Louis XVI

ABOUT

Louis XVI (Versailles, August 23, 1754 – Paris, January 21, 1793) was King of France and Navarre from 1774 to 1791 and King of the French until he was deposed in 1792, during the French Revolution, being executed the following year. His father, Louis, Dauphin of France, was the son and heir apparent of King Louis XV. As a result of his father's death in 1765, Louis became the new dauphin and succeeded his grandfather in 1774. He was the elder brother of the future kings Louis XVIII and Charles X. Reign May 10, 1774 on September 21, 1792 Coronation June 11, 1775 Predecessor Louis XV Successor Monarchy abolished (Napoleon as Emperor in 1804, as King Louis XVIII in 1814) Birth August 23, 1754 Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France Death January 21, 1793 (38 years old) Revolution Square, Paris, France Buried in January 21, 1815 Basilica of Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France Full name Louis-Auguste Wife Marie Antoinette of Austria Offspring Maria Teresa Carlota of France Louis José, Dauphin of France Louis XVII of France Sofia Helena Beatriz from France Home Bourbon Father Louis, Dauphin of France Mother Maria Josefa of Saxony Religion Catholicism

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Versailles, he was given the title of Duke of Berry. After the sudden death of his father Louis Ferdinand, he became the new heir to France in 1765, and was crowned king at the age of 19. The early part of his reign was marked by attempts to reform France in accordance with Enlightenment ideals. These included efforts to abolish serfdom, remove the taille, and increase tolerance towards Protestants. The French nobility reacted with hostility to the proposed reforms, and successfully opposed their implementation. Discontent among the common people soon grew. In 1776, Louis XVI actively supported the American colonists in seeking independence from Great Britain, which was achieved in the Treaty of Paris of 1783. The ensuing debt and financial crisis contributed to the unpopularity of the Ancien Régime, which culminated in the Estates General of 1789. Discontent among members of the French middle and lower classes resulted in increased opposition to the French aristocracy and absolute monarchy, of which Louis and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, were seen as representatives. In 1789, the storming of the Bastille during riots in Paris marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Louis's indecision and conservatism led some in France to see him as a symbol of the tyranny of the Ancien Régime, and his popularity steadily declined. His disastrous flight from Varennes in June 1791, four months before the constitutional monarchy was declared, seemed to justify rumors that the king had pinned his hopes of political salvation on the prospect of some foreign invasion. His credibility was severely compromised. The abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic became increasingly likely.

BIOGRAPHY

In a context of civil and international war, the king was suspended and imprisoned at the time of the insurrection of 10 August 1792, a month before the constitutional monarchy was abolished and the First French Republic was proclaimed on 21 September. He was tried by the National Convention (self-established as a tribunal for the occasion), found guilty of high treason, and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793 as a desacralized French citizen known as "Citizen Louis Capet", a nickname referring to Hugh Capet, the founder of the Capetian dynasty—which the revolutionaries interpreted as his family name. Although initially considered both a traitor and a martyr, French historians have taken a different view of his personality and role as king, describing him as an honest man driven by good intentions but who was not up to the Herculean task of a profound reform of the monarchy. He was the only king of France in history to be executed, and his death ended more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION

Louis-Auguste was born at the Palace of Versailles on 23 August 1754, and was styled Duke of Berry. He was the fourth child and first son of Louis Ferdinand, Dauphin of France, and thus a grandson of Louis XV and his consort, Maria Leszczyńska. His mother was Maria Josepha of Saxony, daughter of King Augustus III of Poland. The Dauphin devoted his life to ensuring that his children received the kind of education that would prepare them to be benevolent rulers of great character. He employed the Duke of La Vauguyon to oversee their education, and their father himself would listen to their lessons twice a week so that he would be kept up to date with what they were learning.[3] Louis-Auguste had a difficult childhood. He spent the first years of his life in the shadow of his brother, three years older, Louis Joseph, Duke of Burgundy, who was an "exceptionally attractive and precocious child who everyone believed would one day be a great king". These hopes were dashed when he died of tuberculosis in 1761. Louis Auguste had spent much of his time with his ailing brother to provide him with companionship during his final months, so the loss was particularly difficult for the shy six-year-old who now found himself in an unexpected position. From then on, he was taught never to question his duty to one day lead his country as king. He excelled in his studies, having a strong preference for Latin, history, geography, and astronomy, and became fluent in Italian and English. He enjoyed physical activities, such as hunting with his grandfather, and rough-and-tumble games with his younger brothers, Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, and Charles Philippe, Count of Artois. From an early age, the Duke of Berry was encouraged to pursue another of his pastimes: metalworking, which was seen as a "useful" exercise for a child.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION

After the death of his father, who died of tuberculosis on 20 December 1765, at the age of eleven, he became the new Dauphin. His mother, who never recovered from the loss of her husband, died of the same disease on 13 March 1767. The strict and conservative education he received from the Duc de La Vauguyon, des Enfants gouverneur de France (the Governor of the Children of France), from 1760 until his marriage in 1770, did not prepare him for the throne he would inherit in 1774 upon the death of his grandfather, the king. Throughout his education, he received a combination of specific studies in religion, morality, and humanity. His instructors may also have contributed to molding him into the indecisive king he would become. Abbé Berthier, his instructor, taught him that shyness was a value in strong monarchs, and Abbé Soldini, his confessor, instructed him not to let people read his mind.

MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

Austria and France, longtime enemies, became allies under the Treaty of Versailles, signed on May 1, 1756, to combat Prussia and England in the Seven Years’ War. A political marriage with one of Empress Maria Theresa’s daughters was a condition of the agreement. Maria Antonia, the 14-year-old Austrian archduchess, had been promised in an arranged marriage to Louis Auguste. The union of the two young people was intended to strengthen this unstable political bond between the nations. As the marriage arrangements were being finalized, the young future consort underwent rigorous training to be queen, learning French history and improving her French language skills. After a proxy marriage on April 21, she left Austria. On the way to Paris, on a neutral island in the Rhine, she was stripped of all her Austrian trappings. She was dressed in French clothes and given a new identity—Marie Antoinette. She met her shy and awkward 15-year-old fiancé for the first time in a few days. Their wedding, held on May 16, 1770, with fireworks, banquets, and guests wearing diamonds, was one of the most dazzling occasions ever celebrated at the Palace of Versailles. The marriage was met with some hostility from the French people. At the time Louis Auguste and Marie Antoinette were married, the nation at large regarded the Austrian alliance with disfavor, and the dauphine was seen as an unwelcome foreigner. She arrived at a court that viewed her with suspicion. As she became increasingly unpopular in the last years of her husband's reign, she was often referred to as "the Austrian."

MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

She was isolated from the courtiers at Versailles. For both, however, the marriage was initially amicable but distant. The shyness of the Dauphin and, among other factors, the young age and inexperience of the newlyweds, who were complete strangers to each other, meant that the 15-year-old groom was unable to consummate the union with his partner, who was one year younger. His fear of being manipulated by her for imperial purposes made him behave coldly towards her in public. While Louis divided his time between hunting and governing, Marie Antoinette lived a separate life in the vast palace. As queen, she now ignored the hated rules of etiquette and devoted herself to entertainment. She gathered around her a group of young nobles who gambled millions at cards. In the evenings, she attended masked balls, gaming tables and often accompanied supper parties, while the king slept tiredly. Over time they became closer, but while the marriage was reported as consummated in July 1773, it was not until 1777. The couple's failure to produce children for several years put a strain on their marriage. Marie Antoinette's letters to her mother demonstrate her deep desire for a child. In a letter from the Austrian ambassador Florimond de Mercy-Argenteau to Empress Maria Theresa a few months after the future queen arrived in France, he noted the Dauphine's fondness for children; she had left the five-year-old son of her chief chambermaid to live in her apartment.

MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

The situation worsened with the publication of obscene pamphlets (libelles) that satirized the couple's infertility. One of them asked, "Can the King do it? Can't the King do it?" The reasons behind the couple's initial failure to have children were debated at that time, and they have continued to be debated ever since. One suggestion was that Luís Augusto suffered from phimosis, a physiological condition that made sex painful. This suggestion was first made in late 1772 by royal physicians. Historians who adhere to this view suggest that he was circumcised to alleviate the condition seven years after his marriage. The operation was delicate and traumatic, and capable of doing "as much harm as good" to an adult man. The argument for phimosis originated with Stefan Zweig, who is now known for giving undue prominence to data suggesting that Luís suffered from this condition. , and suppressed other evidence such as witnesses giving different explanations for the royal couple's sexual problem that contradicted his interpretation. He concluded that the problem was resolved after the king underwent an operation, probably a circumcision, in 1777, as the first son was quickly conceived. He also argued that his wife's notorious frivolity and wasteful ways resulted in his sexual frustration in the first seven years of their marriage.