Louis XVIII - Biography

luis stanislas savier was the fourth son of the dopher luis ferdinand and his wife maria josepha of saxony he was the younger brother of louis xvi and the older brother of the count of artwa who later became king charles the tenth his birth was difficult and the young luis stanislas had many health problems it was expected that he would not survive due to this louis received an emergency baptism the actual baptism did not take place until he reached the age of six years old immediately after his birth louis was left in the care of a governess he had a close relationship with her especially after the death of his parents the young louis was taught by the duke du vogginio in 1771 louis married maria josepha of sathwa the daughter of the future victor amadeus iii of sardinia although maria josefa wasn't very attractive louis treated her with kindness and respect the marriage remained childless which deteriorated louis's reputation at court after the death of his grandfather louis xv and the accession to the throne of his brother as louis xvi luis stanislas became known at court as monsieur contrary to his expectations he was not appointed to the council of ministers this led to a conflict with the king and louis initially no longer played a significant political role this only changed in the two years prior to the outbreak of the revolution however louis stanislas advocated strengthening the third estate in the esta general in order to enhance his public image during his exile after the outbreak of the french revolution luis stanislas distanced himself from his actions at that time as the increased power of the third estate was one of the direct causes of the french revolution in 1791 when the events of the french revolution became more precarious luis stanislas managed to flee abroad and join the counter-revolutionary exiles under the leadership of his brother to count the artwa the brothers learned of the execution of louis xvi in 1793 as the oldest living brother louis stanislas proclaimed the king's son the dauphine louis charles to be the new king louis the 17th luis stanislas made himself the regent of france the years that followed were marked by isolation financial difficulties and the humiliating need to seek admission and help from various governments [Music] after the death of louis the 17th in 1795 luis stanislas was proclaimed king louis the 18th of france louie's chances of being able to exercise the office were slim as long as napoleon bonaparte was able to stay in power with the advance of the anti-napoleonic alliance louie's political importance began to increase after two decades of coalition wars the french population finally felt aversion to napoleon's empire from their point of view the restoration of a french kingdom at least nourished hopes for peace in january 1814 based on the will of the nation the actual preparations began for louis the 18th return to france on april 7 1814 the senate proclaimed luis stanislas savier king of the french on april 11 1814 emperor napoleon the first abdicated unconditionally in the treaty of fontainebleau napoleon was exiled to the mediterranean island of elba while napoleon left the castle of fontainebleau on april 20 1814 to travel to elba louis first drove to london where a cheering crowd greeted him on april 23 1814 he traveled to dover to enter his kingdom of france on april the 24 1814 in calais the political climate imposed napoleonic france was poisoned in many ways during the french revolution the state had confiscated and sold property from the nobility in clergy now the nobility in clergy returning to france asked for their estates back the church denounced government officials of their revolutionary past often with the result that they lost their posts the 500 000 men strong army was cut in half even highly decorated and experienced officers were replaced by immigrants of the nobility the soldier's pay was often cut in addition louis had taxes increased despite poor harvests against his background napoleon quickly found support for his return from elba news of napoleon's landing on the cote d'azur reached the king on march 5 1815 louis the 18th underestimated the situation he promised a bounty on napoleon's head and gave general michelne the order to take napoleon prisoner ne was originally promoted to the highest officer rank by napoleon generalne claimed to louis that he would bring napoleon to paris in an iron cage after only a few days nez regiments changed sides and advanced on paris although not all of the officers defected to napoleon's side louis lost his nerve and on march 19 1815 the king fled paris without notifying his ministers without a single shot napoleon was able to move into paris a day later and take power again during the reign of the hundred days louis went into exile again on june 18 1815 napoleon was finally defeated by the prussian and british armies at the battle of waterloo louis the 18th returned to france promptly after napoleon's defeat to secure his second restoration louis the 18th entered paris on july 8 where he was received with great enthusiasm in august elections for the chamber of deputies ended up yielding unfavorable results the electorate voted almost exclusively for the ultra royalists anti-napoleonic sentiment was high in the south of france and this gave the south of france a prominent place in the white terror which saw the purge of all important officials of the napoleonic government and the execution of others the french committed barbaric acts against some of these officials louis the 18th deplored these illegal acts but vehemently showed his support for the persecution of those marshals who aided napoleon the king however was reluctant to shed blood and this strongly irritated the ultra royalists who felt that louis the 18th was not doing enough an estimated 50 000 to 80 000 officials were purged from the government during what is known as the second white terror louis the 18th resented louis philippe d'orleans and took every opportunity to snub him such as denying him the title of royal highness in part because of the role of the duke's father in the french revolution by voting in favor of the execution of louis the 16th for more information about the trial and execution of louis the 16th you can click on the link in the upper right corner the duck de berry louis the 18th nephew was assassinated at the paris opera on february 14 1820. the royal family was greatly affected by the tragedy and louis the 18th broke an ancient tradition by attending his nephew's funeral etiquette normally dictates that kings cannot attend funerals as it might instigate thoughts of the death of the king which is considered to be treason the death of the duke de berry meant that the house derelia would be more likely to gain access to the throne du berry was the only member of the family who managed to father children after duberry's death his wife gave birth to a son in september harhi duke de bordeaux nicknamed diodone by the bourbon because they believed that with him they had ensured the future of the dynasty however the fate of the bubon dynasty was still uncertain in his later years louis the 18th developed problems with diabetes and gout it became extremely difficult for him to get around so the king had to walk with crutches and he was often transported in a wheelchair towards the end of his life he developed generalized arterioclerosis and gangrene louis the 18th finally died on september 16 1824 at four in the morning his brother the count of actua succeeded him as king sharla the tenth i hope you enjoyed this week's video about the burbon dynasty please join me next week for a new video thank you very much for watching