Louis XV, King of France (1710-1774)
It was Louis' Policies and Failures that Precipitated the Revolution
Born in Versailles on 15th February 1710, Louis succeeded his great grandfather as king of France at the age of five. The Duke of Orleans became regent, under his regency France entered the most dissolute period of its history. Then in 1723, drained out by his debaucheries, The regent died.
Louis was then still an immature child of thirteen. Louis XV was brought up to know only flattery and licentiousness. He was both timid and violent. He found little diversion in literature, music or the arts. Nor did he seem to have any purpose in life- except the pursuit of pleasure. Government had become much more complicated, with ministers grown moreindependent. Then, from the 1730s, there was a steady rise in prices.
Louis turned to his former tutor, Andre- Hercule de Fleury, who he later made chief minister. He ensured a relatively stable government for the next seventeen years.
In 1725 Louis married Maria Leczczynska, daughter of the deposed king of Poland. They had ten children in ten years.
Marquise de Pompadour
When Fleury died , aged eighty eight, in 1742, the King allowed himself -and France- to be ruled by his mistresses. While out hunting one day, Louis picked up a Mlle Poisson, she was promoted Marquise de Pompadour. On account of her interference in high policy, her extravagance and her wanton influence on the King, Pompadour died in 1764, unmourned.
In 1733, Louis became involved in the War of Polish Succession, in an attempt to reinstate the queen's father to the Polish throne. The attempt failed but France gained the Duchy of Lorraine.
Foreign Policies and Failures
In 1740, in the War of the Austrian Succession, France allied with Prussia against Britain and Austria. The French won a series of military victories and occupied the Austrian Netherlands. However, Louis subsequently returned the territory to Austria. While this was lauded abroad, he was heavily criticised in France.
During the Seven Years War (1756-1763), the alliances were reversed, the French fought their long standing enemy, Austria against Britain and Prussia. This defeat for France resulted in the loss of most of her colonies to Britain, marking a low point in Fench prestige.
At home, a dispute over regional taxation and national deficit led Louis to abolish the Parlements and establish new courts. Immense opposition was aroused, the King was accused of being a tyrant and Paris Parlement called out the mob to attack Louis' new courts.
In May 1774, regretted by no one and horribly disfigured, Louis died from smallpox at Versailles. His burial was performed in secrecy at Saint-Denis, for fear of the cortege being attacked by angry Parisians. Both the Dauphin and his wife had died before the king and so it was Louis' grandson who inherited the throne as the twenty year old Louis XVI.
Louis XV lived a life of debauchery, he was so far removed from the needs of his citizens that his actions and policies precipitated one of the bloodiest revolutions ever.
Sources:
Horne Alistair, Friend or Foe An Anglo-Saxon History of France,Orion Books,London,20004
French Revolution
|
What do you think about this article?
More in History
Latest Articles