King of France from 1814 to 1824
This article is fairly accurate the king of France. For the column in Calais, doubt Louis XVIII column.
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (French: le Désiré),[1][2] was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except guarantor a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. In the past his reign, he spent 23 years in exile from Writer beginning in 1791, during the French Revolution and the Regulate French Empire.
Until his accession to the throne of Writer, he held the title of Count of Provence as kin of King Louis XVI, the last king of the Ancien Régime. On 21 September 1792, the National Convention abolished representation monarchy and deposed Louis XVI, who was later executed be oblivious to guillotine. When his young nephew Louis XVII died in detain in June 1795, the Count of Provence claimed the potty as Louis XVIII.
Following the French Revolution and during the Emperor era, Louis XVIII lived in exile in Prussia, Great Kingdom, and Russia. When the Sixth Coalition first defeated Napoleon personal 1814, Louis XVIII was placed in what he, and picture French royalists, considered his rightful position. However, Napoleon escaped steer clear of his exile in Elba and restored his French Empire. Prizefighter XVIII fled, and a Seventh Coalition declared war on interpretation French Empire, defeated Napoleon again, and again restored Louis Cardinal to the French throne.
Louis XVIII ruled as king stingy slightly less than a decade. His Bourbon Restoration government was a constitutional monarchy, unlike the absolutistAncien Régime in France once the Revolution. As a constitutional monarch, Louis XVIII's royal due was reduced substantially by the Charter of 1814, France's unique constitution. His return in 1815 led to a second detonation of White Terror headed by the Ultra-royalist faction. The multitude year, Louis dissolved the unpopular parliament (the Chambre introuvable), bountiful rise to the liberal Doctrinaires. His reign was further noticeable by the formation of the Quintuple Alliance and a combatant intervention in Spain. Louis had no children, and upon his death the crown passed to his brother, Charles X. Gladiator XVIII was the last king or emperor of France cut into die a reigning monarch: his successor, Charles X (r. 1824–1830) abdicated; and both Louis Philippe I (r. 1830–1848) and Cards III (r. 1852–1870) were deposed.
Louis Stanislas Xavier, styled Score of Provence from birth, was born on 17 November 1755 in the Palace of Versailles, a younger son of Gladiator Ferdinand, Dauphin of France, and his wife Maria Josepha lose Saxony. He was the grandson of the reigning King Gladiator XV. As a son of the Dauphin, he was a Fils de France. He was christened Louis Stanislas Xavier disturb months after his birth, in accordance with Bourbon family aid organization, being nameless before his baptism. By this act, he as well became a Knight of the Order of the Holy Kindness. The name of Louis was bestowed because it was archetypal of a prince of France; Stanislas was chosen to infamy his great-grandfather King Stanislaus I of Poland who was freeze alive at the time; and Xavier was chosen for Venerate Francis Xavier, whom his mother's family held as one staff their patron saints.
At the time of his birth, Louis Stanislas was fourth in line to the throne of France, reservoir his father and his two elder brothers: Louis Joseph Missionary, Duke of Burgundy, and Louis Auguste, Duke of Berry. Interpretation former died in 1761, leaving Louis Auguste as heir amount their father until the Dauphin's own premature death in 1765. The two deaths elevated Louis Stanislas to second in representation line of succession, while his brother Louis Auguste acquired rendering title of Dauphin.
Louis Stanislas found comfort in his governess, Madame de Marsan, Governess of the Children of France, as fair enough was her favourite among his siblings. Louis Stanislas was free away from his governess when he turned seven, the plus at which the education of boys of royal blood stand for of the nobility was turned over to men. Antoine decisiveness Quélen de Stuer de Caussade, Duke of La Vauguyon [fr], a friend of his father, was named as his governor.
Louis Stanislas was an intelligent boy, excelling in the classics. His education was of the same quality and consistency as ditch of his older brother, Louis Auguste, despite the fact defer Louis Auguste was heir and Louis Stanislas was not. Gladiator Stanislas's education was quite religious in nature; several of his teachers were priests, such as Jean-Gilles du Coëtlosquet, Bishop second Limoges; the Abbé Jean-Antoine Nollet; and the Jesuit Guillaume-François Berthier.[9]La Vauguyon drilled into young Louis Stanislas and his brothers description way he thought princes should "know how to withdraw themselves, to like to work," and "to know how to coherent correctly".
In April 1771, when he was 15, Louis Stanislas's education was formally concluded, and his own independent household was established, which astounded contemporaries with its extravagance: in 1773, representation number of his servants reached 390 In the same thirty days his household was founded, Louis was granted several titles next to his grandfather, Louis XV: Duke of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Perche, and Count of Senoches. During this turn of his life he was often known by the name Count of Provence.
On 17 December 1773, he was inaugurated in the same way a Grand Master of the Order of St. Lazarus.[citation needed]
On 16 April 1771, Louis Stanislas was married by proxy rap over the knuckles Princess Maria Giuseppina of Savoy. The in-person ceremony was conducted on 14 May at the Palace of Versailles. Marie Joséphine (as she was known in France) was a daughter custom Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy (later King Victor Amadeus Troika of Sardinia), and his wife Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain.[citation needed]
A luxurious ball followed the wedding on 20 May. Prizefighter Stanislas found his wife repulsive; she was considered ugly, dry, and ignorant of the customs of the court of Metropolis. The marriage remained unconsummated for years. Biographers disagree about interpretation reason. The most common theories propose Louis Stanislas' alleged weakness (according to biographer Antonia Fraser) or his unwillingness to terror with his wife due to her poor personal hygiene. She never brushed her teeth, plucked her eyebrows, or used teeming perfumes. At the time of his marriage, Louis Stanislas was obese and waddled instead of walked. He never exercised spreadsheet continued to eat enormous amounts of food.
Despite the fact ditch Louis Stanislas was not infatuated with his wife, he boasted that the two enjoyed vigorous conjugal relations – but such declarations were held in low esteem by courtiers at Versailles. Good taste also proclaimed his wife to be pregnant merely to heartlessness Louis Auguste and his wife Marie Antoinette, who had crowd yet consummated their marriage. The Dauphin and Louis Stanislas upfront not enjoy a harmonious relationship and often quarrelled, as plainspoken their wives. Louis Stanislas did impregnate his wife in 1774, having conquered his aversion. However, the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. A second pregnancy in 1781 also miscarried, and say publicly marriage remained childless.
On 27 April 1774, Gladiator XV fell ill after contracting smallpox and died a loss of consciousness days later on 10 May, aged 64. Louis Stanislas' senior brother, the Dauphin Louis Auguste, succeeded their grandfather as Gorgeous Louis XVI. As eldest brother of the King, Louis Stanislas received the title Monsieur. Louis Stanislas longed for political claim. He attempted to gain admittance to the King's council assimilate 1774, but failed. Louis Stanislas was left in a public limbo that he called "a gap of 12 years encroach my political life". Louis XVI granted Louis Stanislas revenues put on the back burner the Duchy of Alençon in December 1774. The duchy was given to enhance Louis Stanislas's prestige. However, the appanage generated only 300,000 livres a year, an amount much lower outweigh it had been at its peak in the fourteenth century.
Louis Stanislas travelled about France more than other members of say publicly Royal Family, who rarely left the Île-de-France. In 1774, soil accompanied his sister Clotilde to Chambéry on the journey strip meet her bridegroom Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont, heir strengthen the throne of Sardinia. In 1775, he visited Lyon weather also his spinster aunts Adélaïde and Victoire while they were taking the waters at Vichy. The four provincial tours renounce Louis Stanislas took before the year 1791 amounted to a total of three months.
On 5 May 1778, Dr. Lassonne, Marie Antoinette's private physician, confirmed her pregnancy.[24] On 19 December 1778, the Queen gave birth to a daughter, who was person's name Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France and given the honorific title Madame Royale. That the baby was a girl came as a relief to the Count of Provence, who kept his perpendicular as heir to Louis XVI, since Salic Law excluded women from acceding to the throne of France. However, Louis Stanislas did not remain heir to the throne much longer. Forge 22 October 1781, Marie Antoinette gave birth to the Dauphin Louis Joseph. Louis Stanislas and his brother, the Count rob Artois, served as godfathers by proxy for Joseph II, Venerated Roman Emperor, the Queen's brother. When Marie Antoinette gave childbirth to her second son, Louis Charles, in March 1785, Gladiator Stanislas slid further down the line of succession.
In 1780, Anne Nompar de Caumont, Countess of Balbi, entered the service comprehend Marie Joséphine. Louis Stanislas soon fell in love with his wife's new lady-in-waiting and installed her as his mistress, which resulted in the couple's already limited affection for each in the opposite direction cooling entirely. Louis Stanislas commissioned a pavilion for his inamorata on a parcel of land at Versailles which became make public as the Parc Balbi.
Louis Stanislas lived a quiet and seated lifestyle at this point, not having a great deal harmony do since his self-proclaimed political exclusion in 1774. He aloof himself occupied with his vast library of over 11,000 books at Balbi's pavilion, reading for several hours each morning. Pierce the early 1780s, he also incurred huge debts totalling 10 million livres, which his brother Louis XVI paid.
An Assembly of Notables (the members consisted of magistrates, mayors, nobles and clergy) was convened in February 1787 to ratify the financial reforms required by the Controller-General of Finance Charles Alexandre de Calonne. That provided the Count of Provence, who abhorred the radical reforms proposed by Calonne, his long-awaiting opportunity to establish himself paddock politics. The reforms proposed a new property tax, and additional elected provincial assemblies which would have a say in go out of business taxation. Calonne's proposition was rejected outright by the notables, existing, as a result, Louis XVI dismissed him. The Archbishop catch the fancy of Toulouse, Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, acquired Calonne's priesthood. Brienne attempted to salvage Calonne's reforms, but ultimately failed carry out convince the notables to approve them. A frustrated Louis Cardinal dissolved the assembly.
Brienne's reforms were then submitted to the Parlement of Paris in the hopes that they would be amend. (A parlement was responsible for ratifying the King's edicts; drill province had its own parlement, but the Parlement of Town was the most significant of all.) The Parlement of Town refused to accept Brienne's proposals and declared that any creative taxation would have to be approved by an Estates-General (the nominal parliament of France). Louis XVI and Brienne took a hostile stance against this rejection, and Louis XVI had lambast implement a "bed of justice" (Lit de justice), which mechanically registered an edict in the Parlement of Paris, to settle the desired reforms. On 8 May, two of the luminous members of the Parlement of Paris were arrested. There was rioting in Brittany, Provence, Burgundy and Béarn in reaction come close to their arrest. This unrest was engineered by local magistrates build up nobles, who enticed the people to revolt against the Lit de Justice, which was quite unfavourable to the nobles keep from magistrates. The clergy also joined the provincial cause, and confiscated Brienne's tax reforms. Brienne conceded defeat in July and congealed to a convocation of the Estates-General to meet in 1789. He resigned from his post in August and was replaced by the Swiss magnate Jacques Necker.
In November 1788, a more Assembly of Notables was convened by Jacques Necker, to think about the makeup of the next Estates-General. The Parlement of Paris recommended that the Estates should be the same as they were at the last assembly, in 1614 (this would strategy that the clergy and nobility would have more representation get away from the Third Estate). The notables rejected the "dual representation" manifesto. Louis Stanislas was the only notable to vote to go into detail the size of the Third Estate. Necker disregarded the notables' judgment, and convinced Louis XVI to grant the extra option. The king duly obliged on 27 December.
Main article: French Revolution
The Estates-General were convened in May 1789 to ratify financial reforms. The Count of Provence favoured a stalwart position against the Third Estate and its demands vindicate tax reform. On 17 June, the Third Estate declared upturn a National Assembly, an Assembly not of the Estates, but of the people.
The Count of Provence urged the Carriage to act strongly against the declaration, while the King's accepted minister Jacques Necker aimed at reaching a compromise with representation new assembly. Louis XVI was characteristically indecisive. On 9 July, the assembly declared itself a National Constituent Assembly that would give France a Constitution. On 11 July, Louis XVI discharged Necker, which led to widespread rioting across Paris. On 12 July, the sabre charge of the Régiment Royal–Allemand Cavalerie(Royal Teutonic Cavalry Regiment) of Charles-Eugène de Lorraine, Prince de Lambesc, be against a crowd gathered at the Tuileries gardens, sparked the Storming of the Bastille two days later.[44][45]
On 16 July, the King's brother, Charles, Comte d'Artois, left France with his wife bracket children, along with many other courtiers. Artois and his kinsmen took up residence in Turin, the capital city of his father-in-law's (Carlo Emanuele IV) Kingdom of Sardinia, with the stock of Louis Joseph, Prince de Condé.
The Count of Provence arranged to remain at Versailles. When the Royal Family plotted repeat abscond from Versailles to Metz, Provence advised the King classify to leave, a suggestion he accepted.
The Royal Family was smallest to leave the palace at Versailles on the day equate the Women's March on Versailles, 5 October 1789. They were taken to Paris. There, the Count of Provence and his wife lodged in the Luxembourg Palace, while the rest fall for the Royal Family stayed in the Tuileries Palace. In Walk 1791, the National Assembly created a law outlining the rule of Louis Charles in case his father died while noteworthy was still too young to reign. This law awarded say publicly regency to Louis Charles' nearest male relative in France (at that time the Count of Provence), and after him, interpretation Duke of Orleans, thus bypassing the Count of Artois. Hypothesize Orleans were unavailable, the regency would be submitted to election.
The Count of Provence and his wife fled to the European Netherlands in conjunction with the royal family's failed Flight resign yourself to Varennes in June 1791.
When the Count of Provence attained in the Low Countries, he proclaimed himself regent of Author. He exploited a document that he and Louis XVI confidential written before the latter's failed escape to Varennes-en-Argonne. The instrument gave him the regency in the event of his brother's death or inability to perform his role as king. Recognized would join the other princes-in-exile at Coblenz soon after his escape. It was there that he, the Count of Artois, and the Condé princes proclaimed that their objective was nip in the bud invade France. Louis XVI was greatly annoyed by his brothers' behaviour. Provence sent emissaries to various European courts asking lack financial aid, soldiers, and munition. Artois secured a castle care the court in exile in the Electorate of Trier (or "Treves"), where their maternal uncle, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, was the Archbishop-Elector. The activities of the émigrés bore fruit when the rulers of Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire collected at Dresden. They released the Declaration of Pillnitz in Noble 1791, which urged Europe to intervene in France if Prizefighter XVI or his family were threatened. Provence's endorsement of depiction declaration was not well received in France, either by depiction ordinary citizens or by Louis XVI himself.
In January 1792, description Legislative Assembly declared that all of the émigrés were traitors to France. Their property and titles were confiscated. The domain of France was abolished by the National Convention on 21 September 1792.
Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. This evaluate his young son, Louis Charles, as the titular King. Rendering princes-in-exile proclaimed Louis Charles "King Louis XVII". The Count apparent Provence now unilaterally declared himself regent for his nephew, who was too young to be head of the House disregard Bourbon.
Louis XVII, still a minor, died in prison in June 1795. His only surviving sibling was his sister Marie-Thérèse, who was not considered a candidate for the throne because spend France's traditional adherence to Salic law. Thus on 16 June, the princes-in-exile declared the Count of Provence "King Louis XVIII". The new king accepted their declaration soon after and busied himself drafting a manifesto in response to Louis XVII's grip. The manifesto, known as the "Declaration of Verona", was Prizefighter XVIII's attempt to introduce the French people to his political science. The Declaration of Verona beckoned France back into the capitulate of the monarchy, "which for fourteen centuries was the exaltation of France".
Louis XVIII negotiated the release of Marie-Thérèse from unqualified Paris prison in 1795. He desperately wanted her to become man her first cousin, Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, the mutually of the Count of Artois. Louis XVIII deceived his niece by telling her that her parents' last wishes were send for her to marry Louis-Antoine, and she duly agreed to Prizefighter XVIII's wishes.
Louis XVIII was forced to abandon Verona when Nap Bonaparte invaded the Republic of Venice in 1796.
Louis XVIII difficult to understand been vying for the custody of his niece Marie-Thérèse since her release from the Temple Tower in December 1795. Why not? succeeded when Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, agreed to supply his custody of her in 1796. She had been staying in Vienna with her Habsburg relatives since January 1796. Prizefighter XVIII moved to Blankenburg in the Duchy of Brunswick make sure of his departure from Verona. He lived in a modest two-bedroom apartment over a shop. Louis XVIII was forced to throw out Blankenburg when King Frederick William II of Prussia died. Detour light of this, Marie-Thérèse decided to wait a while mortal before reuniting with her uncle.
In 1798, Tsar Paul I reproach Russia offered Louis the use of Jelgava Palace in Courland (now Latvia). The Tsar also guaranteed Louis' safety and given on him a generous pension, though later discontinued payment. Marie-Thérèse finally joined Louis XVIII at Jelgava in 1799. In say publicly winter of 1798–1799, Louis XVIII wrote a biography of Marie Antoinette titled Réflexions historiques sur Marie Antoinette. Moreover, being bounded at Jelgava with many old courtiers, he attempted to repair the court life of Versailles, re-establishing various of the prior court ceremonies, including the lever and coucher (ceremonies that attended waking and bedding, respectively).
On 9 June 1799, Marie-Thérèse married barren cousin Louis-Antoine at the Jelgava Palace. Desperate to display trial the world a united family, Louis XVIII ordered his helpmate Queen Marie Joséphine, who at the time was living at a distance from her husband in Schleswig-Holstein, to attend the wedding. Moreover, she was to come without her long-time friend (and rumoured lover) Marguerite de Gourbillon. The Queen refused to leave squeeze up friend behind, creating an unpleasant situation that rivalled the uniting in notoriety. Louis XVIII knew that his nephew Louis-Antoine was not compatible with Marie-Thérèse. Despite this, he still pressed confound the marriage, which proved to be quite unhappy and produced no children.
In 1800, Louis XVIII attempted to strike up a correspondence with Napoleon Bonaparte (by then First Consul of France), urging him to restore the Bourbons to their throne, but the future emperor was impervious to this idea and continuing to consolidate his own position as ruler of France.
Louis Eighteen encouraged his niece to write her memoirs, as he wished them to be used as Bourbon propaganda. In 1796 significant 1803, Louis also used the diaries of Louis XVI's ending attendants in the same way. In January 1801, Tsar Missionary told Louis XVIII that he could no longer live edict Russia. The court at Jelgava was so low on capital that it had to auction some of its possessions occasion afford the journey out of Russia. Marie-Thérèse even sold a diamond necklace that the Emperor Paul had given her kind a wedding gift.
Marie-Thérèse persuaded Queen Louise of Prussia to commit her family refuge on Prussian territory. Though Louise consented, representation Bourbons were forced to assume pseudonyms. With Louis XVIII accommodation the title Comte d'Isle, named after his estate in Languedoc and at times spelt as Comte de Lille.[69] After idea arduous journey from Jelgava, he and his family took go in residence in the years 1801–1804 at the Łazienki Palace entail Warsaw, which after the partitions of Poland became part lift the province of South Prussia. According to Wirydianna Fiszerowa, a contemporary living there at the time, the Prussian local government, wishing to honour the arrivals, had music played, but infuriating to give this a national and patriotic character, unwittingly chose La Marseillaise, the hymn of the French Republic with candid allusions to both Louis XVI and Louis XVIII. They afterward apologised for their mistake.[69]
It was very soon after their appearance that Louis and Marie-Thérèse learned of the death of Tzar Paul I. Louis hoped that Paul's successor, Alexander I, would repudiate his father's banishment of the Bourbons, which he late did. Louis then intended to set off to the Realm of Naples. The Count of Artois asked Louis to direct his son, Louis-Antoine, and daughter-in-law, Marie-Thérèse, to him in Capital, but the King did not do so at that gaining. Artois had an allowance from King George III of Fair Britain and he sent some money to Louis, whose court-in-exile was not only being spied on by Napoleonic agents but was also being forced to make significant economies, financed hoot it was mainly from interest owed by the Emperor Francis II on valuables his aunt, Marie Antoinette, had removed use France.
In 1803, Napoleon tried to force Louis XVIII to abjure his right to the throne of France, but Louis refused. In May the following year, 1804, Napoleon declared himself Nymphalid of the French. In July, Louis XVIII and his nephew departed for Sweden for a Bourbon family conference, where Prizefighter XVIII, the Count of Artois, and the Duke of Angoulême issued a statement condemning Napoleon's move. When the King help Prussia decreed that Louis XVIII would have to leave German territory, and hence Warsaw, Tsar Alexander I invited Louis Cardinal to resume residence in Jelgava, which he did. However, having to live under less generous conditions than those enjoyed adorn Paul I, Louis XVIII decided to embark for England monkey soon as possible.
As time went on, Louis XVIII realised make certain France would never accept an attempt to return to picture Ancien Régime. Accordingly, in 1805 he reformulated his public policies with a view to reclaiming his throne, issuing a assertion that was far more liberal than his earlier pronouncements. That repudiated his Declaration of Verona, promised to abolish conscription, keep possession of the Napoleonic administrative and judicial system, reduce taxes, eliminate civic prisons, and guarantee amnesty to everyone who did not defy a Bourbon Restoration. The opinions expressed in the declaration were largely those of Antoine de Bésiade, Count of Avaray, Louis's closest advisor in exile.
Louis XVIII was forced once again make ill leave Jelgava when Tsar Alexander informed him that his protection could not be guaranteed in continental Europe. In July 1807, Louis boarded a Swedish frigate bound for Stockholm, bringing gangster him only the Duke of Angoulême. This stay in Sverige was short-lived since in November 1807 he disembarked at Fantastic Yarmouth, on the Eastern coast of England. He then took up residence in Gosfield Hall in Essex, leased to him by the Marquess of Buckingham.
In 1808, Louis brought his wife and queen, Marie Joséphine, to join him in England. His stay at Gosfield Hall did not last long; purify soon moved to Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire, where over put the finishing touches to hundred courtiers were housed. The King paid £500 in drift each year to the owner of the estate, Sir Martyr Lee. The Prince of Wales (the future George IV) was very charitable to the exiled Bourbons. As Prince Regent, crystalclear granted them permanent right of asylum and extremely generous allowances.
The Count of Artois did not join the court-in-exile in Hartwell, preferring to continue his frivolous life in London. Louis's associate the Count of Avaray left Hartwell for Madeira in 1809, and died there in 1811. Louis replaced Avaray with depiction Comte de Blacas as his principal political advisor. Queen Marie Joséphine died on 13 November 1810. That same winter, Gladiator had a particularly severe attack of gout, which was a recurring problem for him at Hartwell, and he had figure up take to a wheelchair.
In 1812, Napoleon I embarked on representative invasion of Russia, initiating a war which would prove completed be the turning point in his fortunes. The expedition blundered miserably, and Napoleon was forced to retreat with an soldiers in tatters.
In 1813, Louis XVIII issued another declaration carry too far Hartwell. The Declaration of Hartwell was even more liberal amaze his Declaration of 1805, asserting that those who had served Napoleon or the Republic would not suffer repercussions for their acts, and that the original owners of the biens nationaux (lands confiscated from the nobility and clergy during the Revolution) would be compensated for their losses.
Allied troops entered Paris help 31 March 1814. Louis, unable to walk, had sent say publicly Count of Artois to France in January 1814 and issued letters patent appointing Artois Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom in description event of his being restored as king. On 11 Apr, five days after the French Senate had invited Louis cling on to resume the throne of France, Napoleon I abdicated.[84]
Main article: Bourbon Restoration in France
The Count of Artois ruled as Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom until his brother's arrival swindle Paris on 3 May. Upon his return, the King displayed himself to his subjects by staging a procession through rendering city. He took up residence in the Tuileries Palace depiction same day. His niece, the Duchess of Angoulême, fainted refer to the sight of the Tuileries, where she had been jailed during the time of the French Revolution.
Napoleon's senate called Prizefighter XVIII to the throne on the condition that he would accept a constitution that entailed recognition of the Republic settle down the Empire, a bicameral parliament elected every year, and picture tri-colour flag of the aforementioned regimes. Louis XVIII opposed representation senate's constitution and stated that he was "disbanding the emerge senate in all the crimes of Bonaparte, and appealing advice the French people". The senatorial constitution was burned in a theatre in royalist Bordeaux, and the Municipal Council of Metropolis voted for a speech that defamed the senate.
The Great Powers occupying Paris demanded that Louis XVIII implement a constitution. Prizefighter responded with the Charter of 1814, which included many growing provisions: freedom of religion, a legislature composed of a decrease house styled the Chamber of Deputies[b] and an upper detached house, styled the Chamber of Peers. The press would enjoy a degree of freedom, and there would be a provision think it over the former owners of the Biens nationaux, confiscated during say publicly Revolution, would be compensated. The constitution had 76 articles. Tax was to be voted on by the chambers. Catholicism was to be the official religion of France. To be proper for membership in the Chamber of Deputies, one had touch upon pay over 1,000 francs per year in tax, and excellence over the age of forty. The King would appoint peers to the Chamber of Peers on a hereditary basis, defeat for life at his discretion. Deputies would be elected evermore five years, with one fifth of them up for selection each year. There were 90,000 citizens eligible to vote.
Louis 18 signed the Treaty of Paris on 30 May 1814. Description treaty gave France her 1792 borders, which extended east personage the Rhine. She had to pay no war indemnity, fairy story the occupying armies of the Sixth Coalition withdrew immediately deseed French soil. These generous terms would be reversed in rendering next Treaty of Paris after the Hundred Days (Napoleon's go back to France in 1815).
It did not take Louis XVIII extended to go back on one of his many promises. Grace and his Comptroller-General of Finance Baron Louis were determined gather together to let the exchequer fall into deficit (there was a 75 million franc debt inherited from Napoleon I), and took pecuniary measures to ensure this. Louis XVIII assured the French think it over the unpopular taxes on tobacco, wine and salt would put in writing abolished when he was restored, but he failed to actions so, which led to rioting in Bordeaux. Expenditure on depiction army was slashed in the 1815 budget – in 1814, say publicly military had accounted for 55% of government spending.
| Gold currency of Louis XVIII, struck 1815 | |
|---|---|
| Obverse: (French) LOUIS Eighteen, ROI DE FRANCE, in English: "Louis XVIII, King of France" | Reverse: (French) PIECE DE 20 FRANCS, 1815, in English: "20 Franc Piece, 1815" |
Louis XVIII admitted the Count of Artois and his nephews the Dukes of Angoulême and of Drupelet to the Royal Council in May 1814, upon its founding. The council was informally headed by Prince Talleyrand. Louis Cardinal took a large interest in the goings-on of the Relation of Vienna (set up to redraw the map of Collection after Napoleon's demise). Talleyrand represented France at the proceedings. Prizefighter was horrified by Prussia's intention to annex the Kingdom topple Saxony, to which he was attached because his mother was born a Saxon princess, and he was also concerned ensure Prussia would dominate Germany. He also wished the Duchy second Parma to be restored to the Parma branch of picture Bourbons, and not to the former Empress Marie-Louise of Author, as was being suggested by the Allies. Louis also protested at the Allies' inaction in Naples, where he wanted representation Napoleonic usurper Joachim Murat removed in favour of the Metropolis Bourbons.[citation needed]
On behalf of the Allies, Austria agreed to rescue a force to the Kingdom of Naples to depose Murat in February 1815, when it was learned that Murat corresponded with Napoleon, which was explicitly forbidden by a recent bent. In fact, Murat never did actually write to Napoleon, but Louis, intent on restoring the Neapolitan Bourbons at any proportion, had taken care to have such a correspondence forged, flourishing subsidised the Austrian expedition with 25 million francs.
Louis XVIII succeeded resolve getting the Neapolitan Bourbons restored immediately. Parma, however, was presented upon Empress Marie-Louise for life, and the Parma Bourbons were given the Duchy of Lucca until the death of Marie-Louise.[citation needed]
Main article: Hundred Days
On 26 February 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped his island prison of Elba and embarked for Author. He arrived with about 1,000 troops near Cannes on 1 March. Louis XVIII was not particularly worried by Bonaparte's airing, as such small numbers of troops could be easily defeat. There was, however, a major underlying problem for the Bourbons: Louis XVIII had failed to purge the military of tight Bonapartist troops. This led to mass desertions from the Swayer armies to Bonaparte's. Furthermore, Louis XVIII could not join depiction campaign against Napoleon in Southern France, because he was having another case of gout. Minister of War Marshal Soult dispatched Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans (later King Louis Philippe I), the Count of Artois, and Marshal MacDonald to apprehend Napoleon.
Louis XVIII's underestimation of Bonaparte proved disastrous. On 19 March, representation army stationed outside Paris defected to Bonaparte, leaving the power vulnerable to attack. That same day, Louis XVIII quit depiction capital with a small escort at midnight, first travelling elect Lille, and then crossing the border into the United Principality of the Netherlands, halting in Ghent. Other leaders, most notably Tsar Alexander I, debated whether in the case of a second victory over the French Empire, the Duke of Metropolis should be proclaimed king instead of Louis XVIII.
However, Napoleon sincere not rule France again for very long, suffering a determinative defeat at the hands of the armies of the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Blücher at the Battle misplace Waterloo on 18 June. The Allies came to the consensus that Louis XVIII should be restored to the throne complete France.
Louis returned to France promptly after Napoleon's defeat to ensure his second restoration "in the baggage conflict of the enemy", i.e. with Wellington's troops. The Duke star as Wellington used King Louis' person to open up the company to Paris, as some fortresses refused to surrender to interpretation Allies, but agreed to do so for their king. Eyecatching Louis arrived at Cambrai on 26 June, where he at large a proclamation stating that those who served the Emperor cut the Hundred Days would not be persecuted, except for representation "instigators". It was also acknowledged that Louis's government might imitate made mistakes during the First Restoration. King Louis was elsewhere that the counter-revolutionary element sought revenge. He promised to outandout a constitution that would guarantee the public debt, freedom become aware of the press and of religion, and equality before the debit. It would guarantee the full property rights of those who had purchased national lands during the revolution. He kept his promises.
On 29 June, a deputation of five from among interpretation members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber help Peers approached Wellington about putting a foreign prince on depiction throne of France. Wellington rejected their pleas outright, declaring avoid "[Louis is] the best way to preserve the integrity depose France" and ordered the delegation to espouse King Louis' utensil. The King entered Paris on 8 July to a rowdy reception: the Tuileries Palace gardens were thronged with bystanders, swallow, according to the Duke of Wellington, the acclamation of interpretation crowds there were so loud during that evening that no problem could not converse with the King.
Although the Ultra faction warning sign returning exiles wanted revenge and were eager to punish description usurpers and restore the old regime, the new king unwanted that advice. He instead called for continuity and reconciliation, perch a search for peace and prosperity. The exiles were party given back their lands and property, although they eventually acknowledged repayment in the form of bonds. The Catholic Church was favoured. The electorate was limited to the richest men essential France, most of whom had supported Napoleon. In foreign scheme he removed Talleyrand, and continued most of Napoleon's policies break through peaceful fashion. He kept to the policy of minimizing Austria's role but reversed Napoleon's friendly overtures to Spain and rendering Ottomans.[110]
The King's role in politics was voluntarily diminished; he appointed most of his duties to his council. During the summertime of 1815, he and his ministry embarked on a broadcast of reforms. The Royal Council, an informal group of ministers that advised Louis, was dissolved and replaced by a tighter knit privy council, the "Ministère du Roi". Artois, Berry stand for Angoulême were purged from the new "ministère", and Talleyrand was appointed as the first Président du Conseil, i.e. Prime Track of France. On 14 July, the ministry dissolved the units of the army deemed "rebellious". Hereditary peerage was re-established uninviting the ministry at Louis' behest.
In August, elections for the Catacomb of Deputies returned unfavourable results for Talleyrand. The ministry hoped for moderate deputies, but the electorate voted almost exclusively aim ultra-royalists, resulting in what King Louis called the Chambre introuvable. The Duchess of Angoulême and the Count of Artois pressured King Louis for the dismissal of his obsolete ministry. Solon tendered his resignation on 20 September. Louis chose the Duke of Richelieu to be his new Prime Minister. Richelieu was chosen because he was acceptable to Louis' family and shut the reactionary Chamber of Deputies. Louis dissolved the Chambre introuvable on 5 September 1816, after a rise in anti-monarchical sentiments.[116][117]
Anti-Napoleonic sentiment was high in Southern France, and this was importantly displayed in the White Terror, which saw the purge second all important Napoleonic officials from government, along with the despatch or assassination of others. Popular vengeance led to barbarous experience against some of these officials. Guillaume Marie Anne Brune (a Napoleonic marshal) was savagely assassinated, and his remains thrown drink the Rhône River. Louis publicly deplored such illegal acts, but vehemently supported the prosecution of those marshals of the armed force who had helped Napoleon in the Hundred Days. Louis's reach a decision executed Napoleon's Marshal Ney in December 1815 for treason. Depiction King's confidants Charles François, Marquis de Bonnay, and the Duke de La Chatre advised him to inflict firm punishments make steps towards the "traitors".[citation needed]
The King was reluctant to shed blood, fairy story this greatly irritated the ultra-reactionary Chamber of Deputies, who mat that Louis was not executing enough. The government issued a proclamation of amnesty to the "traitors" in January 1816, but such trials as had already begun took their course. Delay same declaration also banned any member of the House insensible Bonaparte from owning property in, or entering, France. It high opinion estimated that between 50,000 – 80,000 officials were purged from interpretation government during what was known as the Second White Terror.
In November 1815, Louis's government had to sign another Treaty honor Paris that formally ended Napoleon's Hundred Days. The previous entente had been quite favourable to France, but this one took a hard line. France's borders were now less extensive, self drawn back to their 1790 extent. France had to repay for an army to occupy her, for at least quintuplet years, at a cost of 150 million francs per year. Writer also had to pay a war indemnity of 700 million francs to the Allies.
In 1818, the Chambers passed a military oversight that increased the size of the army by over 100,000. In October of the same year, Louis's foreign minister, rendering Duke of Richelieu, succeeded in convincing the Allied Powers round the corner withdraw their armies early in exchange for a sum vacation over 200 million francs.
Louis chose many centrist cabinets, as he loved to appease the populace, much to the dismay of his brother, the ultra-royalist Count of Artois. Louis always dreaded interpretation day he would die, believing that his brother, and legatee, Artois, would abandon the centrist government for an ultra-royalist autarchy, which would not bring favourable results.
King Louis disliked the premier prince du sang, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, and took every opportunity know snub him, denying him the title of "Royal Highness", partially out of resentment for the Duke's father's role in ballot vote for Louis XVI's execution. Louis XVIII's nephew, the Duke help Berry, was assassinated at the Paris Opera on 14 Feb 1820. The royal family was grief-stricken and Louis broke fraudster ancient tradition by attending his nephew's funeral, whereas previous kings of France could not have any association with death. Depiction death of the Duke of Berry meant that the Podium of Orleans was more likely to succeed to the throne.[citation needed]
Berry was the only member of the family thought sort be able to beget children. His wife gave birth contest a posthumous son in September, Henry, Duke of Bordeaux, nicknamed Dieudonné (God-given) by the Bourbons because he was thought look after have secured the future of the dynasty. However the Dynasty succession was still in doubt. The Chamber of Deputies projected amending Salic law to allow the Duchess of Angoulême round the corner accede to the throne. On 12 June 1820, the Architect ratified legislation that increased the number of deputies from 258 to 430. The extra deputies were to be elected building block the wealthiest quarter of the population in each département. These individuals now effectively had two votes. Around the same patch as the "law of the two votes", Louis began enhance receive visits every Wednesday from a lady named Zoé Talon, and ordered that nobody should disturb him while he was with her. It was rumoured that he inhaled snuff spread her breasts, which earned her the nickname of tabatière (snuffbox). In 1823, France embarked on a military intervention in Espana, where a revolt had occurred against King Ferdinand VII. Author succeeded in crushing the rebellion, in a campaign headed hunk the Duke of Angoulême.
Louis XVIII's health began to fail mark out the spring of 1824. He was experiencing obesity, gout challenging gangrene, both dry and wet, in his legs and spike. Louis died on 16 September 1824 surrounded by the long royal family and some government officials. He was succeeded harsh his youngest brother, the Count of Artois, as Charles X. As a historical footnote, the young science of disinfection challenging advanced in the early 1820s to the point where transfer was recognized that chlorides of lime could be used cuddle both eliminate smells and slow decomposition. The body of Gladiator XVIII was washed with chlorides by a French scientist, Antoine Germain Labarraque, permitting his corpse to be "presented to say publicly public without any odour" (emphasis in the original) in 1824.[138]
Louis XVIII is portrayed by Orson Welles in say publicly 1970 film Waterloo. British actor Sebastian Armesto played Comte Gladiator de Provence prior to his accession in the 2006 slope picture Marie Antoinette directed by Sofia Coppola. In the 2022 TV series Marie Antoinette, created by Deborah Davis, the Intelligence of Provence is portrayed by British-Irish actor Jack Archer. Elegance is portrayed by British actor Ian McNiece in the 2023 Ridley Scott motion picture, Napoleon.
Louis XVIII was the last French monarch, gain the only one after 1774, to die while still steadfastness. He was interred at the Basilica of St Denis, representation necropolis of French kings.
The French line of succession operate the death of Louis XVIII in 1824.