Coronation of Louis XVI

Last updated
Louis XVI in his coronation robes, by Antoine Callet. ANTOINE-FRANCOIS CALLET PORTRAIT OF KING LOUIS XVI IN FULL CORONATION REGALIA.jpg
Louis XVI in his coronation robes, by Antoine Callet.

The Coronation of Louis XVI the King of France took place at Reims Cathedral on 11 June 1775 which fell on Trinity Sunday. [1] [2] Louis XVI had come to the throne the previous year in succession to his grandfather Louis XV who had reigned for 59 years. It was the first coronation since 1722 and only the second since 1654 due to the longevity of the two previous monarchs Louis XV and Louis XIV.

Contents

The city of Reims in Champagne was the traditional site of French coronations, a ceremony that stretched back in some form to the baptism of Clovis I in the city. The ceremony was performed by Charles Antoine de La Roche-Aymon, the Archbishop of Reims. Louis was crowned alongside his wife Marie Antoinette who he had married in 1770 in a dynastic match to support the Franco-Austrian Alliance. [3] The couple were childless at the time of the coronation but went on to have several children following the birth of Marie-Thérèse in 1778.

In contrast to his predecessors Louis, rejected a role as leader of fashion and ceremony, and as soon as the coronation was over he took off his heavy coronation robes and never wore them again. He preferred lighter and less ceremonial dress at court. [4]

Aftermath

Louis receiving the homage of the members of the Order of the Holy Spirit. Louis XVI Chevaliers du Saint-Esprit.jpg
Louis receiving the homage of the members of the Order of the Holy Spirit.

Both Louis and Marie Antoinette were guillotined during the Revolution and their young heir Louis XVII died in prison. The succession then passed to Louis XVI's younger brothers Louis XVIII and Charles X.

In 1793, eighteen years after his coronation, Louis XVI was executed in Paris during the French Revolution. His wife Marie Antoinette was also guillotined later the same year. Louis XVI avec son confesseur Edgeworth, un instant avant sa mort le 21 janvier 1793.jpg
In 1793, eighteen years after his coronation, Louis XVI was executed in Paris during the French Revolution. His wife Marie Antoinette was also guillotined later the same year.

It was the last coronation of the Ancien Regime before the French Revolution thirteen years later led to the overthrow of the monarchy. [5] It was also the penultimate coronation of a French king followed only by the Coronation of Charles X (Louis' younger brother the Count of Artois) in Reims during the Bourbon Restoration. [6] The Coronation of Napoleon in 1804 had taken place at Notre Dame in Paris. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Antoinette</span> Queen of France from 1774 to 1792

Marie Antoinette was the last queen consort of France prior to the French Revolution as the wife of King Louis XVI. Born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, she was the penultimate child and youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. She married Louis, Dauphin of France, in May 1770 at age 14. She then became the Dauphine of France. On 10 May 1774, her husband ascended the throne and she became queen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis XVI</span> King of France from 1774 to 1792

Louis XVI was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis XVIII</span> King of France from 1814 to 1824

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. Before his reign, he spent 23 years in exile from France beginning in 1791, during the French Revolution and the First French Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles X of France</span> King of France from 1824 to 1830

Charles X was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother of reigning kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile. After the Bourbon Restoration in 1814, Charles became the leader of the ultra-royalists, a radical monarchist faction within the French court that affirmed absolute monarchy by divine right and opposed the constitutional monarchy concessions towards liberals and the guarantees of civil liberties granted by the Charter of 1814. Charles gained influence within the French court after the assassination of his son Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, in 1820 and succeeded his brother Louis XVIII in 1824.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Élisabeth de Croÿ</span> French writer and noble

Louise-Élisabeth de Croÿ was a French noblewoman and courtier, as the Marquise of Tourzel. She was the Governess of the Children of France from 1789 until 1792. Decades after the French Revolution, Louise-Élisabeth published her memoirs, which presented a unique perspective on the royal family during the French Revolution. She later acquired the title of duchess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême</span> Madame Royale (1778–1851)

Marie-Thérèse Charlotte was the eldest child of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and their only child to reach adulthood. In 1799 she married her cousin Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, the eldest son of Charles, Count of Artois, henceforth becoming the Duchess of Angoulême. She was briefly Queen of France in 1830.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Crown Jewels</span> Symbols of French power, 752–1825

The French Crown Jewels and Regalia comprise the crowns, orb, sceptres, diadems and jewels that were symbols of Royal or Imperial power between 752 and 1870. These were worn by many Kings and Queens of France as well as Emperor Napoleon. The set was finally broken up, with most of it sold off in 1885 by the Third Republic. The surviving French Crown Jewels, principally a set of historic crowns, diadems and parures, are mainly on display in the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre, France's premier museum and former royal palace, together with the Regent Diamond, the Sancy Diamond and the 105-carat (21.0 g) Côte-de-Bretagne red spinel, carved into the form of a dragon. In addition, some gemstones and jewels are on display in the Treasury vault of the Mineralogy gallery in the National Museum of Natural History.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême</span> French prince; eldest son of Charles X (1775–1844)

Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême was the elder son of Charles X and the last Dauphin of France from 1824 to 1830. He is identified by the Guinness World Records as the shortest-reigning monarch, reigning for less than 20 minutes during the July Revolution, but this is not backed up by historical evidence. He never reigned over the country, but after his father's death in 1836, he was the legitimist pretender as Louis XIX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765)</span> Dauphin of France

Louis, Dauphin of France was the elder and only surviving son of King Louis XV of France and his wife, Queen Marie Leszczyńska. As a son of the king, Louis was a fils de France. As heir apparent, he became Dauphin of France. Although he died before ascending to the throne himself, all three of his sons who made it to adulthood were to later rule France: Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X (1824–1830).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crown of Charlemagne</span> Coronation crown of Kings of the Franks and later Kings of France after 1237

The Crown of Charlemagne was a name given to the ancient coronation crown of Kings of the Franks, and later Kings of France after 1237.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crown of Napoleon</span> Crown used in Napoleons 1804 coronation

The Crown of Napoleon was a coronation crown manufactured for Napoleon I and used in his coronation as Emperor of the French on December 2, 1804. Napoleon called this crown the "Crown of Charlemagne", which was the name of the ancient royal coronation crown of France that had been destroyed during the French Revolution. This name allowed Napoleon to compare himself to the famed mediaeval monarch Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regent Diamond</span> 140.64-carat (28.128 g) diamond owned by the French state

The Regent Diamond is a 140.64-carat (28.128 g) diamond owned by the French state and on display in the Louvre, worth £48,000,000 as of 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adélaïde of France</span> Princess of France

Marie Adélaïde de France was a French princess, the sixth child and fourth daughter of King Louis XV and Queen Marie Leszczyńska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Day of Daggers</span>

On the Day of Daggers, 28 February 1791, hundreds of nobles with concealed weapons such as daggers went to the Tuileries Palace, in Paris, to defend King Louis XVI while Marquis de Lafayette led the National Guard in Vincennes to stop a riot. A confrontation between the guards and the nobles started, as the guards thought that the nobles had come to take the King away. The nobles were finally ordered by the King to relinquish their weapons and were forcibly removed from the palace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Theresa of Savoy</span> Countess of Artois

Maria Theresa of Savoy was a French princess by marriage to Charles Philippe, Count of Artois. Her husband was the grandson of Louis XV and younger brother of Louis XVI. Nineteen years after Maria Theresa’s death, her spouse assumed the throne of France as King Charles X. Her son Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, married Marie Antoinette’s daughter Marie-Thérèse Charlotte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronation of the French monarch</span> Legitimation ceremony in the Kingdom of France

The accession of the King of France to the royal throne was legitimized by a ceremony performed with the Crown of Charlemagne at the Reims Cathedral. In late medieval and early modern times, the new king did not need to be anointed in order to be recognized as French monarch but ascended upon the previous monarch's death with the proclamation "Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scepter of Charles V</span> Medieval royal scepter made for Charles V of France

The scepter of Charles V, also known in the early modern period as scepter of Charlemagne, is one of the most prominent preserved regalia of the Kingdom of France. It was donated by Charles V to the abbey of Saint-Denis on 7 May 1380, shortly before his death. It has been used since for the coronation (sacre) of nearly all monarchs of France until Charles X, only excepting Charles VII and Henri IV. It has been kept at the Louvre since 5 December 1793.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronation of Charles X of France</span> 1825 coronation in France

The Coronation of Charles X took place in Reims on 29 May 1825 when Charles X was crowned as King of France, marking the last coronation of a French monarch. It took place at Reims Cathedral in Champagne, the traditional site of the coronation of French sovereigns. It was the only coronation to take place following the 1815 defeat of Napoleon and the Bourbon Restoration before the direct line were deposed in 1830.

References

  1. Baker p.109
  2. McManners p.7
  3. Caiani p.176
  4. Jones p.508
  5. Baker p.109
  6. Price p.119
  7. Price p.119

Bibliography