THE WELL BELOVED: AN
EARLY HISTORY
Louis XV
(February 16, 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 as one
of the most unpopular kings of France.
Louis XV is the king with the most ambivalent personality in the history of
France. Though he has been much maligned by historians, modern research shows
that he was in fact very intelligent and dedicated to the task of ruling the
largest kingdom of Europe. However, his indecisiveness, fueled by his awareness
of the complexity of problems ahead, as well as his profound timidity, hidden
behind the mask of an imperious king, account for the poor results achieved
during his reign. In many ways, Louis XV prefigures the bourgeois rulers of
the romantic 19th century: although dutifully playing the role of the imperial
king carved out by his great-grandfather Louis XIV, Louis XV in fact cherished
nothing more than his private life far away from pomp and ceremony. Having lost
his mother while still an infant, he always longed for a motherly and reassuring
presence, which he tried to find in the intimate company of women, for which
he was much slandered both during and after his life.
THE
MIRACLE CHILD
Louis XV was born at Versailles on February 15, 1710, while his great-grandfather
Louis XIV was still on the throne. He was the son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy
and of Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy. Marie-Adélaïde was a very lively woman of whom
the old king Louis XIV was very fond, and the young couple, deeply in love with
each other (quite an unusual fact at the court in Versailles), had rejuvenated
the court of the old king and become the centre of attraction in Versailles.
Louis XV had a brother, Louis, Duke of Brittany, who was older by three years.
The Duke of Burgundy was the eldest son of Louis, the Grand Dauphin, who was
the only son of Louis XIV. The Duke of Burgundy had two younger brothers: Philip,
Duke of Anjou, soon to be confirmed as Philip V of Spain, and Charles, Duke
of Berry. Thus, by 1710, Louis XIV had plenty of male descendants: one son,
three grandsons, and two great-grandsons from his oldest grandson.
However, dramatic events altered the shape of the royal family. In 1700, the
Duke of Anjou had become King of Spain under the name Philip V, inheriting the
crown from his grandmother, wife of Louis XIV and a Spanish princess. In the
War of the Spanish Succession that had followed, Philip V had had to renounce
all claims to the French throne. England was loath to see Spain and its colonial
empire united with France under a single king in the future. The renunciation
of Philip V was not a major problem for Louis XIV since he had so many other
male descendants. However, in April 1711 the Grand Dauphin died suddenly, and
the Duke of Burgundy became heir to the throne. Then one year later, the vigorous
and lively Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy contracted smallpox (or measles) and died
on February 12, 1712, to the dismay of the old king Louis XIV. The Duke of Burgundy,
heartbroken by the death of his wife, died within a week of the same disease.
Within a week of the Duke of Burgundy's death, it was also clear that the two
children of the couple had caught the virus. The eldest son, the Duke of Brittany,
was bled repeatedly by doctors and died on March 8, 1712. His younger brother
Louis XV was saved by his governess Madame de Ventadour, who vigorously forbade
doctors to bleed the young boy and personally looked after him during his illness.
Then finally in 1714 the Duke of Berry, third son of the Grand Dauphin, died.
Thus Louis XIV had lost four male descendants in just three years, and the fate
of the dynasty now lay in the survival of a four-year-old boy. Should the boy
die, the crown would pass to Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV, and
first cousin of the late Grand Dauphin. However, it appeared quite probable
that Philip V of Spain would denounce the treaty whereby he had renounced the
crown of France, and that a major European war, as well as a French civil war,
was sure to happen. The young boy was made very conscious of the heavy responsibility
lying on his shoulders, and his life was carefully watched every single minute.
Moreover, he was now an orphan, with no surviving siblings, no uncles or aunts
(except Philip V who was in Madrid and whom he would never meet), and no first
cousins (again, excepting those in Madrid). This family context shaped much
of the later personality of the king.
THE
REGENCY OF THE DUKE D'ORLEANS
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. Render to God what you owe Him; acknowledge
the obligations under which you are placed to Him; make Him honored by your
subjects. 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. [...] "¹ 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.
In August 1714, about a year before he died, Louis XIV had made a will which
granted a prominent role in the regency to come to two sons who had been born
to him by his former mistress, Madame de Montespan, and who had since been legitimised,
and were now known as the Duke of Maine and the Count of Toulouse. By legitimising
his bastard sons, Louis XIV was trying to remedy the death of most of his male
heirs in the three preceding years, and ensure the future of the endangered
dynasty. The calculation was that should the young Louis XV die, the bastard
sons of Louis XIV would succeed him on the throne. This was in blatant contravention
of the traditional rule of succession to the throne of France. The move also
resulted from the insistence of Louis XIV's second wife, Madame de Maintenon,
who had raised the two boys and was on close and friendly terms with them (other
bastard sons of the king, not raised by Madame de Maintenon, were not legitimised).
The will sought to enhance the positions of Toulouse, and especially the elder
son, Maine, at the expense of the man who was expected, by traditional right,
to become regent and rule France until Louis XV reached adulthood, Philippe
d'Orléans, son of Louis XIV's younger brother. The will stipulated that until
the new king reached the age of majority, the nation was to be run by a Regency
Council of 14 members. Philippe d'Orléans was named president of the council,
but all decisions were to be taken by majority vote; and the composition of
the council, which included Maine, Toulouse and various members of Louis XIV's
administration, was such that Orléans would usually be outvoted.
The content of this will had become known, and factions had begun to line up
behind Maine, Toulouse and Maintenon on one hand, and Orléans on the other.
Orléans enjoyed the support of many amongst the old sword nobility (noblesse
d'épée), descending from medieval knights, as opposed to the noblesse de robe,
the new aristocracy of recently ennobled lawyers and civil servants. Louis XIV
had usually excluded the noblesse d'épée from government in favour of commoners
from the bourgeoisie who often entered the noblesse de robe and whom he could
control better. Thus the noblesse d'épée yearned for a change of policy more
favourable to them, and were greatly displeased with the legitimisation of the
"royal bastards" Maine and Toulouse, which they regarded as an affront to the
traditional rules of inheritance.
The Parlement of Paris, another political entity which Louis XIV had shut out
of power, also hoped for an Orléans government and a change of course in the
government, with increased powers to the Parlement. Religion too entered the
picture. Madame de Maintenon was a supporter of the Jesuits, the Pope, and the
Pope's controversial Bull Unigenitus, a 1713 papal bull directed against the
Jansenists, a Catholic group popular in France who were deemed to have too many
protestant tendencies. Philippe d'Orléans was naturally supported by the Jansenists
and the Gallicans (French Catholics who wanted their church to be more independent
from Rome), since they thought he would dislodge the Jesuit-Papist group from
power after his own accession to power.
It appears that in the final weeks before his death, King Louis XIV arrived
at somewhat of a reconciliation with his nephew Philippe d'Orléans. Bidding
adieu to the closest courtiers and ministers on August 26, the king had told
them: "Always obey the orders my nephew [Philippe d'Orléans] will give you;
he will govern the kingdom".
In the following days, Philippe d'Orléans had meetings, and made promises, to
various aristocrats, clergymen, and members of the Parlement of Paris who he
hoped would support him. He promised the aristocrats places on new government
councils he intended to form, which would eventually become known as the polysynody;
he assured Jansenists and Gallicans he would be lenient regarding Unigenitas;
and he promised the Parlement he would restore its right of remonstrance (the
right to criticize and delay royal edicts), which had been taken away from the
Parlament by Louis XIV in 1673.
On September 2, the day after Louis XIV passed away, there was a special session
of the Parlement of Paris. It was attended not only by the magistrates who were
usually there, but also by the peers and princes of the blood. The king's will
was read, and the future of the government decided. Philippe d'Orléans addressed
the assembly. He stated his claim to be made regent, asking that he be given
full power. He referred to a recent conversation in which the king had indicated
to him that he would govern. He reminded those present of the arrangements he
had negotiated with them over the preceding days.
The Parlement responded affirmatively. He was granted the crucial right to choose
his own Regency Council. Thus the king's written will was to a large extent
nullified, and Philippe d'Orléans became, in fact, regent. He was 41 years old.
The Parlement, on the other hand, recovered to right of remonstrance. This court
coup was recorded in detail by Saint-Simon, the famous writer of memoirs. The
regent Philippe d'Orléans took the symbolic decision to relocate the government
to Paris, and the court in Versailles disbanded. 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.
In keeping with the tradition that all French royal princes, when they reached
their seventh birthdays, should be put under the care of men, a tearful Louis
was separated from his governess, Madame de Ventadour, in February 1717, and
put in the care of the Duke of Villeroi, who had been designated as his governor
in Louis XIV's will of August 1714. The Duke of Villeroi served under the formal
authority of the Duke of Maine, made superintendent of the king's education.
He was aided by André-Hercule de Fleury (later to become Cardinal de Fleury),
tutor 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.
Fleury, his tutor, gave him an excellent education, with renowned professors
such as the geographer Guillaume Delisle. Louis XV's was 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.
During the Régence, the regent, Philippe d'Orléans, in search of support, and
in keeping with his promises, 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 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.
In 1721, Louis XV was betrothed to his first cousin, Marianne Victoria of Bourbon,
daughter of Philip V of Spain and his second wife Elizabeth Farnese. 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 bored 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 15, 1723, 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.
THE MINISTRY OF THE DUKE DE BOURBON
The king took no part in the decisions of the government under the Duke of Bourbon.
The government was secretly under the influence of a group of speculators and
wheeler-dealers such as É. Berthelot de Pléneuf and banker J. Pâris-Duverney.
The Duke of Bourbon was worried by the health of the young king, not so much
out of concern for the king or the future of the dynasty, but in fact out of
a desire to prevent the House of Orléans (of the late regent) from ascending
the throne should the king die.
The Duke of Bourbon saw the House of Orléans as his enemy. The king was quite
frail, and several alerts led to concern for his life. The Spanish infanta was
too young to procreate and give an heir. Thus, the Duke of Bourbon, who was
also hostile to Spain, sent the infanta back to Spain and set about choosing
a European princess old enough to produce an heir. Eventually, the choice fell
on 21-year-old Marie Leszczyn'ska, daughter of Stanislaus I of Poland, the toppled
King of Poland. A poor princess who had followed her father's misfortunes, she
was nonetheless said to be virtuous, and quite charming. She was also from a
royal family who had never interbred with the French royal family, and it was
hoped that she would bring new blood to it. The relatively low status of her
father would also ensure that the marriage would not cause diplomatic embarrassment
to France by having to choose one royal court over another. The marriage was
celebrated in September 1725. The young king immediately fell in love with his
new wife, who was seven years older than he. Nonetheless, the marriage of the
most powerful king in Europe with such a low-ranking princess was considered
to be improper and lacking in grandeur by most of Europe.
The ministry of the Duke of Bourbon was marked by the persecution of Protestants
(1726), several monetary manipulations, the creation of new taxes such as the
fiftieth (cinquantième) in 1725, and the high price of grain, all of which created
troubles and economic depression. In 1726, the king, who was now sixteen and
had since his marriage shown a new health and authority that everyone at court
noticed, dismissed the Duke of Bourbon, who was extremely unpopular and was
preparing a war against Spain and Austria. As his replacement he chose his old
tutor, Cardinal de Fleury, to serve as prime minister.