Louis XV of France

Louis XV (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), called the Well-Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1715 to 1774. Miraculously surviving the death of his entire family, he was loved by the French at the beginning of his reign. However, in time, his inability to reform the French monarchy and his policy of appeasement on the European stage lost him the support of his people, and he died one of the most unpopular kings of France.

First signs of unpopularity

At the death of his old tutor Fleury in 1743, the king was 33 years old. He had experienced a few years of happiness with his devoted Polish queen, who worshipped him as she worshipped God. A child was born almost every year. However, the queen eventually tired of continual pregnancies, while the king tired of the queen's unconditional love. Moreover, most of the queen's pregnancies ended up with girls, which the king eventually resented. Out of ten children born of the queen, there were only two sons, only one of whom survived, the dauphin. This did not help to dispel the concerns about the future of the dynasty brought about by the repeated deaths of the early 1710s (read above). In 1734, for the first time, the queen complained to her father about the king's infidelities. The king found love with Madame de Mailly, then with her younger sister Madame de Vintimille, then at her death with her younger sister Madame de Châteauroux, while the queen took refuge in religion and charities.

Related Topics:
1743 - Dauphin - 1734

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One year after the death of Fleury, there happened the dramatic events of Metz (August 1744), which left profound scars on the psyche of the king as well as on French political life. The king, who had left Versailles for the front in order to take personal command of his armies fighting in the War of the Austrian Succession, fell gravely ill in Metz. The doctors thought death was imminent. The people, who still loved him, gave him the royal nickname "Well-Beloved", and public prayers were held all across France to ask God to save the king from a certain death. His mistress Madame de Châteauroux, who had accompanied the king to the front, was forced to leave to the boos of the public, while the queen hastily arrived in Metz.

Related Topics:
Metz - 1744 - War of the Austrian Succession

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Pressed by the dévot party, Msgr. de Fitz-James, First Chaplain (premier aumônier) of the king, refused to give the king the absolution without a public confession of his sins, in which the king appeared as an immoral person not worthy of the name of Very Christian King (Rex Christianissimus, a traditional title of the kings of France, who had inherited the role of protector of the Church and the papacy from the Frankish Empire in the Middle Ages). Spread all across the kingdom by the clergy, the king's confession stunned the masses and tarnished the prestige of the monarchy. The king escaped death, but the sense of guilt pushed him even further into adultery.

Related Topics:
Dévot - Msgr. - Absolution - Confession - Frankish Empire - Middle Ages

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The Marquise de Pompadour, met in February 1745 at a lavish masked ball given in honor of the dauphin's marriage, was the most famous mistress of the reign, and the most honorable one. She was the daughter of a chief agent of the powerful Pâris family of financiers who became embroiled in the intrigue that ousted the Duke of Bourbon as head of the Regency council in favor of Cardinal de Fleury. A beautiful woman, educated and cultured, intelligent, and sincerely attached to the king, she nonetheless possessed one major shortcoming in the eyes of the masses: she was a commoner, from the bourgeoisie, and what is more, a commoner who meddled into royal politics. The public had generally accepted the mistresses of Louis XIV, who, apart from Madame de Maintenon, where all chosen in the highest spheres of the aristocracy and had absolutely no influence on the government. But that the king may thus compromise himself with a commoner was found a profound disgrace. Soon flourished libels called poissonades (a word meaning something like "fish stew", a pun based on the Marquise de Pompadour's family name, Poisson, which literally means "fish" in French), violently attacking the Marquise and slandering her, such as shown in this example: "Daughter of leech, and leech herself, Poisson , with an extreme arrogance, flaunts in this château, without fear or dread, the substance of the people and the shame of the King."

Related Topics:
Marquise de Pompadour - 1745 - ''dauphin'' - Duke of Bourbon - Bourgeoisie - Madame de Maintenon - Pun - French - Leech

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Despite the critics, the Marquise de Pompadour had an undeniable influence on the flourishing of French arts during the reign of Louis XV, a reign that is often considered the peak of French architecture and interior design (see: Louis XV style). A patron of the arts, the Marquise amassed a considerable amount of furniture and objet d'art in her various estates. She was responsible for the tremendous development of the porcelain manufactory of Sèvres, which became one of the most famous porcelain manufacturer in Europe, and her commands ensured the living of artists and families of craftsmen for many years. She was also prominent in architecture, being responsible for the building of the Place Louis XV (now called Place de la Concorde) and the École Militaire in Paris, both built by Jacques Ange Gabriel, whom she protected. The École Militaire, for the creation of which she successfully lobbied the king, showed her commitment to the training of officers from poor families of the aristocracy (one student of the École Militaire, Napoléon Bonaparte, would later rise to fame). The Marquise was a liberal at heart and she steadily defended the Encyclopédie against the attacks of the Church. She was a supporter of the Philosophy of the Enlightenment, and tried to win the king to the new ideas of the Enlightenment, albeit not quite as successfully as she would have hoped. The lavish display of luxury in her various estates was responsible for the criticism she received, although her rich family of financiers in many instances gave money to the government and saved the monarchy from bankruptcy. All her estates, which she had bequeathed to the state, reverted to the crown at her death.

Related Topics:
Louis XV style - Furniture - Objet d'art - Sèvres - Place de la Concorde - École Militaire - Jacques Ange Gabriel - Napoléon Bonaparte - Encyclopédie - Philosophy of the Enlightenment

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The Marquise de Pompadour was officially settled on the third floor (second storey) of the Palace of Versailles, in some small but cozy apartments that can still be visited today. There, she organized fine suppers for the king, with chosen guests, far from the pomp and etiquette of the court which the king detested. The atmosphere in these private quarters was so relaxed that the king was said to serve coffee during the suppers. She often entertained the king, trying to relieve him from the state of boredom in which the court often plunged him. The king, who liked a more bourgeois lifestyle than his forefather Louis XIV, found in the private apartments of the Marquise de Pompadour, located above his own office and bedchamber, the intimacy and reassuring feminine presence of which he had been deprived during his childhood.

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The Marquise de Pompadour, who was reportedly frigid and with a frail health, was no more than a friend after 1750. Although the sexual relationship stopped, the Marquise remained the close confident and friend of the king until her death, which is quite a feat in the history of royal mistresses. She, more than anyone else, was adept at understanding the complex and demanding personality of the king. After 1750, the king was mired in a series of short-lived love affairs and sexual relationships, hiding his temporary conquests in a small mansion at the Parc-aux-Cerfs ("Stags Park"), the most famous of whom was Louise O'Murphy. Legend later enormously exaggerated the events taking place at the Parc-aux-Cerfs, contributing to the dark reputation still associated with Louis XV's name today. The oft mentioned womanizing of the king, however, was not very different from that of many of his ancestors, such as kings Francis I or Henry IV, known for their relentless pursuit of women, but nonetheless two of the best remembered kings of France today, to say nothing of other European monarchs such as Henry VIII of England.

Related Topics:
Frigid - 1750 - Francis I - Henry IV - Henry VIII of England

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