- "Charles X" redirects here. For king Charles X of Sweden, see Charles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catharina of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who bore his son and...
.
Charles X (9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) ruled as
King of France and of
Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. His short rule of almost six years came to an end when he instituted his
July OrdinancesJuly Ordinances, also known as Ordinances of Saint-Cloud, were a series of decrees set forth by Charles X and Jules Armand de Polignac, the chief minister, in July 1830....
in July 1830, suspending most of the liberties granted in the
Charter of 1814The French Charter of 1814 was a constitution granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after his restoration. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before he was restored. It guaranteed many of the rights that most other countries in western Europe had...
. During a popular revolt known as the
July RevolutionThe French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution, saw the overthrow of King
Charles X of France, the French
Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin
Louis-Philippe, the
Duc d'Orléans,...
, Charles abdicated on 2 August in favor of his son
Louis-Antoine, duc d'AngoulêmeLouis-Antoine, Dauphin of France and Duke of Angoulême was the eldest son of King Charles X of France. When his father became King, he became also the last Dauphin of France...
, who in turn abdicated in favor of his nephew, Henri, duc de Bordeaux. This effort to keep the crown in the senior branch of the
House of BourbonThe House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples & Sicily, and Parma...
proved futile when the Chamber of Deputies by-passed young Bordeaux and elected the First Prince of the Blood, Louis Philippe, duc d'Orléans, as King of the French. Charles was the last king of the senior House of Bourbon to reign over
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. He died in
GoriziaGorizia is a town in northeastern Italy, at the foot of the Alps and bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin town of Nova Gorica has developed on the other side of the Italian-Slovenian border...
,
AustriaThe Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire founded on a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire centered on what is today's Austria that officially lasted from 1804 to 1867...
, after six years in exile. Charles X was the younger brother of two previous kings of France,
Louis XVILouis XVI of France ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Suspended and arrested during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21...
and
Louis XVIIILouis XVIII , Louis Stanislas Xavier de France, was King of France and Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, due to the French Revolution, and was exiled again in 1815, upon the return of Napoleon Bonaparte...
. His sisters were Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia, and
Madame Élisabeth.
Birth
Charles-Philippe was born in 1757, the youngest son of the Dauphin Louis Ferdinand, and his wife, the Dauphine Marie Josèphe, at the
Palace of VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, the Île-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles....
. Charles was created
comte d'Artois at birth by his grandfather, the reigning King
Louis XVLouis XV ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death on 10 May 1774...
. As the youngest male in the family Charles seemed unlikely ever to become king.
Charles at the Court of Louis XV
Charles' father died in 1765, which left Charles' oldest surviving brother,
Louis-AugusteLouis XVI of France ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Suspended and arrested during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21...
, to succeed their father in the capacity of
Dauphin, the French equivalent to a crown prince or heir apparent. Charles' mother, Marie Josèphe, never recovered from the loss of her husband and she died in March 1767 from
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
. This left Charles an orphan at the age of nine, along with his siblings Louis Auguste,
the Comte de ProvenceLouis XVIII , Louis Stanislas Xavier de France, was King of France and Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, due to the French Revolution, and was exiled again in 1815, upon the return of Napoleon Bonaparte...
,Clotilde, and Élisabeth.
Charles met his brother's future wife,
Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
, when she arrived in France in April 1770 when he was twelve. Charles was thought of as the most attractive in his family, bearing a strong resemblance to his grandfather, Louis XV. Charles married
Princess Marie Thérèse of SavoyMaria Theresa of Savoy, Countess of Artois , princess of Sardinia and of Piedmont, was the wife of Charles de France, comte d'Artois, the youngest grandson of Louis XV of France, who become Charles X of France in 1824.-Biography:Maria Teresa di Savoia was the fifth child and third daughter of Victor...
in November 1773. The new
comtesse d'Artois was thought to be quite ugly by most contemporaries. The marriage, unlike that of Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste, however, was consummated almost immediately.
Charles at Louis XVI's Versailles
Louis XV began to fall ill on 27 April 1774, a week after the
première of the celebrated composer
Christoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
's opera,
Iphigénie en AulideIphigénie en Aulide is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by Leblanc du Roullet and was based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie...
. On 4 May, the dying king was pressured to send his mistress, the comtesse du Barry, away from Versailles because he could not be cleansed of all his sins if he had not repented. On 10 May, at three in the afternoon, he died of smallpox at the age of sixty-four.
Louis XV was succeeded as King of France by his grandson, Louis-Auguste.
Because he thought that his new wife was disgusting, Charles sought attention elsewhere. He struck up a firm friendship with his sister-in-law,
Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
. The closeness of the relationship was such that he was falsely accused of having seduced Marie Antoinette by Parisian rumor mongers. As part of Marie Antoinette's social set, Charles often appeared opposite her in the private theatre of her favourite royal retreat, the
Petit TrianonThe Petit Trianon is a small château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France.-Design and construction:...
. They were both said to be very talented amateur actors; with Marie Antoinette playing milkmaids, shepherdesses and country ladies, and Charles playing lovers, valets and farmers. A famous story concerning the two involves the construction of the
Château de BagatelleThe Château de Bagatelle is a small neoclassical château with a French landscape garden in the Bois de Boulogne in the XVIe arrondissement of Paris...
. In 1775, Charles purchased a small hunting lodge in the
Bois de BoulogneThe Bois de Boulogne is a park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt.The Bois de Boulogne covers an area of 8.459 km² The Bois de Boulogne is a park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris,...
. He soon had the existing house torn down with plans to rebuild. Marie Antoinette wagered her brother-in-law that the new château could not be completed within three months. Charles engaged the
neoclassicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque...
architect
François-Joseph BélangerFrançois-Joseph Bélanger was a French architect and decorator working in the Neoclassic style.Born in Paris, he studied at the Académie Royale d'Architecture where he worked under Julien-David Le Roy and Pierre Contant d'Ivry, but did not win the coveted Prix de Rome that would have sent him to...
to design the building. He won his bet, with Bélanger completing the house in sixty-three days. It is estimated that the project, which came to include manicured gardens, cost over two million livres.
Despite her husband's distaste for her, the comtesse d'Artois gave birth to a boy in 1775. The little boy was heir in the next generation of Bourbons, as Louis XVI and his brother Provence had as yet no children. The child was named
Louis-AntoineLouis-Antoine, Dauphin of France and Duke of Angoulême was the eldest son of King Charles X of France. When his father became King, he became also the last Dauphin of France...
, and was created
duc d'Angoulême by Louis XVI. At the time, Parisian
libellistes (pamphleteers who published scandalous leaflets about important figures in court and politics) lampooned Louis XVI's alleged impotence and accused the Queen of having "relations" with Artois.
It was around the time of Louis-Antoine's birth that
Louis Philippe, duc de ChartresLouis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans , was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France...
schemed to create a rift between the King and his youngest brother. Louis Philippe introduced Charles to gambling and the brothels at the Palais-Royal, the ancestral home of Louis Philippe's family. Louis Philippe wanted Charles to catch a venereal disease, either dying, or becoming sterile. Therefore increasing his own chances of one day gaining the throne of France (as first prince of the blood, Louis Philippe would have been fourth-in-line to the throne, after Provence, Artois and Angoulême) as Artois was the only member of his family to produce any children, so far.
As the handsomest member of the royal family, his affairs became numerous. According to the comte d'Hezecques, "few beauties were cruel to him." Later, he embarked upon a life-long love affair with the beautiful Louise de Polastron (1764–1804). She was the sister-in-law of Marie Antoinette's closest companion, the duchesse de Polignac. Mme de Polastron stayed with the prince for the rest of her life.
Throughout the 1770s, Charles spent lavishly. He accumulated enormous debts (they totalled 21 million livres), which Louis XVI paid for him in the early 1780s. Their brother the comte de Provence also accumulated debts of a similar magnitude, which Louis XVI also paid off.
In 1778, the comtesse d’Artois gave birth to another son, Charles Ferdinand, who enjoyed the courtesy title
duc de Berry. . In the same year Marie Antoinette gave birth to her first child, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France, quelling any rumours that she could not bear children.
Charles acted as a proxy for the
Holy Roman EmperorThe Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a Middle Ages ruler, who as German King had in addition received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope of the Holy Roman Church, and after the 16th century, the elected monarch governing the Holy Roman Empire, a Central...
Joseph IIJoseph II may refer to:*Joseph II *Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor *Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople*Pope Joseph II of Alexandria...
at the christening of his godson the Dauphin, Louis Joseph, in 1781. The birth of the Dauphin demoted Charles to third-in-line to the throne.
His political awakening started with the first great crisis of the monarchy in 1786, after which he headed the reactionary faction at the court of Louis XVI. The comte d'Artois supported the removal of the aristocracy's financial privileges, but he was opposed to any reduction in the social privileges enjoyed by either the Church or the nobility. He believed that France's finances should be reformed without the monarchy being overthrown. In his own words, it was "time for repair, not demolition."
The Fall of the Bastille
Louis XVI called the
Estates-GeneralIn France under the Ancient Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...
to meet in May 1789 to ratify financial reforms, as the realm was bankrupt from previous military endeavours (the Seven Years War, and the American War of Independence) and needed fiscal reform to survive.
Charles was the most conservative member of the family, along with his sister Elisabeth. and opposed any sort of reform at the convened Estates General. He enraged the Third Estate (politicians representing the commoners) by objecting to every initiative to increase their voting power. This prompted criticism from his brother, who accused him of being "plus royaliste que le roi" ("more royalist than the King").
At the time of the assembly of the
Estates GeneralThe Estates-General of 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French collection of peoples...
of 1789, the Dauphin Louis Joseph died in early June and was succeeded as Dauphin by his brother Louis-Charles. The Third Estate declared themselves a National Assembly in the same month, intent on providing France with a new constitution.
In conjunction with the baron de Breteuil, Charles had political alliances arranged to depose the liberal prime minister,
Jacques NeckerJacques Necker was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789.-Early life:Necker was born in Geneva, Switzerland...
. These plans backfired when Charles attempted to secure Necker's dismissal on 11 July without Breteuil's knowledge, much earlier than they had originally intended. It was the beginning of a decline in his political alliance with Breteuil, which ended in mutual loathing.
Soon after the
fall of the BastilleThe Storming of the Bastille in Paris occurred on 14 July, 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. While the prison only contained seven prisoners at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French...
, at the insistence of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Charles and his family left France, along with several other courtiers, including the duchesse de Polignac, the Queen’s favourite.
Exile
The Artois family decided to seek refuge in the
SavoySavoy is a region of Europe on the western flank of the Alps that emerged following the collapse of the Frankish Kingdom of Burgundy. The historical land of Savoy is shared between the modern republics of France and Italy.-Background:...
(Charles' wife's homeland). The Artois' were joined by some of the Condé family in
TurinTurin is a major city as well as a business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River surrounded by the Alpine arch...
(capital of the Duchy of Savoy).
Meanwhile in France, Louis XVI was struggling with the tribulations of the new National Assembly, who were committed to earth-shattering reform. Louis saw his prerogative encroached in the
French Constitution of 1791The short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution of France. One of the basic precepts of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty, following the steps of the United States of America....
. The new constitution entailed the Assembly's dissolution and election every two years. The King could not prorogue or dismiss the assembly. Executive authority was still invested in the King although this occurrence would never feature in a modern
constitutional monarchyA constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a written , unwritten or blended constitution...
.
In March 1791, the National Assembly created a regency bill in case of the premature death of Louis XVI while his heir Louis-Charles was still a minor. The bill promulgated the
regencyRegency is the rule of a regent. It may also refer to:* Specific periods when a throne was vacant:** Regency in France, 1715–1723, a.k.a. Régence** British Regency, 1811–1820*The Hōjō Regency during the Kamakura shogunate in Japan.* Businesses:...
as follows: Louis-Charles' closest male relative in France (the comte de Provence), then the duc d'Orléans, if he rejected/were unavailable the regency would go to an election. The comte d'Artois meanwhile had left Turin and was preparing for a counter-revolutionary attack on France from the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
from his headquarters in Trier. Marie Antoinette, upon hearing of this, penned an indignant letter to him to request that any invasion of France should be postponed until the
Royal FamilyA royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term "imperial family" more appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress regnant, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate in reference to the...
had escaped France.
The Royal Family did attempt an escape, but the
Flight to VarennesThe Flight to Varennes was a significant episode in the French Revolution during which King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family were unsuccessful in their attempt to escape, disguised as the servants of a Russian baroness, from the radical agitation of the Jacobins in Paris...
, as it is known, failed. Public opinion of the monarchy never recovered after the flight. Artois moved on to Coblenz. The Condés and himself jointly declared their intention to invade France. The comte de Provence, who had escaped France just before the flight to Varennes, was sending dispatches to various
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an sovereigns for assistance. Artois set up a court-in-exile in the
Electorate of TrierThe Electorate of Trier was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire and existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the temporal possessions of the larger Archbishopric of Trier . It was ruled by the Archbishop in his function as prince-elector of...
, where his uncle was the incumbent
Archbishop-ElectorThe Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors....
. On 25 August, the rulers of
AustriaThe Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the center of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire. Over nearly 700 years, it evolved from a margravate to the center of an empire...
and
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
issued the
Declaration of PillnitzThe Declaration of Pillnitz on August 27, 1791, was a statement issued at the Castle of Pillnitz in Saxony by the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Frederick William II of Prussia....
, which called on other European powers to intervene in France.
On
New Year's DayNew Year's Day is the first day of the new year. On the modern Gregorian calendar, it is celebrated on January 1, as it was also in ancient Rome . In all countries using the Gregorian calendar as their main calendar, except for Israel, it is a public holiday, often celebrated with fireworks at the...
1792, the Legislative Assembly declared all of the
émigrés princes traitors. Their titles were repudiated and their lands confiscated. The French Monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792, having been suspended since 10 August of that year. Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette the royal children, Louis Charles and Marie Thérèse, and Louis XVI's sister Madame Élisabeth were imprisoned in the
TempleThe Temple was a medieval fortress in Paris, located in what is now the IIIe arrondissement. It was built by the Knights Templar from the 12th century, as their European headquarters. In the 13th century it replaced earlier works of the Vieille Temple in Le Marais...
Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793. Marie Antoinette met the same fate on 16 October. Madame Élisabeth was executed on 10 May 1794. Louis-Charles, the Dauphin, died in the Temple on 8 June 1795. Louis Charles was in a pitiful state before his death, suffering from
ricketsRickets is a softening of bones in children potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries. The predominant cause is a vitamin D deficiency, but lack of adequate calcium in the diet may also lead to rickets...
, a curvature of the spine and
scabiesScabies, also known as the itch, is a contagious ectoparasite skin infection characterized by superficial burrows and intense pruritus . It is caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei. The word scabies itself is derived from the Latin word for "scratch"...
.
When the
French Revolutionary WarsThe French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
broke out in 1792, Charles escaped to
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
. King George III of Great Britain welcomed the comte d'Artois warmly, and gave him a generous allowance. He lived in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
and
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
with his mistress Louise de Polastron
Charles' son, Louis-Antoine, married Louis XVI's only surviving child, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte on 10 June 1799 at
Jelgava PalaceJelgava Palace or Mitava Palace is the largest Baroque style palace in the Baltic states. It was built in the 18th century based on the design of Bartolomeo Rastrelli as a residence for the Dukes of Courland in their capital - Mitava , Latvia...
, Mitau. The comte d'Artois sent several thousand pounds to his brother, the titular King Louis XVIII (formerly the comte de Provence, pretender since the death of his nephew Louis XVII), while the latter was in
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in 1802.
In 1807, Louis XVIII had to relocate his court-in-exile from Mitau to
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
, as Emperor
Alexander I of RussiaAlexander I of Russia , also known as Alexander the Blessed served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania.He was born in Saint Petersburg to Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later...
(Mitau then being part of the Russian dominions) informed them that their safety could not be guaranteed on continental Europe. King
Gustav IV Adolf of SwedenGustav IV Adolf was King of Sweden from 1792 until his abdication in 1809. He was the son of Gustav III of Sweden and his queen consort Sophia Magdalena, eldest daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Louise of Great Britain. He was the last Swedish ruler of Finland.-Early...
offered the Royal Family asylum, but Louis felt he could get better assistance in Britain.
In January 1814, Charles covertly left his home in London to join the
Coalition forcesIn the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers joined Russia,...
in southern France. The titular King Louis supplied Charles with
letters patentLetters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of an open letter issued by a monarch or government, granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or to some entity such as a corporation. The opposite of letters patent are letters close , which are personal in nature...
creating him Lieutenant General of the Kingdom. Louis was unable to journey to France with his brother as he was wheelchair-bound.
On 31 March 1814, the Allies captured
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and a week later Napoleon I abdicated for his son, Napoleon II. The
senateThe Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and enjoy generally less media coverage.-History:France's first...
ignored Napoleon I's abdication and chose to restore Louis XVIII instead. Charles arrived in the capital on 12 April. Charles now was
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
regentA regent, from the Latin regens "reigning", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Thus, the common use is for an acting deputy governor....
of France as Lieutenant General of the Kingdom, until Louis XVIII arrived in France from England. During his brief tenure as regent, Charles created an ultra-royalist secret police, that reported directly back to him without Louis XVIII's knowledge. It operated for over five years.
On 3 May 1814, Louis XVIII entered Paris.
Louis XVIII restored
Louis XVIII was greeted with great rejoicing from the Parisians, who shouted "
Vive le Roi!", as he made his way to the Royal family's new residence, the
Tuileries PalaceThe Palais des Tuileries was a royal palace in Paris. It stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
. The comte d'Artois lived in the
Pavillon de Mars, with the duc de Berry. Louis XVIII lived in the old royal apartments in the centre of the palace and the duc and duchesse d'Angoulême lived in the
Pavillon de Flore, which overlooked the River
SeineThe Seine is a slow-flowing major river and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie in France and famous as a romantic backdrop in photographs of Paris, France. It is also a tourist attraction, with excursion boats offering sightseeing tours of the Rive Droite...
.
The duchesse d'Angoulême fainted upon arriving at the palace, as it brought back terrible memories of her family's incarceration there, and of the storming of the palace and the massacre of the Swiss Guards on 10 August 1792.
Louis XVIII was told by the occupying allied army that France needed a liberal constitution. Louis proceeded to draft one. The constitution drafted entailed a bicameral legislature, a Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Peers, and made an electorate of 90,000 men. Louis XVIII had the right to nominate as many peers as he wanted, either for life or on an hereditary basis. The constitution instituted freedom of religion. The
Charter of 1814The French Charter of 1814 was a constitution granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after his restoration. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before he was restored. It guaranteed many of the rights that most other countries in western Europe had...
, as this constitution is known, created more of a limited monarchy than a fully fledged
constitutional monarchyA constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a written , unwritten or blended constitution...
The Charter of 1814 would also be used unaltered through the reign of Charles X.
Louis lived in constant fear of his impending death as Charles was going to succeed him as king. Louis XVIII believed that his brother's
ultra-royalistThe term Ultra-Royalists or simply Ultras refers to a reactionary faction which sat in the French parliament from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration...
tendencies would send the family into exile once more. On several occasions, Charles was vociferous about his disapproval of his brother's liberal ministries and threatened to leave the country unless Louis XVIII dismissed them.
The Hundred Days
Napoleon I disembarked in Southern France in March 1815. He had been exiled to the island of
ElbaElba is an island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. It is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, located between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ligurian Sea, and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia. Elba and the other islands of the Tuscan Archipelago...
, which lay a few miles from the
TuscanTuscany is a region in North-Central Italy. It has an area of and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy...
coast.
His campaign in France quickly gained momentum. Many of his old soldiers supported him in his battle against the restored Kingdom of France. The nations at the
Congress of ViennaThe Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from November, 1814 to June, 1815. Its objective was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic...
declared him an outlaw.
Napoleon eventually captured Paris and, for a period known as the
Hundred Days, once again reigned as Emperor of the French. He abdicated after his defeat at the
Battle of WaterlooIn the Battle of Waterloo forces of the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher...
in June 1815.
Louis XVIII fled to the
United Kingdom of the NetherlandsUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands was the unofficial name used to refer to a new unified European state created from part of the First French Empire during the Congress of Vienna in 1815...
. Emperor
Alexander I of RussiaAlexander I of Russia , also known as Alexander the Blessed served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania.He was born in Saint Petersburg to Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later...
wanted Louis XVIII's cousin, Louis Philippe, to ascend the throne after Napoleon's final defeat. Fortunately for the Bourbons, the Allies decided to restore them for a second time. Louis XVIII rode back into France with the
Duke of Wellington'sField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
army.
Napoleon was exiled once more, not to Elba, but to the desolate and isolated Atlantic island of
Saint HelenaSaint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha.The island...
, where he lived until his death in 1821.
The loss of a son
Following Napoleon's second exile, the
White TerrorIn general, the term White Terror refers to acts of violence carried out by reactionary groups as part of a counter-revolution...
(
Terreur blanche) gripped rural France. The White Terror was the purging of all Napoleonic officials and generals from their positions in the government of Restoration France. Bonapartists were illegally executed and killed in very gory fashions by civilians. The most notable victim of the White Terror was
Marshall BruneGuillaume Marie Anne Brune, 1st Comte Brune was a French soldier and political figure who rose to Marshal of France....
, who was violently killed by royalist supporters. He was chopped up into little pieces and thrown into the River
RhôneRhône can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
. While the aforementioned acts were illegal, the terror took on a legal incarnation also. As many as 80,000 people were flushed out of government.
Marshall NeyMichel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa , was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
, a prominent official under Napoleon was tried for treason and executed by the government. Louis XVIII was a vehement supporter of the legal terror.
The comte d'Artois ebulliently patronized members of the ultra-royalist
partyA political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns...
in the Chambers, such as Jules de Polignac, the writer
François-René de ChateaubriandFrançois-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician and diplomat. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
and Jean-Baptiste de Villèle. Charles and his cronies were yearning for the
Ancien Régime and felt the Charter was unacceptable.
Charles' youngest son, the duc de Berry was assassinated at the
Paris OperaParis Opera may refer to:In theaters in Paris, France:*Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, the official theatre of the French theatrical institution known as the Académie Royale de Musique from 1821 until 1873...
on 14 February 1820. The family was devastated. Berry's marriage to Princess Caroline Ferdinande of Bourbon-Two Sicilies had been the only hope for the continuation of the Bourbon dynasty, which was on the verge of extinction (Angoulême, Artois' eldest son, had not produced any children with his wife). The Chamber of Deputies debated the abolition of the
salic lawSalic law was an important body of traditional law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the early Middle Ages during the reign of King Clovis I in the 6th century...
, which excluded females from the succession, to allow the duchesse d'Angoulême to succeed. However, the duchesse de Berry was pregnant when her husband died. She gave birth to a male child,
Henri, duc de BordeauxHenri V of France and Navarre , best known by his title comte de Chambord was Duke of Bordeaux and Count of Chambord, was disputedly King of France and Navarre from 2–9 August 1830 and afterwards the Legitimist pretender to the throne of France from 1844 to 1883.Henri...
on 29 September 1820. Henri was hailed as "godgiven". The people of France bought him the
Château de ChambordThe royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures....
in celebration of his birth.
Louis XVIII's health began to fail in Autumn 1824. The King was suffering from both dry and wet
gangreneGangrene is a complication of necrosis or cell death characterized by the decay of body tissues, which become black and malodorous. It is caused by infection or ischemia, such as from thrombosis. It is usually the result of critically insufficient blood supply and is often associated with...
in his leg and spine. He died on 16 September after much suffering. The comte d'Artois was now Charles X, King of France.
King at last
Charles' first act as King of France was to grant the style of
Royal HighnessRoyal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
to his cousins of the cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the
OrléansOrléans is the name used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. It became a tradition during France's ancien régime for the dukedom of Orléans to be granted as an appanage to a younger son of the king...
. Because their
Philippe ÉgalitéLouis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans , was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France...
had voted the death of his brother Louis XVI, Louis XVIII had greatly disliked the Orléans family; however, Charles intended to create a unified House of Bourbon.
In the first few months of Charles X's reign, his government passed a series of unpopular laws that bolstered the power of the nobility and clergy. Charles gave his
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the functional head of the government and Council of Ministers of France. The head of state in France is the President of the French Republic...
, Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, lists of laws that he wanted ratified every time he opened parliament. In April 1825, the government approved legislation that paid an
indemnityAn indemnity is a sum paid by A to B by way of compensation for a particular loss suffered by B. The indemnifying party may or may not be responsible for the loss suffered by the indemnified party...
to nobles who had lost their estates during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, those were known as the
Biens nationauxThe idea of national goods, of real estate and property that belonged neither to Crown nor Church, nor to individuals, but to the State, appeared in France at the time of the French Revolution...
. The restored Louis XVIII engineered this law, but died before he could implement it. The law gave government bonds to those who had lost their lands in exchange for their renunciation of their right of ownership. This cost the state approximately 988 million francs. Charles' government attempted to re-establish male only
primogeniturePrimogeniture is the common law right of the first-born son to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings. It is the tradition brought by the Normans to England in 1066. According to the Norman tradition, the first-born son inherited the entirety of a parent's wealth, estate,...
for families paying over 300 francs in tax. This measure was voted down by the Chamber of Deputies.
The
Anti-Sacrilege ActThe Anti-Sacrilege Act was a French law against blasphemy and sacrilege passed in January 1825 under King Charles X. The law was never applied and finally revoked in the first months of the July monarchy under King Louis-Philippe.-The draft bill:In April 1824, King Louis XVIII's government,...
was passed in the same month as the indemnity law. This act sought to punish those who committed offences against the Catholic Church. It was met with fierce hostility from the population, but was passed through the Chambers nonetheless.
Charles' coronation took place on 29 May 1825 at the cathedral of
ReimsThe city of Rheims , in English and in French, lies in the Champagne-Ardenne region in north-eastern France 129 km east-northeast of Paris....
, the site of nearly all the coronations in the
Ancien Régime. Charles was anointed by the
Archbishop of ReimsThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese around 250 by St. Sixtus, the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese around 750...
, yet another unpopular conservative move. Public opinion on Charles X took another dive. This was most apparent in April 1827, while the King was reviewing the
National GuardThe National Guard was the name given at the time of the French Revolution to the militias formed in each city, in imitation of the National Guard created in Paris. It was a military force separate from the regular army...
. Many of its regiments deplored the King, and pandemonium ensued. It all ended in Charles disbanding the National Guard of Paris. Charles X had made many enemies capable of revolting against him at any time. The National Guard was not disarmed before its dismissal, something which would come back to haunt Charles X.
Villèle lost his parliamentary majority in November 1827 after an unfavourable
general electionIn a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election...
. His ministry was terminated on 5 January 1828. A ministry under
Jean-Baptise de MartignacJean-Baptiste Sylvère Gay, vicomte de Martignac was a moderate royalist French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration 1814-30 under King Charles X....
succeeded. Charles X disliked Martignac and thought of his ministry as only provisional, but he would have to wait longer than he thought for a new ministry. Martignac was dismissed on 5 August 1829. Jules de Polignac formed a new ministry. Jules, as has been mentioned, enjoyed the confidence of the King. His government lost its majority in parliament at the end of August, when the Chateaubriand faction defected. Ergo Jules would not recall the Chambers until March 1830.
France declared war on
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
on 31 January 1830. It was done so because the
viceroyA viceroy is a royal official who runs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. His province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty. The relative...
of Algeria,
Hussein DeyHussein Dey may refer to:* Hussein Dey , last ruler of Ottoman Algeria* Hussein Dey District, a district in Algeria** Hussein Dey , its capital...
, had hit a French ambassador with a fly whisk. The initial cause for the tensions between the nations were the unruly Algerian pirates threatening Mediterranean trade and France's indebtedness to Algeria, a legacy of Napoleon's invasion of
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
in 1798. It was hoped that by triumphing over Algeria the citizens of France would be distracted from the governments' unpopularity and bask in national victory.
The Chambers convened on 2 March 1830, as planned. Charles' speech at the opening invoked a negative reaction from many deputies. They responded by voting, on 18 March, a document promulgating that the King's ministers should have the backing of the Chambers. 221 deputies voted for the document, a majority by 30. The King was furious about the bill. The day before, he and his council of ministers decided to call a general election for September. The Chambers were suspended on 19 March pending the results.
On 23 June, the elections began. On 6 July, the King and his council of ministers decided to execute Article 14 of the Charter. This article allowed the King to suspend the constitution in the event of an emergency. Charles X intended to use his emergency powers to call another general election and manipulate electoral laws to return the desired result. The council drafted the
Four OrdinancesJuly Ordinances, also known as Ordinances of Saint-Cloud, were a series of decrees set forth by Charles X and Jules Armand de Polignac, the chief minister, in July 1830....
. The first ordinance censored the press, the second dissolved the new Chamber of Deputies, the third altered the electoral system and the fourth set an election for September.
On 9 July, French troops captured
AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
, winning the Franco-Algerian war. On 25 July, Charles gave his Royal Assent to the Four Ordinances at the
Château de Saint-CloudThe Château de Saint-Cloud was a royal Palace in France, built on a magnificent site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 10 kilometres west of Paris. Today it is a large park on the outskirts of the capital and is owned by the state, but the area as a whole has had a...
.
The July Revolution
The
MoniteurMoniteur may refer to:* Belgian Official Journal, the official newspaper of the Kingdom of Belgium* Le Moniteur Universel, official gazette of France from 1789-1869...
(the official government newspaper) printed the ordinances on 26 July. Parisians were shocked by the ordinances, but weren't discontented enough immediately. The first spark of resistance came from the media, who were effectively abolished by the commands.
Adolphe ThiersLouis-Adolphe was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
, a journalist, beckoned the people to revolt. That evening, huge crowds formed in the gardens of the Palais-Royal, such gatherings at the palace had played a prominent part in the French Revolution of 1789. People cried "Down with the Bourbons!" and "
Vive la Charte". As the night progressed, the police closed off the gardens of the Palais-Royal. The crowd re-grouped in a nearby street, where they shattered the street lamps.
On the morning of 27 July, the police raided the newspapers that continued to publish (including Thiers') and shut them down. When news of this reached the crowd, who had re-gained access to the gardens of the Palais-Royal, things began to turn violent. Soldiers opened fire on civilians, in response to missiles. By the evening carnage ruled, shops were looted.
The next day, the people of Paris began to erect barricades in streets. Marshal Marmont, who had been called in the day before to remedy the situation, urged the King to reconcile with the Parisians and recant his ordinances. Marmont's men defected to the rioters that morning. Marmont took the offensive against them, but by the afternoon the Marmont's troops had retreated to the Tuileries Palace.
The members of the Chamber of Deputies were gathered at the house of Audrey de Puyraveau. They sent a delegation of five to Marmont. Their intention was to ask Marmont to advise the King to revoke the ordinances, as they believed that the Parisians' anger would only be assuaged by doing so. Marmont agreed, and asked Jules de Polignac to intervene with the King, who refused. King Charles dismissed all of his ministers that afternoon, realising the precariousness of the situation. That evening, the Deputies, met at
Jacques Laffite'sJacques-Henri Laffite is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six grand prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. He is now a TV commentator on French television TF1.-Career:...
residence and decided that Louis-Philippe d'Orléans should take the throne from King Charles. They printed posters endorsing Louis-Philippe and distributed them throughout the city. By the end of the day, the government's authority was trampled.
Charles X had to flee St. Cloud in the early hours of 31 July, as the Parisians were scheming to sack it. Charles sought refuge at the
Palace of VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, the Île-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles....
. Meanwhile in Paris, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans accepted the post of Lieutenant General of the Kingdom from deputies of the Chambers.
On 2 August, Charles X had retreated further to the
Château de RambouilletThe château de Rambouillet is a castle in the town of Rambouillet, Yvelines department, in the Île-de-France region in northern France, 50 km southwest of Paris...
. Three regiments of the
Royal GuardA Royal Guard describes any group of military bodyguard, soldiers or retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as a King or Queen...
abandoned him. Charles realised that all hope was lost for him and the same day he and the Dauphin abdicated in favor of Henri, duc de Bordeaux. The abdication document was sent to the Lieutenant General of the Kingdom. The document requested him to declare Bordeaux King Henri V of France. Louis-Philippe ignored the document, much to the indignation of Charles X.
The Royal Family, were forced to leave Rambouillet when it became apparent that a mob of aproximately 14,000 people was coming to get them.
On 9 August, the Chamber of Deputies declared Louis-Philippe King of the French, thereby deposing the senior line of the House of Bourbon.
Second exile and death
On 16 August, Charles and his family embarked on packet steamers, provided by Louis-Philippe, to the United Kingdom. They were informed by the British Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, that they needed to arrive in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as private citizens. Therefore, all of the Royal Family adopted pseudonyms, with Charles X becoming the comte de Ponthieu. The Bourbons were greeted coldly by the English, upon their arrival tri-colour flags were waved at them mockingly (the flag of Louis-Philippe's France). The Bourbons were allowed to reside in
DorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town has been Dorchester since at least 1305, situated in the south of the county at . Between its extreme points Dorset measures from east to west and north to south, and has an area of...
, in
Lulworth CastleLulworth Castle, in East Lulworth, Dorset, situated south of Wool, is an early 17th century mock castle. The stone building has now been re-built as a museum....
.
Charles X's arrival in England was quickly picked up by his creditors, who had loaned him vast sums during his first exile, who were yet to be paid back in full. Fortunately, Marie-Thérèse had money stocked away in London.
The family's stay in Dorset was brief in duration, and soon moved to
Holyrood PalaceThe Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the Monarch of the United Kingdom in Scotland. Founded as a monastery by David I, King of Scots in 1128, it has served as the principal residence of the Kings and Queens of Scots since the 15th century. The Palace stands at the bottom of the...
in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
. Here, the Duchesse de Berry lived nearby in
Regent TerraceRegent Terrace is a residential road of 34 classical 3-bay townhouses, on the side of Calton Hill in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Regent Terrace was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the rest of Edinburgh's New and Old Town in 1995.- Houses :...
and vied for the nominal regency of her son, Henri V. At first, Charles X refused to give in to her demands. In December 1830, he capitulated and gave the Duchesse her desired regency, but only should she land in France
[. The Duchess mysteriously vanished soon after, and made her way to her Italian relatives by way of the Netherlands, Prussia, Austria and Italy][. She got little encouragerment there and arrived in Marseilles, France in April][, then making her way to the Vendée]The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.- History :...
where she tried to instigate a Royalist rising. The attempt failed, and she was imprisoned. Charles X was horrified and embarrassed by his daughter-in-law's behaviour.
The family was invited to PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" , "city of a hundred spires", or Stověžatá Praha in Czech and "the golden city" or Zlaté město in Czech.Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the...
by Emperor Francis I of AustriaFrancis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
in 1832. The Bourbons arrived in Prague in that winter and were given the use of Hradschin Palace by the Emperor.
Since leaving her prison in France, the duchesse de Berry had re-married. Her new husband was a minor Neapolitan noble, the Count de Luchessi-Palli. This morganatic match only served to dismay Charles X further. As a result he banned her from seeing her children.
In September 1833, Henri V reached the age of majority (thirteen). Bourbon legitimists gathered in Prague to celebrate the event. They had expected grand celebrations, but Charles X merely proclaimed his grandson's majority in a statement. On the same day, after much cajoling by Chateaubriand, the Countess de Luchessi-Palli's emissaryEmissary may refer to:* Ambassador* Diplomat* The Subspace Emissary, the single player Adventure mode in the video game Super Smash Bros. Brawl.* Emissaries , an album by black metal group Melechesh...
, Charles X agreed to meet with the Countess. They met in a hotel in LeobenLeoben is a city in Styria, in central Austria, located on the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000, Leoben is a local industrial center and hosts the University of Leoben which specialises in mining...
on 13 October 1833. Charles X informed Henri V and his sister, LouiseLouise Marie Thérèse d'Artois was the eldest daughter of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, younger son of King Charles X of France and his wife Princess Caroline Ferdinande of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of King Francis I of the Two...
, that their mother had re-married en route. They were disgusted by the news and refused to meet with her. At the meeting, the Countess de Luchessi-Palli made an assortment of demands, which Charles X refused, but after much protest from the duchesse d'Angoulême, he capitulated once more, and allowed the duchesse de Berry to see her children in the summer of 1834.
The family left Hradschin Palace when the Emperor Francis I died in March 1835. Francis' successor, Ferdinand INot to be confused with Ferdinand I, Holy Roman EmperorFerdinand was Emperor of Austria, President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary, and associated dominions from the death of his father, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, until his abdication after the Revolutions of 1848.He married...
wished to use the palace for his coronation. Charles and his family briefly moved to Teplitz, but upon discovering Ferdinand's intention to use the palace on a more permanent basis, they purchased Kirchberg Castle. The Bourbons were unable to establish themselves at Kirchberg immediately, due to an outbreak of choleraCholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae from other cholera patients...
in the locality. Charles X left BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...
for the warmer climate on Austria's Mediterranean coast in October 1835. Charles caught cholera when he arrived in GoriziaGorizia is a town in northeastern Italy, at the foot of the Alps and bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin town of Nova Gorica has developed on the other side of the Italian-Slovenian border...
. He died on 6 November 1836. The townspeople draped their windows in black to mourn him. Charles was interred in the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady, in the Franciscan Kostanjevica MonasteryKostanjevica Monastery is a Franciscan monastery in Nova Gorica, Slovenia.The monastery with the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady is located on a 143 metre hill above the suburb of Pristava, close to the border with Italy....
(now in Nova GoricaNova Gorica is a town and a municipality in western Slovenia, on the Italian border...
, SloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north...
). Charles X was the last senior Bourbon to rule France.
In fiction
The comte d'Artois was portrayed by Al WeaverAlex "Al" Weaver is a British actor.Weaver studied acting at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His first paid theater role was in Trevor Nunn's 2004 production of Hamlet, at the Old Vic theatre in London...
in the 2006 film Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette is a 2006 biographical film, written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It is loosely based on the life of the titular French queen in the years leading up to the French Revolution. It won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design...
, a biography film written and directed by Sofia CoppolaSofia Carmina Coppola is an American film director, actress, producer and screenwriter. She is the third female director, and only American woman, to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing.-Early life:...
about the life of Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
, Queen of France.
Ancestors
Marriage and issue
Charles X married Marie-Thérèse de Savoie, the daughter of King Victor Amadeus III of SardiniaVictor Amadeus III was King of Sardinia from 1773 until his death.-Biography:...
, on 16 November 1773.
The couple had four children:
- Louis-Antoine, duc d'Angoulême (Louis XIX)
Louis-Antoine, Dauphin of France and Duke of Angoulême was the eldest son of King Charles X of France. When his father became King, he became also the last Dauphin of France...
(6 August 1775 – 3 June 1844)
- Sophie (5 August 1776 – 5 December 1783)
- Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry
Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Duke of Berry was the younger son of the future king, Charles X of France, and his wife, Marie Thérèse of Savoy....
(24 January 1778 – 13 February 1820)
- Marie-Thérèse (1783).