenists against the king's will.
But above all, the people were outraged that the king did not dismiss Madame de Pompadour, despite the clear signal sent by Damiens. Posters appeared on the walls of Paris with the following ironic pun: "Ruling from the Mint Court: A louis not properly struck shall be struck a second time." The Austrian ambassador wrote to Vienna: "The public discontent is general. All the conversations are about death and poison. There appeared in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles some dreadful posters threatening the life of the king."
to the government. Reforms would resume only with Maupeou
in 1771.
Louis and his minister were deeply unhappy about Great Britain's victory in the Seven Years War
and in the years following the Treaty of Paris
they began drawing up a long-term plan that would involve construction of a larger navy, building an anti-British coalition of states that would lead to an eventual war of revenge and see France regain its former colonies from Britain. Choiseul was the leading advocate of this scheme, and was prepared to go to war with Britain over the Falklands Crisis
in 1770. Louis, however, did not believe France was ready and instead dismissed Choiseul.
at the Palace of Versailles
. Louis XV was the first Bourbon whose heart was not, as tradition demanded, cut out and placed in a special coffer. Instead, alcohol was poured into his coffin and his remains were soaked in quicklime. In a surreptitious late-night ceremony attended by only one courtier, the body was taken to the Saint Denis Basilica
.
Louis's death saw the French monarchy at its nadir, in political, financial and moral terms. Since Louis XV's son, Louis, the dauphin, had died nine years earlier, the throne passed to his grandson, the conventional and unimaginative Louis XVI
. Two of Louis XV's other grandchildren, Louis XVIII
and Charles X
, would occupy the throne of France after the fall of Napoleon I
.
's equestrian statue of Louis XV was originally conceived to commemorate the monarch's victorious role in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) and artistically executed to display a benign representation of the king as peacemaker. However it was, ironically, unveiled in 1763 following France's defeat in the Seven Years War. Bouchardon's work designed to be a powerful symbol of loyalty to the king became the centerpiece of a public relations event staged to restore public confidence in a monarchy in decline using art as propaganda on a grand scale.
Louis was unequal to the high expectations of his subjects. Contemporary songs, poems, and public declarations looked for a king who was absolute "master," unblemished "Christian," and benevolent provider ("baker"). Young Louis's failings were attributed to inexperience and manipulation by unscrupulous handlers. As his troubled reign progressed, his debauched private life was revealed and famine repeatedly battered France; the people withdrew their respect, reviled the sycophant king, and ultimately celebrated his demise. The institution of monarchy was intact, but Louis XV saddled his successor with a damaging legacy of popular discontent.
The many sermons on his death in 1774 praised the monarch and went out of their way to excuse his faults. But those ecclesiastics who not only raised their eyebrows over the sins of the Beloved but also expressed doubts about his policies reflected the corporate attitude of the First Estate more accurately. They hoped his successor would restore morals and serve the will of God, which they claimed the role of interpreting.
The financial strain imposed by these wars and by the excesses of the royal court, and the consequent dissatisfaction with the monarchy, contributed to the national unrest which culminated in the French Revolution
of 1789.
Louis XIV had left France with serious financial difficulties. Ultimately, Louis XV failed to overcome these fiscal problems, mainly because he was incapable of putting together conflicting parties and interests in his entourage. Worse, Louis seemed to be aware of the forces of anti-monarchism threatening his family's rule and yet failed to do anything to stop them.
At first, he was known popularly as Le Bien-aimé (the well-beloved) and after a near-death illness in Metz in 1744 many of his subjects prayed for his recovery. His weak and ineffective rule accelerated the general decline that culminated in the French Revolution
in 1789. The king was a notorious womaniser, although this was expected in a king; the monarch's virility was supposed to be another way in which his power was manifested. Nevertheless, popular faith in the monarchy was shaken by the scandals of Louis’s private life and by the end of his life he had become the well-loved.
Popular legend holds that Louis said, "After me, the flood" ("Après moi, le déluge"). In fact this quotation is more precisely attributed to Madame de Pompadour
, although it is not certain that even she ever said it.
era films, especially films about the lives of Marie Antoinette
and Madame du Barry
.
One son with an unknown mother:
One son with Pauline Félicité de Mailly, mademoiselle de Nesle (Paris, 1 August 1712 – Versailles, 10 September 1741), married Paris, 28 September 1739 to Jean Baptiste Félix de Vintimille, marquis de Luc et de Castelnau (23 July 1720 – Paris, 10 September 1777), without issue:
One daughter with Marie Irène Cathérine de Buisson de Longpré (- 1767), daughter of the seigneur de Longpré, near Falaise
, and married a bourgeois of that town named Filleul:
One daughter with Marie-Louise O'Murphy de Boisfaily
:
One son with Françoise de Châlus (bap.
Château de Châlus-Chabrol
, Châlus
, Haute-Vienne, 24 February 1734 – Paris, 7 July 1821), one of the ladies-in-waiting of Elizabeth, Duchess of Parma and Chamberlain
-Major of Princess Marie Adélaïde of France, daughter of Gabriel de Châlus, seigneur de Sansac, and Claire Gérault de Solages, married on 10 July 1749 to Don
Jean François, 1er duc de Narbonne-Lara Grandee of Spain 1st Class, Lieutenant General
of the Army
, Commander in Name of the King of the Diocese
s of Castres
, Albi and Lavaur
, 1st Gentleman
of the House of H.R.H. the Duke of Parma
(Aubiac, Lot-et-Garonne
, 27 December 1718 – 12 August 1806, son of François de Narbonne-Lara, seigneur d' Aubiac, and second wife Olympie Angélique de Goth:
Two daughters by Marguerite Cathérine Haynault (Paris, 11 November 1736 – 17 March 1823):
Two daughters with Lucie-Madeleine d'Estaing (1743–1826), illegitimate daughter of Charles François d' Estaing, marquis de Saillans, vicomte de Ravel (1683 – 29 August 1746) by Madeleine Erny:
One son with Anne Couffier de Romans, dame de Meilly-Coulonges (1737–1808):
One son with Jeanne Louise Tiercelin de la Colleterie, dit mademoiselle de Bonneval (1746–1779):
One daughter with Cathérine Eléonore Bernard (1740–1769):
One son with Marie Thérèse Françoise Boisselet (- 1800):
He also served as stepfather to Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour
's only child:
Louis XV may have had other illegitimate children, but paternity has not been established for sure.
|-
|-
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House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
, served as Regent
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723. Cardinal de Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinal's death in 1743, at which time the young king took over control of the Kingdom.
Louis enjoyed a favorable reputation at the beginning of his reign and earned the epithet "le Bien-Aimé" ("the Beloved"). In time, the debauchery of his court, his ill-advised financial policies, the return of the Austrian Netherlands (which were gained following the Battle of Fontenoy
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Allies – comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops under the nominal command of the Duke of Cumberland – and a French army under Maurice de...
) at Aix-la-Chapelle
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...
, and the cession of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
led Louis to become one of the most unpopular kings in the history of France
Early Modern France
Kingdom of France is the early modern period of French history from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century...
and suffered an assassination attempt
Robert-François Damiens
Robert-François Damiens was a French domestic servant whose attempted assassination of King Louis XV of France in 1757 culminated in his notorious and controversial public execution...
in 1757. However, his reign saw the incorporation of Lorraine
Lorraine
-Places:* Lotharingia or Lorraine, a short-lived Kingdom in western Europe. Later an independent duchy from around 910 to its partition in 959 into:** Lower Lorraine, Duchy of Lower Lorraine, which is today roughly Belgium,...
and Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
to the Kingdom.
Uninterested in politics and largely influenced by his chief mistress
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
, Louis XV's decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and arguably led to 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...
which broke out 15 years after his death. He was succeeded by his grandson 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....
in 1774.
Background and early life
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
on 15 February 1710 during the reign of his great-grandfather Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. He was the third son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Marie Adélaïde of Savoy. At birth, he received a customary title of younger sons, the "Duke of Anjou". His grandfather Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, had three sons with his wife, Marie Anne Victoire of Bavaria: Burgundy (Louis XV's father), Philippe, Duke of Anjou
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
(who became King of Spain) and Charles, Duke of Berry
Charles de Bourbon, Duc de Berry
Charles de France, Duke of Berry, , was a grandson of Louis XIV of France. Although he was only a grandson of Louis XIV, Berry held the rank of fils de France , rather than petit-fils de France , as the son of the Dauphin, heir apparent to the throne...
.
Louis's mother, Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, was the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus II was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of marquis of Saluzzo, duke of Montferrat, prince of Piedmont, count of Aosta, Moriana and Nizza. Louis XIV organised his marriage in order to maintain French influence in the Duchy but Victor Amadeus soon broke away...
, and Anne Marie d'Orléans. Through her mother, Marie Adélaïde was the granddaughter of Philippe of France
Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Philippe of France was the youngest son of Louis XIII of France and his queen consort Anne of Austria. His older brother was the famous Louis XIV, le roi soleil. Styled Duke of Anjou from birth, Philippe became Duke of Orléans upon the death of his uncle Gaston, Duke of Orléans...
, younger brother of Louis XIV, and was the second cousin of her husband, Burgundy. She was betrothed to him by the Treaty of Turin in 1695, and they married in December 1697. Marie Adélaïde was a very lively young woman who revitalized and rejuvenated the court of the aging Louis XIV, and she became the centre of attraction in Versailles. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the prospects of the House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
seemed secure. Louis XIV's only surviving son was alive and healthy, and there were thriving grandsons as well. Later, the vitality of the French royal line was confirmed in Louis XIV's observation that he was the first king of France to have a great-grandson born to him while still healthy and capable of ruling on his own.
Subsequent events, however, caused a number of members of the French royal family to be removed from the line of succession. In 1700, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, Louis XV's uncle, became King of Spain as Philip V
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
, inheriting the crown through the claims of his grandmother, Marie Thérèse of Spain
Maria Theresa of Spain
Maria Theresa of Austria was the daughter of Philip IV, King of Spain and Elizabeth of France. Maria Theresa was Queen of France as wife of King Louis XIV and mother of the Grand Dauphin, an ancestor of the last four Bourbon kings of France.-Early life:Born as Infanta María Teresa of Spain at the...
, the first wife of Louis XIV and a Spanish Infanta. Upon his accession, Louis XIV had perfunctorily confirmed in the Parlement of Paris
Parlement
Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...
Philip V's rights to the French throne, which could not be altered or removed according to the constitutional laws of the Ancien Régime of France. As a result, European fears of a Franco-Spanish union increased and led to the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
. The war did not proceed smoothly for France and the chances of peace on terms allowing Philip V to govern Spain while at the same time retaining his right to the French throne were slight. These chances faded even more as a result of the events of 1711–12.
In April 1711, Louis XIV's son, the Grand Dauphin, suddenly died, making the Duke of Burgundy the new dauphin. While unfortunate, this in itself was not great cause for concern, since Burgundy still had two living sons, Louis, Duke of Bretagne, and the future Louis XV. This situation changed less than a year later when Marie Adélaïde contracted smallpox
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"...
(or measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
) and died on 12 February 1712. Her husband, who had reputedly remained by her side all through her sickness, was heartbroken by the death of his wife and died before the end of the week of the same disease. Within a week of his death, it was clear that the couple's two children had been infected. The elder son, Bretagne, was repeatedly treated by bloodletting
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often little quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors" the proper balance of which maintained health...
in an effort to save him. This effort was unsuccessful and he died on 8 March 1712. His younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, was personally treated by his governess, Madame de Ventadour
Madame de Ventadour
Charlotte de La Motte Houdancourt, Duchess of Ventadour was the governess of King Louis XV of France, great-grandson of King Louis XIV. She is credited with saving Louis XV from the ministrations of the royal doctors when he was ill as a child...
, who forbade any bloodletting. Finally, the Duke of Berry, youngest son of the Grand Dauphin and the likely regent for the latest Dauphin after the death of his elder brother, died in a 1714 hunting accident.
As a result of these deaths, the fate of the dynasty now lay in the survival of a four-year-old child. The death of this child would have left Louis XIV with two possible successors: Philip V, the king of Spain, or Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV and the first cousin of the late Grand Dauphin. Philip V, however, had renounced all rights to the French succession as a result of the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
of 1713. He nevertheless claimed that no legitimate descendant of Hugh Capet could be deprived of his rights to the throne of France according to the French Law of Succession. Because most European powers at the time saw the direct union of France and Spain under one ruler as a significant threat, the prospect of such a union threatened to unleash another European war in addition to a civil war in France.
As a young child, Louis XV was made aware of the heavy responsibility that rested on his shoulders. He was now an orphan, with no surviving siblings, no legitimate uncles or aunts except for Philip V, and no legitimate first cousins living in France. His only close relation was his great-uncle, the Duke of Orléans, Louis XIV's nephew and son-in-law.
Louis XIV's will
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...
after having reigned for 72 years. In August 1714, he made a will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
which stipulated that until the new king reached the age of majority, the nation was to be governed by a Regency Council made up of fourteen members. The Duke of Orléans was named president of the council, but all decisions were to be taken by majority vote. The composition of the council, including the late king's legitimised sons, Maine and Toulouse, and various members of Louis XIV's administration, meant that Orléans would often be outvoted.
The content of the will had become known before Louis XIV died, and the various factions had already begun the process of gaining supporters. Orléans enjoyed the support of many among the old sword nobility
French nobility
The French nobility was the privileged order of France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periods.In the political system of the Estates General, the nobility made up the Second Estate...
(noblesse d'épée), who were descended from medieval knights, as opposed to the noblesse de robe, the new aristocracy of recently ennobled lawyers and civil servants. Louis XIV had often excluded the noblesse d'épée from government in favour of commoners from the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
who often entered the noblesse de robe and whom he could control better. Thus the noblesse d'épée yearned for a change of policy more favourable to them, and were greatly displeased with the legitimisation of Maine and Toulouse, which they regarded as an affront to the traditional rules of inheritance.
The Parlement of Paris
Parlement
Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...
, another political entity which Louis XIV had shut out of power, also supported the Orléans regency and hoped that a change of course in the government would increase its influence. Religion was also a factor. Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV's widow, was a supporter of the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
, and the Pope's controversial Bull Unigenitus
Unigenitus
Unigenitus , an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by Pope Clement XI in 1713, opened the final phase of the Jansenist controversy in France...
, a 1713 papal bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
directed against the Jansenists
Jansenism
Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...
, a Catholic group popular in France who were deemed to have Protestant tendencies. Orléans, by contrast, was supported by the Jansenists and the Gallicans
Gallicanism
Gallicanism is the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by the monarchs' authority or the State's authority—over the Catholic Church is comparable to that of the Pope's...
(French Catholics who wanted their church to be more independent from Rome) who hoped he would dislodge the Jesuit-Papist group from power after his accession to the regency.
Philippe, Duke of Orléans
Always obey the orders my nephew Philippe d'Orléans will give you; he will govern the kingdom².
During the days prior to the king's death, the Duke of Orléans met with and made promises to various aristocrats, clergymen, and members of the Parlement of Paris to secure their support. He promised the aristocrats places on the new government councils he intended to form, which would be known as the polysynody
Polysynody
Polysynody was the system of government in use in France between 1715 and 1718 and in which each minister was replaced by a council....
; he assured Jansenists and Gallicans he would be lenient regarding Unigenitus
Unigenitus
Unigenitus , an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by Pope Clement XI in 1713, opened the final phase of the Jansenist controversy in France...
; and he promised the Parlement he would restore the right of remonstrance (the right to criticize and delay royal edicts), which had been taken away from the Parlement by Louis XIV in 1673.
On 2 September, the day after Louis XIV died, there was a special session of the Parlement of Paris. It was attended not only by the magistrates who were usually there, but also by the peers and princes of the blood. The king's will was read, and the future of the government decided. The Duke of Orléans addressed the assembly. He stated his claim to the regency, and asked that he be given full power. He mentioned the recent conversation he had with Louis in which the king had stated that he would govern. He reminded those present of the arrangements he had negotiated with them over the preceding days.
The Parlement responded positively to these arguments. As a result, he was granted the right to choose his own Regency Council. Thus the king's written will was to a large extent nullified, and the Duke of Orléans became regent. In exchange, the Parlement recovered its right of remonstrance. This court coup was recorded in detail by Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy commonly known as Saint-Simon was a French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born in Paris...
. Orléans also made the important symbolic decision to relocate the government to Paris, and disbanded the court in Versailles.
The regent conducted affairs of state from his Parisian palace, the Palais Royal
Palais Royal
The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace and an associated garden located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris...
. The young Louis XV was moved to the modern lodgings attached to the medieval fortress of Vincennes
Vincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...
, located 7 km/4.5 miles east of Paris in the Forest of Vincennes, where the air was deemed more wholesome and healthy than in Paris. But, a few weeks later, as the severity of winter fell upon Vincennes, the young king was moved to the Tuileries Palace
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace was a royal palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
, in the center of Paris, near the Palais Royal.
Youth
In keeping with French royal tradition that princes should be put in the care of men when they reached their seventh birthdays, Louis was separated from his governess, Madame de Ventadour, in February 1717, and placed in the care of the Duke of VilleroiFrançois de Neufville, duc de Villeroi
François de Neufville, 2ème duc de Villeroy was a French soldier.-Biography:Villeroy was born in Lyon into noble family which had risen into prominence in the reign of Charles IX....
, who had been designated as his governor in Louis XIV's will of August 1714 and whose secretary was the young Pierre-François Godard de Beauchamps
Pierre-François Godard de Beauchamps
Pierre-François Godard de Beauchamps, born in 1689 in Paris, where he died on March 12, 1761, was a playwright, theater historian, libertine novelist and French translator. In his youth he was the secretary of François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, who became governor of the child King Louis XV of...
. The duc de Villeroi served under the formal authority of the duc du Maine, who was charged with overseeing the king's education. He was aided by André-Hercule de Fleury (later to become Cardinal de Fleury), who served as the king's tutor.
As his tutor, Fleury gave him an excellent education. Louis was also taught by renowned professors such as the geographer Guillaume Delisle
Guillaume Delisle
Guillaume Delisle was a French cartographer who lived in Paris.His father, Claude Delisle studied law and then later settled in Paris as private teacher in geography and history, and afterwards filled the office of royal censor...
. Louis XV had an inquisitive and open-minded nature. He was an avid reader, and he developed eclectic tastes. Later in life he advocated the creation of departments in physics (1769) and mechanics (1773) at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
.
During the Régence
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
, Philippe d'Orléans, in keeping with his promises, favoured the nobility (aristocrats) who had been deprived of power during the reign of Louis XIV. He established the so-called polysynody
Polysynody
Polysynody was the system of government in use in France between 1715 and 1718 and in which each minister was replaced by a council....
(15 September 1715), a short-lived structure of councils that gave the aristocracy more input in decision making. He concluded an alliance with Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
and the Netherlands in 1717 (Triple Alliance
Triple Alliance (1717)
The Triple Alliance was a treaty between the Dutch Republic, France and Great Britain, against Spain, attempting to maintain the agreement of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. The three states were concerned about Spain becoming a superpower in Europe. As a result of this militarisation took place,...
) in an effort to prevent Philip V of Spain
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
from claiming the crown of France should the young Louis XV die.
Confronted with a total lack of expertise among the aristocracy in government affairs, the regent reverted to the monarchical organisation of government that existed under Louis XIV and, by 1718, reinstated secretaries of state
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
. Cardinal Dubois
Guillaume Dubois
Guillaume Dubois was a French cardinal and statesman.-Early years:Dubois, the third of the four great Cardinal-Ministers , was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in Limousin...
, close confidant of the regent, was made prime minister in 1722. In an attempt to replenish the French treasury, the regency tried a number of original financial experiments, notable among them the famous inflationary scheme of John Law
John Law (economist)
John Law was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange that did not constitute wealth in itself and that national wealth depended on trade...
. The bursting of the speculative bubble fueled by Law's system brought about the ruin of many aristocrats.
Betrothal and marriage
Mariana Victoria of Spain
Mariana Victoria of Spain was an Infanta of Spain and Queen consort of Portugal as wife of King Joseph I. The mother of Queen Maria I of Portugal, she also acted as Regent of Portugal during the last months of her husband's life and advisor to her daughter during her reign.-Background:Mariana...
. The eleven-year-old king was not interested in the arrival of his future wife, the three-year-old Spanish Infanta. In June 1722, the young king and the court returned to Versailles, where they would stay until the end of the reign. In October of the same year, Louis XV was officially crowned in Reims Cathedral.
On 15 February 1723, the king's majority was declared by the Parlement of Paris. This ended the Regency. Initially, Louis XV left the Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
in charge of state affairs. The Duke of Orléans was made first minister on the death of Cardinal Dubois in August 1723, and he himself died in December of the same year. Following the advice of Fleury, Louis XV appointed his cousin, Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, to replace the late Duke of Orléans.
The Duke of Bourbon was worried by the health of the young king. His primary motivation was a desire to prevent the family of the late regent, the House of Orléans
House of Orleans
Orléans is the name used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. It became a tradition during France's ancien régime for the duchy of Orléans to be granted as an appanage to a younger son of the king...
, from ascending the throne should the king die, seeing the House of Orléans as his own enemy. The king was quite frail, and several alerts led to concern for his life. Moreover, the Spanish infanta was still too young to produce an heir. To remedy this precarious situation, the Duke of Bourbon set about choosing a European princess old enough to produce an heir.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, was chosen. An impoverished and plain-looking princess who had followed her father's misfortunes, she was nonetheless said to be virtuous. The marriage was celebrated in September 1725.
Louis's marriage to Marie Leszczyńska produced many children, but the king was persistently (and notoriously) unfaithful. Some of his mistresses, such as Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
and Madame du Barry
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
, are as well known as the king himself, and his affairs with three Mailly-Nesle sisters are documented by the formal agreements into which he entered. In his later years, Louis developed a penchant for young girls, keeping several at a time in a personal seraglio
Seraglio
A seraglio or serail is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in a Turkish household. The word comes from an Italian variant of Turkish saray, from Persian sarai , meaning palace, or the enclosed courts for the wives and concubines of the harem of a house or palace...
known as the Parc aux Cerfs ("Deer Park"), one of whose inhabitants, Marie-Louise O'Murphy
Marie-Louise O'Murphy
Marie-Louise O'Murphy de Boisfaily was one of the younger mistresses of King Louis XV of France. Her original surname is also given in sources as Murphy, Morphy, or O'Morphy, and she is sometimes referred to as "La Morphise" or "La Belle Morphise"...
, was immortalised in a painting by Boucher. Scandalous rumours spread across France, in which it was alleged that the king bathed in the blood of virgins and had ninety illegitimate children.
Palace politics
His first ministry was headed by Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, who was displaced by the king's tutor, Cardinal André de Fleury, in 1725, and on the latter's death in 1743, Louis assumed personal control of the government.In practice the king's several mistresses exercised the dominant influence in selecting or removing his ministers of state. The most famous of Louis's mistresses were the sisters of Mailly-Nesle (four of the five sisters were king's mistresses, notably Louise-Julie, Comtesse de Mailly from 1738 to 1742 and Marie Anne, Duchesse de Châteauroux in 1743-44); Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
(called Madame de Pompadour, the official mistress from 1745 to 1764); and Marie Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
(official mistress from 1768 until the king's death in 1774). The status of maîtresse-en-titre
Maîtresse-en-titre
The maîtresse-en-titre was the chief mistress of the king of France. It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartments. The title really came into use during the reign of Henry IV and continued until the reign of Louis XV....
was a court position that was sometimes retained even if the king and his mistress ceased being physical lovers. For instance, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour ended their sexual relationship after 1750 but she remained his official mistress
Maîtresse-en-titre
The maîtresse-en-titre was the chief mistress of the king of France. It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartments. The title really came into use during the reign of Henry IV and continued until the reign of Louis XV....
for fourteen more years, until her death. To secure her position, she managed to always provide herself a lot of occasional young mistresses to satisfy the king. The most famous was the French-Irish Marie-Louise O'Murphy
Marie-Louise O'Murphy
Marie-Louise O'Murphy de Boisfaily was one of the younger mistresses of King Louis XV of France. Her original surname is also given in sources as Murphy, Morphy, or O'Morphy, and she is sometimes referred to as "La Morphise" or "La Belle Morphise"...
, who after two years as the king's young lover, made the fatal mistake of trying to unseat Madame de Pompadour and supplant her as favorite. This unwise move resulted in O'Murphy's immediate banishment from the court.
The Triumvirate arose in 1771, when Louis XV banished Étienne François, duc de Choiseul
Étienne François, duc de Choiseul
Étienne-François, comte de Stainville, duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. Between 1758 and 1761, and 1766 and 1770, he was Foreign Minister of France and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period...
, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1758, and reshuffled the cabinet. René Nicolas de Maupeou
René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou
René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou was a French politician, chancellor of France, whose attempts at fiscal reform signalled the failure of enlightened despotism in France.-Biography:...
was appointed Chancellor of France and Minister of Justice, Joseph Marie Terray
Joseph Marie Terray
Joseph Marie Terray was a Controller-General of Finances during the reign of Louis XV of France, an agent of fiscal reform, cut short by his death....
became Minister of Finance, and Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon
Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon
Emmanuel-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon was a French soldier and statesman and a nephew of Louis François Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis XV.-Early life:Before the death of his father, he was known at court...
, Minister for Foreign Affairs. They fought against the Parlements and had the judiciary run by the Council of State. 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....
restored the Parlements and removed the triumvirs from their posts.
Behind the splendor and glitter of 18th-century Versailles there existed a contentious and dangerous hotbed of royal family politics. Throughout the second half of his reign, Louis XV experienced opposition and intrigue from his children, particularly his son Louis (the dauphin) and his eldest surviving daughter Adélaïde. Fortunately for the king, this intrigue of family politics took place within the environs of Versailles, an environment that was under his control. Louis XV was able to use this palatial space to oversee and counter his children's politics and intrigues. Louis XV communicated his satisfaction and displeasure within the transformations he made at Versailles.
Dismissal of Bourbon and Appointment of Fleury
The ministry of the Duke of Bourbon was marked by many incidents which resulted in serious economic and social problems. These included the persecution of Protestants (1726); monetary manipulations; the creation of new taxes, such as the fiftieth (cinquantième) in 1725; and the high price of grain. As a result of Bourbon's rising unpopularity, the king dismissed him in 1726. As his replacement to serve as first minister, the king selected his old tutor, Cardinal de Fleury.Ministry of Cardinal de Fleury
With the help of controllers-general of finances
Controller-General of Finances
The Controller-General of Finances was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. The position replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances , which was abolished with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet.- History :The term "contrôleur général" in...
Michel Robert Le Peletier des Forts (1726–1730) and Philibert Orry
Philibert Orry
Philibert Orry, count of Vignory and lord of La Chapelle-Godefroy, was a French statesman born in Troyes on the 22 January 1689 and who died at La Chapelle-Godefroy on 9 November 1747.-Life:...
(1730–1745), Fleury stabilized the French currency (1726) and balanced the budget in 1738. Economic expansion was also a central goal of the government: communications were improved with the completion of the Saint-Quentin canal (linking the Oise
Oise River
The River Oise is a right tributary of the River Seine, flowing for 302 km in Belgium and France. Its source is in the Belgian province Hainaut, south of the town Chimay. It crosses the border with France after about 20 km. It flows into the Seine in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris...
and Somme
Somme River
The Somme is a river in Picardy, northern France. The name Somme comes from a Celtic word meaning tranquility. The department Somme was named after this river....
rivers) in 1738, later extended to the Escaut River and the Low Countries
Low 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....
and the systematic building of a national road network. By the middle of the 18th century, France had the most modern and extensive road network in the world.
The ponts et chaussées engineers
École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées
Founded in 1747, the École nationale des ponts et chaussées , often referred to as les Ponts, is the world's oldest civil engineering school...
built modern highways, many of which are still in use today, stretching from Paris to the most distant borders of France. Trade was also stimulated by the Bureau and the Council of Commerce, and French foreign maritime trade increased from 80 to 308 million livres
Livre tournois
The livre tournois |pound]]) was:#one of numerous currencies used in France in the Middle Ages; and#a unit of account used in France in the Middle Ages and the early modern period.-Circulating currency:...
between 1716 and 1748. However, rigid Colbertist
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
laws (prefiguring dirigisme
Dirigisme
Dirigisme is an economy in which the government exerts strong directive influence. While the term has occasionally been applied to centrally planned economies, where the state effectively controls both production and allocation of resources , it originally had neither of these meanings when...
) hindered industrial development.
The power of the absolute monarchy
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...
was demonstrated by its quelling of Jansenist and Gallican opposition. The troubles caused by the convulsionaries of the Saint-Médard graveyard in Paris (a group of Jansenists claiming that miracles took place in this graveyard) were put to an end in 1732. As for the Gallican opposition, after the "exile" of 139 parlementaires in the provinces, the Parlement of Paris had to register the Unigenitus papal bull and was forbidden to hear religious cases in the future.
In 1733, on the advice of his secretary of state for foreign affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
Germain Louis Chauvelin
Germain Louis Chauvelin
Germain Louis Chauvelin , marquis de Grosbois, was a French politician, serving as garde des sceaux and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under Louis XV.-Life:...
(1727–1737), the king abandoned Fleury's peace policy to intervene in the War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...
. In addition to attempting to restore his father-in-law Stanisław Leszczyński to the Polish throne, the king also hoped to wrest the long-coveted duchy of Lorraine from its duke, Francis III
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...
. The duke's expected marriage to Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Charles VI
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
's daughter, Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
, would bring Austrian power dangerously close to the French border. In the end, the half-hearted French intervention did not allow Stanisław to recover his throne.
Treaty of Vienna
Treaty of Vienna (1738)
The Treaty of Vienna or Peace of Vienna was signed on November 18, 1738. It ended the War of the Polish Succession. By the terms of the treaty, Stanisław Leszczyński renounced his claim on the Polish throne and recognized Augustus III, Duke of Saxony. As compensation he received instead the...
(November 1738), Stanisław was compensated for the loss of his Polish throne with the duchy of Lorraine, which would eventually pass to King Louis as his son-in-law, while Duke Francis III of Lorraine was made heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was a central Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence...
as compensation for the loss of Lorraine. The war cost France very little, compared to the financial and human drains of Louis XIV's wars, and was a clear success for French diplomacy. The acquisition of Lorraine (effective in 1766 at Stanislaus' death) was to be the last territorial expansion of France on the continent before 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...
.
Shortly after this favourable result, France's mediation in the war between the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
led to the Treaty of Belgrade
Treaty of Belgrade
The Treaty of Belgrade was the peace treaty signed on September 18, 1739 in Belgrade, Habsburg Kingdom of Serbia , by the Ottoman Empire on one side and the Habsburg Monarchy on the other....
(September 1739) which favoured the Ottoman Empire, beneficiary of a Franco-Ottoman alliance
Franco-Ottoman alliance
The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between the king of France Francis I and the Turkish ruler of the Ottoman Empire Suleiman the Magnificent. The alliance has been called "the first non-ideological diplomatic alliance of its kind between a...
against the 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...
s since the early 16th century. As a result, the Ottoman Empire in 1740 renewed the French capitulations, which marked the supremacy of French trade in the Middle East. With these successes, Louis XV's prestige reached its highest point.
In 1740, the death of Emperor Charles VI and his succession by his daughter Maria Theresa started the European War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
. The elderly Cardinal de Fleury had too little energy left to oppose this war, which was strongly supported by the anti-Austrian party at court. Renewing the cycle of conflicts so typical of Louis XIV's reign, the king entered the war in 1741 on the side 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...
. The war would last seven years. Fleury did not live to see the end of the war. After Fleury's death, in January 1743, the king followed his predecessor's example, ruling from then on without a first minister.
First signs of unpopularity
At the death of his old tutor Fleury in 1743, the king was 33 years old. He had experienced a few years of happiness with his devoted Polish queen. A child was born almost every year. However, the queen eventually got tired of continual pregnancies, while the king got tired of the queen's unconditional love. Moreover, most of the queen's pregnancies produced girls, which the king eventually resented.Out of ten children born of the queen, there were only two sons, only one of whom survived to adulthood, Louis, Dauphin of France (1729-1765). This did not help dispel the concerns about the future of the dynasty brought about by the repeated deaths of the early 1710s. In 1734, for the first time, the queen complained to her father about the king's infidelities. The king found love with Madame de Mailly
Louise Julie, Comtesse de Mailly
Louise Julie de Mailly, comtesse de Mailly was the eldest of the five famous de Nesle sisters, four of whom would become the mistress of King Louis XV of France.- Early life, family and marriage :...
, then with her younger sister Madame de Vintimille
Pauline-Félicité de Mailly
Pauline Félicité de Mailly , marquise de Vintimille, was the second of the five famous de Nesle sisters, four of whom would become the mistress of King Louis XV of France.- Early life and family :...
, then at her death with yet another sister Marie-Anne de Mailly
Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchess de Châteauroux
Marie Anne de Mailly, duchesse de Châteauroux was the youngest and prettiest of the five famous de Nesle sisters, four of whom would become the mistress of King Louis XV of France....
, while the queen took refuge in religion and charities.
In June 1744, the king left Versailles for the front in order to take personal command of his armies fighting in the War of the Austrian Succession. This otherwise popular move was marred by the king's indiscreet decision to bring along Madame de Châteauroux. In August, the king fell gravely ill in 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...
. Death appeared imminent, and public prayers were held all across France to ask God to save the king from a certain death.
Pressed by the dévot
Dévots
Dévots was the name given in France in the first half of the 17th century to a party following a Catholic policy of opposition to the Protestants inside France, and alliance with the Catholic Austrian empire abroad....
party, Msgr.
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
de Fitz-James, First Chaplain (premier aumônier) of the king, refused to give the king the absolution unless the king renounced his mistress. The king's confession was then publicly announced, embarrassing him and tarnishing the prestige of the monarchy. Madame de Châteauroux was forced to leave to the boos of the public. Although Louis's recovery earned him the 'well-beloved' epithet from a public relieved by his survival, the events at 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...
(August 1744) appear to have left profound scars on his psyche as well as on French political life. Nevertheless, the king soon returned to his adulterous ways.
War of the Austrian Succession
In 1743, France entered the War of the Austrian Succession. Despite his victory, Louis XV of France, who wanted to appear as an arbiter and not as a conqueror, gave all his conquests back to the defeated enemies with chivalry, arguing that he was "king of France, not a shopkeeper." A decision, largely misunderstood by his generals and by the French people, which made the king unpopular. The French obtained so little of what they fought for that they adopted the expressions Bête comme la paix ("Stupid as peace") and Travailler pour le roi de Prusse ("To work for the king of Prussia", i.e. working for nothing). However his generosity was saluted in Europe and France increased its political influence on the continent.Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
, who met Louis XV in February 1745 at a masked ball given in honour of the Dauphin's marriage, was the most famous mistress of the reign, and the most honourable one. She was the daughter of a chief agent of the powerful Pâris family of financiers who became embroiled in the intrigue that ousted the Duke of Bourbon
Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon
Louis Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon, Prince of Condé was head of the cadet Bourbon-Condé branch of the French royal House of Bourbon from 1710 to his death, and served as prime minister to his kinsman Louis XV from 1723 to 1726.Despite...
as head of the Regency council in favour of Cardinal de Fleury. A beautiful woman, educated, cultured, intelligent, and sincerely attached to the king, she nonetheless possessed one major shortcoming in the everyone's eyes: she was a commoner, from the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
, and even worse, a commoner who meddled in royal politics.
The public had generally accepted the mistresses of Louis XIV, who, apart from Madame de Maintenon, were all chosen in the highest spheres of the aristocracy and had very little influence on the government. But that the king would thus compromise himself with a commoner was felt to be a profound disgrace. Soon there were hundreds of libels called poissonnades (a word akin to "fish stew", a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
based on the marquise de Pompadour's family name, Poisson, which means "fish" in French), violently attacking the Marquise, as in this example: "Daughter of leech
Leech
Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways...
, and leech herself, Poisson ["Fish"], with an extreme arrogance, flaunts in this château, without fear or dread, the substance of the people and the shame of the King."
Despite the critics, the marquise de Pompadour had an undeniable influence on the flourishing of French arts during the reign of Louis XV, a reign that is often considered the peak of French architecture and interior design (see: Louis XV style). A patron of the arts, the Marquise amassed a considerable amount of furniture
French furniture
French furniture comprises both the most sophisticated furniture made in Paris for king and court, aristocrats and rich upper bourgeoisie, on the one hand, and French provincial furniture made in the provincial cities and towns many of which, like Lyon and Liège, retained cultural identities...
and objets d'art
Work of art
A work of art, artwork, art piece, or art object is an aesthetic item or artistic creation.The term "a work of art" can apply to:*an example of fine art, such as a painting or sculpture*a fine work of architecture or landscape design...
in her various estates. She was responsible for the tremendous development of the porcelain manufactory of Sèvres
Sèvres
Sèvres is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau of Weights...
, which became one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers in Europe, and her commands ensured the living of artists and families of craftsmen for many years. She was also a prominent patron of architecture, being responsible for the building of the Place Louis XV (now called Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.- History :...
) and the École Militaire
École Militaire
The École Militaire is a vast complex of buildings housing various military training facilities located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, southeast of the Champ de Mars....
in Paris, both built by her protégé Ange-Jacques Gabriel
Ange-Jacques Gabriel
Ange-Jacques Gabriel was the most prominent French architect of his generation.Born to a Parisian family of architects and initially trained by the royal architect Robert de Cotte and his father , whom he assisted in the creation of the Place Royale at Bordeaux , the younger Gabriel...
.
The École Militaire, for the creation of which she successfully lobbied the king, showed her commitment to the training of officers from poor families of the aristocracy. The Marquise was a liberal at heart and she steadily defended the Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It was edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert...
against the attacks of the Church. She was a supporter of the Philosophy of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, and tried to win the king to its new ideas, albeit not quite as successfully as she hoped. She was criticised for the lavish display of luxury in her various estates, although her rich family of financiers in many instances gave money to the government and saved the monarchy from bankruptcy. All her estates, which she had bequeathed to the state, reverted to the crown at her death.
The marquise de Pompadour was officially settled on the third floor (second storey) of the Palace of 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....
, in small but comfortable apartments that can still be visited today. There, she organised fine suppers for the king, with chosen guests, far from the pomp and etiquette of the court. The atmosphere in these private quarters was so relaxed that the king was said to serve coffee during the suppers. She often entertained the king, trying to relieve him from the state of boredom in which the court often plunged him. The king, who liked a more bourgeois lifestyle than his forefather Louis XIV, found in the private apartments of the marquise de Pompadour, located above his own office and bedchamber, the intimacy and reassuring feminine presence of which he had been deprived during his childhood.
The marquise de Pompadour, who was reportedly in frail health, was no more than a friend after 1750. Although their sexual relationship stopped, she remained the close confidante and friend of the king until her death, quite a feat in the history of royal mistresses. She, more than anyone else, was adept at understanding the complex and demanding personality of the king. After 1750, the king was mired in a series of short-lived love affairs and sexual relationships, hiding his temporary conquests in a small mansion at the Parc-aux-Cerfs ("Stags' Park"), whose most famous occupant was Marie-Louise O'Murphy
Marie-Louise O'Murphy
Marie-Louise O'Murphy de Boisfaily was one of the younger mistresses of King Louis XV of France. Her original surname is also given in sources as Murphy, Morphy, or O'Morphy, and she is sometimes referred to as "La Morphise" or "La Belle Morphise"...
. Legend later enormously exaggerated the events occurring at the Parc-aux-Cerfs, contributing to the dark reputation still associated with Louis XV's name today. In fact, the king's womanising behavior was not very different from that of many of his illustrious ancestors, such as kings Francis I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
, Henry IV
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
, Louis XIV, to say nothing of other European monarchs such as Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
.
First attempt at reform
All these love affairs did not take the king away from the duties of his office, but he lacked the administrative energy of his great-grandfather, Louis XIV. He preferred to make decisions based solely on the advice of Cardinal Fleury, and frequently relied on the cardinal to carry out those decisions. During the seventeen long years of Fleury's government, the king learned the generalities of government policy without the specifics of implementation.Starting in 1743 with the death of Fleury, the king ruled alone without a first minister. He had read many times the instructions of Louis XIV: "Listen to the people, seek advice from your Council, but decide alone." Although he was without a doubt more intelligent and cultured than his great-grandfather, Louis XV lacked self-confidence. His political correspondence reveals his deep knowledge of public affairs as well as the soundness of his judgment. However, the king was often afraid of making firm decisions, fearing that he might be wrong and other people might be right. It was only when pushed to the limit, often when it was too late, that he suddenly resolved to bold action, with a brutality that stunned people.
Always supportive and friendly towards his ministers in appearance, his displeasure was felt suddenly and without warning. This led to a reputation for deviousness. It was very difficult for ministers to decipher the king, or to know if their behavior was in agreement with his desires. Usually, they were given great independence of action in their own ministries with the king never really directing them. Very often, they never received any warning or sign of disagreement from the king before a sudden fall from grace. Moreover, the king often kept them in the dark concerning his true line of reasoning, frequently communicating without their knowledge with foreign courts through a network of diplomats and spies called the secret of the king.
Most government work was conducted in committees of ministers which met without the king. The king reviewed policy only in the Conseil d'en haut, the High Council, which was composed of the king, the dauphin, the chancellor, the contrôleur général des finances, and the secretary of state in charge of foreign affairs. Created by Louis XIV, the council was in charge of state policy regarding religion, diplomacy, and war. There, he let various political factions oppose each other and vie for influence and power: the dévot party, led by the Comte d'Argenson, secretary of state for war, opposed the parti philosophique, which supported Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
philosophy and was led by Machault d'Arnouville
Jean Baptiste de Machault D'Arnouville
Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville, comte d'Arnouville, seigneur de Garge et de Gonesse, was born in Paris on December 13, 1701, and died on July 12, 1794 in a French Revolutionary prison...
, controller-general of finances.
The parti philosophique was supported by the marquise de Pompadour, who acted as a sort of minister without portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
from the time she became royal mistress in 1745 until her death in 1764. The Marquise was in favour of reforms. Supported by her clan of financiers (Pâris-Duverney, Montmartel, etc.), she obtained from the king the appointment of ministers (Bernis, secretary of state for foreign affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
, in 1757), as well as their dismissal (Orry
Philibert Orry
Philibert Orry, count of Vignory and lord of La Chapelle-Godefroy, was a French statesman born in Troyes on the 22 January 1689 and who died at La Chapelle-Godefroy on 9 November 1747.-Life:...
, controller-general of finances, in 1745; Maurepas
Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas
Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas was a French statesman.He was born at Versailles, the son of Jérôme Phélypeaux, secretary of state for the marine and the royal household...
, secretary of state for the Navy, in 1749). On her advice, the king supported the policy of fiscal justice designed by Machault d'Arnouville. In order to finance the budget deficit, which amounted to 100 million livres
Livre tournois
The livre tournois |pound]]) was:#one of numerous currencies used in France in the Middle Ages; and#a unit of account used in France in the Middle Ages and the early modern period.-Circulating currency:...
in 1745, Machault d'Arnouville created a tax on the twentieth of all revenues which affected also the privileged classes (Edict of Marly, 1749).
This breach in the privileged status of the aristocracy and the clergy, normally exempt from taxes, was a first in French history, although it had already been advocated by visionary minds such as Vauban
Vauban
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
under Louis XIV. However, the new tax was received with violent protest from the privileged classes sitting in the provincial estates (états provinciaux) of the few provinces which still kept the right to decide over taxation (most provinces had long lost their provincial estates, theétats provinciaux, and the right to decide over taxation that came with it). The new tax was also violently opposed by the clergy and by the parlements. Pressed and eventually won over by his entourage at court, the king gave in and exempted the clergy from the twentieth in 1751. Eventually, the twentieth became a mere increase in the already existing taille
Taille
The taille was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in Ancien Régime France. The tax was imposed on each household and based on how much land it held.-History:Originally only an "exceptional" tax The taille was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in Ancien...
, the most important direct tax of the monarchy from which privileged classes were exempted. It was the first defeat in the "taxation war" waged against the privileged classes.
As a result of these attempts at reform, the Parlement of Paris, using the quarrel between the clergy and the Jansenists as a pretext, addressed remonstrances to the king (April 1753). In these remonstrances, the Parlement, which was made up of privileged aristocrats and ennobled commoners, proclaimed itself the "natural defender of the fundamental laws of the kingdom" against the arbitrariness of the monarchy.
War and foreign policy, 1740–1763
After the death of Fleury, France initially experienced success abroad despite the King's loss of his trusted advisor. The War of the Austrian SuccessionWar of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
(1740–1748), which pitted the French and Prussians against the Austrians, British, and Dutch, culminated in a series of major French victories: the Battle of Fontenoy
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Allies – comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops under the nominal command of the Duke of Cumberland – and a French army under Maurice de...
(1745), the Battle of Rocourt
Battle of Rocoux
The Battle of Rocoux was a French victory over an allied Austrian, British, Hanoveran and Dutch army outside Liège during War of the Austrian Succession.-Preliminary maneuvers:...
(1746), and the Battle of Lauffeld
Battle of Lauffeld
The Battle of Lauffeld, also known as the Battle of Lafelt or Battle of Maastricht, also Battle of Val, took place on 2 July 1747, during the French invasion of the Netherlands. It was part of the War of the Austrian Succession...
(1747). The Battle of Fontenoy, won by the Maréchal de Saxe
Maurice, comte de Saxe
Maurice de Saxe was a German in French service who was Marshal and later also Marshal General of France.-Childhood:...
, is still remembered as one of the most decisive French victories against the British. In 1746 French forces besieged and occupied Brussels
Siege of Brussels
The Siege of Brussels took place between January and February 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A French army under the overall command of Maurice de Saxe besieged and captured the city of Brussels, which was then the capital of the Austrian Netherlands, from its Austrian garrison.The...
which Louis then entered in triumph. By 1748, France occupied the entire Austrian Netherlands
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
(modern-day Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
), then the wealthiest area of Europe, and appeared on its way to fulfilling its traditional dream of extending its north-eastern border to the Rhine. The embarrassment at Metz (1744) now largely forgotten, the king was at the peak of his popularity.
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
However, at the Treaty of Aix-la-ChapelleTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...
in 1748, Louis shocked his people and the rest of Europe by agreeing to restore all his conquests to Austria. Louis XV, who at heart was not a bellicose king, unlike his great-grandfather Louis XIV, felt content to rule a nearly hexagon-shaped kingdom, which he called his pré carré (i.e. "square field"), a term still used in French politics today. He thought it better to cultivate the pré carré rather than trying to expand it. The king declared he had made peace "as a king and not as a merchant". The attitude of the king was hailed in Europe, and he became overnight the "arbiter of Europe".
At home, however, his popularity sharply declined. The people had forgiven Louis XV for his high taxes, his mistresses, and his lavish expenditures, as long as he was successful in wars. But the news that the king had restored the Southern Netherlands to Austria was met with disbelief and bitterness. Parisians coined the phrase: "As stupid as the peace" ("Bête comme la paix"). Historians usually consider that the year 1748 saw the first true manifestation of public opinion
Public opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
in France, a nationalist public opinion that the king did not understand. The year proved a turning point in the king's popularity: after 1748, pamphlets against the king's mistresses became increasingly widely published and read, and his popularity steadily declined.
Seven Years War
By 1755, a new European conflict was brewing, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle being but a sort of truce. Already, French and British were fighting each other in North AmericaFrench and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
without a declaration of war. In 1755, the British seized 300 French merchant ships, in violation of international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
. A few months later, on 16 January 1756, Great Britain and Prussia signed a treaty of "neutrality". In Paris and Versailles, the parti philosophique could not hide their disappointment at this betrayal by King Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
, who was until then seen as an enlightened sovereign friend of the Philosophers.
Frederick II had even welcomed Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
when the famous writer had run into trouble with the dévot party in France. But the truth was that Frederick II was motivated first and foremost by personal interests and the desire to expand the territory of Prussia by any means available. He had already abandoned his French ally during the War of Austrian Succession, signing a separate peace treaty with Austria in December 1745. The Marquise de Pompadour particularly disliked Frederick II, who had always showed contempt for her, and even named one of his poodles "Pompadour". At the same time, French officials realized that the 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...
empire of Austria
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
was no more the danger it had been in the heyday of the Habsburgs, back in the 16th and 17th centuries, when they controlled Spain and most of Europe and presented a formidable challenge to France. The new dangerous power looming now on the horizon was Prussia. In a "reversal of alliances
Stately quadrille
The stately quadrille is a term popularly used to describe the constantly shifting alliances between the Great Powers of Europe during the 18th century. The ultimate objective was to maintain the balance of power in Europe, and to stop any one alliance or country becoming too strong...
", the king signed the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles (1756)
The Treaty of Versailles was a diplomatic agreement between Austria and France signed on 1 May 1756 at the Palace of Versailles in which the two countries offered each other mutual assistance if attacked by other powers, which was broadly interpreted as meaning Britain or Prussia...
with Austria on 1 April 1756, overruling his ministers and putting an end to more than 200 years of conflict with the Habsburgs. The new Franco-Austrian Alliance
Franco-Austrian Alliance
The Franco-Austrian Alliance was a diplomatic and military alliance between France and Austria that was first established in 1756 following the First Treaty of Versailles which lasted for much of the remainder of the century until it was abandoned during the French Revolution.The Alliance had its...
would last intermittently for the next thirty five years.
Louis apparently expected that joining with Austria would prevent another war on the continent by confronting Prussia with a counter-coalition. He was mistaken. Austria was bent on regaining Silesia, which Prussia had grabbed in 1740 and had not returned. At the end of August 1756, having learned that Austria was negotiating to enlist Russia against him, Frederick II invaded Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
without a declaration of war. He soon defeated the unprepared Saxon and Austrian armies and occupied the whole of Saxony. The Saxon ruler
Augustus III of Poland
Augustus III, known as the Saxon ; ; also Prince-elector Friedrich August II was the Elector of Saxony in 1733-1763, as Frederick Augustus II , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1734-1763.-Biography:Augustus was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector...
's younger daughter was the Dauphin's wife and his elder daughter was married to Charles VII of Naples, a Bourbon cousin. Frederick's treatment of the Polish–Saxon royal family was seen as uncommonly disrespectful; moreover, Queen Maria Josepha
Maria Josepha of Austria
Maria Josepha of Austria was born an Archduchess of Austria, and from 1711 to 1713 was heiress presumptive to the Habsburg Empire...
, the dauphine
Marie-Josèphe of Saxony
Maria Josepha of Saxony was a Duchess of Saxony and the Dauphine of France. She became Dauphine at the age of fifteen through her marriage to Louis de France, the son and heir of Louis XV...
's mother, died from a stroke some in France attributed to maltreatment, without evidence. Rumors of these actions by Frederick II profoundly shocked the French. The dauphine had a miscarriage as a result of the news coming from Saxony. Louis XV decided he was left with no choice but to enter the war.
Meanwhile, Britain had already declared war on France on 18 May 1756. The ensuing Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
(1756–1763) was to have profound consequences for France and Britain.
In 1757 French troops invaded Hanover
Invasion of Hanover (1757)
The Invasion of Hanover took place in 1757 during the Seven Years' War when a French army under Louis Charles César Le Tellier, duc d'Estrées advanced into Electorate of Hanover and neighbouring German states following the Battle of Hastenbeck. French forces overran most of Hanover forcing the Army...
, but were driven out by a counter-attack led by Ferdinand of Brunswick the following year. While called the "Seven Years War", the actual conflicts amounted to nine years of war.
Assassination attempt
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
and Empress Elizabeth spent enormous amounts of money to build palaces in and around Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. Court spending also helped to carry French arts to their zenith under Louis XV, and supported thousands of families of artists and craftsmen. French arts were admired and copied all over Europe. Even today, 250 years later, "Louis XV" style is still a favourite among the rich and famous around the world. Yet at the time, the French public, influenced as it was by a violent campaign of libels against the king and the Marquise de Pompadour starting in the mid-1740s, could only see royal incompetence and spending sprees.
This was what may have inspired the assassination attempt on the king by Robert Damiens. On 5 January 1757, would-be assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
Damiens entered the Palace of Versailles, as did thousands of people every day to petition the king. At 6 pm, as night had fallen on a cold Versailles covered in snow, the king, who was visiting his daughter, left her apartments to return to the Trianon
Grand Trianon
The Grand Trianon was built in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles at the request of Louis XIV, as a retreat for the King and his maîtresse en titre of the time, the marquise de Montespan, and as a place where the King and invited guests could take light meals away from the strict...
where he was staying. As he was walking in the Marble Courtyard between two lines of guards lighting the way with torches, headed toward his carriage which was waiting at the edge of the Marble Courtyard, Damiens suddenly emerged from the dark, passed through the guards, and stabbed the king in the side with a penknife.
The 8.1 cm (3.2 inch) blade entered the king's body between the fourth and fifth ribs. The king, who was bleeding, remained calm and called for a confessor as he thought he would die. Thoughts of poison came to his mind. At the sight of the queen, who had come in a hurry, he asked for forgiveness for his misbehaviour. However, the king survived. He was probably saved by the thick layers of clothes he wore on that cold day, which cushioned the blade, protecting the internal organs. Allegedly, the blade penetrated only 1 cm (0.4 inch) into the king's body, leading Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
to mock what he called a "pinprick".
Damiens, who was mentally unstable, had been a servant of members of the Parlement of Paris where he had heard much criticism of the king. This, combined with the violent pamphlets and general discontent with the king, convinced him that he had to commit regicide
Regicide
The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...
in order to save France. Other sources say that he did not want to kill the king, but merely to give him a warning and thus force him to change his behaviour. In any case, it was the first attempt at regicide in France since the murder of King Henry IV
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
by Ravaillac in 1610.
The king, bent on forgiving Damiens, could not avoid a trial for regicide. Tried by the Parlement of Paris, Damiens was executed on the Place de Grève
Place de Grève
The public square in the 4th arrondissement of Paris that is now the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville was, before 1802, called the Place de Grève. The French word grève refers to a flat area covered with gravel or sand situated on the shores or banks of a body of water...
on 28 March 1757, following the horrible procedure applied to regicides: after numerous tortures, Damiens was carried to the Place de Grève in the cold afternoon of that day. There, he was first tortured with red-hot pincers; his hand, holding the knife used in the attempted murder, was burnt using sulphur; molten wax, lead, and boiling oil were poured into his wounds. Horses were then harnessed to his arms and legs for his dismemberment. Damiens's joints would not break; after some hours, representatives of the Parlement ordered the executioner and his aides to cut Damiens's joints. Damiens was then dismembered, to the applause of the crowd. His trunk, apparently still living, was then burnt at the stake. There was an immense crowd to watch this gruesome spectacle, which nobody had witnessed in 147 years. Balconies in buildings above the Place de Grève were rented to women of the aristocracy for the exorbitant price of 100 livres
Livre tournois
The livre tournois |pound]]) was:#one of numerous currencies used in France in the Middle Ages; and#a unit of account used in France in the Middle Ages and the early modern period.-Circulating currency:...
per balcony (approx. $700 in 2005 US dollars). This tale of Damiens' brutal execution, recounted in the opening pages of Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
's Discipline and Punishment has been disputed by numerous historians.
This gruesome execution was harshly criticized by the “philosophes”, who saw it as a remnant of a more brutal age. In truth, the king himself had nothing to do with the method of execution, and the people rejoiced at the king having escaped Damiens's knife unharmed. It was the members of the Parlement of Paris who selected such a horrific execution, as they thought it would please the king, willing as they were to reconcile themselves with the king after their opposition to the tax on the twentieth and their support of the Jansenists against the king's will.
But above all, the people were outraged that the king did not dismiss Madame de Pompadour, despite the clear signal sent by Damiens. Posters appeared on the walls of Paris with the following ironic pun: "Ruling from the Mint Court: A louis not properly struck shall be struck a second time." The Austrian ambassador wrote to Vienna: "The public discontent is general. All the conversations are about death and poison. There appeared in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles some dreadful posters threatening the life of the king."
Later life
The king, who had displayed calm and royal dignity on the day of the assassination attempt, sank into profound depression in the following weeks. He became convinced that he was on the wrong track. All attempts at reforms were abandoned. At the marquise de Pompadour's instigation, the king dismissed his two most hated ministers, the comte d'Argenson, secretary of state for war, and Machault d'Arnouville, keeper of the seals (justice minister) and before that controller-general of finances; and he called ChoiseulÉtienne François, duc de Choiseul
Étienne-François, comte de Stainville, duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. Between 1758 and 1761, and 1766 and 1770, he was Foreign Minister of France and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period...
to the government. Reforms would resume only with Maupeou
René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou
René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou was a French politician, chancellor of France, whose attempts at fiscal reform signalled the failure of enlightened despotism in France.-Biography:...
in 1771.
Louis and his minister were deeply unhappy about Great Britain's victory in the Seven Years War
Great Britain in the Seven Years War
The Kingdom of Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years' War which lasted between 1756 and 1763. Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power having gained a number of new territories at the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and established itself as the...
and in the years following the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
they began drawing up a long-term plan that would involve construction of a larger navy, building an anti-British coalition of states that would lead to an eventual war of revenge and see France regain its former colonies from Britain. Choiseul was the leading advocate of this scheme, and was prepared to go to war with Britain over the Falklands Crisis
Falklands Crisis (1770)
The Falklands Crisis of 1770 was a diplomatic standoff between Britain and Spain over possession of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. These events were nearly the cause of a war between France, Spain and Britain — the countries poised to dispatch armed fleets to contest the barren...
in 1770. Louis, however, did not believe France was ready and instead dismissed Choiseul.
Death
Louis XV died on 10 May 1774 of smallpoxSmallpox
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"...
at the Palace of 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....
. Louis XV was the first Bourbon whose heart was not, as tradition demanded, cut out and placed in a special coffer. Instead, alcohol was poured into his coffin and his remains were soaked in quicklime. In a surreptitious late-night ceremony attended by only one courtier, the body was taken to the Saint Denis Basilica
Saint Denis Basilica
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis is a large medieval abbey church in the commune of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The abbey church was created a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy...
.
Louis's death saw the French monarchy at its nadir, in political, financial and moral terms. Since Louis XV's son, Louis, the dauphin, had died nine years earlier, the throne passed to his grandson, the conventional and unimaginative 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....
. Two of Louis XV's other grandchildren, Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
and 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...
, would occupy the throne of France after the fall of Napoleon I
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
.
Image and public opinion
Edme BouchardonEdmé Bouchardon
Edmé Bouchardon was a French sculptor, esteemed in his day as the greatest sculptor of his time and valued as a draughtsman as well.-Biography:...
's equestrian statue of Louis XV was originally conceived to commemorate the monarch's victorious role in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) and artistically executed to display a benign representation of the king as peacemaker. However it was, ironically, unveiled in 1763 following France's defeat in the Seven Years War. Bouchardon's work designed to be a powerful symbol of loyalty to the king became the centerpiece of a public relations event staged to restore public confidence in a monarchy in decline using art as propaganda on a grand scale.
Louis was unequal to the high expectations of his subjects. Contemporary songs, poems, and public declarations looked for a king who was absolute "master," unblemished "Christian," and benevolent provider ("baker"). Young Louis's failings were attributed to inexperience and manipulation by unscrupulous handlers. As his troubled reign progressed, his debauched private life was revealed and famine repeatedly battered France; the people withdrew their respect, reviled the sycophant king, and ultimately celebrated his demise. The institution of monarchy was intact, but Louis XV saddled his successor with a damaging legacy of popular discontent.
The many sermons on his death in 1774 praised the monarch and went out of their way to excuse his faults. But those ecclesiastics who not only raised their eyebrows over the sins of the Beloved but also expressed doubts about his policies reflected the corporate attitude of the First Estate more accurately. They hoped his successor would restore morals and serve the will of God, which they claimed the role of interpreting.
The financial strain imposed by these wars and by the excesses of the royal court, and the consequent dissatisfaction with the monarchy, contributed to the national unrest which culminated in 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...
of 1789.
Louis XIV had left France with serious financial difficulties. Ultimately, Louis XV failed to overcome these fiscal problems, mainly because he was incapable of putting together conflicting parties and interests in his entourage. Worse, Louis seemed to be aware of the forces of anti-monarchism threatening his family's rule and yet failed to do anything to stop them.
At first, he was known popularly as Le Bien-aimé (the well-beloved) and after a near-death illness in Metz in 1744 many of his subjects prayed for his recovery. His weak and ineffective rule accelerated the general decline that culminated in the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in 1789. The king was a notorious womaniser, although this was expected in a king; the monarch's virility was supposed to be another way in which his power was manifested. Nevertheless, popular faith in the monarchy was shaken by the scandals of Louis’s private life and by the end of his life he had become the well-loved.
Popular legend holds that Louis said, "After me, the flood" ("Après moi, le déluge"). In fact this quotation is more precisely attributed to Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
, although it is not certain that even she ever said it.
Louis XV in Popular Culture
The character of Louis XV has appeared in many French RevolutionFrench 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...
era films, especially films about the lives of Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
and Madame du Barry
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
.
Portrayal in Film
| Film | Year | Actor | as Madame du Barry Madame du Barry Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:... |
as 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.... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madame Du Barry | 1917 | Charles Clary Charles Clary Charles Clary was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 206 films between 1910 and 1930.He was born in Charleston, Illinois and died on his 58th birthday in Los Angeles, California... |
Theda Bara Theda Bara Theda Bara , born Theodosia Burr Goodman, was an American silent film actress – one of the most popular of her era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" . The term "vamp" soon became a popular slang term for a sexually predatory woman... |
none |
| Madame DuBarry | 1919 | Emil Jannings Emil Jannings Emil Jannings was a German actor. He was not only the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also the first person to be presented an Oscar... |
Pola Negri Pola Negri Pola Negri was a Polish stage and film actress who achieved worldwide fame for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles from the 1910s through the 1940s during the Golden Era of Hollywood film. She was the first European film star to be invited to Hollywood, and became a great American star. She... |
none |
| Du Barry, Woman of Passion | 1931 | William Farnum William Farnum William Farnum was a major movie actor. One of three brothers, Farnum grew up in a family of actors. He made his acting debut at the age of ten in Richmond, Virginia in a production of Julius Caesar, with Edwin Booth playing the title character... |
Norma Talmadge Norma Talmadge Norma Talmadge was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most popular idols of the American screen.Her most famous film was Smilin’ Through , but she also... |
none |
| Madame Du Barry Madame Du Barry (1934 film) Madame DuBarry is a 1934 American historical film directed by William Dieterle and starring Dolores del Rio, Reginald Owen, Victor Jory and Osgood Perkins. The film portrays the life of Madame Du Barry, the last mistress of King Louis XV of France... |
1934 | Reginald Owen Reginald Owen John Reginald Owen was a British character actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American movies and later in television programs.-Personal:... |
Dolores del Río Dolores del Río Dolores del Río was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood... |
Anita Louise Anita Louise -Life and career:Born Anita Louise Fremault in New York, New York, she made her acting debut on Broadway at the age of six, and within a year was appearing regularly in Hollywood films... |
| Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (1938 film) Marie Antoinette is a 1938 film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starred Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette... |
1938 | John Barrymore John Barrymore John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III... |
Gladys George Gladys George Gladys George was an American actress.-Early life:She was born as Gladys Clare Evans on September 13, 1904 in Patten, Maine to English parents.-Career:... |
Norma Shearer Norma Shearer Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s... |
| DuBarry Was a Lady DuBarry Was a Lady (film) DuBarry Was a Lady is a 1943 Technicolor film, starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and Gene Kelly, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is based on the 1939 stage musical of the same name.... |
1943 | Red Skelton Red Skelton Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing... |
Lucille Ball Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy... |
none |
| Black Magic Black Magic (1949 film) Black Magic is a 1949 film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas, père's novel. It was directed by the Russian-born Gregory Ratoff and stars Orson Welles in the lead role as Joseph Balsamo and Nancy Guild as Lorenza/Marie Antoinette... |
1949 | Robert Atkins Robert Atkins (actor) Sir Robert Atkins, CBE was an English actor, producer and director.Born in Dulwich, London, England, Atkins was most famous for his participation in the theatre. An early graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he also appeared many times on film and in television, though not with the... |
Margot Grahame Margot Grahame Margot Grahame was an English actress most noted for starring in The Informer and The Crimson Pirate. She started acting in 1930 and made her last screen appearance in 1958.-Movie actress:... |
Nancy Guild Nancy Guild Nancy Guild was an American film actress of the 1940s and 1950s. The actress appeared in Somewhere in the Night ; The Brasher Doubloon and the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man... |
| Madame du Barry | 1954 | Daniel Ivernel Daniel Ivernel Daniel Ivernel was a French film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1947 and 1981.-Selected filmography:* Dieu a besoin des hommes * La Passante * The Smugglers' Banquet... |
Martine Carol Martine Carol -Biography:Born Marie-Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, , she studied acting under René Simon , making her stage debut in 1940 and her first motion picture in 1943. One of the most beautiful women in film, she was frequently cast as an elegant blonde seductress... |
Isabelle Pia |
| "Le Chevalier D'eon" | 2006 | Jay Hickman | "none" | "none" |
| 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... |
2006 | Rip Torn Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated... |
Asia Argento Asia Argento Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:... |
Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories... |
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Louise Élisabeth of France Princess Louise Élisabeth of France Louise Élisabeth de France was the eldest daughter of King Louis XV of France and his Queen consort, Maria Leszczyńska, and the elder twin sister of Anne Henriette de France. As the daughter of the king, she was a Daughter of France... |
14 August 1727 | 6 December 1759 | Duchess of Parma, had issue |
| Princess Henriette of France | 14 August 1727 | 10 February 1752 | died unmarried, no issue. |
| Princess Louise of France Princess Louise of France Marie Louise de France, fille de France was a French Princess by birth. She was one of 10 children.-Biography:... |
28 July 1728 | 19 February 1733 | died in childhood |
| Louis, Dauphin of France | 4 September 1729 | 20 December 1765 | married, had issue |
| Philippe, Duke of Anjou | 30 August 1730 | 17 April 1733 | died in childhood |
| Princess Marie Adélaïde of France | 23 March 1732 | 27 February 1800 | died unmarried, no issue |
| Princess Victoire of France | 11 May 1733 | 7 June 1799 | died unmarried, no issue |
| Princess Sophie of France | 17 July 1734 | 3 March 1782 | died unmarried, no issue |
| Unnamed child | 28 March 1735 | 28 March 1735 | stillborn |
| Princess Thérèse of France Princess Thérèse of France Thérèse de France, fille de France was a French Princesse du Sang.-Biography:... |
16 May 1736 | 28 September 1744 | died in childhood |
| Princess Louise Marie of France | 5 July 1737 | 23 December 1787 | was a nun, died unmarried, no issue |
Illegitimate issue
Louis XV had several illegitimate children:One son with an unknown mother:
- Antoine, comte d'Horne (1735–1765), married 1764 Maria Aurora von Sachsen (in French: Marie Aurore de Saxe) (1748 – 25 December 1821), an illegitimate daughter of Moritz, Graf von Sachsen by Marie Rinteau de Verrières, who, during the first year of her life, bore the surname de la Riviere, until her father, shortly before his own death, recognized her as his daughter and gave her the surname de Saxe, without issue
One son with Pauline Félicité de Mailly, mademoiselle de Nesle (Paris, 1 August 1712 – Versailles, 10 September 1741), married Paris, 28 September 1739 to Jean Baptiste Félix de Vintimille, marquis de Luc et de Castelnau (23 July 1720 – Paris, 10 September 1777), without issue:
- Charles Emanuel de Vintmille, marquis de Luc, dit Demi-Louis (Versailles, 2 September 1741 – Saint-Germain-en-LayeSaint-Germain-en-LayeSaint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre.Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois...
, 14 February 1814), married Paris, 26 November 1764 Marie Adélaïde de Castellane-Esparron (1747 – Paris, 29 March 1770), and had three children:- Charles Félix René, comte de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 17 December 1765 – CalabriaCalabriaCalabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, 3 September 1806), married Versailles, 28 September 1783 Marthe Gabrielle Artois de Lévis (ArrasArrasArras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
, 12 October 1765 – guillotineGuillotineThe guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
d Paris, 10 July 1794), and had three daughters:- Anne Caroline Gabrielle de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 12 June 1785 – Paris, 8 January 1810), married Tracy-le-ValTracy-le-ValTracy-le-Val is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-References:*...
, 30 January 1809 Louis-l'Espérance des Acres, 5e marquis de l'Aigle (Paris, 5 August 1764 – Tracy-le-Val, 18 October 1851), and had one son - Marie Françoise Louise Célestine de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 26 June 1787 – Paris, 2 January 1862), married firstly Paris, 23 April 1811 Jean, 1er comte Greffulhe (AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, 21 May 1774 – Paris, 23 February 1820), son of Louis Greffulhe (1 July 1741 – 7 April 1810) and first wife Judith Dumoulin (- 9 October 1782), and had three children, married secondly Paris, 1826 as his second wife Philippe Paul, comte de Ségur (Paris, 4 November 1780 – Paris, 25 February 1873), and had two daughters - Fidèle Henriette Joséphine de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 16 January 1789 – Paris, 29 November 1864), married 4 January 1811 Alexandre, comte de Girardin-d'Ermenonville (- 6 August 1855), without issue
- Anne Caroline Gabrielle de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 12 June 1785 – Paris, 8 January 1810), married Tracy-le-Val
- Adélaïde Pauline de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 4 January 1767–1825), married Versailles, 26 April 1785 Henri, marquis de Lostanges et de Montpézat (- London, 4 June 1807), son of Armand de Lostanges, marquis de Sainte-Alvère, and Pauline de L'Hôpital de Choisy, and had two sons
- Candide Dorothée Louise de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 14 December 1767 – 6 October 1825), married Versailles, 21 November 1788 Jean Baptiste de Félix d' Ollières, comte du Muy et de Saint-Mesme (- Paris, 3 June 1820), without issue
- Charles Félix René, comte de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 17 December 1765 – Calabria
One daughter with Marie Irène Cathérine de Buisson de Longpré (- 1767), daughter of the seigneur de Longpré, near Falaise
Falaise
Falaise is the name of several communes in France:* Falaise, Ardennes* Falaise, Calvados** The Falaise pocket was the site of a battle in the Second World War* La Falaise, in the Yvelines département* The Falaise escarpment in Quebec City...
, and married a bourgeois of that town named Filleul:
- Marie Françoise Filleul (Château de Longpré, 1751 – Paris 1822), married Château de MenarsChâteau de MenarsThe Château de Menars is a château associated with Madame de Pompadour situated on the bank of the Loire at Menars in France.-History:...
, 1767 Abel Poisson, marquis de Vandières (- 1781) - Adélaïde-Émilie FilleulAdelaide Filleul, Marquise de Souza-BotelhoAdélaïde-Emilie Filleul, Marquise de Souza-Botelho was a French writer.-Biography:She was born in Paris....
(Paris, 14 May 1761 – 19 April 1836)
One daughter with Marie-Louise O'Murphy de Boisfaily
Marie-Louise O'Murphy
Marie-Louise O'Murphy de Boisfaily was one of the younger mistresses of King Louis XV of France. Her original surname is also given in sources as Murphy, Morphy, or O'Morphy, and she is sometimes referred to as "La Morphise" or "La Belle Morphise"...
:
- Agathe Louise de Saint-Antoine (Paris, May 1754 – Paris, 6 September 1774, bur Paris), who married in Paris in 1773 René Jean de La Tour du Pin, marquis de la Charce (Paris, 26 July 1750–1781), without issue
One son with Françoise de Châlus (bap.
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...
Château de Châlus-Chabrol
Château de Chalus-Chabrol
The Château de Chalus-Chabrol is a castle in the commune of Châlus in the département of Haute-Vienne, France.The castle dominates the town of Châlus...
, Châlus
Châlus
Châlus is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in western France.-History:Châlus' is where Richard I of England was wounded by a crossbow bolt and killed as a result of the wound...
, Haute-Vienne, 24 February 1734 – Paris, 7 July 1821), one of the ladies-in-waiting of Elizabeth, Duchess of Parma and Chamberlain
Chamberlain (office)
A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....
-Major of Princess Marie Adélaïde of France, daughter of Gabriel de Châlus, seigneur de Sansac, and Claire Gérault de Solages, married on 10 July 1749 to Don
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Jean François, 1er duc de Narbonne-Lara Grandee of Spain 1st Class, Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
of the Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
, Commander in Name of the King of the Diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s of Castres
Castres
Castres is a commune, and arrondissement capital in the Tarn department and Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It lies in the former French province of Languedoc....
, Albi and Lavaur
Lavaur, Tarn
Lavaur is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.It lies 37 km southeast of Montauban by rail.-History:Lavaur was taken in 1211 by Simon de Montfort during the wars of the Albigenses, a monument marking the site where Dame Giraude de Laurac was killed, being thrown down a well...
, 1st Gentleman
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
of the House of H.R.H. the Duke of Parma
Philip, Duke of Parma
Philip of Spain was Duke of Parma from 1748 to 1765. He founded the House of Bourbon-Parma , a cadet line of the Spanish branch of the dynasty...
(Aubiac, Lot-et-Garonne
Aubiac, Lot-et-Garonne
Aubiac is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-See also:*Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department...
, 27 December 1718 – 12 August 1806, son of François de Narbonne-Lara, seigneur d' Aubiac, and second wife Olympie Angélique de Goth:
- Louis Marie Jacques Amalric, comte de Narbonne-LaraLouis, comte de Narbonne-LaraLouis Marie Jacques Amalric, comte de Narbonne-Lara was a French nobleman, soldier and diplomat.-Birth and early life:He was born at Colorno, in the Duchy of Parma, as the son of Françoise de Châlus Louis Marie Jacques Amalric, comte de Narbonne-Lara (17, 23 or 24 August 1755 – 17 November...
(17, 23 or 24 August 1755 – 17 November 1813)
Two daughters by Marguerite Cathérine Haynault (Paris, 11 November 1736 – 17 March 1823):
- Agnès Louise de Montreuil (bap.BaptismIn 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...
Paris, 20 May 1760 – Montmélas, 2 September 1837), married Paris, 29 November 1778 Gaspard, comte d' Arod de Montmélas (Montmélas, 15 September 1747 – Montmélas, 28 August 1815), and had three children - Anne Louise de La Réale (Versailles, 20 February 1763 – Saint-Germain-en-LayeSaint-Germain-en-LayeSaint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre.Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois...
, 30 April 1831), married Paris, 28 August 1780 Gabriel, comte de Geslin de La Villeneuve (Saint Malo, 27 May 1753 – Paris, 24 February 1796), and had one son
Two daughters with Lucie-Madeleine d'Estaing (1743–1826), illegitimate daughter of Charles François d' Estaing, marquis de Saillans, vicomte de Ravel (1683 – 29 August 1746) by Madeleine Erny:
- Agnès Lucie d'Auguste (Paris, 14 April 1761 – Château de Boysseulh, 4 July 1822), married Paris, 11 December 1777 Charles II, vicomte et marquis de Boysseulh (1753 – FontainebleauFontainebleauFontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
, 14 January 1808), and had two sons - Aphrodite Lucie d'Auguste (Versailles, 8 March 1763 – ArtonneArtonneArtonne is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-References:*...
, 22 February 1819), married Paris, 21 December 1784 Louis Jules Philippe, comte de Boysseulh (8 April 1758 – Mangres, 6 December 1795), and had two daughters
One son with Anne Couffier de Romans, dame de Meilly-Coulonges (1737–1808):
- Louis Aimé de Bourbon, dit l'Abbé de Bourbon (PassyPassyPassy is an area of Paris, France, located in the XVIe arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is traditionally home to many of the city's wealthiest residents.Passy was formerly a commune...
, 13 January 1762 – NaplesNaplesNaples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, 28 February 1787)
One son with Jeanne Louise Tiercelin de la Colleterie, dit mademoiselle de Bonneval (1746–1779):
- Benoît Louis Le Duc, dit l'Abbé Le Duc (Paris, 7 February 1764–1837)
One daughter with Cathérine Eléonore Bernard (1740–1769):
- Louise Françoise Adélaïde de Saint-Germain (Versailles, 13 January 1769 – ThauvenayThauvenayThauvenay is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre region of France.-Geography:A winegrowing and farming village situated by the banks of both the river Vauvise and the Loire lateral canal, some northeast of Bourges at the junction of the D920 with the D206, D202 and the D159 roads. The...
, 10 March 1850), married Valence, 1797 Jean Pierre Bachasson, comte de Montalivet (NeukirchNeukirchNeukirch may refer to:Germany*Neukirch, Baden-Württemberg, in the Bodensee district*Neukirch/Lausitz, in the district of Bautzen, Saxony*Neukirch , in the district of Kamenz, SaxonySwitzerland...
, MoselleMoselleMoselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, 5 July 1766 – Château de Lagrange, CherCherCher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, 22 January 1823), son of Charles Victor Bachasson, seigneur de Montalivet, and second wife Marthe de Saint-Germain, and had six children
One son with Marie Thérèse Françoise Boisselet (- 1800):
- Charles Louis Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 23 January 1769 – Paris, 21 November 1821), married Paris, 8 January 1789 (divorced 1798) Madeleine Félicité Baudet (1775 – 26 July 1830), and had two sons:
- Charles Louis Félix Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 11 September 1789 – 22 December 1881), married 1818 Clémentine Dubois (12 January 1802–1835), and had three children:
- Charles Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 31 October 1826 – Sèvres, 10 June 1900), married Paris, 20 August 1870 Lucie Perrelet (Paris, 11 October 1840 – Paris, 11 December 1927), and had one son:
- Félix Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 29 December 1871 – Paris, 21 February 1953), married Paris, 1899 Juliette Fabre (Caen, 5 October 1875 – Paris, 25 December 1912), and had two sons:
- Jean Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 28 July 1900 – Coiron, 18 October 1914)
- Louis Jules André Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 16 January 1906 – Paris, 30 December 1964), married Paris, 9 April 1960 Aline Élisabeth Marie Kermorgant (Issy-les-MoulineauxIssy-les-MoulineauxIssy-les-Moulineaux is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. On 1 January 2003, Issy-les-Moulineaux became part of the Communauté d'agglomération Arc de Seine along with the other communes of Chaville, Meudon, Vanves and Ville-d'Avray...
, 26 April 1921 – AlbertvilleAlbertvilleAlbertville is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The town is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics.-Geography:...
, Savoie, 5 June 1965), without issue
- Félix Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 29 December 1871 – Paris, 21 February 1953), married Paris, 1899 Juliette Fabre (Caen, 5 October 1875 – Paris, 25 December 1912), and had two sons:
- Clémentine Cadet de Gassicourt (22 June 1819 – 19 June 1870), married firstly 30 April 1839 Marie Joseph Napoléon Camus, without issue, married secondly 1861 Louis Geneviève Léon Journault (Paris, 24 February 1827 – SèvresSèvresSèvres is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau of Weights...
, 21 July 1892), without issue - Félicité Louise Cadet de Gassicourt (8 May 1822 – 5 May 1893), married firstly 1840 François Gorré (- 17 December 1855), without issue, married secondly 1859 Giovanni Paolo (Gianpaolo), conte Pinelli (19 July 1827 – 25 April 1893), without issue
- Charles Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 31 October 1826 – Sèvres, 10 June 1900), married Paris, 20 August 1870 Lucie Perrelet (Paris, 11 October 1840 – Paris, 11 December 1927), and had one son:
- Louis Hercule Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 12 February 1794 – 26 February 1879), married Paris, 10 September 1831 Antoinette Pataille (1810 – 4 June 1863), and had two daughters:
- Félicité Cadet de Gassicourt (Bar-sur-Seine, 28 December 1832 – April 1897), married Paris, 28 July 1855 Jules Aurous (Castres, Tarn, 13 February 1825 – 10 December 1903), and had two children
- Julie Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 23 June 1834 – 18 April 1904), married Paris, 24 April 1858 Eugène Masselin (Paris, 29 August 1825 – 3 August 1903), and had four children
- Charles Louis Félix Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 11 September 1789 – 22 December 1881), married 1818 Clémentine Dubois (12 January 1802–1835), and had three children:
He also served as stepfather to Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
's only child:
- Alexandrine-Jeanne Le Normant d'Étiolles (10 August 1744 – 14 June 1754)
Louis XV may have had other illegitimate children, but paternity has not been established for sure.
Titles and styles
- 15 February 1710 – 8 March 1712 His Royal Highness The Duke of Anjou
- 8 March 1712 – 1 September 1715 His Royal Highness The Dauphin of France
- 1 September 1715 – 10 May 1774 His Majesty The King
See also
- List of French monarchs
- Cabriole legCabriole legA cabriole leg is one of four vertical supports of a piece of furniture shaped in two curves; the upper arc is convex, while lower is concave; the upper curve always bows outward, while the lower curve bows inward. The axes of the two curves must lie within the same plane...
- Étienne François, Duc de ChoiseulÉtienne François, duc de ChoiseulÉtienne-François, comte de Stainville, duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. Between 1758 and 1761, and 1766 and 1770, he was Foreign Minister of France and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period...
- Suppression of the JesuitsSuppression of the JesuitsThe Suppression of the Jesuits in the Portuguese Empire, France, the Two Sicilies, Parma and the Spanish Empire by 1767 was a result of a series of political moves rather than a theological controversy. By the brief Dominus ac Redemptor Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus...
- Louis heelHeel (shoe)A heel is the projection at the back of a shoe which rests below the heel bone. The shoe heel is used to improve the balance of the shoe or for decorative purposes. Sometimes raised, the high heel is common to a form of shoe often worn by women but sometimes by men too. See also stiletto heel.-...
, a shoe heel shape named after Louis XV. - Mesdames de FranceMesdames de FranceMesdames is a form of address for several adult females. In the 18th century, Mesdames de France was used to designate the daughters of Louis XV of France, most of whom lived at the royal court and never married.-Filles de France:...
- The French Army 1600–1900
- Outline of France
Further reading
- Bernier, Olivier. Louis the Beloved: The Life of Louis XV (1984) 261 pp.
- Engels, Jens Ivo. "Denigrer, Esperer, Assumer La Realite. Le Roi de France perçu par ses Sujets, 1680–1750" ["Disparaging, Hoping, Taking on Reality: the French King as Perceived by His Subjects, 1680–1750"]. Revue D'histoire Moderne et Contemporaine 2003 50(3): 96–126.
- Jones, Colin. The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon, 1715–99 (2002). excerpt and text search
- Justus, Kevin Lane. "A Fractured Mirror: The Royal Portraiture of Louis XV and the Search for a Successful Image through Architecture, or, Versailles Is the Thing in Which We Will Catch the Character of the King." PhD dissertation U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 2002. 417 pp. DAI 2003 63(11): 3766-A. DA3070864 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
- Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel. The Ancien Regime: A History of France 1610–1774 (1999), survey by leader of the Annales SchoolAnnales SchoolThe Annales School is a group of historians associated with a style of historiography developed by French historians in the 20th century. It is named after its scholarly journal Annales d'histoire économique et sociale, which remains the main source of scholarship, along with many books and...
excerpt and text search - Perkins, James Breck. France under Louis XV (2 vol 1897) online vol 1; online vol 2
- Woodbridge, John D. Revolt in Prerevolutionary France: The Prince de Conti's Conspiracy against Louis XV (1995). 242 pp.
- Scholarly bibliography by Colin Jones (2002)
Mistresses
- Haslip, Joan. Madame du Barry: The Wages of Beauty. (1992). 224 pp.
- Jones, Colin. Madame de Pompadour: Images of a Mistress. London: National Gallery Publ., 2002. 176 pp.
- Lever, Evelyne. Madame de Pompadour. (2002). 320 pp.
- Mitford, Nancy. Madame de Pompadour (1954) 312pp, witty and popular (not scholarly)
Primary sources
- Du Barry, Jeanne Vaubernier, Jeanne Baecu. Memoirs of the Comtesse Du Barry: With Minute Details of Her Entire Career as Favorite of Louis XV (1903) online edition; also excerpt and text search
Titles
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