Figure 1.--This pencil and red and white chalk portrait of the Comte de Provence, future Louis XVIII was done bu Madame Vigée LeBrun. Vigée Le Brun lists painting him in 1776, 1778 and 1781. We are not sure which year this drawing was made, but 1776 or 1778 seems the more likely. |
After the defeat of Napoleon I in 1814, a brother of Louis XVI was restored to the French throne as Louis XVIII. Louis was born at Versailles in 1755, the son of the Dauphin Louis, a grandson of Louis XV and a younger brother of Louis XVI. He was baptised Louis Stanislas Xavier and given the title of Count de Provence. I have no information on his childhood or how he was dressed as a boy, but growing up in Versailles he must have been dresses very elegantly. He mairred Marie Joséphine, daughter of the King of Savoy, in 1771. The mairrage was childless. The Count had literary and political interests and was more liberal than his older brother or his younger brother the Count d'Artois--the future Charles X. He attempted to work with the Revolution and enjoyed some popularity. As the Revolution became more radical he finally emigrated in June 1791. After Louis XVI's execution in 1793, he was proclaimed Regent for Louis XVII who was held captive in Paris. When Louus XVII died, the émigrés proclaimed the Count Louis XVII. After several he settled in London where he endured the Napoleonic era. Louis XVIII was reinstated as King. He accepted his role as constitutional monarch and pursued a moderate policy attempting to end past recriminations, end foreign military occupation, and restore the international prestige of the monarchy. He sought as he wrote to Decazes "to nationalize royalty and royalize the nation." Louis was sickly and as his health deteriorated he took less interest in politics. He died in September 1824. Louis' younger and reactionary brother, Charles became king.
Luuis' father was the Dauphin (crown prince) Louis de France (1729-65), the eldest son of Louis XIV (1710- ) and Maria of Poland Leczinska (1703- ). His father died in 1765, however, before inheriting the crown. Louis XVI's mother was Marie-Josephe (Wettin) de Saxe (1731- ). The Wettin dynasty is more familiar to us as the male founder of the current British royal family. Prince Albert was related to Marie-Joseph. Her father was Frederick Augustus II (Wettin) of Saxony, King of Poland (1696- ). Her mother was the Habsburg princess Marie Josephe (1699- ).
Louis was born in 1755 at Versailles. He was the younger brother of Louis XVI and the older brother of Charles X. While he took the dynastic name of Louis, his actual name was Stanislas Xavier. As Louis XVI's only surviving son, Louis XVII, died during the Revolution, Louis XVIII was made king after the defeat of Napoleon in 1814.
We have little information about Stanislas' childhood. He was born at Versailles in 1755. He was about the same age as his older brother Louis and his younger brother Charles. He was baptised Louis Stanislas Xavier and given the title of Count de Provence. I have no information on his childhood or how he was dressed as a boy.
We have no information on how Stanislas was dressed as a child, but growing up in Versailles he must have been dresses very elegantlyOne report indicates that Stanislas' older brother Louis was traumatized by his mother who dressed him in reproductions of her own clothes. In the 18th century it was common for young boys to wear dresses like their sisters. Apparentlty Louis' mother Marie-Josephe kept him in dresses longer than was common at the time. We have, however, few details on this. Nor do we know if Louis' younger brothers like Stanislas and Charles had the same experience.
He mairred Marie Joséphine, daughter of the King of Savoy, in 1771. The marriage was childless.
The Count had literary and political interests and was more liberal than his older brother or his younger brother the Count d'Artois--the future Charles X. He attempted to work with the Revolution and enjoyed some popularity. As the Revolution became more radical he finally emigrated in June 1791. Stanislas fled from Paros on the same night as his brother King Louis XVI, only he made it to the Austrian boprder. He remained in exile untiln the defeat of Napoleon. His younger brother Charles was more active in laeding the émigré forces. After Louis XVI's execution in 1793, Stanislas was proclaimed Regent for Louis XVII who was held captive in Paris. When Louus XVII died, the émigrés proclaimed the Count Louis XVIII. After several years he settled in London where he endured the Napoleonic era.
After the defeat of Napoleon I in 1814, Louis XVIII as the oldest brother of Louis XVI was restored to the French throne. Louis XVIII was reinstated as King. He was generally seen as a weak king, having taken little role to fight eith the Revolution or Napoleon. After he was restored, he quickly fled Paris in 1815 when Napoleon returned fom Elba. One historian writes humorosly of how Parisians had had to paint over Napoleonic insignias for the new king and then after Napoleon returned, restore the insignias. [Mansel] Louis XVIII for his part remained in Ghent until he was defeated at Waterloo. He only returned to Paris under the protection of the Duke of Wellington. Again Napoleon;s insignias had to be painted over once again.
Louis accepted his role as constitutional monarch and did not attemot to reintroduce absolutism. One of his first actds was to acknowledge his former errors and proclaimed a general amnesty for all except traitors. His youngerv brother was agast. Louis in 1815 attempted to find the remains of his nephew, Louis XVII's body, but to no avail. The result was a series of unsubstaniated rumors that deluded and confused amny ardent royalists in France. Louis pursued a moderate policy attempting to end past recriminations, end foreign military occupation, and restore the international prestige of the monarchy. He sought as he wrote to Decazes "to nationalize royalty and royalize the nation." Louis was sickly and as his health deteriorated he took less interest in politics. He died in September 1824.
Louis' younger and reactionary brother, Charles became king on the daeth of Louis XVIII.
Mansel, Philip. Paris Between Empires: Monarchy and Revolution, 1814-1852 (St. Martin's, 2003), 559p.
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