Louis Xv Of France
| Louis XV | ||
| King of France | ||
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Portrait of Louis XV | ||
| Reign | ||
| 1September 1715 - 10 May 1774 &&&&&&&&&& 021,436 58 years, 8 months and 9 days | ||
| Rite | 25 October 1722 in the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims | |
|---|---|---|
| Dynasty | House of Bourbon | |
| Full track | King of France and Navarre Co-Prince of Andorra Dauphin of France | |
| Predecessor | Louis XIV | |
| Successor | Louis XVI | |
| Heir | Philippe de France or Philippe d'Orleans (1715-1729) | |
| Other functions | ||
| King of Navarre | ||
| Period 1September 1715 - 10 May 1774 | ||
| President | {{{}}} President1 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique1 | |
| Monarch | Louis IV | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur1 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Council | {{{President}}} COUNCIL1 | |
| Predecessor | Louis III | |
| Successor | Louis V | |
| Co-Prince of Andorra | ||
| Period 1September 1715 - 10 May 1774 | ||
| President | {{{}}} President2 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique2 | |
| Monarch | Louis XV | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur2 | |
| Predecessor | Louis XIV | |
| Successor | Louis XVI | |
| Dauphin of France | ||
| Period 8 March 1712 - 1September 1715 | ||
| President | {{{}}} Chairperson3 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique3 | |
| Monarch | {{{}}} Monarque3 | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur3 | |
| Predecessor | Louis of France (1707-1712) | |
| Successor | Louis of France (1729-1765) | |
| {{{}}} Fonction4 | ||
| Period {{{Start}} fonction4} - {{{end}}} fonction4 | ||
| President | {{{}}} Prsident4 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique4 | |
| Monarch | {{{}}} Monarque4 | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur4 | |
| Predecessor | {{{}}} Prdcesseur4 | |
| Successor | {{{}}} Successeur4 | |
| {{{}}} Fonction5 | ||
| Period {{{Start}} fonction5} - {{{end}}} fonction5 | ||
| President | {{{}}} Prsident5 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique5 | |
| Monarch | {{{}}} Monarque5 | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur5 | |
| Predecessor | {{{}}} Prdcesseur5 | |
| Successor | {{{}}} Successeur5 | |
| {{{}}} Fonction6 | ||
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| President | {{{}}} Prsident6 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique6 | |
| Monarch | {{{}}} Monarque6 | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur6 | |
| Predecessor | {{{}}} Prdcesseur6 | |
| Successor | {{{}}} Successeur6 | |
| {{{}}} Fonction7 | ||
| Period {{{Start}} fonction7} - {{{end}}} fonction7 | ||
| President | {{{}}} Prsident7 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique7 | |
| Monarch | {{{}}} Monarque7 | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur7 | |
| Predecessor | {{{}}} Prdcesseur7 | |
| Successor | {{{}}} Successeur7 | |
| {{{}}} Fonction8 | ||
| Period {{{Start}} fonction8} - {{{end}}} fonction8 | ||
| President | {{{}}} Prsident8 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique8 | |
| Monarch | {{{}}} Monarque8 | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur8 | |
| Predecessor | {{{}}} Prdcesseur8 | |
| Successor | {{{}}} Successeur8 | |
| {{{}}} Fonction9 | ||
| Period {{{Start}} fonction9} - {{{end}}} fonction9 | ||
| President | {{{}}} Prsident9 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique9 | |
| Monarch | {{{}}} Monarque9 | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur9 | |
| Predecessor | {{{}}} Prdcesseur9 | |
| Successor | {{{}}} Successeur9 | |
| {{{}}} Fonction10 | ||
| Period {{{Start}} fonction10} - {{{end}}} fonction10 | ||
| President | {{{}}} Prsident10 | |
| Speaker (s) of the Republic | {{{President}}} rpublique10 | |
| Monarch | {{{}}} Monarque10 | |
| Governor General | {{{}}} Gouverneur10 | |
| Predecessor | {{{}}} Prdcesseur10 | |
| Successor | {{{}}} Successeur10 | |
| Biography | ||
| Birth name | Louis de France, duc d'Anjou | |
| Birth | 15 February 1710 | |
Versailles ,  Kingdom of France | ||
| Deaths | 10 May 1774 (64) | |
| Versailles , Kingdom of France | ||
| Father | Louis de France | |
| Mother | Marie-Adlade of Savoy | |
| Spouse (s) | Marie Leszczynska | |
| Descent | Elizabeth of France Henriette de France Marie-Louise of France Louis de France Philippe de France Adelaide de France Victoire de France Sophie de France Thrse de France Louise de France | |
| Residence (s) | Chateau de Versailles | |
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| Kings of France | ||
Louis XV, called the "Beloved" ( Versailles , 15 February 1710 - Versailles , 10 May 1774 ), Duke of Anjou until 8 March 1712 , Dauphin of France from 8 March 1712 to 1September 1715 , is a King of France and Navarre , a member of the House of Bourbon , whose reign extended from 1715 to 1774.
Orphaned at the age of 2 years, succeeding his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five, he sees his power so delegated to his great-uncle, the Duke of Orleans , proclaimed " Regent of the Kingdom "the 2 September 1715 until 15 February 1723 , the date of entry of the young king in his fourteenth year, when he officially took control of government.
The first years of his reign are conducted in relative peace under the prudent leadership of several tutors , from whom he receives a large crop. Having attained his majority, he entrusted the government with its close relative, the Duke of Orleans, former regent and the Duke of Bourbon and then to one of his former preceptors, the Cardinal de Fleury.
Unlike Louis XIV, Louis XV was not in direct contact with the country's political life. He rarely saw his ministers and often acted contrary to their expectations, based on information from a secret network of diplomats and spies that he had formed. Intelligent but jaded man, his disinterest in politics and the succession of ministers to different trends lead to a weakening of the influence of France in Europe, which also carries the future French Revolution.
Being unexpectedly the only survivor of the royal family in the strict sense, it has at the beginning of his reign a large popular support, which earned him the nickname of "Beloved" in 1744. Over the years, however, its weakness in decision-making, the denigration of his action by parliamentarians and part of the court nobility, the incessant intrigues involving his mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour , and the alleged depravity of his life Private earned him the collapse of his popularity, so much so that his death was greeted in the streets of Paris by joyous celebrations, as was that of Louis XIV. His funeral was held in secret and at night to avoid that his coffin not be exposed to public derision, as was the case with his predecessor.
Under his reign, however, France has great military success on the European continent and acquired the duchy of Lorraine and the duchy of Bar , as well as Corsica. However, she lost control of much of its empire in favor of the British colonial rule : especially the New France , America, as a balance to India.
Summary |
Louis XV was born on 15 February 1710 at Versailles. It was the third son of Louis of France, Duke of Burgundy, surnamed the Little Dauphin , and Marie Adelaide of Savoy. It is thus the great-grand-son of Louis XIV. Of his two older brothers, also named Louis, the first (titled duke of Brittany) died in 1706 at the age of one year, the second (containing the title of duke of Brittany), born in 1707 , will live five years.
At birth, in full war of Spanish succession , the future Louis XV, titled Duke of Anjou - title held previously by his uncle, Philip of France , French pretender to the throne of Spain and future King Philip V (1700 - 1746) - is immediately told her governess, the Duchess of Ventadour. Then it is not destined to rule, placing fourth in the order of dynastic succession. Before him, the son must logically reign of Louis XIV, the Grand Dauphin , and his father, Little Dauphin, and then his older brother, the Duke of Brittany. But between 1710 and 1715 , a series of deaths in the royal family is suddenly the young prince on the front line in the succession of Louis XIV, the Grand Dauphin died of smallpox on 14 April 1711. The following year, a " measles malignant "wins the Little Dolphin and his wife on 18 and 12 February 1712.
The two elder son of the Duke of Burgundy, the Dukes of Brittany and Anjou, also contract the disease. The eldest, Brittany, died on 8 March 1712. The young Duke of Anjou, who was then barely two years, becomes the heir to the throne of France with the title of Dauphin of Vienne, abbreviated Dauphin. Ill health is carefully scrutinized by Louis XIV, king aging and sufficiently affected by the recent family losses to indulge in tears in front of his ministers. There are fears for the long health of the young prince, but little by little, he is recovering, looked after by his housekeeper and protected by her abuse of bleeding that likely caused the death of his brother The young king The future Louis XV began his public life shortly before the death of his great-grandfather Louis XIV. On 19 February 1715 , Louis XIV received with great pomp in effect in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles the Persian ambassador. He combines his successor, who just turned five years, at the ceremony, placing his right. In April 1715, the child involved with the old king at the ceremony of the sacrament of Holy Thursday and participated in the washing of feet. It is always accompanied by her governess, Madame de Ventadour. In the last years of the life of Louis XIV, the future King participates in several parades and ceremonies to give him the habit of public life . August 26, sensing the approach of death, Louis XIV brought the young Louis to his room, kissed him and spoke earnestly of his future task of the king in words that are then passed to the offspring, which are Having a kind of political testament of the great king and remorse for his own actions: Louis XIV died six days later, on 1September 1715. The 3 and 4 September 1715 , Louis XV takes his first acts as king, first by going to the Requiem Mass celebrated for the late king's chapel at Versailles, after receiving the assembly of the clergy came to celebrate its own Coming. On 12 , he went on a bed of justice , one of the most solemn ceremonies of the monarchy, 14 , on the harangues of the Grand Council of the University of Paris and the French Academy , the following days, the receptions of ambassadors who presented their condolences, etc.. Despite his young age, he had to bend to the mechanics of government and the court and play its advocacy role. In 1717 , having reached the age of reason, education is now entrusted to a governor, the Duc de Villeroy , and a tutor, Andre Hercule de Fleury , Bishop of Frejus. He now teaches Latin , and mathematics , the mapping , the drawing and the rudiments of astronomy , but also, he teaches hunt. The manual training is not neglected: in 1717 , he learned a little typography , and in 1721 , he began turning wood. Since 1719 , there were masters of music. Unlike Louis XIV , he had little affinity for music but was attracted by the architecture. The French monarchy, since the Middle Ages , the set of strict rules of succession. However, it has few rules concerning the regencies. These periods are feared as being vulnerable to disturbances because of the weakness then presented by the royal power. Louis XIV , seeing his descendants die before him, has solved the problems that would arise regency after his death. He also thought that the little Louis XV is one of his lineage and fragile, it should ensure a succession to the throne. This led, therefore, at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, several changes in customs, including the fact that the bastard children of Louis XIV have been declared "successors." But the regent is to break the will of Louis XIV and became the potential successor of Louis XV. The main danger comes from dynastic to him of Spain , with a Bourbon king, who normally had (by the Treaty of Utrecht ) waived any right to the throne, but that might well evoke the unavailability of the crown to assert its rights in case of death of Louis XV without children. The Regent, Philippe d'Orleans , Louis XIV, who said the young king, is thus led to take some liberties with the instructions of the former king, Louis XV to protect and begin to assert its authority. The first step taken by the Regent was to bring Louis XV and the Court in Paris. Is to go against the wishes of Louis XIV, but closer to the people. The memory of the Fronde is still alive, and the Regent wants to build a strong bond between the people of Paris and the young king, to avoid any trouble. After passing through Vincennes September to December 1715, Louis XV moved to the Tuileries Palace. The people of Paris will takes a liking to the young king. One of the first political acts of Philippe d'Orleans is also its willingness to give guarantees on Parliament to offset the return to Paris of the Court and the liberty taken by the Regent with the instructions of Louis XIV. He gives particular right of remonstrance , that Louis XIV had greatly reduced by confining to remonstrate after acquisition of royal decision. In these times of low power, parliaments (and mostly to the Parliament of Paris) present themselves as representatives of the people, despite the venality of their charges and their composition almost entirely from the nobility. This gives them the power to object to Regent, including strikes, called "cessation of activity." The first conflict appears in 1717 - 1718 , about financial worries caused by the bankruptcy of Law. Moreover, between 1715 and 1718, the central government was reorganized: the secretaries of state are deleted and replaced by boards that bring a political role to the nobility: the polysynody. This system was abandoned because of its heaviness. Other conflicts occur regularly, especially related to the problem Jansenist and application of bubble Unigenitus / A>. By breaking the dominance of Louis XIV on the rights of parliament, the Regent opened the door to an era of protest, that Louis XV will be hard pressed to counter then. The Regency also marks a change of alliances for France. While she had previously had a strong alliance with the Spanish Bourbons, geographical neighbor and ally Catholic, the Regent opts instead for a distance of with Spain and a reconciliation with the powers of northern Europe, Returning to the policy of the previous century, while the risk of encirclement of Habsburg no longer exists. Thus he renews contact with the England and the Netherlands , yet Protestants. In 1717 the Triple Alliance was formalized in The Hague, linking France, Netherlands and England. This reversal of alliance of the Regent is even completed in 1718 by an innovative alliance with the Austrian Hapsburg (Quadruple Alliance). All this worries the King Philip V of Spain to the point he is trying to overthrow the regent by the Duke of Maine and this results in a brief war between France and Spain in 1719. The victory of the European powers forced Spain to join their alliance and arrange an engagement or wedding Franco-Spanish. The King is a time engaged to Marie-Anne-Victoire of Spain , returned to Spain by the Duke of Bourbon. Economically, the Regency is a period of vitality and experimentation. But the failure of the system of Law and the reluctance on the following credit and investment slows, eventually, the modernization of the economy. Regency thus leaves the young King Louis XV, when he actually takes the reins of power in 1723 a kingdom at once heir to the absolutist monarchy of Louis XIV and openings sometimes "weakened" the Regent. This greatly influences the reign of Louis XV The reign The young Louis XV is sacred and crowned at Rheims October 25, 1722. He reached his majority (13 years) the following year, and declared major in the Bed of Justice of 22 February 1723. However, still too young to rule by itself, it leaves the effective exercise of power first to the Duke of Orleans and Cardinal Dubois. Both died a few months apart, at the end of the year 1723. This is the Duke of Bourbon , prince of the blood, which then becomes the main advice the king. While this finishes his education and is devoted to new delights, such as hunting, the Duke of Bourbon is trying to find a bride for the king. The first approached, Marie Anne Victoire de Bourbon , had been betrothed to Louis XV in 1721, when she was only three years. But the Duke of Bourbon, fearing that the young king, the frail, dies without a male child if he had to wait for his bride was old enough to have children, and so fearful of losing its privileged place in case of transmission from the crown to the Orleans branch, broke the engagement in 1725. Looking for another bride from among the princesses of Europe is dictated by the king's fragile health, which requires a rapid descent. This is probably the main reason for the marriage of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska , daughter of the deposed king of Poland Stanislas Leszczyski. The first marriage is not seen very well in France, the young queen being perceived as too low output for a king of France. But the husband is like (despite the seven years between them, with 22 years Marie Leszczynska and Louis XV only 15) and the queen is quickly appreciated by the people for his charity. The wedding is in Fontainebleau September 5, 1725. Following the marriage, and despite the insistence of the Queen, who considered him his mentor, Louis XV dismisses the Duke of Bourbon power and exiled to his estate in Chantilly. With this exile, Louis XV decided to also remove the burden of Prime Minister . He called to him the Cardinal de Fleury , his former tutor. This begins with the King a long career as head of the kingdom, from 1726 to 1743 The court of the Duke of Bourbon marks the beginning of the personal reign of King teenager. In fact, taking refuge behind the protective shadow of the late Louis XIV, the young king, orphaned early, give up all power to Cardinal Fleury, the true preceptor who had captured his affection. Thus, although qu'instruit and eager to best fulfill its charge, he began his reign in 16 June 1726 laying down the framework of his government, announcing its "guidance from above", in addition to the end of the load Prime Minister, his loyalty to the policy of Louis XIV , his great-grandfather: "My intention is that all that concerns the duties of offices near my person are on the same level they were under the late King my great-grandfather. From 1726 until his death in 1743 , Cardinal runs thus France alongside King. The situation is so unique. This is the first time a former tutor of King becomes the de facto prime minister. Louis XV, wishing to keep with him a mentor to whom he was deeply attached, which was already heavy loads and that he had total confidence, giving the Cardinal de Fleury a very extensive power. The nearly seventeen years where Fleury administered daily the kingdom, for the historian Michel Antoine , "" define a period in the reign characteristic and important, both for the extension of the kingdom and its influence in the world and for Home Affairs, for administration, law and economics " . . If the Cardinal de Fleury is an elderly man in 1726 (he was sixty-three years), the remaining ministers and close advisers to the king renews itself and is composed of men younger than before. The changes are numerous, but then the Department Fleury period was marked by stability. Fleury returns the Chancellor Aguesseau , returned in 1722. It finds all its prerogatives, however, since the seals and Foreign Affairs are entrusted to Germain Louis Chauvelin , mortar President of the Parliament of Paris. The Count of Maurepas became Secretary of State for the Navy, twenty-five years. This is the period most peaceful and prosperous reign of Louis XV, despite significant problems with the parliament of Paris and the Jansenists. After the financial and human losses suffered at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, the government Fleury has often been described as "remedial." It is difficult to determine accurately the degree of intervention of the king in the decisions of Fleury , but it is certain that Louis XV has tirelessly supported his mentor and he's never really gone against his wishes. For Michel Antoine, Louis XV, extremely shy, "was practically under guardianship until the age of thirty-two years . With the help of controllers-general of Finance Michel Robert Le Peletier des Forts ( 1726 - one thousand seven hundred thirty ) and especially Philibert Orry ( 1 730 - in 1745 ), "Cardinal" managed to stabilize the French currency ( 1726 ) and eventually balance the budget the kingdom in 1738. The economic expansion was at the heart of government concerns. Communication links were improved with the completion in 1738 of the St. Quentin Canal , linking the Oise the Somme , later extended to the Scheldt and the Netherlands , and especially the systematic construction of a road network throughout the national territory. The Corps of Engineers Highways constructed a set of modern roads, leaving Paris as the star schema, which still forms the backbone of existing national roads. In the middle of the eighteenth century , France had with the road infrastructure the most modern and largest in the world. The trade was also boosted by the Bureau and the Board of Trade. Maritime trade outside of France climbed from 80 to 308 million pounds between 1716 and 1748. However, the rigid laws enacted earlier by Colbert did not allow the industry to take full advantage of this economic progress. The power of the absolute monarchy was exercised during the repression of opposition Jansenist and Gallican. The unrest caused by the illuminati Cemetery Saint-Medard in Paris ( Convulsionnaires , a group of Jansenists claiming that miracles occurred in the cemetery) ceased in 1732. On another front, after the exile of 139 MPs in the province, the Parliament of Paris had to register the papal bull Unigenitus and was now prohibited from dealing with religious affairs. Regarding foreign affairs, Fleury sought peace at any price through a policy of alliance with Great Britain , while reconciling with Spain. In September 1729 , after her third pregnancy, the queen finally gave birth to a boy, Louis Ferdinand , who immediately became heir. The arrival of a male heir, which ensured the continuity of the dynasty, was received with great joy and celebrated in all spheres of French society and also in most European courts. The royal couple was at the time very united, manifested a mutual love and the young king was extremely popular. The birth of a boy also ruled out the risk of a succession crisis and the probable clash with Spain which would have resulted. In 1733 , despite the peace policy of Fleury , the king, convinced by his Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs , Germain Louis Chauvelin ( 1727 - 1737 ), finally intervened in the War of Polish Succession to try to give her stepfather Stanislas Leszczynski on the throne of Poland. The intervention without conviction of France against Austria did not allow to turn the tide of war and Stanislas never regained his throne. Notwithstanding, and with great skill, Cardinal de Fleury managed to set the attachment of the duchies of Lorraine and Bar in the UK. There was no longer a barrier between Paris and the Rhine. These duchies had possession of the young Duke Francis III , son of Duke Leopold I , who appointed viceroy of Hungary by the Emperor in 1731, the beginnings of a more promising career, had entrusted the regency to his mother, Charlotte Elizabeth d Orleans , sister of the late regent. Close relative and ally of the Habsburgs , Francis III lived in Vienna where he had been called by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI , who was tipped to marry his eldest daughter and heiress Maria Theresa. Such a union would have greatly strengthened the power of Austria which had already at the frontiers of France, Belgium and Luxembourg Province. The empire protected the route of the Rhine and was dangerously close to Paris. French troops quickly occupied Barrois and Lorraine. Peace was signed from 1735. By the Treaty of Vienna (November 1738 ), the stepfather of Louis XV won for life the duchies of Lorraine and Bar in compensation for the second loss of his Polish throne (with the objective that the duchy was incorporated in the Kingdom France to his death through his daughter), while Duke Francis III became heir of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany before marrying the young Marie-Therese and can claim the imperial crown. This war, inexpensive compared to punctures exorbitant human and financial campaigns of Louis XIV , was a success for French diplomacy. The annexation of Lorraine and Barrois , effective in 1766 upon the death of Stanislas , is the last territorial expansion of the kingdom of France on the continent before the Revolution. Shortly after this result, the French mediation in the conflict between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire led to the Treaty of Belgrade (September 1739 ), which ended the war with an advantage to the Ottomans, traditional allies of the French against the Habsburgs since the early sixteenth century. Consequently, the Ottoman Empire renewed the capitulation French, who claimed the commercial supremacy of the kingdom in the Middle East. After all these successes, the prestige of Louis XV, arbiter of Europe, reached its peak. In 1740 , the death of Emperor Charles VI and the accession of his daughter Marie Therese sparked the War of Austrian Succession. The old Cardinal de Fleury had no strength to oppose the king succumbed to pressure from anti-Austrian party of the court he went to war in 1741 in alliance with the Prussian against the Austrians , the British and Dutch. This conflict lasted seven long years. France was again entering a cycle typical warrior of the reign of Louis XIV. Fleury died before the war ended in January 1743. The king, after finally example of his predecessor, decided to govern without the Prime Minister. The last part of the war was marked by a series of French victories: the Battle of Fontenoy ( 1745 ), Battle of Rocourt ( 1746 ), Battle of Lauffeld ( 1747 ). In particular, the battle of Fontenoy, won by the Marshal of Saxony , is considered one of the most brilliant French victories against the British. Following this episode, France occupied the whole territory of present Belgium and Louis XV was not far short of the old French dream of establishing the northern border along the Rhine. However, with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 , the king gave all his conquests to Austria, to the indignation of the people, the dismay of his generals and to the surprise of European powers. Louis XV, who was not bellicose temperament of his predecessor and who had never understood that England would leave the French and Belgian ports become that the time had come to counteract the Protestant emerging powers (England, Prussia) to save the old order represented by France and Austria Catholics, met with a hexagonal kingdom, he called his backyard. He preferred to cultivate its own backyard rather than try to extend it. The only significant changes in Europe were Prussia's annexation of Silesia , a rich mining region Austro-Bohemian, and the return of the tiny Duchy of Parma in the last of the Farnese, the dowager queen of Spain , the duchy was attributed to youngest son of the latter, the Infante Philip , son of Louis XV since 1739. Louis said he had made peace "as a king and not a merchant." His generosity was hailed in Europe where he became the arbiter. Physically, Louis XV was handsome, tall, of athleticism, size and arched maintaining law and it emanated from his person a natural authority that greatly impressed those who saw him for the first time. Avid hunter, he went there every day, except Sundays and holidays. He knows perfectly all the dogs in his pack which he lavishes loving care. He likes the exercise, speed, and lead his horses at full gallop. To facilitate its races, he has transformed the forests of Ile de France with crow's feet that remain today. He was intelligent, the smartest of the kings of France with Henri IV . To wit, he had a speedy trial and safer. His memory was large and he remembered exactly a wealth of detail on the course which astonish foreign ambassadors. He loved reading and royal residences were equipped with libraries: Versailles but Choisy like Fontainebleau and Compiegne. Despite his foresight and lucidity, he doubted its ability to continuously and prefer to follow the advice of counsel despite his opinion: the way it is against his conscience, he calls France in the Seven Years War. Suspicious, even contemptuous of people of letters, his curiosity brought him close to the science and technology. It notes with the most famous astronomers eclipses planets. His medical knowledge allow him to have conversations followed with great doctors of his time on the recent discoveries. He develop the Trianon a botanical garden with 4,000 species, will be the largest in Europe. Finally, a passion for geography, he encouraged the work of geographers and is responsible for carrying out the map of Cassini. It also has a great knowledge of the history of the kingdom and its interlocutors surprised by the accuracy of his knowledge liturgical. Capable of great kindness, it can also prove brittle. He is prone to bouts of neurasthenia which he locks himself in a complete silence. His entourage is very attentive to the mood of the king when he must deal with important matters. There is an almost pathological shyness, which makes him appear cold and distant. His path wrongly put the mishap and hoarse, and at official ceremonies he often asks his speech was read by one of his ministers. On the death of Cardinal de Fleury in 1743 , the king was 33 years. He had been happy years with his Polish queen and the adulation he was completely devoted. A child was born almost every year. However, the queen eventually get tired of these repeated pregnancies, as the king grew tired of the unconditional love of his wife. Moreover, most of their children were female, which eventually upset the king. Of their ten children, he had only two boys, and only one survived, the dolphin. In 1734, for the first time, the queen complained to her father's infidelity to the king. The king fell in love with Madame de Mailly , then her younger sister Madame de Ventimiglia and its subsequent death of another sister, Madame de Chateauroux. The queen then took refuge in religion and charity. A year after the death of Fleury , an event occurred that was to mark the king's personality and the rest of French politics: "The episode of Metz." Louis XV had started to direct his armies engaged on the Eastern Front in the War of Austrian Succession. In August 1744 , at Metz , he fell seriously ill and his doctors pronostiqurent imminent death. The prayers were multiplied across the country for his salvation. His mistress, Madame de Chateauroux , who had accompanied him, had to leave while the Queen arrived in haste. Under pressure from the religious faction, my Lord Fitz-James , first chaplain of the king, refused to give him the absolution without a public confession of his sins in which the king was seen as an immoral person, unworthy to wear the title of King Very Christian. Peddled across the country by the clergy, confession Royal tarnishes the prestige of the monarchy. Meanwhile, devotees, very awkwardly placed ostensibly a second pillow in the bed of the queen and pushed it yet forty, dressing like a teenager, and abusing the Red perfumes which befitted little a woman of her age. The king escaped death, and following the Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated at Notre-Dame de Metz in the presence of the royal family, the whole country took the qualifiers of the celebrant and called the king " Louis the Beloved. " However, Louis XV, as king, was painfully felt the humiliation inflicted on him by the devout party. Back at Versailles, he resigned Bishop Fitzjames of his duties as chaplain, exiled to his diocese and recalled Madame de Chateauroux , but she died before his official return to favor. The king, although his wanton sex life made him suffer a deep sense of guilt, does not return to the Queen. Jeanne Lenormant Etiolles , Fish born, met in 1745 at the masked ball given to celebrate the wedding of the Dauphin Louis-Ferdinand , became the favorite's most famous reign. The king, for it to be presented to the court and become a lady of honor of the queen gave him a land limousine fallen into disuse: the marquis de Pompadour. Daughter of a financier, it was rather beautiful, cultured, intelligent and sincerely attached to the king, but she had cons of belonging to the third state , being a bourgeois close of the financial community, which the court and the people do not forgive: official mistresses of Louis XIV, Louis XV and those far, chosen in the upper echelons of the aristocracy, were all the more tolerated that they had no influence on the government (except of Madame de Maintenon ). The fact that the king with a commoner commit caused a scandal orchestrated by the aristocracy, who felt humiliated by the growing influence of the bourgeoisie in society, and adopted by the people who hated the world of finance that the operated ... Appeared soon songs and abusive pamphlets called Poissonades "(an allusion to" mazarinades "of the previous century, the maiden name of the Marquise is Poisson), who lampooned as in the following example: "Daughter of leech, and leech herself Fish extreme arrogance Slack in the castle without fear or dread The substance of the people and the shame of the King " Despite these criticisms, the Marquise de Pompadour had an undeniable impact on the vitality of the arts during the reign of Louis XV. True patron, the Marquise amassed an impressive collection of furniture and objets d'art in its various properties. She was responsible for developing the Sevres porcelain factory , and its controls ensured their livelihood to many artists and craftsmen. She also played an important role in architecture, being responsible for the construction of the Place Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde ) and the Ecole Militaire in Paris, made by Ange-Jacques Gabriel , one of his proteges. The Marquise also defended the project of the Encyclopedia of attacks against the Church. In its way, it was representative of the evolution of mentalities in the Enlightenment , although it may fail to completely convert the king to his views. The display of luxury in all its properties earned him many reproaches, although his family is very rich, is also providing financial assistance to the government and the monarchy Sauvat of bankruptcy. The Marquise de Pompadour was officially housed on the third level of the Palace of Versailles , above the royal apartments. It organizes intimate dinners with guests chosen, where the king forgot the obligations of the court that bored him. Frail, and supposedly frigid, the Marchioness became from 1750 a simple but true friend and confidant, after having been a lover, and she managed to keep its special relations with the king until his death, which is exceptional in annals of royal mistresses. Can not satisfy the sensuality of the king and to avoid being ousted by a rival potential (which was his obsession until the end of his life), she undertook to "provide" the king quietly, with the agreement their families (well paid), girls tame, small bit of virtue and intelligence, sense of occupying the king, occupied the other hand neither his heart nor his mind. Thus the Marquise retained his influence with the king ... The meetings were made after the passage of young girls in a place whose name alone offered the fantasy and gossip: the park-aux-deer. After 1750 , therefore, Louis XV, who had just turned 40 years old, engaged in a series of romance and sex short, the most famous being the one with Mary-Louise O'Murphy. The flag of the park with deer- mating was used to house these ephemeral: the girls were examined by a doctor before being carried discreetly in the king's chamber. Legend has exaggerated the events which are past, contributing to darken the reputation of the sovereign. This image of libidinous aging king and captured by his female conquests never leave a black mark against his memory, although it was much different from Francis I or Henry IV of this view. The popularity of the king suffers greatly as a result of the War of Austrian Succession The French had forgiven Louis XIV's taxes, his mistresses and extravagant spending, it has always given her for a winning wars. Similarly, for Louis XV, the scenes of Metz (1744) had little in the eyes of the population against the victories of the War of Austrian Succession. But the news of the abandonment of the Netherlands to Austria - in opposition to French interests were defined as the Richelieu and Louis XIV - was greeted with disbelief and bitterness. Parisians used it the expression "dumb as peace." They had "worked for the King of Prussia." So much effort and human lives to give a crown - tiny - the king's daughter, while the imperial crown was preserved by the Habsburgs since the former duke of Lorraine , husband of the Queen of Hungary had been elected Emperor in 1745. The mountain gave birth to a mouse. As such can be considered that 1748 was marked by the first manifestation of a French public opinion, driven by nationalism emerged that the monarch had not understood. The presence alongside the king of the Marquise de Pompadour , strongly criticized by the curial aristocracy who did not hesitate to run the most vile noises coming out of the palace, reached the people, the king gave the image of a selfish hedonist only concerned about its pleasures. Discontent grew, fueled by the lifestyle of the Court and what was perceived as an incompetent king to govern. By placing it in historical perspective, it appears that Louis XV was not incompetent, although he certainly lacked the will. On the other hand, expenses of the court were not especially high compared with those from previous French monarchs, or other European courts, such as Russia who spent vast sums to build the palaces of St. Petersburg. Yet such was the perception that the people of France had also influenced by the violent campaign against the Marquise de Pompadour. Perhaps it is this context that prompted Robert Francois Damiens - domestic consultants in several of Parliament - to try to kill the king. On 5 January 1757 , Damiens entered the Palace of Versailles, among the thousands who were trying to get royal audiences. Around 18 o'clock, the king returned from visiting her daughter who was ill and about to enter his carriage to return to Trianon, when Damiens crosses the line of guards and struck with a blade of 8.1 cm. Louis XV wore heavy winter clothing and the blade penetrated only an inch, between the 4th and 5th ribs. However, it was feared a possible poisoning. We tortured repeatedly Damiens, whether he had accomplices, but it appears that this man, servant of members of parliament of Paris , was a madman who had mostly heard many speeches criticism of the king. Louis XV was inclined to forgive, but it was the first attempted murder of a French monarch since the assassination of Henri IV by Ravaillac in 1610 , and he had to accept a trial for regicide. Judged by the parliament of Paris, Damiens was executed on 28 March 1757 on the Place de Greve , in appalling conditions. La main qui avait tenu le couteau fut brle avec du soufre, on lui entailla ensuite les membres et la poitrine avant d'y introduire du plomb fondu, ses quatre membres furent arrachs par des chevaux ( cartlement ) et son tronc finalement jet aux flammes. Une foule immense assista ce spectacle, les balcons des maisons de la place de Grve furent lous jusqu' 100 livres (plus de 500 euros actuels) aux femmes de l'aristocratie. Le roi tait dj si impopulaire que l'lan de sympathie provoqu par cette tentative de meurtre disparut rapidement avec l'excution de Damiens, dont l'inhumanit pourtant laissa le parti philosophique de marbre. Louis XV lui-mme n'y tait pas pour grand-chose, les dtails de cette horrible mise mort ayant t labors par le parlement de Paris, peut-tre avec le souci de se rconcilier avec le monarque. Mais plus que tout, le peuple ne pardonnait pas au roi de ne pas s'tre spar de la Pompadour. L'ambassadeur d'Autriche crivait Vienne : le mcontentement public est gnral. Toutes les conversations tournent autour du poison et de la mort. Le long de la galerie des glaces apparaissent des affiches menaant la vie du roi. Louis XV, qui avait conserv un calme royal le jour de la tentative d'assassinat, parut profondment affect et dprim dans les semaines qui suivirent. Toutes les tentatives de rformes furent abandonnes. Sur la proposition de la marquise de Pompadour, il renvoya deux de ses ministres les plus dcris, le rre_de_Voyer_de_Paulmy_d 27Argenson% "title =" Marc-Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson Paulmy "> Count d'Argenson (Secretary of State for War) and Machault of Arnouville ( Attorney and formerly Controller General of Finance ) and introduced Choiseul in the government. All these stories did not stop loving Louis XV of work, but he lacked the boundless energy of his great-grandfather. During the seventeen years the government of Fleury , he formed his trial but had been forging his will. Decided to run only the kingdom, he strove to follow the instructions of his grandfather: "Listen, talk to your Council, but decide." However, he did not have enough confidence to effectively apply this precept. His political correspondence reveals his deep knowledge of public affairs and the accuracy of his reasoning. He felt, however, difficult to decide, and when he was obliged to do, seemed like all timid and brutal. Friendly and understanding with his ministers, at least in appearance, his disgrace fell suddenly, without warning, on those he believed to have served. Its management was flexible, ministers have considerable independence, but it was difficult to know whether their actions were appropriate in the sovereign. Most government work was carried out within committees that King was not involved, the latter serving in the Council from above , created by Louis XIV, in charge of state secrets regarding religion, diplomacy and war. Various parties clashed, the devotees, headed by the Comte d'Argenson , secretary of state for war, opposed to that of the philosophic party led by Jean-Baptiste Machault of Arnouville , Comptroller General of Finance and supported by the Marquise de Pompadour, who acted as a minister without portfolio. Backed by powerful financiers (Paris-Duverney, Montmartel ...), she persuaded the king the appointment of some ministers ( Bernis, secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1757) provided that their dismissal (Orry, controller general of finances in 1745 despite its fifteen years of loyal service and effective Maurepas , secretary of state for the navy in 1749). On his advice, the king approved the policy of fiscal justice Machault Arnouville. To fill the deficit of the kingdom, which amounted to 100 million pounds in 1745 , created a Arnouville Machault of tax levying a twentieth of income, which also concerned the privileged (Edict of Marly, 1749 ). This breach in the privileged status of the clergy and nobility , traditionally taught, first performing a "free gift" to treasure and care for the poor and education, the latter paying the "blood tax" on battlefield, was a first in the history of France, although it was already envisaged by visionaries such as Vauban under Louis XIV. This new tax was received with hostility by the provincial states that still had the power to decide their fiscal policy. The clergy and the parliament also violently opposed new taxes. Pressed by him and by the court, Louis XV gave the party and exempted the clergy in 1751. Finally, the "twentieth" eventually merge into an increase in size , which did not affect the privileged classes. This was the first defeat of the "war tax" committed against the privileged. Following this attempt at reform, the parliament of Paris, capturing the pretext of the quarrel between the clergy and the Jansenists, addressed remonstrances to the king (April 1753 ). The parliament, made up of privileged aristocrats and ennobled commoners, proclaimed it the "natural defender of the fundamental laws of the kingdom" against the arbitrariness of the monarchy and had the king as a tyrant. The opposition to the Jesuits was as much driven by the Jansenists, the Gallican that philosophers and encyclopedias. After the failure of the Jesuit institution of Martinique , led by Father Anthony Valletta, parliament, seized by creditors, confirmed on appeal on 8 May 1761 a decision ordering payment of debts under penalty of confiscation of property of the Jesuits. There followed a series of actions that would lead to their demise. Under the leadership of Father Chauvin, 17 April 1762 , the constitution of the order was peeled by parliament, it highlighted the writings of Jesuit theologians to accuse them of teaching all sorts of errors and immoral considerations. On 6 August, a decision ordering the dissolution of order, but within eight months was granted them by Louis XV. After refusing a compromise, they were forced to close their schools on April 1, 1763 , then, 9 March 1764 , they had to renounce their vows under pain of banishment. In late November 1764 , Louis XV signed a deed of dissolution of the order throughout the kingdom. In addition, in 1756 , King opera impromptu alliance entails a reversal of a break with the Franco-Prussian tradition. A new European conflict was in preparation, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle constitutes only a sort of truce. The British and French were already fighting in North America , without declaring war. In 1755 , the British seized 300 French merchant ships violating several international treaties. A few months later, on 16 January 1756 , the United Kingdom and Prussia signed a treaty of "neutrality". In Paris and Versailles, the party philosophy and the Marquise de Pompadour were disappointed by this betrayal of King Frederick II of Prussia , which was previously considered an enlightened ruler, friend of the philosophers. Frederick II had even welcomed Voltaire in Potsdam when the latter found himself in disgrace after the maneuvers of religious faction. But Frederick was mainly driven by political motives in order to consolidate Prussian power. He had already abandoned his French allies by signing separate treaties with Austria in 1742 and 1745. The Marquise de Pompadour disliked Frederick II, misogynistic and snobbish, which was held in the utmost contempt, calling up one of his dogs "Pompadour". During the same period, French officials began to perceive the relative decline of the Austrian Empire, which represented the same risk at the beginning of Habsburg dynasty, the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries , when they controlled the Spain and much of Europe. Prussia now appeared as the most threatening emerging power. It is within this context that the Marquise de Pompadour and the party convinced the King of philosophical interest of this reversal of alliances. By the Treaty of Versailles signed on 1 April 1756 , the king, against the advice of his ministers allied with Austria, ending two centuries of conflict with the Habsburgs. At the end of August 1756, Frederick II invaded Saxony without a declaration of war and easily defeated the Saxon and Austrian armies, poorly prepared. The fate of the family of voter Saxony was particularly brutal, the voter Marie-Josephe succumbing to the abuse. These atrocities shocked Europe and especially France. The wife of the dauphin , sister of Prince Franz Xavier of Saxony , daughter of the elector and the elector of Saxony , had a miscarriage in the news. Louis XV found himself forced to go to war. Meanwhile, Britain had declared war on France on 18 May 1756. This will be the Seven Years War (1756-1763), which will have important consequences in Britain and France. The rise of Choiseul, under the influence of the Marquise de Pompadour, marks a victory of party philosophy. Made a peer of France , the new strongman of the government authorizes the publication of the Encyclopedia and contributes to the dissolution of the Jesuits. He reformed the structure of the navy and army and tries to extend the French colonies in the Caribbean. With the disaster of Rossbach and numerous defeats in the colonies, Choiseul, successively at the head of diplomacy and the Department of War and Navy, seeking to stop the war quickly. The Treaty of Paris (1763) , recognizes a major French defeat, with the loss of New France and of India in favor of the British. This is the culmination of forty years of revolt in the island ( 1 729 - 1,769 ) and nearly thirty years of French presence in the island ( 1 738 - 1 768 ) for the pacification of Republic of Genoa. With the agreement of Versailles in 1738 , France obtained the right to intervene in Corsica. With the Treaty of Versailles in 1768 , France has guaranteed to preserve the island if it manages to conquer. The campaign lasted less than a year. The French held, initially, the only presidios (strongholds of the coast) and aim to defeat and destroy the nation state. Militarily, the campaign is marked by two major battles. Firstly, at the Battle of Borgo , in 1768 , Clement Paoli defeated the French, killing 600 and capturing 600 others whose colonel Ludre, the nephew of Choiseul. Following this failure, an expeditionary force of nearly 20,000 men landed at Saint-Florent and is controlled by one of the greatest military monarchy, the Count de Vaux Jourda Christmas. Nationals are finally defeated at the battle of Ponte Novu , 8 May 1769. Shortly after, Pascal Paoli , General in Chief of the Corsican nation, went into exile in England and Corsica submits to the king. The Count de Vaux won the marshal's baton. The 1760s were marked by mourning: In 1752 , King had already lost its favorite daughter Henrietta. In 1759 , her elder sister died, the Duchess of Parma. In 1761 , the death of the Duke of Burgundy , aged ten years, eldest son of the dauphin, precocious child and promising, was keenly felt. In 1763 died at Schoenbrunn the intelligent and romantic granddaughter of the King, wife of the heir Archduke of Austria, Marie-Isabelle de Bourbon-Parma. In April 1764 and died in his mistress' friend of twenty years "the Marquise de Pompadour. In 1765 , the king lost successively his son , the dauphin, whose impeccable moral life of the edified and her husband the Duke of Parma. In February 1766 , the old king Stanislas died at almost ninety Luneville. The following year, it was the turn of the runner , inconsolable widow who had contracted the disease from her husband in the caregiver. Finally, in June 1768 , died the Queen. Always feel guilty by her intimate life, the king can not live without sadness the youngest of his daughters enter 1770 in Caramel, thinking thereby to obtain from God forgiveness of his sins pre.Pour prevent the sensuality of a widower king do grows in excess, the devout party supported by the king's daughters, including his daughter Carmelite remarry then proposed the sovereign, beauty intact despite her 58 years with the Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria, sister of Marie Antoinette, but she saw her great beauty compromised by an attack of smallpox and the proposed marriage was short-lived. Meanwhile, the Duc de Richelieu, libertine nobleman, had interceded to give a new mistress of Louis XV. The end of the reign was indeed marked by the arrival in the life of King of Madame du Barry , officially presented to the court in 1769. The minister Choiseul openly showed his hostility to the royal mistress. The king, convinced of the inability of Choiseul to face the revolt of the parliament, finally sent in 1770. He was replaced in fact by Ren Nicolas de Maupeou , became Keeper of the Seals of France in 1768 , which strove to restore the royal authority. Members of parliament having gone on strike, Maupeou had them arrested by the Musketeers by requiring them to resume their service. When they refused, they were exiled. He then undertook a fundamental structural reform. The court , previously administered by judges whose office was hereditary, became a public institution, with staff paid by the state. On 26 April 1774 , declared the symptoms of smallpox , when Louis XV was at the Petit Trianon. The Parliament of Paris sent on Sunday 1 May 1774 , Nicolas Felix Van Dievoet said Vandiver , Advisor notary clerk Home & Crown of France, Clerk to the Grand Council , to ascertain the health of the king, as we learn in his famous diary the Parisian bookseller Simeon-Prosper Hardy , "the new court of Parliament had not failed, according to the ordinary use of the appointed depute Vandiver , one of the first major commission in the office of the Great House and its notaries secretaries, to go to Versailles to inquire after the health of the King. But this secretary could not realize its mission to the irremovable company that the following Tuesday, the expected vacancy of the usual Monday, May 2. The Earl of Lusatia was also present during the agony of the king. During the night of the agony of the king, a candle was lit on the balcony of the room. It was extinguished with the death of the king. He died of these suites ( sepsis worsened pulmonary complications) on 10 May 1774 , at 3:30 p.m., at Versailles , in the indifference of the people and the joy of a portion of the court Posterity Marie Leszczynska gave Louis XV ten children, three of whom died in infancy: Louis XV, as Louis XIV , had also a number of illegitimate children of many mistresses. His first four mistresses were four sisters, four of the five daughters of Louis III de Mailly , Marquis de Mailly Nesle and Prince of Orange. All of his illegitimate children, other than Charles / Louis Ventimiglia , born of unmarried girls, called "little master". Haunted by bad memories of the bastards of his great-grandfather, Louis XV still refused to legitimize them. He supported himself in their education and managed to give them an honorable place in society, but never met them in court. Alone were legitimized Charles / Louis Ventimiglia and Father of Bourbon. His mistresses and favorites were: Louis XV, so there are only thirteen illegitimate children (perhaps more than 13 illegitimate children) because the number of bonds of Louis XV was the first of the challenges we faced. The royal birth is sure to 8 children (3 boys and 5 girls). Madame de Pompadour was always miscarriages and the births of illegitimate children ceased after the death of the latter. Add a possible relationship with Francesca Chalus, maid of honor for her daughter, Marie-Adelaide. From this union was born in 1755 Count Louis Marie de Narbonne-Lara. Three major wars will succeed and tarnish the image of the king and his reign: the War of Polish Succession ( one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three - 1738 ), the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756 -1763). On the death of Augustus II in 1733 , his son, Augustus III , and Stanislas I. , former king of Poland ousted in 1709 , stepfather of Louis XV, is fighting for the throne. While the bickering supporters of Augustus II and those of Stanislaus divide the country, the death of Augustus II in 1733 , has stoked passions. his son, Augustus III , and Stanislav I. compete for the throne. The crisis becomes a war of succession The War of Austrian Succession ( 1.74 thousand - 1 748 , Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ) is a European conflict grew out of the Pragmatic Sanction , by which the Emperor Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor bequeathed to his daughter Maria Teresa Austria States hereditary House of Habsburg. The conflict pitted the mainly France to Britain on the one hand, the Austria to Prussia on the other. However, through the alliances and opportunism, most European countries and their colonies found themselves at war. The beginning of the war is generally dated 29 August 1756 (attack of Saxony by Frederick II ), although the confrontation had started earlier in the colonies of North America before degenerating into open warfare in Europe. 
The regency of the Duke of Orleans
1726: the beginning of the personal reign of Louis XV
The ministry of Cardinal Fleury (1726-1743)
A new team around the king.
France against Austria: Acquisition of Lorraine (1735).
The War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748).
Louis XV adult portrait.
Louis the Beloved
The Marquise de Pompadour
The unpopularity and the attempt of Damiens (1757)
Resistors domestic and foreign policy woes
The Case of Twentieth: 1749.
Dissolution of the Jesuit order: 1764.
Reversal of alliances, France in the Seven Years War (1756-1763).
The Treaty of Paris and the loss of "New France" 1763.
Expedition to Corsica (1768-1769)
End of reign
His death
Legitimate Children
Favorites, mistresses and illegitimate children
Wars
The War of Polish Succession
The War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
The Seven Years War (1756-1763)
Notes
References
See also
Related articles
External Links
Preceded by Louis XV Followed by Louis XIV
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King of France and Navarre 1715 - 1774 Louis XVI
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