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Charles X of France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles XKing of France and Navarre
Reign 16 September 1824 – 2 August 1830
Coronation 28 May 1825
Predecessor Louis XVIII
Successor De Jure Louis XIX immediately abdicated, never proclaimed King
Henry V never proclaimed King
De Facto Louis-Philippe I
Spouse Marie-Thérèse de Savoie
Issue
Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême
Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry
Full name
Charles-Philippe
Father Louis-Ferdinand, Dauphin of Viennois
Mother Marie-Josèphe of Saxony
Born 9 October 1757(1757-10-09)
Palace of Versailles, France
Died 6 November 1836 (aged 79)
Gorizia, Austrian Empire
Burial Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady, Castagnavizza, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Charles X (9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) ruled as King of France and Navarre from 20 May 1824 until the French Revolution of 1830, when he abdicated. He was the last king of the senior Bourbon line to reign over France.
Biography
Early life
Charles-Philippe was born in the Palace of Versailles, the fifth son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and his wife, Marie-Josèphe of Saxony. His paternal grandparents were King Louis XV of France and his consort, Queen Maria Leszczyńska. As the grandson of the king, he was a Petit-Fils de France. His maternal grandparents were King Augustus III of Poland, also the Elector of Saxony, and his wife, the Archduchess Maria Josepha, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I. At birth, he received the title of comte d'Artois. During most of the reign of his oldest surviving brother, King Louis XVI, he was fourth in line to the throne after the King's two young sons and his brother, the comte de Provence. However, after the accession of the comte de Provence as King Louis XVIII of France in 1814, he became heir presumptive and was generally known as Monsieur, the traditional title of the eldest of the king's younger brothers.
Charles was charming, affectionate and a witty conversationalist. Despite a flurry of youthful hedonism, he was also devoutly religious. A strong belief in the Roman Catholic Church bound him closely to his younger sister, Madame Élisabeth. Charles attended the French and Spanish siege of Gibraltar as an observer in 1782, and saw the destruction of the floating batteries.
As a young prince he was a noted womanizer, popular, well-mannered and entertaining. He struck up a firm friendship with his sister-in-law, Marie Antoinette of Austria. 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 Trianon. 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 Bagatelle. In 1775, Charles purchased a small hunting lodge in the Bois de Boulogne. 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 neoclassical architect François-Joseph Bélanger 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.
Considered the handsomest member of the royal family, his affairs were 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 (née d'Esparbès de Lussan) (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.
As a father, his clear favourite was his youngest son, Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry, who most closely resembled his father in looks and personality. Relations with his eldest son, Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, were more strained as Louis-Antoine was a quiet, weak and introverted liberal with a nervous disposition.
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."
He also enraged the Third Estate (politicians representing the commoners) by objecting to every initiative to increase their voting power in 1789. This prompted criticism from his brother, who accused him of being "plus royaliste que le roi" ("more royalist than the King").
In conjunction with the baron de Breteuil, Charles had political alliances arranged to depose the liberal prime minister, Jacques Necker. 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.
In Exile
Henri IV
Sister
Catherine, Duchess of Lorraine
Children included
Louis XIII
Elisabeth, Queen of Spain
Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy
Nicholas Henri, duc d'Orléans
Gaston, duc d'Orléans
Henrietta Maria, Queen of England
Louis XIII
Children
Louis XIV
Philippe, duc d'Orléans
Louis XIV
Children included
Louis, Dauphin
Marie-Anne
Marie-Therèse
Philippe-Charles, duc d'Anjou
Grandchildren included
Louis, Dauphin
King Felipe V of Spain
Charles, duc de Berry
Great Grandchildren included
Louis, Dauphin
Louis XV
Louis XV
Children included
Louise-Elisabeth, duchesse de Parme
Madame Henriette
Louis, Dauphin
Madame Adélaïde
Madame Victoire
Madame Sophie
Madame Louise
Grandchildren included
Marie Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia
Louis XVI
Louis XVIII
Charles X
Madame Élisabeth
Louis XVI
Children included
Marie-Thérèse, duchesse d'Angouleme
Louis-Joseph, Dauphin
Louis XVII
Sophie-Beatrix
Louis XVII
Louis XVIII
Charles X
Children
Louis XIX
Charles, duc de Berry
Grandchildren included
Henri V
Louise, duchesse de Parme
French monarchy, 843–1870
Royal styles of
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Reference style His Most Christian Majesty
Spoken style Your Most Christian Majesty
Alternative style Monsieur Le Roi
After the fall of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 he was ordered to leave France by his brother Louis XVI, who feared that Charles would soon be the victim of an assassination due to his expressed conservatism. It was also Louis's intention that Charles should represent the Bourbon Monarchy abroad, and carry on the dynasty if the worst should happen.
In exile — first in Germany and then Italy — Charles feared that his brother, the comte de Provence, would compromise with the Revolution and betray the Monarchy. He took the disastrous decision of appointing Calonne to his council, which outraged Marie Antoinette. This was an end to Charles and Marie Antoinette's deep friendship, and Charles was left wracked with guilt after her execution in 1793. Charles's major foreign ally at this time was Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia, who preferred Charles to the baron de Breteuil, who was the opposing leader of the royalists-in-exile.