Who was Louis XV?

Answer 1

- he loved making locks and amused himself in the royal locksmith-workshop assisted by Francois Gamain the local locksmith in the castle. He was actually very fond of Gamain. They made locks together for over 20 years. Horribly enough, the locksmith Gamain eventually betrayed Louis XVI to the revolutionarees when, later, the King was surrounded by enemies, and he felt the necessity for having some secret place where he could conceal papers of importance which might yet fall into the hands of the rabble if the palace was again invaded, as it had been at Versailles, he sent for Gamain to make for him an iron chest in a place of concealment, that could only be opened by one knowing the secret of the lock. Gamain was not to be trusted, as he had turned Revolutionairy and turned the chest in to the Assemblee National. The Queen heard of Gamain's Jacobinism, and warned the King, who, however, could not believe that Gamain would betray him. Marie Antoinette insisted on the most important papers being removed from the iron chest, and they were confided to Mme. de Campan. When the trial of the King was begun, on November 20, Gamain went to Roland, Minister of the Interior, and told him the secret of the iron chest. Roland, alarmed at the consequences of such a discovery, hastened to consult his wife, who was in reality more minister than himself. On December 24 following, Gamain was summoned to Paris by the Convention to give his evidence to prove that a key discovered in the desk of Thierry de Ville-d'Avray fitted the iron chest. - He loved to hunt and to wrestle his two younger brothers to the ground - He loved to eat. A lot!

Answer 2

Louis XVI was the last real King of France. Louis XVI had the virtues of an admirable private individual but few of those required for a successful ruler, particularly during a turbulent period. He was a devoted father and husband, uncommon virtues for royalty in his day (in 1770 he married Marie-Antoinette, daughter of Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa). His chief vices were a tendency to overeat and a love of hunting. Although historians often cite with some condescension his skill as a locksmith, Louis was not entirely devoid of intellectual interests, particularly in the area of the sciences and geography. However, although sincerely interested in the well-being of his people, he was indecisive, was easily influenced, and lacked the strength to support reforming ministers, his family, the court, and the privileged classes whose position was threatened by change.

The King of France before the French Revolution.

Date and place of birth

Louis XVI (23 August 1754 - 21 January 1793),

in the Palace of Versailles in France. was given the title of Duc de Berry at birth, Out of eight children, he was the third son of the Dauphin Louis-Ferdinand, the grandson of King Louis XV of France and his consort, Queen Maria Leszczyńska. His mother was Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, the daughter of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.

Social status:

Louis was born to the third son of Dauphin Louis Ferdinand the grand son of king Louis XV of France. His mother was Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, the daughter of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.

SO in other words he was of a royal blood line.

Date of death and how and why:

Louis was officially arrested on 13 August and sent to the Temple, an ancient Paris fortress used as a prison. On 21 September, the National Convention declared France to be a republic and abolished the monarchy.

The Girondins were partial to keeping the deposed king under arrest, both as a hostage and a guarantee for the future. The more radical members - mainly the Commune and Parisian deputies who would soon be known as the Mountain - argued for Louis's immediate execution. The legal background of many of the deputies made it difficult for a great number of them to accept an execution without due process of some sort, and it was voted that the deposed monarch should be tried before the National Convention, the organ that housed the representatives of the sovereign people.

On the 11 December, among crowded and silent streets, the deposed king was brought from the Temple to stand before the Convention and hear his indictment, an accusation of High Treason and Crimes against the State. On the 26th, his counsel, Raymond de Sèze, delivered Louis's response to the charges, with the assistance of Francois Tronchet and Malesherbes.

On the 15 January of 1793 the Convention, composed of 721 deputies, voted out the verdict, which was a foregone conclusion - 693 voted guilty, and none voted for acquittal. The next day, a voting roll-call was carried out in order to decide upon the fate of the king, and the result was, for such a dramatic decision, uncomfortably close. 288 deputies voted against death and for some other alternative, mainly some means of imprisonment or exile. 72 deputies voted for the death penalty, but subject to a number of delaying conditions and reservations. 361 deputies voted for Louis's immediate death.

The next day, a motion to grant Louis reprieve from the death sentence was voted down; 310 deputies requested mercy, 380 voted for the execution of the death penalty. This decision would be final. On Monday, 21 January 1793, stripped of all titles and honorifics by the republican government, Citoyen Louis Capetwas guillotined in front of a cheering crowd in what today is the Place de la Concorde. The executioner, Charles Henri Sanson, testified that the former King had bravely met his fate.[7]

As Louis mounted the scaffold he appeared dignified and resigned. He attempted a speech in which he reasserted his innocence and pardoned those responsible for his death. He declared himself willing to die and prayed that the people of France would be spared a similar fate. He seemed about to say more when Antoine-Joseph Santerre, a general in the Garde Nationale, cut Louis off by ordering a drum roll. The former king was then quickly beheaded.

Accounts of Louis's beheading indicate that the blade did not sever his neck entirely the first time. There are also accounts of a blood-curdling scream issuing from Louis after the blade fell but this is unlikely as the blade would have severed Louis's spine. It is agreed however that, as Louis's blood dripped to the ground, many in the crowd ran forward to dip their handkerchiefs in it.[8]

4 accomplishments:

1774 Louis XVI placed Turgot in charge of finances and introduced free circulation of grain. Founded School of Medicine in Paris.

1775 Droits d'octroi were reduced, prison reform begun, and the death penalty for deserters was abolished.

1776 The king signed the six edicts of Turgot comprising the abolition of the corvee. The parlements resisted the edicts, preventing them from becoming law. In the same year he reduced his household.

1778 More taxes reduced.

1779 The king abolished servitude and other reforms were made.

1780 Further reductions in the Royal household were made, hospital reform was begun, prison reform continued, most torture was abolished.

1784 Relief given to Jews.

1786 More hospital reform, aid to the deaf, and provisions made for lost children.

1787 Steps taken towards the total abolition of the corvee, more reductions in royal household, civil rights accorded to Jews and Protestants.

1788 All forms of torture were abolished, greater freedom given to press, steps towards abolition of lettres de cachet.

Physical Description:

Family background:

On 16 May 1770, at the age of fifteen, Louis-Auguste married the fourteen-year-old Austrian-born Archduchess Maria Antonia von Habsburg-Lothringen (better known by the French form of her name, Marie Antoinette), the youngest daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his wife, the formidable Empress Maria Theresa. The marriage was initially amiable but distant - Louis-Auguste's shyness meant that he failed to consummate the union, much to his wife's distress, whilst his fear of being manipulated by her for Imperial purposes caused him to behave coldly towards her in public.[3] Over time, the couple (who were second cousins once removed) became closer, and the marriage was consummated in July 1778.Later on that year Louis was homsexually raped by his Tutor, a fact that not many people know.

Political background:

Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Upon the death of his father, the Dauphin, who died of tuberculosis on 20 December 1765, the eleven-year-old Louis-Auguste became the new Dauphin. His mother, who had never recovered from the loss of her husband, died on 13 March 1767, also from tuberculosis. The strict and conservative education he received from the duc de La Vauguyon, "gouverneur des Enfants de France" (governor of the Children of France) from 1760 until his marriage in 1770 did not prepare him for the throne he was to inherit in 1774 at the death of his grandfather.

Date and place of birth

Louis XVI (23 August 1754 - 21 January 1793),

in the Palace of Versailles in France. was given the title of Duc de Berry at birth, Out of eight children, he was the third son of the Dauphin Louis-Ferdinand, the grandson of King Louis XV of France and his consort, Queen Maria Leszczyńska. His mother was Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, the daughter of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.

Social status:

Louis was born to the third son of Dauphin Louis Ferdinand the grand son of king Louis XV of France. His mother was Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, the daughter of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.

SO in other words he was of a royal blood line.

Date of death and how and why:

Louis was officially arrested on 13 August and sent to the Temple, an ancient Paris fortress used as a prison. On 21 September, the National Convention declared France to be a republic and abolished the monarchy.

The Girondins were partial to keeping the deposed king under arrest, both as a hostage and a guarantee for the future. The more radical members - mainly the Commune and Parisian deputies who would soon be known as the Mountain - argued for Louis's immediate execution. The legal background of many of the deputies made it difficult for a great number of them to accept an execution without due process of some sort, and it was voted that the deposed monarch should be tried before the National Convention, the organ that housed the representatives of the sovereign people.

On the 11 December, among crowded and silent streets, the deposed king was brought from the Temple to stand before the Convention and hear his indictment, an accusation of High Treason and Crimes against the State. On the 26th, his counsel, Raymond de Sèze, delivered Louis's response to the charges, with the assistance of Francois Tronchet and Malesherbes.

On the 15 January of 1793 the Convention, composed of 721 deputies, voted out the verdict, which was a foregone conclusion - 693 voted guilty, and none voted for acquittal. The next day, a voting roll-call was carried out in order to decide upon the fate of the king, and the result was, for such a dramatic decision, uncomfortably close. 288 deputies voted against death and for some other alternative, mainly some means of imprisonment or exile. 72 deputies voted for the death penalty, but subject to a number of delaying conditions and reservations. 361 deputies voted for Louis's immediate death.

The next day, a motion to grant Louis reprieve from the death sentence was voted down; 310 deputies requested mercy, 380 voted for the execution of the death penalty. This decision would be final. On Monday, 21 January 1793, stripped of all titles and honorifics by the republican government, Citoyen Louis Capetwas guillotined in front of a cheering crowd in what today is the Place de la Concorde. The executioner, Charles Henri Sanson, testified that the former King had bravely met his fate.[7]

As Louis mounted the scaffold he appeared dignified and resigned. He attempted a speech in which he reasserted his innocence and pardoned those responsible for his death. He declared himself willing to die and prayed that the people of France would be spared a similar fate. He seemed about to say more when Antoine-Joseph Santerre, a general in the Garde Nationale, cut Louis off by ordering a drum roll. The former king was then quickly beheaded.

Accounts of Louis's beheading indicate that the blade did not sever his neck entirely the first time. There are also accounts of a blood-curdling scream issuing from Louis after the blade fell but this is unlikely as the blade would have severed Louis's spine. It is agreed however that, as Louis's blood dripped to the ground, many in the crowd ran forward to dip their handkerchiefs in it.[8]

4 accomplishments:

1774 Louis XVI placed Turgot in charge of finances and introduced free circulation of grain. Founded School of Medicine in Paris.

1775 Droits d'octroi were reduced, prison reform begun, and the death penalty for deserters was abolished.

1776 The king signed the six edicts of Turgot comprising the abolition of the corvee. The parlements resisted the edicts, preventing them from becoming law. In the same year he reduced his household.

1778 More taxes reduced.

1779 The king abolished servitude and other reforms were made.

1780 Further reductions in the Royal household were made, hospital reform was begun, prison reform continued, most torture was abolished.

1784 Relief given to Jews.

1786 More hospital reform, aid to the deaf, and provisions made for lost children.

1787 Steps taken towards the total abolition of the corvee, more reductions in royal household, civil rights accorded to Jews and Protestants.

1788 All forms of torture were abolished, greater freedom given to press, steps towards abolition of lettres de cachet.

Physical Description:

Family background:

On 16 May 1770, at the age of fifteen, Louis-Auguste married the fourteen-year-old Austrian-born Archduchess Maria Antonia von Habsburg-Lothringen (better known by the French form of her name, Marie Antoinette), the youngest daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his wife, the formidable Empress Maria Theresa. The marriage was initially amiable but distant - Louis-Auguste's shyness meant that he failed to consummate the union, much to his wife's distress, whilst his fear of being manipulated by her for Imperial purposes caused him to behave coldly towards her in public.[3] Over time, the couple (who were second cousins once removed) became closer, and the marriage was consummated in July 1778.Later on that year Louis was homsexually raped by his Tutor, a fact that not many people know.

Political background:

Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Upon the death of his father, the Dauphin, who died of tuberculosis on 20 December 1765, the eleven-year-old Louis-Auguste became the new Dauphin. His mother, who had never recovered from the loss of her husband, died on 13 March 1767, also from tuberculosis. The strict and conservative education he received from the duc de La Vauguyon, "gouverneur des Enfants de France" (governor of the Children of France) from 1760 until his marriage in 1770 did not prepare him for the throne he was to inherit in 1774 at the death of his grandfather.

Answer 3

Louis XV was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death on 10 May 1774.

Answer 4

They were both Kings of France. Louis XV died because of smallpox and Louis XVI died on the guillotine. Given the choice, most rational humans would opt for the guillotine.

Answer 5

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