Description

Louis Stanislas Xavier was born at Versailles in 1755 from the union of the Dauphin Louis (son of Louis XV) and Marie-Josephe Louise of Savoy.  He took the title of regent after the execution of Louis XVI and then the death of his nephew Louis XVII, the king.

Louis XVIII’s reign saw France’s first experiment in parliamentary government since the Revolution. The King was invested with executive powers and had “legislative initiative,” whereas a largely advisory parliament voted on laws and approved the budget. The King opposed the extremism of the ultras, who were determined to wipe out every vestige of the Revolution, and he dissolved the parliament in September 1816. After 1820, however, the ultras exercised increasing control and thwarted most of Louis’s attempts to heal the wounds of the Revolution.  Louis XVIII suffered from obesity, gout and gangrene. He died on September 16, 1824 at the Tuileries Palace in Paris at the age of 68.  At his death he was succeeded by his brother, the comte d’Artois, as Charles X