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Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (French: le Désiré), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815.
Louis XVIII (born Nov. 17, 1755, Versailles, Fr.—died Sept. 16, 1824, Paris) was the king of France by title from 1795 and in fact from 1814 to 1824, except for the interruption of the Hundred Days, during which Napoleon attempted to recapture his empire.
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Born and raised in Versailles, the prince was imbued throughout his life with the refined culture of the dying Ancien Régime, and held the highest opinion of his birth and rank. He was also the most politically involved of Louis XV’s three grandsons. The Count of Provence, future Louis XVIII.
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Historians still disagree about the true character and principles of Louis XVIII. Some regard him as the epitome of moderation and statesmanship, a wise king wholike his ancestor Henry IVwished to conciliate all factions. But for others, he was a cynical and narrow old monarch who resorted to compromise only when circumstances forced his hand. He p...
Prior to his accession Louis XVIII was known as Louis Stanislas Xavier, Count of Provence. He had emigrated in June 1791 (when his older brother Louis XVI made his abortive flight to Varennes) and had spent the next 2 decades wandering about Europe. After having sojourned in Germany, Italy, Poland, and Russia, he had repaired to England (1809), whe...
Having rejected the constitution hastily drafted by the Napoleonic Senate, Louis promulgated one of his own (June 4). The Charter of 1814 established a liberal constitutional monarchy and preserved many of the reforms of the Revolution. Disgusted by the king's program of reconciliation, some ultraroyalists talked of a coup against \\"King Voltaire, ...
The period from 1816 to 1820 was one of moderate reform, sponsored by the Richelieu and Decazes ministries. In 1818 the Allied indemnity was paid and the army of occupation withdrawn. A new army law opened careers to commoners with ability, and in 1819 a new press law allowed periodicals to appear without the prior consent of the government. But th...
There is no complete edition of Louis's letters, but some were published in the correspondence and memoirs of Lord Castlereagh, the Vicomte de Chateaubriand, Prince Metternich, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, the Comte de Villèle, the Duke of Wellington, and other contemporary statesmen. The most comprehensive studies of Louis XVIII and his time are...
Louis XVIII (17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824) was King of France from April 1814 to March 1815 and again from July 1815 to September 1824. He became king with the Bourbon Restoration of the monarchy after the overthrow of Napoleon I.
Louis XVIII, known as the Desired, was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent 23 years in exile from 1791: during the French Revolution and the First French Empire (1804–1814), and during the Hundred Days.
Bourbon Restoration, (1814–30) in France, the period that began when Napoleon I abdicated and the Bourbon monarchs were restored to the throne. The First Restoration occurred when Napoleon fell from power and Louis XVIII became king.
