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.

The Regency of the Duke of Orléans

Towards the end of August 1715, Louis XIV was dying of gangrene. On August 26 he called his five-year-old great-grandson Louis to his bedside and spoke to him, saying these famous words: "My child, you are going to be a great king. Do not imitate me in my liking for buildings and for wars. On the contrary, do try to have peace with your neighbors. Give to God what you owe him. Always follow good advice. Do try to relieve the suffering of your people, which I am most distressed at not having been able to do." Six days later, the man who had ruled France for more than 50 years died, and Louis XV was immediately greeted as the new King of France.

Related Topics:
1715 - Gangrene - August 26

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Distrustful of his nephew Philippe d'Orléans, Louis XIV in his will had named his bastard son Louis, Duke of Maine as the Regent for the young Louis XV. However, on September 2, one day after the death of the king, as the Parlement of Paris convened to proclaim the regency, Philippe d'Orléans made a deal with the parliamentarians, granting them the power to veto royal edicts, which had been withdrawn from them by Louis XIV, and so he had the will of the late king declared null and void. Philippe, now 41 years old, was officially made regent by the Parlement, in a court coup recorded in detail by Saint-Simon. The regent took the symbolic decision to relocate the government to Paris, and the court in Versailles disbanded.

Related Topics:
Philippe d'Orléans - Louis, Duke of Maine - Regent - September 2 - Parlement - Regency - Saint-Simon

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The regent conducted affairs of state from his Parisian palace, the Palais Royal. The young Louis XV was moved to the modern lodgings attached to the medieval fortress of Vincennes, located 7 km/4.5 miles east of Paris in the Forest of Vincennes, where the air was deemed more wholesome and healthy than in Paris. Later during the regency he was moved to the Tuileries Palace, in the center of Paris, near the Palais Royal.

Related Topics:
Palais Royal - Vincennes - Tuileries Palace

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In 1717, the seven-year-old king was separated from his governess Madame de Ventadour, and put in the care of the Duke of Maine, superintendent of his education, aided by André-Hercule de Fleury (later to become Cardinal de Fleury), tutor to the young king, and the Duke of Villeroi, governor to the young king. The Duke of Villeroi, an old and vain courtier, loved to show the good manners and talents of his pupil. The young king, during endless public ceremonies, had to learn to hide his feelings and his natural shyness. He acquired the cold attitude and air of majesty that he would display during his entire life in public, as well as a taste for private apartments and intimate circles - in short an almost private bourgeois lifestyle.

Related Topics:
1717 - André-Hercule de Fleury - Duke of Villeroi

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Fleury, his tutor, gave him an excellent education, with renowned professors such as the geographer Guillaume Delisle. Louis XV had an extremely curious and open-minded personality. He was an avid reader, of eclectic tastes. A man of the Enlightenment, fond of science and new technologies, he pushed for the creation of a department of physics (1769) and mechanics (1773) at the Collège de France. The Cardinal de Fleury, an ambitious man, and, like the king, secretive, but above all affable, was deeply admired by Louis XV, and had a great influence on the rest of the king's life.

Related Topics:
Guillaume Delisle - Enlightenment - 1769 - 1773 - Collège de France

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During the Régence, the Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, in search of support, favoured the nobility (aristocrats) who had been deprived of power during the reign of Louis XIV. He established the so-called polysynody (September 15, 1715), which allowed the aristocracy to participate in the government. He concluded an alliance with Great Britain in 1717 (Triple Alliance) in an effort to prevent Philip V of Spain from claiming the crown of France should the young Louis XV die. Confronted with a total lack of expertise amongst the aristocracy in government affairs, the Regent reverted to the monarchical organization of government that existed under Louis XIV and by 1718 had reinstated secretaries of state. Cardinal Dubois, close confident of the Regent, was made prime minister in 1722. In an attempt to replenish the French treasury the regency tried a number of original financial experiments, notable amongst which was the famous financial system of John Law, a financial bubble which ended up in bankruptcy and brought about the ruin of many aristocrats.

Related Topics:
Régence - Nobility - Polysynody - September 15 - 1715 - Great Britain - 1717 - Triple Alliance - 1718 - Secretaries of state - Cardinal Dubois - 1722 - John Law

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In 1721, Louis XV was betrothed to his first cousin, Marie-Anne-Victoire, daughter of Philip V of Spain. The eleven-year-old king found no interest in the arrival in Paris of his future wife, the three-year-old Spanish infanta, who only caused boredom in him. In June 1722 the young king and the court returned to Versailles, where they would stay until the end of the reign. In October of the same year, Louis XV was officially crowned in Reims Cathedral. On February 151723, as he turned thirteen, the king was declared of majority by the Parlement of Paris, thus ending the Régence. The King left the Duke of Orléans in charge of state affairs. The Duke of Orléans was made prime minister on the death of Cardinal Dubois in August 1723, and he himself died in December of the same year. Following the advice of Fleury, Louis XV appointed his cousin the Duke of Bourbon, Prince of Condé, to replace the late Duke of Orléans.

Related Topics:
1721 - 1722 - Reims Cathedral - February 15 - 1723 - Duke of Bourbon - Prince of Condé

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