Louis XVI Biography

In this article, let us see who was Louis XVI, his early life, how he ruled his kingdom, and his execution. In the line of Bourbon monarchs, Louis 16 was the last king of France (1774–92) before the French Revolution of 1789. The last Bourbon king of France is Louis the 16^th who was executed in the year 1793 for treason. In the year 1770 he got married to the daughter of Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, named Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette. After uncontrollable steps of governing, Louis XVI crashing down upon himself brought the French Revolution. 

King Louis XVI Biography - Early Life

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Louis XVI was born in the Palace of Versailles on August 23, 1754. He was named Louis Auguste de France, signifying his junior status he was given the title Duc de Berry in the French Court. Louis is the Dauphin of France and Louis XVI was the third son of Louis, and he is the grandson of Louis XV of France. His mother was Marie-Josephe of Saxony region, she was the daughter of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony and he was the King of Poland. The great-great-great-grandfather of Louis XVI was Louis XIV of France who was also known as the “Sun King”.

Louis XVI grew up very shy but he was strong and healthy. He has been tutored by the French noblemen where he studied religion, humanities, and morality. He excelled in History, Latin, Astronomy, and Geography, and also he has achieved fluency in the languages like Italian and English. Louis enjoyed all kinds of physical activities as he got good health along with hunting and wrestling. He enjoyed locksmithing from an early age, which became a lifelong hobby.

Instead of focusing on his older brother who was the heir apparent, Louis Duc de Bourgogne Louis' parents paid little more attention towards him. His older brother died at the age of nine in 1761. His father died due to tuberculosis on December 20, 1765. Later Louis Auguste turned out as Dauphin at the age of 11. His mother struggled a lot to recover from the family tragedies and she also got infected with tuberculosis and she failed to resist it. Later she died on March 13, 1767.

Following the death of his parents, Louis Auguste’s tutors have provided him with poor interpersonal skills and he was prepared very ill for the throne as soon as he inherited it. They made a negative impression on his shyness by teaching him that reducing the public expenditure was a sign of a strong character in monarchs. As a result of these instructions from his tutors, he was not able to make quick and effective decisions.

King Louis XVI of France

Due to the death of his grandfather Louis XV, Louis Auguste became Louis XVI on May 10, 1774. Louis XVI was immature and he lacked self-confidence as he was only 20 years old at the time when he lost his grandfather. While Louis 16 always tried and wanted to be a good king, in order to help his subjects he faced enormous amounts of debt and he was disappointed towards a despotic monarchy. He failed to successfully address the serious fiscal problems. Louis has lacked the strength required to uphold his character and to make decisions quickly.

Debts of the French region have increased due to Louis XVI’s policy of not raising enough taxes and taking out international loans. This included funding the American Revolution in order to set the French Revolution in motion. By the middle of the 1780s, the country was found struggling near bankruptcy, this led the king to forcefully support the radical fiscal reforms which were found not favourable with the nobles or the people. When the pressure increased, Louis XVI returned to his earlier teaching of being strict and uncommunicative, posing no solution to the problem and not responding to others who offered help. By 1789, the situation was deteriorating rapidly.

In May 1789, Louis 16 gathered the Estates-General to address the financial emergency, a warning of various bequests or financial classes (the ministry, the honorability, and the average people). The gathering went poorly. By June, the Third Estate announced itself the National Assembly, lined up with the bourgeoisie, and set off to foster a constitution. 

At first, Louis sixteen opposed the Assembly invalid and void and got down on the military to reestablish the request. Public discord developed, and a National Guard was framed to oppose the King's activities. By July 1789, he had to recognize the National Assembly's power. 

On July 14, riots broke out in Paris and groups raged at the Bastille jail in a demonstration of rebellion toward the King. The day is currently honoured in France as a public occasion and the beginning of the French Revolution. For a period, it appeared to be that Louis XVI could appease the majority by saying that he would submit to their requests. Be that as it may, he acknowledged awful guidance from the respectability's firm stance of traditionalists and his better half, Marie Antoinette. He discussed change yet opposed requests for it.

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

At age 15 (in May 1770), Louis wedded the 14-year-old Habsburg Archduchess Maria Antonia (Marie Antoinette), his subsequent cousin once eliminated, in an orchestrated marriage. She was the most youthful girl of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa. 

The marriage was met with some incredulity by individuals from the French court, as they recollected a past coalition with the Habsburgs that manoeuvred France into the Seven Years War. However, at first enchanted by her character, the French public, in the end, came to severely dislike Marie Antoinette, blaming her for being indiscriminate and thoughtful to French adversaries. The initial not many long periods of marriage for Louis and Marie were neighbourly however far off. His timidity kept him far off from her in hiding, and his apprehension about her control made him cold to her in broad daylight. 

It is accepted the couple didn't consummate their marriage for quite a while, having their first kid eight years after their wedding. History specialists banter the reason, however probably, Louis experienced physiological brokenness that required some investment to correct. At last, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette had four kids together: Marie-Thérèse, Louis-Joseph, Louis-Charles, and Sophie-Beatrix. 

In the early long periods of his rule, Louis XVI zeroed in on strict consistency and international strategy. On the homefront, he summoned a decree that allowed French non-Catholics legitimate status and the option to straightforwardly rehearse their confidence. Louis XVI's initial international strategy achievement was supporting the American settlements' battle for autonomy from France's most despised Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War.

Louis Sixteen Execution

King Louis 16 and Marie Antoinette were executed for injustice. Louis had neglected to resolve France's monetary issues, inducing the French Revolution that ultimately slipped upon him. He exacerbated the situation by frequently getting away to more pleasurable exercises like chasing and locksmithing. Present-day students of history possess this conduct to a clinical sorrow that left him inclined to deadening uncertainty. 

In the last two years of Louis' rule, occasions moved quickly. In the fall of 1791, Louis XVI tied his expectations on the questionable possibility of battle with Austria with the expectation that a tactical loss would make ready for reclamation of his position. War broke out in April 1792. Doubts of injustice prompted the catch of the illustrious castle and the brief suspension of the ruler's forces. 

On September 21, 1792, the Legislative Assembly broadcasted the First French Republic. That November, verification of Louis XVI's mysterious dealings and traditionalist interests was found, and he and his family were accused of treachery. Louis was before long seen as liable by the National Assembly and sentenced to death.

Louis XVI was guillotined in the Place de la Révolution on January 21, 1793. His better half, Marie Antoinette, met a similar destiny nine months later, on October 16, 1793. Their young child, Louis-Charles, passed on in jail where everyday environments were shocking. Little girl Marie-Thérèse was delivered from jail in December 1795 into the guardianship of her family in Austria.