Charles X of France

Charles X (Castle of Versailles, October 9th 1757 - Gorizia, Empire of Austria, November 6th 1836) was king de France and coprince of Andorra of 1824 with 1830.

Youth

Charles was the fifth wire of the dolphin Louis de France (1729-1765) and of Marie Josèphe of Saxony (1731-1767), grandson of Louis XV, and brother of Louis XVI and the count de Provence, future Louis XVIII. He was initially titrated wire of France and count d' Artois (in memory of Robert de France, count d' Artois, brother of holy Louis), but the choice of this title would be also related to the consequences of the attempted murder carried out by Damiens against Louis XV.
Indeed, following this attempt at regicide, the States d' Artois gathered under the presidency of the marquis of Créquy, first baron of the province, to express in Louis XV their desolation of what the criminal was Artesian, and in repair proposed that the province paid this year the double of what it was to provide out of money and men for the service of the crown. Louis XV did not want to accept this sacrifice and to testify with this province his absence to any resentment, made give the title of count d' Artois to its fourth grandson, precisely born this year ( Memories of the marchioness of Créquy (work apocryphal book full with improbabilities) ).

He was baptized the October 19th 1761 with the first names Charles Philippe and with for godmother his aunt Sophie de France (1734-1782) and for godfather Charles III of Spain.

Marriage and family

He married the November 16th 1773 Marie Therese of Sardinia (1756-1805), of which he had two wire, Louis-Antoine, the duke of Angouleme (future dolphin) and Charles Ferdinand, the duke of Berry, and two girls died in low age: Sophie (1776-1785) and Marie-Therese (1783).

In 1772, he is general colonel of Swiss and Grison. He attended the sacring of his brother Louis XVI, represented the duke of Normandy. Prerogative of the duchies of Angouleme and Mercoeur.

Its great love: Louise d' Esparbès de Lussan

In its youth he was a large amateur of pretty women and little resisted to him. To a certain moment it durably stuck to Madam de Polastron, born Louise d' Esparbès de Lussan, which was the wife of Denis de Polastron (° 1758 - † 1821), half-brother of Yolande de Polastron. This connection did not give any descent to the count d' Artois.

Louise d' Esparbès de Lussan become by its marriage Madam de Polastron was thus to be the sister-in-law of Yolande de Polastron, countess of Polignac, controlling Children of France, friend of the queen Marie-Antoinette. Friend of the latter, the count d' Artois went as it unpopular by its ill-considered expenditure and the public allotted a connection to them, wrongly undoubtedly.

Denis de Polastron, the husband of Louise, embraced the military career and fought at the time of the Guerre of independence of the United States of America during which it was named Colonel in the Régiment of Fayette. He died at the 63 years age in 1821.

Louise d' Esparbès de Lussan died precociously of the Tuberculose in 1804 at the 39 years age. The Count of Artois had much sorrow and was very afflicted by this disappearance, because it of it had been really in love. One can even say that Louise was one of large the loves of her life, if not the only one which had a true importance. It was marked so much by this mourning which struck it hard in the middle of its intimate life that it decided to pronounce a wish of perpetual Chasteté and to reinforce its religious convictions at the point to become a true excessively pious person. Its private life became entirely irreproachable. Little time after, it approached the current Ultramontain of the Catholic church of France whose it supported with enthusiasm the influence.

Its sons

Its preference went to its young person sons, Charles Ferdinand, duke of Berry, which resembled to him much, to the physique as with the moral one. The elder one, Louis Antoine, duke of Angouleme, on the contrary was timid and suffered from problems of impotence and nervous twitches.

The political career

He started to be interested in the policy with the first great crisis of monarchy, in 1786, after which he took the head of the faction reactionary at the court of Louis XVI. Charles accepted the suppression of the financial privileges of the aristocracy, but not the reduction of the social privileges which the Church and the nobility enjoyed. He thought that one could reform finances of France without reversing monarchy. According to its own words, time had come to repair but not to demolish.

It caused the anger of the Tiers state while being opposed to any initiative to increase its right to vote in 1789, leading his brother to show it to be “ more royalist than the king ”.

In connection with the baron de Breteuil, it tied political alliances to drive out Necker. This plan failed when Charles tried to make it return on July 11th, without Breteuil not being with the current, much more early than they had envisaged in the beginning. It was the beginning of an estrangement which changed of reciprocal hatred.

Emigration

The count d' Artois was one of the first to emigrate, the July 16th 1789. He traversed various the courses of the Europe to seek defenders with the royal cause. He was with Turin September 1789 at July 1791, where he then carried the title of Marquis of Maisons, like with Brussels, Coblentz, Liege. He left Hamm in August 1794 as count de Ponthieu. He went finally in Great Britain and attended the conferences of Pillnitz, 1791. Named by Mister (his brother, future Louis XVIII) become general Lieutenant of the kingdom after the death of his/her brother Louis XVI, of January 28th 1793 with 1814. With died of its nephew Louis XVII the June 8th 1795, it is called Sir, brother of the King. He wanted to operate, with the help of the English, an unloading with the island of Yeu on the coasts of the the Vendée (1795) (to help the Vendéens insurrectionists), but he could not there succeed. He went in Great Britain where he passed the remainder of the Révolution and of the First Empire.

Restoration

In 1814, it was named Lieutenant-general kingdom, it penetrated in Franche-Comté, following the allies, and made its entry with Paris the April 12th. At the first time, it could reconcile the spirits by the Aménité in its manners; but it was lost soon in the opinion while signing, with an eagerness which Louis XVIII even condemned, a treaty which removed in France all the places conquered since 1792. After the 2nd return of Louis XVIII (1815), it was held far away from the businesses and employed all its time is with the hunting which was for him a passion, that is to say with religious practices.

Chief occults royalist party

However, in spite of appearances, there secretly remained active in the political arena and he was actually the occult chief of the ultraroyalist left. Many royalists were unaware of however that Charles X was freemason. He was not very active in the cabins but refused to reject the anticlericals.

Reign

To died of his/her brother Louis XVIII, in 1824, it went up on the throne and joined again with the tradition of the sacring, the May 29th 1825 in the Cathédrale of Rheims, where the cardinal of Fare made a noticed speech. It begin with some liberal measurements and abolishes the censure of the newspapers, but it was not long in being thrown in the arms of the Ultra-royaliste S, whose Jean-Baptiste de Villèle was the chief, and alienated the opinion by the Loi of the sacrilege, the concession of a billion allowance to the emigrated , the dismissal of the national guard, the re-establishment of the censure (1825 - 1827). Its reign was marked by the domination of the “extremists”, the fringe revanchist of the royalists, opposed to the Charte of 1814.

Its devout Catholicism upset the people of Paris, readily Anticlérical even anticatholic; as with the burial of Louis XVIII it was equipped with purple, color of mourning of kings de France, the noise ran that he was bishop, of the caricatures showed it celebrating the mass in front of the members of its family and the thing was generally allowed in the opinion. Once again, many anticlericals were unaware of that he was in parallel freemason.

To calm the dissatisfied ones, it formed in January 1828 a moderated ministry, chaired by of Martignac. This repairing ministry had already succeeded in bringing back the spirits, when it abruptly was congédié and replaced, the August 8th 1829, by the ministry of Jules de Polignac, which made reappear all the distrusts. Indeed, little month afterwards, and in spite of the respectful warning given by the addresses of the 221 deputies, appeared the “Ordonnances of Saint-Cloud” which dissolved the rooms, convened the electoral colleges by changing mode of election, and suspended freedom of the press (July 25th 1830). In front of the development of the liberal opposition, Charles X tried to restore his authority.

Two significant events were achieved under the reign of Charles X:

the intervention in favor of the Greek S, which had as a result the victory of Navarin (1827) and brought the stamping from the Greece (1830),
forwarding against the Dey d' Alger, which had insulted the French Consul, forwarding which crowned the Prise of Algiers (July 6th 1830).

" Revolution of Juillet"

These unconstitutional ordinances excited a universal rising immediately, Paris raised 27, 28 and July 29th, they are the Glorious Three of 1830, or “Revolution of July”, which reverse finally Charles X. the 30, Louis-Philippe, duke of Orleans, is named Lieutenant-general of the kingdom by the risen deputies, station which it accepted the 31. It reduced the right to the great landowners.

Abdication

August 2nd, Charles X, withdrawn with Rambouillet, abdicates, and convinces his/her oldest son the dolphin Louis Antoine to contresign abdication. He entrusts to his cousin the duke of Orleans the task to announce that its abdication is made with the profit of its grandson the duke of Bordeaux, making of the duke of Orleans the Regent.

Their resolution was announced in a letter of Charles X with the duke of Orleans:

“ My cousin,

I am too deeply penetrated of the evils which afflict and which could threaten my people not to have sought a means of preventing them. I thus took the resolution to abdicate the crown in favor of my grandson the duke of Bordeaux.

the Dolphin, which shares my feelings, also gives up its rights in favor of its nephew.

You will have, in your capacity as general lieutenant of the kingdom, to make proclaim the advent of Henri V to the crown. Besides you will take all measurements which concern you to regulate the shapes of the new government during the minority of the new king…

You will communicate my intentions with the diplomatic corps and will make known me to you as soon as possible the proclamation by which my grandson will be recognized under the name of Henri V.”

There exists a controversy on abdication: Charles X could not force his son to give up his rights, because the dynasty of France was successive and nonhereditary. This last, become fictitiously “Louis XIX” between the moment when his/her father signed abdication and moment when itself contresigned it, could have preserved the crown for itself and have taken again in hand the army and the country. But finally, it renonça by obedience or weakness.
In spite of abdication, the duke of Orleans seized the power under the name of “Louis-Philippe Ier”. The August 3rd, indeed, in front of the joined together Rooms, it announced well the abdication of Charles X, contresigned by the dolphin, but did not mention that it was carried out in favor of the duke of Bordeaux. In addition, Charles X - already in exile prohibited with the duchess of Berry, the mother of the duke of Bordeaux, to bring his/her son to Paris. Charles X embarked with Cherbourg for the exile, without leaving of instruction to his faithful. It was then the beginning of the Monarchie of July. In exile, Charles X carried the title of courtesy of “count de Ponthieu”.
The deposed king withdrew himself initially with the Palais of Holyrood, in Scotland. Thanks to its good relationships with the Habsbourg, it settles with the Château of Prague. It receives there visits of Chateaubriand. They leave then to České Budějovice. It must flee an cholera epidemic and leaves finally in Görz (then in Austria, current Gorizia in the Friuli, Italy). He dies in this city of the Choléra in 1836. He was buried with Kostanjevica (Nova Gorica, Slovenia).

Died

With died of Charles X, the effect of the double abdication of the August 2nd 1830 should have led to the proclamation of its grandson, the duke of Bordeaux, under the name of Henri V . However, the oldest son of Charles X, the dolphin Louis Antoine, signed a proclamation in which, while confirming his renunciation of 1830, he declared that “in the current circumstances”, the interest of its nephew required that he was “chief of the Maison of France” and invested royal authority, under the name of “Louis XIX” and with the title of courtesy of “count de Marnes”, until the day when “monarchy legitimates will be restored”: he would then transmit the crown to his nephew.

This subtlety is explained by the fact why, the death of Charles X investing ipso facto the dolphin of the royalty, it was enough to notify the death with the courses European to also notify the rise in Louis XIX. On the other hand, the recognition of the accession to the throne of Henri V implied the notification of the double abdication of 1830, which one could fear that the courses would refuse to receive it since they had recognized all the monarchy of July.

A descendant of Charles X reigns nowadays: the large-duke Henri of Luxembourg. Indeed, his/her grandfather, Felix of Bourbon-Parma, husband of Charlotte of Luxembourg, had as a grandmother Louise d' Artois, girl of the duke of Berry and grand-daughter of Charles X.

See too

Applicants with the throne of France since 1830
Legitimism
Restoration
Phoebus of Berberies Enthusiastic defender of Charles X

Random links: