Louis XV (1710-1774) was King of France from 1715 to 1774. Great-grandson of Louis XIV, he succeeded him on the throne at the age of just five: power was entrusted to the regent Philippe d’Orléans until 1723. Well-advised by Cardinal Fleury, the young monarch initially inspired hope and enthusiasm in the kingdom, earning the nickname “The Beloved.” However, a few decades later, the situation had changed dramatically.
The loss of Canada, Louisiana, and India following the disastrous Seven Years’ War, extravagant celebrations, the influence of his mistresses, and timid or belated reforms led to widespread criticism. Of a vacillating character, Louis XV proved incapable of promoting the necessary reforms to modernize the country and respond to his subjects’ new aspirations. The royal absolutism was in crisis, and the seeds of the French Revolution were sown.
Summary of Key Achievements:
Louis XV: The Beloved
Born in Versailles on February 15, 1710, the future Louis XV was the son of the Duke of Burgundy, Louis of France, and Marie-Josèphe of Saxony. He became king on September 1, 1715, following Louis XIV. He was moved to the Tuileries in 1716 during the regency of Philippe d’Orléans. He was entrusted to the care of Mme de Ventadour, Marshal de Villeroy, and Cardinal Fleury, to whom Louis owed his excellent education and interest in sciences and technology, which he would encourage during his reign.
Married to Marie Leszczynska, daughter of the King of Poland, in 1725, he long entrusted Cardinal Fleury, his tutor, with the affairs of the kingdom. This period was the most prosperous of his reign. Resisting opposition from the Parliament of Paris and the Jansenists, Fleury sought to restore financial stability, fostering economic development and colonial trade (the Atlantic slave trade and triangular trade).
A pacifist, Fleury pursued a policy of peace abroad but was drawn into the War of Polish Succession (1733-1738) to support the king’s father-in-law, Stanisław Leszczynski. The Treaty of Vienna (1738) ended the conflict, and the Duchy of Lorraine was ceded to France after Stanisław’s death in 1766. Then, in 1740, the War of Austrian Succession broke out, marked by the fruitless victory at Fontenoy (1745) and ending in 1748 with the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which had no clear victor. Louis XV was criticized for having “worked for the King of Prussia,” his ally and the only real beneficiary of the war.
The Pompadour Co-Regency
Fleury’s death in 1743 led Louis XV to take a more active role in governing, announcing his intent to rule personally without appointing a prime minister. With a fragile and withdrawn personality, he soon fell under the influence of his many mistresses, particularly the Duchess of Châteauroux and Madame de Pompadour, of bourgeois origin.
Pompadour, beautiful, intelligent, and cultured, was a woman of power, a friend of Enlightenment philosophers, and a frequent guest in the salons of the era. For nearly twenty years, Pompadour acted as a virtual sovereign: she appointed and dismissed ministers, advised ambassadors, shifted alliances, and corresponded with military leaders. Her initiatives were often unsuccessful, and her influence primarily served to flatter the king’s weaknesses.
At this time, France experienced internal divisions caused by the opposition of Parliament to the king’s tax policies (which sought to make the privileged classes contribute to state revenues) and his religious policies. Additionally, several ministers sought to distance Madame de Pompadour and prevent France from getting too involved alongside Austria in another European war.
Symbolizing the king’s growing unpopularity, an assassination attempt on Louis XV in 1757 left the kingdom indifferent. On February 5, 1757, Robert François Damiens, the son of a ruined farming family, stabbed Louis XV with a penknife in an attempt to remind him of his duties to his subjects. Damiens was condemned as a regicide and subjected to a brutal punishment: his hand was burned with molten lead, and he was drawn and quartered in the Place de Grève.
The Disastrous Seven Years’ War
Colonial rivalries between France and England were so intense that in 1755 the English seized several hundred French merchant ships and allied with Prussia in 1756, while Louis XV signed the Treaty of Versailles with Maria Theresa of Austria. This marked the start of the Seven Years’ War, fought on two fronts: in the Holy Roman Empire and overseas.
In Germany, after Frederick II invaded Saxony and France and Austria allied with Russia and Sweden, the Prussians were driven from Bohemia, defeated at Kloster Zeven, but then victorious at Rossbach and Leuthen (1757). In 1759, the Russians crushed the Prussian army at Kunersdorf and occupied Berlin in 1760, but the accession of Tsar Peter III led to a separate peace between Russia and Prussia in 1762.
France became bogged down in a war that went badly, especially as on the second front, French forces suffered defeat after defeat: after recapturing Minorca from the French, the English navy cut France off from its colonies. In Canada, Montcalm lost the Saint Lawrence Valley and then Quebec, dying at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759); Montreal capitulated in 1760.
In India, Dupleix, the governor of Chandannagar, had previously strengthened French positions with local princes by exchanging military protection for commercial privileges for the French East India Company. Initially successful against the English, Dupleix was recalled in 1754, and the French forces, led by Thomas Lally, Baron of Tollendal, were forced to surrender at Pondicherry (1762).
Finally, while France attempted to rely on Spain, England occupied Florida and Cuba. France had to negotiate. By the Treaty of Paris (February 1763), France ceded Canada, part of Louisiana, some Caribbean islands, its Senegalese holdings, and compensated Spain by giving up the rest of Louisiana.
France retained Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Saint-Domingue but kept only five defenseless trading posts in India (Pondicherry, Chandannagar, Karikal, Mahé, and Yanaon). The English now had free reign in America and India, while in France, the elites did not grasp the long-term consequences of these catastrophic losses.
A Difficult End of Reign
After the successive deaths of Madame de Pompadour (1764)—who was replaced by the Countess du Barry—, the Dauphin (1765), and the queen (1768), Louis XV, isolated, faced opposition from both privileged classes, hostile to fiscal reforms, and Jansenists, allied with Gallican parliamentarians (advocating autonomy for the Church of France from Rome), opposing the Roman party (Catholics who demanded total submission to the pope) and denouncing royal absolutism.
The rise of the Duke of Choiseul in 1761, who remained in power until 1770, brought a brief respite. Linked to philosophers, protector of the Encyclopédie, and well-regarded by parliamentary circles, Choiseul undertook major reforms, particularly in the navy and army, and arranged for France to purchase Corsica, though he could not prevent the second partition of Poland.
Choiseul’s ambiguous positions, however, allowed the growing defiance against royal power, and his tolerance of parliamentarians (he sanctioned the banishment of the Jesuits from France in 1767) only increased their arrogance. When Choiseul was dismissed in 1770, partly for displeasing the king’s new mistress, Madame du Barry, the parliamentary crisis was more acute than ever.
Louis XV then hardened his stance, appointing Maupeou, Terray, and d’Aiguillon to restore finances and rein in Parliament (abolishing the Paris Parliament in 1771). Simultaneously, liberal economic ideas led to the freedom of grain, flour, and vegetable trade throughout the kingdom (1763-1764), sparking riots in many towns and villages. Other measures included the abolition of the French East India Company’s monopoly (created by Law) and the Triage and Enclosure Edicts (1767-1771), promoting private agricultural property.
Louis XV failed to quell internal opposition or deeply reform economic structures, confronting too many privileges and vested interests. The loss of France’s first colonial empire was barely offset by the reunification of Lorraine with France and the acquisition of Corsica.
The Last Days of Louis XV
In April 1774, Louis XV, at 64 years old, was staying in Trianon. On the morning of April 27, he experienced leg pain, a severe headache, and chills. He found breakfast repulsive and had no appetite for anything. Even his usual hunting trip failed to excite him; he remained in his carriage, feeling very cold. The Duke of Cröy, who accompanied him, grew worried and remarked, “The king is ill.” His chief surgeon, Mr. de la Martinière, diagnosed a serious fever and insisted that the king return to Versailles: “Sire, it’s at Versailles where you must be ill.” Ignoring the opinion of Madame du Barry, the surgeon arranged for the king’s transport. Wrapped in his robe and covered with a cloak, the king climbed into his carriage. His bed was hastily prepared, and a camp bed was set up nearby. It was there that he would spend his final days.
The king’s chief physician and surgeon conferred, prescribing a treatment that involved applying leeches to his temples and administering opium. The king had a terrible night. The following day, the doctors bled him, but there was no visible improvement. They considered a second or even a third bleeding if necessary. Louis XV understood what this meant: after the third bleeding, he would need to receive the last rites. The medical experts, powerless and unsure of what to do next, called in two other colleagues for help—Madame du Barry’s doctor and a renowned physician from Paris. Yet no one could identify the illness.
Smallpox is Diagnosed
During the night of April 28-29, the king’s face broke out in a rash—the symptoms of smallpox. The diagnosis was made! Mr. de la Martinière dared to declare, “I consider the king as lost.” The royal family was advised to stay away, and the news spread through the palace—from servants to courtiers, everyone knew.
The king was surprised, saying, “It’s smallpox, that’s surprising.” The doctors tried to reassure him by suggesting it might be a relapse of the chickenpox he had contracted long ago. Indeed, he had suffered from the disease in 1728, but only mildly. However, the king knew that survival was nearly impossible, having lost his twin daughters to this disease.
From this point, the king’s remaining three daughters took turns watching over him during the day, while Madame du Barry cared for him at night. The king’s condition worsened, and on May 1, the countess began to move her precious jewelry, papers, and belongings, knowing that without the king, she would have no protector. At the Court and throughout Paris, the “Forty Hours” prayer began. The Archbishop of Paris came to hear the king’s confession, but Louis XV could not bring himself to confess. On May 2, his face and body were covered in so many pustules that the Duke of Cröy wrote, “His head is red and swollen, like a bushel full of smallpox.”
On May 3, there was a slight improvement, and in a brief moment of hope, Louis XV turned his attention to Madame du Barry’s future. He asked the Secretary of State, the Duke of Aiguillon, to host her at his country house in Rueil. The king had a final conversation with her, saying, “Now that I know my fate, I must dedicate myself to God and my people. So, you must leave immediately.” Tearfully, the countess left Versailles for good.
King’s Final Duties
On May 4, after mass was celebrated in the king’s bedroom, the archbishop spoke with him. On the 5th, the king’s confessor stayed close by, ready for the king’s final confession, but Louis XV could not gather the clarity of mind due to his fainting and sores. Finally, on the night of May 6, he called for the abbot and then wished to see his daughters one last time. At 7 a.m., he received the sacrament. Only clergy were allowed near the king, with his daughters standing on the threshold of his room. The dauphine waited in the adjacent room, while the dauphin and his two grandsons were asked to remain on the ground floor of the château.
After confessing, the king felt more at peace and accepted his fate calmly. Mr. de la Martinière even noted a slight improvement. However, on May 8, the king’s condition suddenly worsened. He became delirious, gangrene set in, and the infection spread throughout his body. Servants began to flee. On May 9, his agony was unbearable. His eyelids were encrusted with so many sores that he could no longer open them, his face was swollen and nearly black. Still conscious, the king wondered aloud how long his suffering would last. He remembered that Henry II’s agony had lasted ten days, Louis XIII’s six weeks, and Louis XIV’s two weeks!
Death and Modest Funeral of Louis XV
As per tradition, on the night of May 9-10, a lit candle was placed on the balcony of the royal chamber. It would be extinguished once the king was confirmed dead. By 3 a.m., the king could no longer see. By noon, he was unconscious, and only the clergy remained praying around him; no one else was allowed to stay. The court and government officials gathered at the threshold of his room, the doors wide open since the death of a sovereign must be public.
Between 3:15 and 3:30 p.m., the king passed away. The candle was extinguished. According to protocol, the chamberlain, wearing a hat with black feathers, appeared at the window and declared, “The king is dead.” Then, switching to a hat with white feathers, he reappeared and proclaimed, “Long live the king.” As usual in such moments, courtiers rushed to the apartments of the new king.
Following custom, Louis XV’s body should have been embalmed, and his heart taken to a church in France. However, due to the state of his body, the doctors refused. There was no embalming, and his heart remained in place. Workers prepared the king’s remains for burial, which Mme de Campan, Marie-Antoinette’s lady-in-waiting, described as “pestilential.” Only one abbot kept vigil over the king’s body, staying far away and covering his nose with a handkerchief due to the stench in the room.
No grand ceremony was planned. The coffin left Versailles at night, escorted by forty guards and pages, heading for the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Only one official accompanied it, the king’s childhood companion, Prince Charles de Rohan-Soubise. The funeral took place on May 12. The people of Paris were indifferent, while those in the provinces were much sadder, organizing numerous services for the king’s soul.
His grandson, the Duke of Berry, would succeed him as Louis XVI.