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Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned
Louis XVII Louis XVII (born Louis Charles, Duke of Normandy; 27 March 1785 – 8 June 1795) was the younger son of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette. His older brother, Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France, died in June 1789, a little over a m ...
and younger brother to reigning kings
Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
and
Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), 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 twenty-three years in ...
, he supported the latter in exile. After the Bourbon Restoration in 1814, Charles (as heir-presumptive) became the leader of the
ultra-royalist The Ultra-royalists (french: ultraroyalistes, collectively Ultras) were a French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who strongly supported Roman Cath ...
s, a radical monarchist faction within the French court that affirmed rule by divine right and opposed the concessions towards liberals and guarantees of civil liberties granted by the
Charter of 1814 The French Charter of 1814 was a constitutional text granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after the Bourbon Restoration, in form of royal charter. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before he ...
. Charles gained influence within the French court after the assassination of his son
Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Duke of Berry (24 January 1778 – 14 February 1820) was the third child and younger son of Charles X, King of France, (whom he predeceased) by his wife Maria Theresa of Savoy. In June 1832, two years after the overthro ...
, in 1820 and succeeded his brother Louis XVIII in 1824.
Munro Price Munro Price is a British historian noted for his award-winning work on French history. Early life Price was born (February 1963) in London to playwright and author Stanley Price and his wife Judy ( Fenton) and raised in Highgate. Education ...
, ''The Perilous Crown: France between Revolutions'', Macmillan, pp. 185–187.
His reign of almost six years proved to be deeply unpopular amongst the liberals in France from the moment of his
coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...
in 1825, in which he tried to revive the practice of the
royal touch The royal touch (also known as the king's touch) was a form of laying on of hands, whereby French and English monarchs touched their subjects, regardless of social classes, with the intent to cure them of various diseases and conditions. The ...
. The governments appointed under his reign reimbursed former
landowners In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land owned by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individual ...
for the abolition of feudalism at the expense of bondholders, increased the power of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and reimposed
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
for
sacrilege Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object, site or person. This can take the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things. When the sacrilegious offence is verbal, it is called blasphemy, and when physica ...
, leading to conflict with the liberal-majority Chamber of Deputies. Charles also approved the French conquest of Algeria as a way to distract his citizens from domestic problems, and forced
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
to pay a hefty indemnity in return for lifting a blockade and recognizing Haiti's independence. He eventually appointed a conservative government under the premiership of Prince Jules de Polignac, who was defeated in the 1830 French legislative election. He responded with the
July Ordinances The July Ordinances, also known as the Four 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. Compelled by what he felt to be a growing, manipulative radi ...
disbanding the Chamber of Deputies, limiting franchise, and reimposing
press censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
. Within a week France faced urban riots which led to the
July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...
of 1830, which resulted in his abdication and the election of
Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...
as
King of the French The precise style of French sovereigns varied over the years. Currently, there is no French sovereign; three distinct traditions (the Legitimist, the Orleanist, and the Bonapartist) exist, each claiming different forms of title. The three styles ...
. Exiled once again, Charles died in 1836 in
Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gori ...
, then part of the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...
. He was the last of the French rulers from the senior branch of the
House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanis ...
.


Childhood and adolescence

Charles Philippe of France was born in 1757, the youngest son of the Dauphin
Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...
and his wife, the Dauphine Marie Josèphe, at the Palace of Versailles. Charles was created
Count of Artois The count of Artois (French: Comtes d'Artois, Dutch: Graven van Artesië) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French revolutionaries in 1790. House of Artois *Odalric (c. 850 ...
at birth by his grandfather, the reigning King
Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
. As the youngest male in the family, Charles seemed unlikely ever to become king. His eldest brother,
Louis, Duke of Burgundy Louis, Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy (16 August 1682 – 18 February 1712), was the eldest son of Louis, Grand Dauphin, and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria and grandson of the reigning French king, Louis XIV. He was known as the "Petit ...
, died unexpectedly in 1761, which moved Charles up one place in the line of succession. He was raised in early childhood by Madame de Marsan, the
Governess of the Children of France The Governess of the Children of France (sometimes the Governess of the Royal Children) was office at the royal French court during pre-Revolutionary France and the Bourbon Restoration. She was charged with the education of the children and grandchi ...
. At the death of his father in 1765, Charles's oldest surviving brother, Louis Auguste, became the new Dauphin (the
heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
to the French throne). Their mother Marie Josèphe, who never recovered from the loss of her husband, died in March 1767 from
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. This left Charles an orphan at the age of nine, along with his siblings Louis Auguste, Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence,
Clotilde Clotilde ( 474–545), also known as Clothilde, Clotilda, Clotild, Rotilde etc. (Latin: Chrodechildis, Chlodechildis from Frankish ''*Hrōþihildi'' or perhaps ''*Hlōdihildi'', both "famous in battle"), was a Queen of All the Franks. She was s ...
("Madame Clotilde"), and Élisabeth ("Madame Élisabeth"). Louis XV fell ill on 27 April 1774 and died on 10 May of
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
at the age of 64.Antonia Fraser, ''Marie Antoinette: the Journey'', pp. 113–116. His grandson Louis-Auguste succeeded him as King Louis XVI.


Marriage and private life

In November 1773, Charles married
Marie Thérèse of Savoy Maria Theresa of Savoy (french: Marie Thérèse de Savoie; 31 January 1756 – 2 June 1805) was a French princess by marriage to Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; he being the grandson of Louis XV of France, and younger brother of the future Lou ...
. In 1775, Marie Thérèse gave birth to a boy,
Louis Antoine Louis Antoine (23 November 1888 – 8 February 1971) was a French mathematician who discovered Antoine's necklace, which J. W. Alexander used to construct Antoine's horned sphere. He lost his eyesight in the first World War, at the age of 29. Ear ...
, who was created
Duke of Angoulême Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
by Louis XVI. Louis-Antoine was the first of the next generation of Bourbons, as the king and the Count of Provence had not fathered any children yet, causing the Parisian ''libellistes'' (pamphleteers who published scandalous leaflets about important figures in court and politics) to lampoon Louis XVI's alleged impotence. Three years later, in 1778, Charles' second son, Charles Ferdinand, was born and given the title of Duke of Berry. In the same year Queen Marie Antoinette gave birth to her first child, Marie Thérèse, quelling all rumours that she could not bear children. Charles was thought of as the most attractive member of his family, bearing a strong resemblance to his grandfather Louis XV.Fraser, pp. 80–81. His wife was considered quite ugly by most contemporaries, and he looked for company in numerous extramarital affairs. According to the Count of Hézecques, "few beauties were cruel to him." Among his lovers was notably Anne Victoire Dervieux. Later, he embarked upon a lifelong love affair with the beautiful Louise de Polastron, the sister-in-law of Marie Antoinette's closest companion, the
Duchess of Polignac Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac (8 September 17499 December 1793) was the favourite of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met when she was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, the year after Marie Antoinette ...
. Charles also struck up a firm friendship with Marie Antoinette herself, whom he had first met upon her arrival in France in April 1770 when he was twelve. The closeness of the relationship was such that he was falsely accused by Parisian rumour mongers of having seduced her. 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 The Petit Trianon (; French for "small Trianon") is a Neoclassical style château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built between 1762 and 1768 during the reign of King Louis XV of France. ...
. They were both said to be very talented amateur actors. Marie Antoinette played
milkmaid A milkmaid, milk maid, dairymaid, or dairywoman was a girl or woman who milked cows. She also used the milk to prepare dairy products such as cream, butter, and cheese. Many large houses employed milkmaids instead of having other staff do the wor ...
s, shepherdesses, and country ladies, whereas Charles played lovers,
valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet ...
s, and farmers. A famous story concerning the two involves the construction of the
Château de Bagatelle The Château de Bagatelle is a small Neoclassical style château with several small formal French gardens, a rose garden, and an ''orangerie''. It is set on 59 acres of gardens in French landscape style in the Bois de Boulogne, which is loca ...
. In 1775, Charles purchased a small hunting lodge in the
Bois de Boulogne The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by t ...
. 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 François-Joseph Bélanger (; 12 April 1744 – 1 May 1818) was a French architect and decorator working in the Neoclassic style. Life Born in Paris, Bélanger attended the Académie Royale d'Architecture (1764–1766) where he studied u ...
to design the building.Fraser, p. 178. 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 The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...
. Throughout the 1770s, Charles spent lavishly. He accumulated enormous debts, totalling 21 million
livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...
. In the 1780s, King Louis XVI paid off the debts of both his brothers, the Counts of Provence and Artois. In 1781, Charles acted as a proxy for Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
at the christening of his godson, the Dauphin Louis Joseph.


Crisis and French Revolution

Charles's political awakening started with the first great crisis of the monarchy in 1786, when it became apparent that the kingdom was
bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
from previous military endeavours (in particular the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
and the American War of Independence) and needed fiscal reform to survive. Charles supported the removal of the aristocracy's financial privileges, but was opposed to any reduction in the social privileges enjoyed by either the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
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." King Louis XVI eventually convened the Estates General, which had not been assembled for over 150 years, to meet in May 1789 to ratify financial reforms. Along with his sister Élisabeth, Charles was the most conservative member of the family and opposed the demands of the Third Estate (representing the commoners) 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"). In June 1789, the representatives of the Third Estate declared themselves a
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
intent on providing France with a new
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
. In conjunction with the Baron de Breteuil, Charles had political alliances arranged to depose the
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
minister of finance,
Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (; 30 September 1732 – 9 April 1804) was a Genevan banker and statesman who served as finance minister for Louis XVI. He was a reformer, but his innovations sometimes caused great discontent. Necker was a constitutional monarchi ...
. 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. Necker's dismissal provoked the
storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille (french: Prise de la Bastille ) occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents stormed and seized control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. At ...
on 14 July. With the concurrence of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette Charles and his family left France three days later, on 17 July, along with several other courtiers. These included the
Duchess of Polignac Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac (8 September 17499 December 1793) was the favourite of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met when she was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, the year after Marie Antoinette ...
, the queen's favourite. His flight was historically attributed to personal fears for his own safety. However recent research indicates that the King had approved his brother's departure in advance, seeing it as a means of ensuring that one close relative would be free to act as a spokesman for the monarchy, after Louis himself had been moved from
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.


Life in exile

Charles and his family decided to seek refuge in Savoy, his wife's native country, where they were joined by some members of the Condé family. Meanwhile, in Paris, Louis XVI was struggling with the National Assembly, which was committed to radical reforms and had enacted the Constitution of 1791. In March 1791, the Assembly also enacted a
regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
bill that provided for the case of the king's premature death. While his heir Louis-Charles was still a minor, the
Count of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...
, the Duke of Orléans or, if either was unavailable, someone chosen by election should become regent, completely passing over the rights of Charles who, in the royal lineage, stood between the
Count of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...
and the Duke of Orléans. Charles meanwhile left
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
(in Italy) and moved to
Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
in Germany, where his uncle,
Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony (German: ''Clemens Wenzeslaus August Hubertus Franz Xaver von Sachsen'') (28 September 1739 – 27 July 1812) was a Saxon prince from the House of Wettin and the Archbishop- Elector of Trier from 1768 until 18 ...
, was the incumbent Archbishop-Elector. Charles prepared for a
counter-revolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revolut ...
invasion of France, but a letter by Marie Antoinette postponed it until after the
royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...
had escaped from Paris and joined a concentration of regular troops under
François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé (19 November 1739 – 14 November 1800) was a French general. After distinguishing himself in the Seven Years' War, he was appointed governor of Guadeloupe in 1768. His most well-known military exploits ...
at Montmédy. After the Flight to Varennes, attempted flight was stopped at Varennes-en-Argonne, Varennes, Charles moved on to Koblenz, where he, the recently escaped Count of Provence and the Princes of Condé jointly declared their intention to invade France. The Count of Provence was sending dispatches to various European sovereigns for assistance, while Charles set up a Government in exile, court-in-exile in the Electorate of Trier. On 25 August, the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, which called on other European powers to intervene in France. On New Year's Day 1792, the National Assembly declared all Emigration, emigrants traitors, repudiated their titles and confiscated their lands. This measure was followed by the suspension and eventually the Abolition of monarchy, abolition of the monarchy in September 1792. The royal family was imprisoned, and the former king and former queen were eventually executed in 1793. The young former dauphin died of illnesses and neglect in 1795. When the French Revolutionary Wars broke out in 1792, Charles escaped to Great Britain, where King George III of Great Britain gave him a generous allowance. Charles lived in Edinburgh and London with his mistress Louise de Polastron. His older brother, dubbed Louis XVIII after the death of his nephew in June 1795, relocated to Verona and then to Jelgava Palace, Mitau, where Charles' son Louis Antoine married Louis XVI's only surviving child, Marie Thérèse, on 10 June 1799. In 1802, Charles supported his brother with several thousand pounds. In 1807, Louis XVIII moved to the United Kingdom.


Bourbon Restoration

In January 1814, Charles covertly left his home in London to join the War of the Sixth Coalition, Coalition forces in southern France. Louis XVIII, by then reliant on a wheelchair, supplied Charles with letters patent creating him Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of France. On 31 March, the Allies captured Paris. A week later, Napoleon I abdicated. The French Senate, Senate declared the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, with Louis XVIII as King of France. Charles (now heir-presumptive) arrived in the capital on 12 April and acted as Lieutenant General of the realm until Louis XVIII arrived from the United Kingdom. During his brief tenure as regent, Charles created an
ultra-royalist The Ultra-royalists (french: ultraroyalistes, collectively Ultras) were a French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who strongly supported Roman Cath ...
secret police that reported directly back to him without Louis XVIII's knowledge. It operated for over five years. Louis XVIII was greeted with great rejoicing from the Parisians and proceeded to occupy the Tuileries Palace.Nagel, pp. 253–254. The Count of Artois lived in the ''Pavillon de Mars'', and the Duke of Angoulême in the ''Pavillon de Flore'', which overlooked the River Seine. The Duchess of 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 (French Revolution), 10 August 1792. Following the advice of the occupying allied army, Louis XVIII promulgated a liberal constitution, the
Charter of 1814 The French Charter of 1814 was a constitutional text granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after the Bourbon Restoration, in form of royal charter. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before he ...
, which provided for a bicameral legislature, an electorate of 90,000 men and freedom of religion. After the Hundred Days, Napoleon's brief return to power in 1815, the Second White Terror, White Terror focused mainly on the purging of a civilian administration which had almost completely turned against the Bourbon monarchy. About 70,000 officials were dismissed from their positions. The remnants of the Grande Armée, Napoleonic army were disbanded after the Battle of Waterloo and its senior officers cashiered. Marshal Michel Ney, Ney was executed for treason, and Marshal Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, Brune was murdered by a crowd. Approximately 6,000 individuals who had rallied to Napoleon were brought to trial. There were about 300 Lynching, mob lynchings in the south of France, notably in Marseilles where a number of Napoleon's Mamluks preparing to return to Egypt, were massacred in their barracks.


King's brother and heir presumptive

While the king retained the liberal charter, Charles patronised members of the ultra-royalists in parliament, such as Jules de Polignac, the writer François-René de Chateaubriand and Jean-Baptiste de Villèle. On several occasions, Charles voiced his disapproval of his brother's liberal ministers and threatened to leave the country unless Louis XVIII dismissed them. Louis, in turn, feared that his brother's and heir presumptive's
ultra-royalist The Ultra-royalists (french: ultraroyalistes, collectively Ultras) were a French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who strongly supported Roman Cath ...
tendencies would send the family into exile once more (which they eventually did). On 14 February 1820, Charles's younger son, the Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, Duke of Berry, was assassinated at the Paris Opera. This loss not only plunged the family into grief but also put the succession in jeopardy, as Charles's elder son, the Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, Duke of Angoulême, was childless. The lack of male heirs in the Bourbon main line raised the prospect of the throne passing to the Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his heirs, which horrified the more conservative ultras. Parliament debated the abolition of the Salic law, which excluded females from the succession and was long held inviolable. However, the Duke of Berry's widow, Marie-Caroline of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Berry, Caroline of Naples and Sicily, was found to be pregnant and on 29 September 1820 gave birth to a son, Henri, Count of Chambord, Henry, Duke of Bordeaux. His birth was hailed as "God-given", and the people of France purchased for him the Château de Chambord in celebration of his birth. As a result, his granduncle, Louis XVIII, added the title Count of Chambord, hence Henri, Count of Chambord, the name by which he is usually known.


Reign


Ascension and Coronation

Charles' brother King Louis XVIII's health had been worsening since the beginning of 1824. Having both gangrene, dry and wet gangrene in his legs and spine, he died on 16 September of that year, aged almost 69. Charles, by now aged 66, succeeded him to the throne as King Charles X. On 29 May 1825, King Charles was anointed at the cathedral of Reims, the traditional site of Coronation of the French monarch, consecration of French kings; it had been unused since 1775, as Louis XVIII had forgone the ceremony to avoid controversy and because his health was too precarious.Price, pp. 119–121. It was in the venerable cathedral of Notre-Dame at Paris that Napoleon had consecrated his First French Empire, revolutionary empire; but in ascending the throne of his ancestors, Charles reverted to the old place of coronation used by the kings of France from the early ages of the monarchy. Like the regime of the Restoration itself, the coronation was conceived as a compromise between the monarchical tradition and the charter of 1814: it took up the main phases of traditional ceremonial such as the seven anointings or the oaths on the Gospels, all by associating with it the oath of fidelity taken by the King to the Charter of 1814 or the participation of the great princes in the ceremonial as assistants of the Archbishop of Reims . A commission was charged with simplifying and modernizing the ceremony and making it compatible with the principles of the monarchy according to the Charter (deletion of the promises of struggle against heretics and infidels, of the twelve peers, of references to Hebrew royalty, etc.) - it lasted three and a half hours. In fact, the choice of the coronation was applauded by the royalists in favor of a constitutional and parliamentary monarchy and not only by those nostalgic for the Ancien Régime; the fact that the ceremony was modernized and adapted to new times encouraged François-René de Chateaubriand, Chateaubriand, a non-absolutist royalist and enthusiastic supporter of the Charter of 1814, to invite the king to be crowned. In the brochure ''The King is Dead! Long live the king!'' Chateaubriand explains that a coronation would have being the "link in the chain which united the oath of the new monarchy to the oath of the old monarchy"; it is continuity with the Ancien Régime more than its return that the royalists extol, Charles X having inherited the qualities of his ancestors: "pious like Louis IX of France, Saint Louis, affable, compassionate and vigilant like Louis XII, courteous like Francis I of France, Francis I, frank as Henry IV of France, Henry IV". The coronation showed that dynastic continuity went hand in hand with political continuity; for Chateaubriand: "The current constitution is only the rejuvenated text of the code of our old franchises" . This coronation took several days: the May 28, vespers ceremony;  May 29, ceremony of the coronation itself, chaired by the Archbishop of Reims, Jean-Baptiste de Latil, Mgr. Jean-Baptiste de Latil, in the presence in particular of Chateaubriand, Alphonse de Lamartine, Lamartine, Victor Hugo, and a large audience; May 30, award ceremony for the Knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit and finally, May 31, the Royal touch, Royal touch of scrofula. The coronation of Charles X therefore appeared to be a compromise between the tradition of the Ancien Régime and the political changes that had taken place since the Revolution. The coronation nevertheless had a limited influence on the population, mentalities no longer being those of yesteryear. From then on, the coronation caused incomprehension in certain sectors of public opinion. It was Luigi Cherubini who composed the music for the Coronation Mass. For the occasion, the composer Gioachino Rossini composed the Opera ''Il viaggio a Reims, Il Viaggio a Reims.''


Domestic policies

Like Napoleon and then Louis XVIII before him, Charles X resided mainly at the Tuileries Palace and, in summer, at the Château de Saint-Cloud, two monuments that no longer exist today. Occasionally he stayed at the Château de Compiègne and the Palace of Fontainebleau, Château de Fontainebleau, while the Palace of Versailles, where he was born, remained uninhabited. The reign of Charles X began with some liberal measures such as the abolition of press censorship, but the king renewed the term of Joseph de Villèle, Joseph de Villèlle, president of the council since 1822, and gave the reins of government to the Ultra-royalist, ultraroyalists. He got closer to the population by the trip he made to the north of France in September 1827, then to the east of France in September 1828. He was accompanied by his eldest son and heir-apparent, the Duke of Angoulême, now Dauphin of France. In his first act as king, Charles attempted to bring comity to the House of Bourbon by granting the style of Royal Highness to his cousins of the House of Orléans, a title denied by Louis XVIII because of the former Duke of Orléans' vote for the death of Louis XVI. Charles gave his prime minister, Villèlle lists of laws to be ratified in each parliament. In April 1825, the government approved legislation originally proposed by Louis XVIII to pay an indemnity (the ''biens nationaux'') to nobles whose estates had been confiscated during the Revolution. The law gave approximately 988 million francs worth of government bonds to those who had lost their lands, in exchange for their renunciation of their ownership. In the same month, the Anti-Sacrilege Act was passed. Charles's government attempted to re-establish male-only primogeniture for families paying over 300 francs in tax, but this was voted down in the Chamber of Deputies.Price, pp. 116–118. That Charles was not a popular ruler in the mostly-liberal minded urban Paris became apparent in April 1827, when chaos ensued during the king's review of the National Guard (France), National Guard in Paris. In retaliation, the National Guard was disbanded but, as its members were not disarmed, it remained a potential threat. After losing his parliamentary majority in a general election in November 1827, Charles dismissed Prime Minister Villèle on 5 January 1828 and appointed Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac, Jean-Baptise de Martignac, a man the king disliked and thought of only as provisional. On 5 August 1829, Charles dismissed Martignac and appointed Jules de Polignac, who, however, lost his majority in parliament at the end of August, when the Chateaubriand faction defected. Regardless, Polignac retained power and refused to recall the Chambers until March 1830.Price, pp. 122–128.


Conquest of Algeria

On 31 January 1830, the Polignac government decided to send a military expedition to Algeria to end the threat of Algerian pirates to Mediterranean trade, hoping also to increase his government's popularity through a military victory. The pretext for the war was an outrage by the Dey, Viceroy of Algeria, who had struck the French consul with the handle of his Fly-killing device, fly swat in a rage over French failure to pay debts from French campaign in Egypt and Syria, Napoleon's invasion of Egypt. French troops occupied Algiers on 5 July.Price, pp. 136–138.


July Revolution

The Chambers convened on 2 March 1830, but Charles's opening speech was greeted by negative reactions from many deputies. Some introduced a bill requiring the King's minister to obtain the support of the Chambers, and on 18 March, 221 deputies, a majority of 30, voted in favor. However, the King had already decided to hold general elections, and the chamber was suspended on 19 March. The elections of 23 June did not produce a majority favorable to the government. On 6 July, the king and his ministers decided to suspend the constitution, as provided for in Article 14 of the Charter in case of emergency. On 25 July, at the Château de Saint-Cloud, royal residence in Saint-Cloud, Charles issued four July Ordinances, ordinances that Censorship, censored the press, Dissolution of parliament, dissolved the newly elected chamber, altered the electoral system, and called for elections under the new system in September. The Ordinances were intended to quell the popular discontent but had the opposite effect. Journalists gathered in protest at the headquarters of the ''Le National (newspaper), National'' daily, founded in January 1830 by Adolphe Thiers, Armand Carrel, and others. On Monday, 26 July, the government newspaper ''Le Moniteur Universel'' published the ordinances, and Thiers published a call to revolt signed by forty-three journalists: "The legal regime has been interrupted: that of force has begun... Obedience ceases to be a duty!" In the evening, crowds assembled in the gardens of the Palais-Royal, shouting "Down with the Bourbons!" and "Long live the Charter!". As the police closed off the gardens, the crowd regrouped in a nearby street where they shattered Street light, streetlamps. The next morning of 27 July, police Police raid, raided and shut down newspapers including ''Le National (Paris), Le National''. When the protesters, who had re-entered the Palais-Royal gardens, heard of this, they threw stones at the soldiers, prompting them to shoot. By evening, the city was in chaos and shops were looted. On 28 July, the rioters began to erect barricades in the streets. Auguste de Marmont, Marshal Marmont, who had been called in the day before to remedy the situation, took the offensive, but some of his men defected to the rioters, and by afternoon he had to retreat to the Tuileries Palace. The members of the Chamber of Deputies sent a five-man delegation to Marmont, urging him to advise the king to assuage the protesters by revoking the four Ordinances. On Marmont's request, the prime minister applied to the king, but Charles refused all compromise and dismissed his ministers that afternoon, realizing the precariousness of the situation. That evening, the members of the Chamber assembled at Jacques Laffitte's house and elected Louis Philippe I, Louis Philippe d'Orléans to take the throne from King Charles, proclaiming their decision on posters throughout the city. By the end of the day, the authority of Charles' government had evaporated. A few minutes after midnight on 31 July, warned by General Gresseau that Parisians were planning to attack the Saint-Cloud residence, Charles X decided to seek refuge in Versailles with his family and the court, with the exception of the Duke of Angoulême, who stayed behind with the troops, and the Duchess of Angoulême, who was taking the waters at Vichy. Meanwhile, in Paris, Louis Philippe assumed the post of Lieutenant General of the Kingdom. Charles' road to Versailles was filled with disorganized troops and deserters. The Marquis de Vérac, governor of the Palace of Versailles, came to meet the king before the royal cortège entered the town, to tell him that the palace was not safe, as the Versailles national guards wearing the revolutionary tricolor were occupying the ''Place d'Armes''. Charles then set out for the Grand Trianon, Trianon at five in the morning. Later that day, after the arrival of the Duke of Angoulême from Saint-Cloud with his troops, Charles ordered a departure for Château de Rambouillet, Rambouillet, where they arrived shortly before midnight. On the morning of 1 August, the Duchess of Angoulême, who had rushed from Vichy after learning of events, arrived at Rambouillet. The following day, 2 August, King Charles X abdicated, bypassing his son the Dauphin in favor of his grandson Henri, Count of Chambord, Henry, Duke of Bordeaux, who was not yet ten years old. At first, the Duke of Angoulême (the Dauphin) refused to countersign the document renouncing his rights to the throne of France. According to the Duchess of Maillé, "there was a strong altercation between the father and the son. We could hear their voices in the next room." Finally, after twenty minutes, the Duke of Angoulême reluctantly countersigned his father's declaration: Louis Philippe ignored the document and on 9 August had himself proclaimed
King of the French The precise style of French sovereigns varied over the years. Currently, there is no French sovereign; three distinct traditions (the Legitimist, the Orleanist, and the Bonapartist) exist, each claiming different forms of title. The three styles ...
by the members of the Chamber.


Second exile and death

When it became apparent that a mob 14,000 strong was preparing to attack, the royal family left Rambouillet and, on 16 August embarked for the United Kingdom on packet steamers provided by Louis Philippe. Informed by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, British prime minister, the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Duke of Wellington, that they needed to arrive in Britain as private citizens, all family members adopted pseudonyms; Charles X styled himself "Count of Ponthieu". The Bourbons were greeted coldly by the British, who upon their arrival mockingly waved the newly adopted Flag of France, tri-colour flags at them.Nagel, pp. 318–325. Charles X was quickly followed to Britain by his creditors, who had lent him vast sums during his first exile and were yet to be repaid in full. However, the family was able to use money Charles's wife had deposited in London. The Bourbons were allowed to reside in Lulworth Castle in Dorset, but quickly moved to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, near the Princess Caroline Ferdinande of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Berry at Regent Terrace.A. J. Mackenzie-Stuart, ''A French King at Holyrood'', Edinburgh (1995). . Charles' relationship with his daughter-in-law proved uneasy, as the Duchess declared herself regent for her son Henry, Duke of Bordeaux, who was now the legitimist pretender to the French throne. Charles at first denied her this role, but in December agreed to support her claimNagel, pp. 327–328. once she had landed in France. In 1831 the Duchess made her way from Britain by way of the Netherlands, Prussia and Austria to her family in Naples. Having gained little support, she arrived in Marseilles in April 1832, and made her way to the Vendée, where she tried to instigate an uprising against the new regime. There she was imprisoned, much to the embarrassment of her father-in-law Charles. He was further dismayed when after her release the Duchess married the Count of Lucchesi Palli, a minor Neapolitan noble. In response to this morganatic match, Charles banned her from seeing her children. At the invitation of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Francis I of Austria, the Bourbons moved to Prague in winter 1832/33 and were given lodging at the Prague Castle, Hradschin Palace. In September 1833, Legitimists, Bourbon legitimists gathered in Prague to celebrate the Duke of Bordeaux's thirteenth birthday. They expected grand celebrations, but Charles X merely proclaimed his grandson's majority.Nagel, pp. 340–342. On the same day, after much cajoling by François-René de Chateaubriand, Chateaubriand, Charles agreed to a meeting with his daughter-in-law, which took place in Leoben on 13 October 1833. The children of the Duchess refused to meet her after they learned of her Remarriage, second marriage. Charles refused the Duchess' demands, but after protests from his other daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Angoulême, he acquiesced. In the summer of 1834, he again allowed the Duchess of Berry to see her children. Upon the death of the Austrian emperor Francis in March 1835, the Bourbons left Prague Castle, as the new emperor Ferdinand I of Austria, Ferdinand wished to use it for Coronation, coronation ceremonies. The Bourbons moved initially to Teplitz. Then, as Ferdinand continued his use of Prague Castle, Kirchberg Castle was purchased for them. Moving there was postponed due to an outbreak of cholera in the locality.Nagel, pp. 349–350. In the meantime, Charles left for the warmer climate on Austria's Mediterranean coast in October 1835. Upon his arrival at Görz (Gorizia) in the Kingdom of Illyria (1816–49), Kingdom of Illyria, he caught cholera and died on 6 November 1836. The townspeople draped their windows in black mourning. Charles was interred in the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady, in the Franciscans, Franciscan Kostanjevica Monastery (now in Nova Gorica, Slovenia), where his remains lie in a crypt with those of his family. He is the only King of France to be buried outside the country. A movement reportedly began in 2016 advocating for Charles X's remains to be buried along with other French monarchs in the Basilica of St Denis, although Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou, Louis Alphonse, current head of the
House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanis ...
, stated in 2017 that he wished the remains of his ancestors to lie undisturbed.


Honours

* Bourbon Restoration in France, Kingdom of France: ** Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit, ''1 January 1771'' ** Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, ''3 July 1816'' ** Grand Cross of the Order of St. Louis, Military Order of St. Louis, ''10 July 1816'' ** Grand Master and Knight of the Order of St. Michael ** Grand Master and Grand Cross of the Order of St. Lazarus ** Décoration de la Fidélité ** Decoration of The Lily * : Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary, Order of St. Stephen, ''1825'' * : Knight of the Order of the Elephant, ''2 October 1824'' * : Grand Cross of the Military William Order, ''13 May 1825'' * Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, ''4 October 1824'' * : ** Knight of the Order of St. Andrew, ''June 1815'' ** Knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, ''June 1815'' * : Knight of the Order of the Rue Crown, ''1827'' * Enlightenment in Spain, Spain: Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, ''6 October 1761'' * : ** Knight of the Order of St. Januarius ** Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit, Order of St. Ferdinand and Merit * : Stranger Knight of the Order of the Garter, ''9 March 1825''Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) ''The Knights of England'', I, London
p. 53
/ref>


Ancestry


Marriage and issue

Charles X married Princess Marie Thérèse of Savoy, Princess Maria Teresa of Savoy, the daughter of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia, Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia, and Maria Antonietta of Spain, on 16 November 1773. The couple had four children – two sons and two daughters – but the daughters did not survive childhood. Only the oldest son survived his father. The children were: # Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (6 August 1775 – 3 June 1844), sometimes called List of shortest-reigning monarchs#Less than an hour, Louis XIX. Married first cousin Marie Thérèse of France, no issue. # Sophie of France (1776-1783), Sophie, Mademoiselle d'Artois (5 August 1776 – 5 December 1783), died in childhood. #
Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Duke of Berry (24 January 1778 – 14 February 1820) was the third child and younger son of Charles X, King of France, (whom he predeceased) by his wife Maria Theresa of Savoy. In June 1832, two years after the overthro ...
(24 January 1778 – 13 February 1820), married Marie-Caroline of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Berry, Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, had issue. # Marie Thérèse, Mademoiselle d'Angoulême (6 January 1783 – 22 June 1783), died in childhood.


In fiction and film

The Count of Artois is portrayed by Al Weaver in Sofia Coppola's motion picture ''Marie Antoinette (2006 film), Marie Antoinette''.


References


Further reading

* Artz, Frederick Binkerd. ''France Under the Bourbon Restoration, 1814–1830'' (1931)
online free
* Artz, Frederick B. ''Reaction and Revolution 1814–1832'' (1938), covers Europe
online
* Brown, Bradford C. "France, 1830 Revolution." in by Immanuel Ness, ed., ''The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest (2009): 1–8. * Frederking, Bettina. "'Il ne faut pas être le roi de deux peuples': strategies of national reconciliation in Restoration France." ''French History'' 22.4 (2008): 446–468. in English * Rader, Daniel L. ''The Journalists and the July Revolution in France: The Role of the Political Press in the Overthrow of the Bourbon Restoration, 1827–1830'' (Springer, 2013). * Weiner, Margery. ''The French Exiles, 1789–1815'' (Morrow, 1961). * Wolf, John B. ''France 1814–1919: the Rise of a Liberal Democratic Society'' (1940) pp 1–58.


Historiography

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External links

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