Louis XV
Louis XV by Louis-Michel van Loo
King of France and Navarre
Reign	1 September 1715 – 10 May 1774
Coronation	25 October 1722
Predecessor	Louis XIV
Successor	Louis XVI
Regent	Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Spouse	Marie Leszczyńska
Issue
Louise Élisabeth, Duchess of Parma Princess Henriette Princess Louise Louis, Dauphin of France Philippe, Duke of Anjou Princess Marie Adélaïde Princess Victoire Princess Sophie Princess Thérèse Louise Marie, Abbess of Saint Denis
House	House of Bourbon
Father	Louis, Dauphin of France
Mother	Marie Adélaïde of Savoy
Born	(1710-02-15)15 February 1710 Palace of Versailles, France
Died	10 May 1774(1774-05-10) (aged 64) Palace of Versailles, France
Burial	Basilica of Saint Denis, France
Signature

Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774) was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, though Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, his first cousin twice removed, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723. Cardinal de Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinal's death in 1743, at which time the young king took over control of the Kingdom.

Louis enjoyed a favorable reputation at the beginning of his reign and earned the epithet "le Bien-Aimé" ("the Beloved"). In time, the debauchery of his court, his ill-advised financial policies, the return of the Austrian Netherlands (which were gained following the Battle of Fontenoy) at Aix-la-Chapelle, and the cession of New France at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War led Louis to become one of the most unpopular kings in the history of France. He even suffered an assassination attempt in 1757. However, his reign saw the incorporation of Lorraine and Corsica to the Kingdom.

Uninterested in politics and largely influenced by his chief mistress, Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and arguably led to the French Revolution which broke out 15 years after his death.^[1] He was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI in 1774.

Background and early life[link]

Louis as a young child.

Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on 15 February 1710 during the reign of his great-grandfather Louis XIV. His grandfather, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, had three sons with his wife Marie Anne Victoire of Bavaria: Louis, Duke of Burgundy; Philippe, Duke of Anjou (who became King of Spain); and Charles, Duke of Berry. Louis XV was the third son of Burgundy and his wife Marie Adélaïde of Savoy the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, and Anne Marie d'Orléans. At birth, Louis XV received a customary title of younger sons: "Duke of Anjou".

Because Marie Adélaïde was the granddaughter of Philippe of France, the younger brother of Louis XIV, Louis XV's parents were second cousins. She was betrothed to Burgundy by the Treaty of Turin in 1695, and they married in December 1697. Marie Adélaïde was a very lively young woman who revitalized and rejuvenated the court of the aging Louis XIV, and she became the centre of attraction in Versailles. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the prospects of the House of Bourbon seemed secure. Louis XIV's only surviving son was alive and healthy, and there were thriving grandsons as well. Later, the vitality of the French royal line was confirmed in Louis XIV's observation that he was the first king of France to have a great-grandson born to him while still healthy and capable of ruling on his own.

Subsequent events, however, caused a number of members of the French royal family to be removed from the line of succession. In 1700, Louis XV's uncle, the Duke of Anjou, became King of Spain as Philip V, inheriting the crown through the claims of his grandmother, Maria Theresa of Spain. Upon his accession, Louis XIV had perfunctorily confirmed in the Parlement de Paris Philip V's rights to the French throne, which could not be altered or removed according to the fundamental laws of the Ancien Régime of France. As a result, European fears of a Franco-Spanish union increased and led to the War of the Spanish Succession. The war did not proceed smoothly for France and the chances of peace on terms allowing Philip V to govern Spain while at the same time retaining his right to the French throne were slight. These chances faded even more as a result of the events of 1711–12.

The Young Louis XV at Versailles

In April 1711, Louis Le Grand Dauphin suddenly died, making Louis XV's father Burgundy the new dauphin. While unfortunate, this in itself was not great cause for concern, since Burgundy still had two living sons, Louis, Duke of Bretagne, and the future Louis XV. This situation changed less than a year later when Marie Adélaïde contracted smallpox (or measles) and died on 12 February 1712. Her husband Burgundy, who had reputedly remained by her side all through her sickness, was heartbroken by her death and died the same week of the same disease. Within a week of his death, it was clear that the couple's two children had been infected. The elder son Bretagne was repeatedly treated by bloodletting in an unsuccessful effort to save him. Knowing the Dauphin would die, a double baptism was performed, in which both the Dauphin and the Duke of Anjou were baptised. The Dauphin died the same day, 8 March 1712. His younger brother the Duke of Anjou was personally treated by his governess, Madame de Ventadour, who forbade any bloodletting. Finally, the Duke of Berry, youngest son of the Grand Dauphin and the likely regent for the latest Dauphin after the death of his elder brother, died in a 1714 hunting accident.

As a result of these deaths, the fate of Louis XIV's dynasty now lay in the survival of a four-year-old child, the future Louis XV. The death of this child would have left Louis XIV with two possible successors: his grandson Philip V of Spain, or his nephew Philippe d'Orléans the first cousin of the late Grand Dauphin. Philip V, however, had renounced all rights to the French succession as a result of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. He nevertheless claimed that no legitimate descendant of Hugh Capet could be deprived of his rights to the throne of France according to the French law of succession. Because most European powers at the time saw the direct union of France and Spain under one ruler as a significant threat, the prospect of such a union threatened to unleash another European war in addition to a civil war in France.

As a young child, Louis XV was made aware of the heavy responsibility that rested on his shoulders. He was now an orphan, with no surviving siblings, no legitimate uncles or aunts except for Philip V, and no legitimate first cousins living in France. His only close relation was his first cousin twice removed, the Duke of Orléans, Louis XIV's nephew and son-in-law.

Louis XIV's will[link]

Anointing of Louis XV.

On 1 September 1715, Louis XIV died of gangrene after having reigned for 72 years. In August 1714, he made a will which stipulated that until the new king reached the age of majority, the nation was to be governed by a Regency Council made up of fourteen members. The Duke of Orléans was named president of the council, but all decisions were to be taken by majority vote. The composition of the council, including the late king's legitimised sons, Maine and Toulouse, and various members of Louis XIV's administration, meant that Orléans would often be outvoted.

The content of the will had become known before Louis XIV died, and the various factions had already begun the process of gaining supporters. Orléans enjoyed the support of many among the old sword nobility (noblesse d'épée), who were descended from medieval knights, as opposed to the noblesse de robe, the new aristocracy of recently ennobled lawyers and civil servants. Louis XIV had often excluded the noblesse d'épée from government in favour of commoners from the bourgeoisie who often entered the noblesse de robe and whom he could control better. Thus the noblesse d'épée yearned for a change of policy more favourable to them, and were greatly displeased with the legitimisation of Maine and Toulouse, which they regarded as an affront to the traditional rules of inheritance.

The Parlement of Paris, another political entity which Louis XIV had shut out of power, also supported the Orléans regency and hoped that a change of course in the government would increase its influence. Religion was also a factor. Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV's widow, was a supporter of the Jesuits, the Pope, and the Pope's controversial Bull Unigenitus, a 1713 papal bull directed against the Jansenists, a Catholic group popular in France who were deemed to have Protestant tendencies. Orléans, by contrast, was supported by the Jansenists and the Gallicans (French Catholics who wanted their church to be more independent from Rome) who hoped he would dislodge the Jesuit-Papist group from power after his accession to the regency.

Philippe, Duke of Orléans[link]

The regent, Philippe d'Orléans.

In the final weeks before his death, Louis XIV arrived at a reconciliation with his nephew, Philippe, Duke of Orléans. Bidding adieu to the closest courtiers and ministers on 26 August, Louis told them:

Always obey the orders my nephew Philippe d'Orléans will give you; he will govern the kingdom².

During the days prior to the king's death, the Duke of Orléans met with and made promises to various aristocrats, clergymen, and members of the Parlement of Paris to secure their support. He promised the aristocrats places on the new government councils he intended to form, which would be known as the polysynody; he assured Jansenists and Gallicans he would be lenient regarding Unigenitus; and he promised the Parlement he would restore the right of remonstrance (the right to criticize and delay royal edicts), which had been taken away from the Parlement by Louis XIV in 1673.

On 2 September, the day after Louis XIV died, there was a special session of the Parlement of Paris. It was attended not only by the magistrates who were usually there, but also by the peers and princes of the blood. The king's will was read, and the future of the government decided. The Duke of Orléans addressed the assembly. He stated his claim to the regency, and asked that he be given full power. He mentioned the recent conversation he had with Louis in which the king had stated that he would govern. He reminded those present of the arrangements he had negotiated with them over the preceding days.

The Parlement responded positively to these arguments. As a result, he was granted the right to choose his own Regency Council. Thus the king's written will was to a large extent nullified, and the Duke of Orléans became regent. In exchange, the Parlement recovered its right of remonstrance. This court coup was recorded in detail by Saint-Simon. Orléans also made the important symbolic decision to relocate the government to Paris, and disbanded the court in Versailles.

The regent conducted affairs of state from his Parisian palace, the Palais Royal. The young Louis XV was moved to the modern lodgings attached to the medieval fortress of Vincennes, located 7 km/4.5 miles east of Paris in the Forest of Vincennes, where the air was deemed more wholesome and healthy than in Paris. But, a few weeks later, as the severity of winter fell upon Vincennes, the young king was moved to the Tuileries Palace, in the center of Paris, near the Palais Royal.

Louis XV as a child in coronation robes, portrait by Rigaud

Youth[link]

In keeping with French royal tradition that princes should be put in the care of men when they reached their seventh birthdays, Louis was separated from his governess, Madame de Ventadour, in February 1717, and placed in the care of the Duke of Villeroi, who had been designated as his governor in Louis XIV's will of August 1714 and whose secretary was the young Pierre-François Godard de Beauchamps. The duc de Villeroi served under the formal authority of the duc du Maine, who was charged with overseeing the king's education. He was aided by André-Hercule de Fleury (later to become Cardinal de Fleury), who served as the king's tutor.^{[citation needed]}

As his tutor, Fleury gave him an excellent education. Louis was also taught by renowned professors such as the geographer Guillaume Delisle.^{[citation needed]} Louis XV had an inquisitive and open-minded nature. He was an avid reader, and he developed eclectic tastes. Later in life he advocated the creation of departments in physics (1769) and mechanics (1773) at the Collège de France.^{[citation needed]}

During the Régence, Philippe d'Orléans, in keeping with his promises, favoured the nobility (aristocrats) who had been deprived of power during the reign of Louis XIV.^{[citation needed]} He established the so-called polysynody (15 September 1715), a short-lived structure of councils that gave the aristocracy more input in decision making.^{[citation needed]} He concluded an alliance with Great Britain and the Netherlands in 1717 (Triple Alliance) in an effort to prevent Philip V of Spain from claiming the crown of France should the young Louis XV die.^{[citation needed]}

Confronted with a total lack of expertise among the aristocracy in government affairs, the regent reverted to the monarchical organisation of government that existed under Louis XIV and, by 1718, reinstated secretaries of state. Cardinal Dubois, close confidant of the regent, was made prime minister in 1722.^{[citation needed]} In an attempt to replenish the French treasury, the regency tried a number of original financial experiments, notable among them the famous inflationary scheme of John Law.^{[citation needed]} The bursting of the speculative bubble fueled by Law's system brought about the ruin of many aristocrats.^{[citation needed]}

Betrothal and marriage[link]

In 1721, Louis XV was betrothed to his first cousin, Infanta Maria Anna Victoria of Spain. The eleven-year-old king was not interested in the arrival of his future wife, the three-year-old Spanish Infanta. In June 1722, the young king and the court returned to Versailles, where they would stay until the end of the reign. In October of the same year, Louis XV was officially crowned in Reims Cathedral.

On 15 February 1723, the king's majority was declared by the Parlement of Paris. This ended the Regency. Initially, Louis XV left the Duke of Orléans in charge of state affairs. The Duke of Orléans was made first minister on the death of Cardinal Dubois in August 1723, and he himself died in December of the same year. Following the advice of Fleury, Louis XV appointed his cousin, Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, to replace the late Duke of Orléans.

The Duke of Bourbon was worried by the health of the young king. His primary motivation was a desire to prevent the family of the late regent, the House of Orléans, from ascending the throne should the king die, seeing the House of Orléans as his own enemy. The king was quite frail, and several alerts led to concern for his life. Moreover, the Spanish infanta was still too young to produce an heir. To remedy this precarious situation, the Duke of Bourbon set about choosing a European princess old enough to produce an heir.

Queen Marie Leszczyńska with the dauphin Louis, by Alexis Simon Belle (1730)

Eventually, the 21-year-old Marie Leszczyńska, daughter of Stanisław Leszczyński, the deposed King of Poland, was chosen. An impoverished and plain-looking princess who had followed her father's misfortunes, she was nonetheless said to be virtuous. The marriage was celebrated in September 1725.

Louis's marriage to Marie Leszczyńska produced many children, but the king was persistently (and notoriously) unfaithful. Some of his mistresses, such as Madame de Pompadour and Madame du Barry, are as well known as the king himself, and his affairs with three Mailly-Nesle sisters are documented by the formal agreements into which he entered. In his later years, Louis developed a penchant for young girls, keeping several at a time in a personal seraglio known as the Parc aux Cerfs ("Stag Park"), one of whose inhabitants, Marie-Louise O'Murphy, was immortalised in a painting by Boucher. Scandalous rumours spread across France, in which it was alleged that the king bathed in the blood of virgins and had ninety illegitimate children.

Palace politics[link]

His first ministry was headed by Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, who was displaced by the king's tutor, Cardinal André de Fleury, in 1725, and on the latter's death in 1743, Louis assumed personal control of the government.

In practice the king's several mistresses exercised the dominant influence in selecting or removing his ministers of state. The most famous of Louis's mistresses were the sisters of Mailly-Nesle (four of the five sisters were king's mistresses, notably Louise-Julie, Comtesse de Mailly from 1738 to 1742 and Marie Anne, Duchesse de Châteauroux in 1743-44); Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (called Madame de Pompadour, the official mistress from 1745 to 1764); and Marie Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (official mistress from 1768 until the king's death in 1774). The status of maîtresse-en-titre was a court position that was sometimes retained even if the king and his mistress ceased being physical lovers. For instance, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour ended their sexual relationship after 1750 but she remained his official mistress for fourteen more years, until her death. To secure her position, she managed to always provide herself a lot of occasional young mistresses to satisfy the king. The most famous was the French-Irish Marie-Louise O'Murphy, who after two years as the king's young lover, made the fatal mistake of trying to unseat Madame de Pompadour and supplant her as favorite. This unwise move resulted in O'Murphy's immediate banishment from the court.

The Triumvirate arose in 1771, when Louis XV banished Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1758, and reshuffled the cabinet. René Nicolas de Maupeou was appointed Chancellor of France and Minister of Justice, Joseph Marie Terray became Minister of Finance, and Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon, Minister for Foreign Affairs. They fought against the Parlements and had the judiciary run by the Council of State. Louis XVI restored the Parlements and removed the triumvirs from their posts.

Behind the splendor and glitter of 18th-century Versailles there existed a contentious and dangerous hotbed of royal family politics. Throughout the second half of his reign, Louis XV experienced opposition and intrigue from his children, particularly his son Louis (the dauphin) and his eldest surviving daughter Adélaïde. Fortunately for the king, this intrigue of family politics took place within the environs of Versailles, an environment that was under his control. Louis XV was able to use this palatial space to oversee and counter his children's politics and intrigues. Louis XV communicated his satisfaction and displeasure within the transformations he made at Versailles.^[2]

Dismissal of Bourbon and Appointment of Fleury[link]

The ministry of the Duke of Bourbon was marked by many incidents which resulted in serious economic and social problems. These included the persecution of Protestants (1726); monetary manipulations; the creation of new taxes, such as the fiftieth (cinquantième) in 1725; and the high price of grain. As a result of Bourbon's rising unpopularity, the king dismissed him in 1726. As his replacement to serve as first minister, the king selected his old tutor, Cardinal de Fleury.

Ministry of Cardinal de Fleury[link]

Cardinal Fleury, by Hyacinthe Rigaud

From 1726 until his death in 1743, Cardinal de Fleury ruled France with the king's assent. It was the most peaceful and prosperous part of the reign of Louis XV, despite some unrest caused by the Parlements and the Jansenists. After the financial and human losses suffered at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, the rule of Fleury is seen by historians as a period of "recovery" (French historians speak of a gouvernement "réparateur"). It is hard to determine exactly what part the king took in the decisions of the Fleury government, but he certainly supported Fleury against the intrigues of the court and the conspiracies of the courtiers.

With the help of controllers-general of finances Michel Robert Le Peletier des Forts (1726–1730) and Philibert Orry (1730–1745), Fleury stabilized the French currency (1726) and balanced the budget in 1738. Economic expansion was also a central goal of the government: communications were improved with the completion of the Saint-Quentin canal (linking the Oise and Somme rivers) in 1738, later extended to the Escaut River and the Low Countries and the systematic building of a national road network. By the middle of the 18th century, France had the most modern and extensive road network in the world.

The ponts et chaussées engineers built modern highways, many of which are still in use today, stretching from Paris to the most distant borders of France. Trade was also stimulated by the Bureau and the Council of Commerce, and French foreign maritime trade increased from 80 to 308 million livres between 1716 and 1748. However, rigid Colbertist laws (prefiguring dirigisme) hindered industrial development.

The power of the absolute monarchy was demonstrated by its quelling of Jansenist and Gallican opposition. The troubles caused by the convulsionaries of the Saint-Médard graveyard in Paris (a group of Jansenists claiming that miracles took place in this graveyard) were put to an end in 1732. As for the Gallican opposition, after the "exile" of 139 parlementaires in the provinces, the Parlement of Paris had to register the Unigenitus papal bull and was forbidden to hear religious cases in the future.

Louis XV, by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1730 (Château de Versailles)

In foreign relations, Fleury sought peace by attempting to maintain the alliance with England and pursuing reconciliation with Spain. In September 1729, at the end of her third pregnancy, the queen finally gave birth to a male child, an heir to the throne, the dauphin Louis (1729–1765). The birth of a long-awaited heir, which ensured the survival of the dynasty for the first time since 1712, was welcomed with tremendous joy and celebration in all spheres of French society. The young king was extremely popular at the time. The birth of a male heir also dispelled the risks of a succession crisis and the likely war with Spain that would have resulted.

In 1733, on the advice of his secretary of state for foreign affairs Germain Louis Chauvelin (1727–1737), the king abandoned Fleury's peace policy to intervene in the War of the Polish Succession. In addition to attempting to restore his father-in-law Stanisław Leszczyński to the Polish throne, the king also hoped to wrest the long-coveted duchy of Lorraine from its duke, Francis III. The duke's expected marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI's daughter, Maria Theresa, would bring Austrian power dangerously close to the French border. In the end, the half-hearted French intervention did not allow Stanisław to recover his throne.

Treaty of Vienna[link]

Ottoman ambassador Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Efendi in Paris in 1721 (engraving)

In the west, however, French troops rapidly overran Lorraine, and peace was restored as early as 1735. By the Treaty of Vienna (November 1738), Stanisław was compensated for the loss of his Polish throne with the duchy of Lorraine, which would eventually pass to King Louis as his son-in-law, while Duke Francis III of Lorraine was made heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as compensation for the loss of Lorraine. The war cost France very little, compared to the financial and human drains of Louis XIV's wars, and was a clear success for French diplomacy. The acquisition of Lorraine (effective in 1766 at Stanislaus' death) was to be the last territorial expansion of France on the continent before the French Revolution.

Shortly after this favourable result, France's mediation in the war between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire led to the Treaty of Belgrade (September 1739) which favoured the Ottoman Empire, beneficiary of a Franco-Ottoman alliance against the Habsburgs since the early 16th century. As a result, the Ottoman Empire in 1740 renewed the French capitulations, which marked the supremacy of French trade in the Middle East. With these successes, Louis XV's prestige reached its highest point.

In 1740, the death of Emperor Charles VI and his succession by his daughter Maria Theresa started the European War of the Austrian Succession. The elderly Cardinal de Fleury had too little energy left to oppose this war, which was strongly supported by the anti-Austrian party at court. Renewing the cycle of conflicts so typical of Louis XIV's reign, the king entered the war in 1741 on the side of Prussia. The war would last seven years. Fleury did not live to see the end of the war. After Fleury's death, in January 1743, the king followed his predecessor's example, ruling from then on without a first minister.

First signs of unpopularity[link]

At the death of his old tutor Fleury in 1743, the king was 33 years old. He had experienced a few years of happiness with his devoted Polish queen. A child was born almost every year. However, the queen eventually got tired of continual pregnancies, while the king got tired of the queen's unconditional love.^{[citation needed]} Moreover, most of the queen's pregnancies produced girls, which the king eventually resented.

Out of ten children born of the queen, there were only two sons, only one of whom survived to adulthood, Louis, Dauphin of France (1729-1765). This did not help dispel the concerns about the future of the dynasty brought about by the repeated deaths of the early 1710s. In 1734, for the first time, the queen complained to her father about the king's infidelities. The king found love with Madame de Mailly, then with her younger sister Madame de Vintimille, then at her death with yet another sister Marie-Anne de Mailly, while the queen took refuge in religion and charities.

In June 1744, the king left Versailles for the front in order to take personal command of his armies fighting in the War of the Austrian Succession. This otherwise popular move was marred by the king's indiscreet decision to bring along Madame de Châteauroux. In August, the king fell gravely ill in Metz. Death appeared imminent, and public prayers were held all across France to ask God to save the king from a certain death.

Pressed by the dévot party, Msgr. de Fitz-James, First Chaplain (premier aumônier) of the king, refused to give the king the absolution unless the king renounced his mistress. The king's confession was then publicly announced, embarrassing him and tarnishing the prestige of the monarchy. Madame de Châteauroux was forced to leave to the boos of the public. Although Louis's recovery earned him the 'well-beloved' epithet from a public relieved by his survival, the events at Metz (August 1744) appear to have left profound scars on his psyche as well as on French political life. Nevertheless, the king soon returned to his adulterous ways.

War of the Austrian Succession[link]

In 1743, France entered the War of the Austrian Succession. Despite his victory, Louis XV of France, who wanted to appear as an arbiter and not as a conqueror, gave all his conquests back to the defeated enemies with chivalry, arguing that he was "king of France, not a shopkeeper." A decision, largely misunderstood by his generals and by the French people, which made the king unpopular. The French obtained so little of what they fought for that they adopted the expressions Bête comme la paix ("Stupid as peace") and Travailler pour le roi de Prusse ("To work for the king of Prussia", i.e. working for nothing). However his generosity was saluted in Europe and France increased its political influence on the continent.

Madame de Pompadour[link]

Madame de Pompadour, by François Boucher, ca. 1750

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, later the marquise de Pompadour, who met Louis XV in February 1745 at a masked ball given in honour of the Dauphin's marriage, was the most famous mistress of the reign, and the most honourable one. She was the daughter of a chief agent of the powerful Pâris family of financiers who became embroiled in the intrigue that ousted the Duke of Bourbon as head of the Regency council in favour of Cardinal de Fleury. A beautiful woman, educated, cultured, intelligent, and sincerely attached to the king, she nonetheless possessed one major shortcoming in the everyone's eyes: she was a commoner, from the bourgeoisie, and even worse, a commoner who meddled in royal politics.

The public had generally accepted the mistresses of Louis XIV, who, apart from Madame de Maintenon, were all chosen in the highest spheres of the aristocracy and had very little influence on the government. But that the king would thus compromise himself with a commoner was felt to be a profound disgrace. Soon there were hundreds of libels called poissonnades (a word akin to "fish stew", a pun based on the marquise de Pompadour's family name, Poisson, which means "fish" in French), violently attacking the Marquise, as in this example: "Daughter of leech, and leech herself, Poisson ["Fish"], with an extreme arrogance, flaunts in this château, without fear or dread, the substance of the people and the shame of the King."

Despite the critics, the marquise de Pompadour had an undeniable influence on the flourishing of French arts during the reign of Louis XV, a reign that is often considered the peak of French architecture and interior design (see: Louis XV style). A patron of the arts, the Marquise amassed a considerable amount of furniture and objets d'art in her various estates. She was responsible for the tremendous development of the porcelain manufactory of Sèvres, which became one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers in Europe, and her commands ensured the living of artists and families of craftsmen for many years. She was also a prominent patron of architecture, being responsible for the building of the Place Louis XV (now called Place de la Concorde) and the École Militaire in Paris, both built by her protégé Ange-Jacques Gabriel.

The École Militaire, for the creation of which she successfully lobbied the king, showed her commitment to the training of officers from poor families of the aristocracy. The Marquise was a liberal at heart and she steadily defended the Encyclopédie against the attacks of the Church. She was a supporter of the Philosophy of the Enlightenment, and tried to win the king to its new ideas, albeit not quite as successfully as she hoped. She was criticised for the lavish display of luxury in her various estates, although her rich family of financiers in many instances gave money to the government and saved the monarchy from bankruptcy. All her estates, which she had bequeathed to the state, reverted to the crown at her death.

The marquise de Pompadour was officially settled on the third floor (second storey) of the Palace of Versailles, in small but comfortable apartments that can still be visited today. There, she organised fine suppers for the king, with chosen guests, far from the pomp and etiquette of the court. The atmosphere in these private quarters was so relaxed that the king was said to serve coffee during the suppers. She often entertained the king, trying to relieve him from the state of boredom in which the court often plunged him. The king, who liked a more bourgeois lifestyle than his forefather Louis XIV, found in the private apartments of the marquise de Pompadour, located above his own office and bedchamber, the intimacy and reassuring feminine presence of which he had been deprived during his childhood.

The marquise de Pompadour, who was reportedly in frail health, was no more than a friend after 1750. Although their sexual relationship stopped, she remained the close confidante and friend of the king until her death, quite a feat in the history of royal mistresses. She, more than anyone else, was adept at understanding the complex and demanding personality of the king. After 1750, the king was mired in a series of short-lived love affairs and sexual relationships, hiding his temporary conquests in a small mansion at the Parc-aux-Cerfs ("Stags' Park"), whose most famous occupant was Marie-Louise O'Murphy. Legend later enormously exaggerated the events occurring at the Parc-aux-Cerfs, contributing to the dark reputation still associated with Louis XV's name today. In fact, the king's womanising behavior was not very different from that of many of his illustrious ancestors, such as kings Francis I, Henry IV, Louis XIV, to say nothing of other European monarchs such as Charles II of England.

First attempt at reform[link]

Portrait of Louis XV, ca. 1740.

All these love affairs did not take the king away from the duties of his office, but he lacked the administrative energy of his great-grandfather, Louis XIV. He preferred to make decisions based solely on the advice of Cardinal Fleury, and frequently relied on the cardinal to carry out those decisions. During the seventeen long years of Fleury's government, the king learned the generalities of government policy without the specifics of implementation.

Starting in 1743 with the death of Fleury, the king ruled alone without a first minister. He had read many times the instructions of Louis XIV: "Listen to the people, seek advice from your Council, but decide alone." Although he was without a doubt more intelligent and cultured than his great-grandfather, Louis XV lacked self-confidence. His political correspondence reveals his deep knowledge of public affairs as well as the soundness of his judgment. However, the king was often afraid of making firm decisions, fearing that he might be wrong and other people might be right. It was only when pushed to the limit, often when it was too late, that he suddenly resolved to bold action, with a brutality that stunned people.

Always supportive and friendly towards his ministers in appearance, his displeasure was felt suddenly and without warning. This led to a reputation for deviousness. It was very difficult for ministers to decipher the king, or to know if their behavior was in agreement with his desires. Usually, they were given great independence of action in their own ministries with the king never really directing them. Very often, they never received any warning or sign of disagreement from the king before a sudden fall from grace. Moreover, the king often kept them in the dark concerning his true line of reasoning, frequently communicating without their knowledge with foreign courts through a network of diplomats and spies called the secret of the king.

Most government work was conducted in committees of ministers which met without the king. The king reviewed policy only in the Conseil d'en haut, the High Council, which was composed of the king, the dauphin, the chancellor, the contrôleur général des finances, and the secretary of state in charge of foreign affairs. Created by Louis XIV, the council was in charge of state policy regarding religion, diplomacy, and war. There, he let various political factions oppose each other and vie for influence and power: the dévot party, led by the Comte d'Argenson, secretary of state for war, opposed the parti philosophique, which supported Enlightenment philosophy and was led by Machault d'Arnouville, controller-general of finances.

The parti philosophique was supported by the marquise de Pompadour, who acted as a sort of minister without portfolio from the time she became royal mistress in 1745 until her death in 1764. The Marquise was in favour of reforms. Supported by her clan of financiers (Pâris-Duverney, Montmartel, etc.), she obtained from the king the appointment of ministers (Bernis, secretary of state for foreign affairs, in 1757), as well as their dismissal (Orry, controller-general of finances, in 1745; Maurepas, secretary of state for the Navy, in 1749). On her advice, the king supported the policy of fiscal justice designed by Machault d'Arnouville. In order to finance the budget deficit, which amounted to 100 million livres in 1745, Machault d'Arnouville created a tax on the twentieth of all revenues which affected also the privileged classes (Edict of Marly, 1749).

This breach in the privileged status of the aristocracy and the clergy, normally exempt from taxes, was a first in French history, although it had already been advocated by visionary minds such as Vauban under Louis XIV. However, the new tax was received with violent protest from the privileged classes sitting in the provincial estates (états provinciaux) of the few provinces which still kept the right to decide over taxation (most provinces had long lost their provincial estates, theétats provinciaux, and the right to decide over taxation that came with it). The new tax was also violently opposed by the clergy and by the parlements. Pressed and eventually won over by his entourage at court, the king gave in and exempted the clergy from the twentieth in 1751. Eventually, the twentieth became a mere increase in the already existing taille, the most important direct tax of the monarchy from which privileged classes were exempted. It was the first defeat in the "taxation war" waged against the privileged classes.

As a result of these attempts at reform, the Parlement of Paris, using the quarrel between the clergy and the Jansenists as a pretext, addressed remonstrances to the king (April 1753). In these remonstrances, the Parlement, which was made up of privileged aristocrats and ennobled commoners, proclaimed itself the "natural defender of the fundamental laws of the kingdom" against the arbitrariness of the monarchy.

War and foreign policy, 1740–1763[link]

After the death of Fleury, France initially experienced success abroad despite the King's loss of his trusted advisor. The War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), which pitted the French and Prussians against the Austrians, British, and Dutch, culminated in a series of major French victories: the Battle of Fontenoy (1745), the Battle of Rocourt (1746), and the Battle of Lauffeld (1747). The Battle of Fontenoy, won by the Maréchal de Saxe, is still remembered as one of the most decisive French victories against the British. In 1746 French forces besieged and occupied Brussels which Louis then entered in triumph. By 1748, France occupied the entire Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium), then the wealthiest area of Europe, and appeared on its way to fulfilling its traditional dream of extending its north-eastern border to the Rhine. The embarrassment at Metz (1744) now largely forgotten, the king was at the peak of his popularity.

Louis XV at the Battle of Fontenoy.

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle[link]

However, at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Louis shocked his people and the rest of Europe by agreeing to restore all his conquests to Austria. Louis XV, who at heart was not a bellicose king, unlike his great-grandfather Louis XIV, felt content to rule a nearly hexagon-shaped kingdom, which he called his pré carré (i.e. "square field"), a term still used in French politics today. He thought it better to cultivate the pré carré rather than trying to expand it. The king declared he had made peace "as a king and not as a merchant". The attitude of the king was hailed in Europe, and he became overnight the "arbiter of Europe".

At home, however, his popularity sharply declined. The people had forgiven Louis XV for his high taxes, his mistresses, and his lavish expenditures, as long as he was successful in wars. But the news that the king had restored the Southern Netherlands to Austria was met with disbelief and bitterness. Parisians coined the phrase: "As stupid as the peace" ("Bête comme la paix"). Historians usually consider that the year 1748 saw the first true manifestation of public opinion in France, a nationalist public opinion that the king did not understand. The year proved a turning point in the king's popularity: after 1748, pamphlets against the king's mistresses became increasingly widely published and read, and his popularity steadily declined.

Seven Years' War[link]

By 1755, a new European conflict was brewing, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle being but a sort of truce. Already, French and British were fighting each other in North America without a declaration of war. In 1755, the British seized 300 French merchant ships, in violation of international law. A few months later, on 16 January 1756, Great Britain and Prussia signed a treaty of "neutrality". In Paris and Versailles, the parti philosophique could not hide their disappointment at this betrayal by King Frederick II of Prussia, who was until then seen as an enlightened sovereign friend of the Philosophers.

Frederick II had even welcomed Voltaire in Potsdam when the famous writer had run into trouble with the dévot party in France. But the truth was that Frederick II was motivated first and foremost by personal interests and the desire to expand the territory of Prussia by any means available. He had already abandoned his French ally during the War of Austrian Succession, signing a separate peace treaty with Austria in December 1745. The Marquise de Pompadour particularly disliked Frederick II, who had always showed contempt for her, and even named one of his poodles "Pompadour". At the same time, French officials realized that the Habsburg empire of Austria was no more the danger it had been in the heyday of the Habsburgs, back in the 16th and 17th centuries, when they controlled Spain and most of Europe and presented a formidable challenge to France. The new dangerous power looming now on the horizon was Prussia. In a "reversal of alliances", the king signed the Treaty of Versailles with Austria on 1 April 1756, overruling his ministers and putting an end to more than 200 years of conflict with the Habsburgs. The new Franco-Austrian Alliance would last intermittently for the next thirty five years.

Louis apparently expected that joining with Austria would prevent another war on the continent by confronting Prussia with a counter-coalition. He was mistaken. Austria was bent on regaining Silesia, which Prussia had grabbed in 1740 and had not returned. At the end of August 1756, having learned that Austria was negotiating to enlist Russia against him, Frederick II invaded Saxony without a declaration of war. He soon defeated the unprepared Saxon and Austrian armies and occupied the whole of Saxony. The Saxon ruler's younger daughter was the Dauphin's wife and his elder daughter was married to Charles VII of Naples, a Bourbon cousin. Frederick's treatment of the Polish–Saxon royal family was seen as uncommonly disrespectful; moreover, Queen Maria Josepha, the dauphine's mother, died from a stroke some in France attributed to maltreatment, without evidence. Rumours of these actions by Frederick II profoundly shocked the French. The dauphine had a miscarriage as a result of the news coming from Saxony. Louis XV decided he was left with no choice but to enter the war.

Meanwhile, Britain had already declared war on France on 18 May 1756. The ensuing Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was to have profound consequences for France and Britain.

In 1757 French troops invaded Hanover, but were driven out by a counter-attack led by Ferdinand of Brunswick the following year.

Assassination attempt[link]

Louis XV, by Maurice Quentin de La Tour, (1748)

Robert-François Damiens, by Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1757)

At home, discontent grew, fuelled by the perceived political incompetence of the king and the spending spree of the court. As previously highlighted, modern historians have shown that the king was in fact not incompetent, albeit not resolute enough. The spending at court was also not particularly high under Louis XV, at any rate not any higher than under previous French kings, and certainly much lower than in some other European courts, such as in Russia, where Peter the Great and Empress Elizabeth spent enormous amounts of money to build palaces in and around Saint Petersburg. Court spending also helped to carry French arts to their zenith under Louis XV, and supported thousands of families of artists and craftsmen. French arts were admired and copied all over Europe. Even today, 250 years later, "Louis XV" style is still a favourite among the rich and famous around the world. Yet at the time, the French public, influenced as it was by a violent campaign of libels against the king and the Marquise de Pompadour starting in the mid-1740s, could only see royal incompetence and spending sprees.

This was what may have inspired the assassination attempt on the king by Robert Damiens. On 5 January 1757, would-be assassin Damiens entered the Palace of Versailles, as did thousands of people every day to petition the king. At 6 pm, as night had fallen on a cold Versailles covered in snow, the king, who was visiting his daughter, left her apartments to return to the Trianon where he was staying. As he was walking in the Marble Courtyard between two lines of guards lighting the way with torches, headed toward his carriage which was waiting at the edge of the Marble Courtyard, Damiens suddenly emerged from the dark, passed through the guards, and stabbed the king in the side with a penknife.

The 8.1 cm (3.2 inch) blade entered the king's body between the fourth and fifth ribs. The king, who was bleeding, remained calm and called for a confessor as he thought he would die. Thoughts of poison came to his mind. At the sight of the queen, who had come in a hurry, he asked for forgiveness for his misbehaviour. However, the king survived. He was probably saved by the thick layers of clothes he wore on that cold day, which cushioned the blade, protecting the internal organs. Allegedly, the blade penetrated only 1 cm (0.4 inch) into the king's body, leading Voltaire to mock what he called a "pinprick".

Damiens, who was mentally unstable, had been a servant of members of the Parlement of Paris where he had heard much criticism of the king. This, combined with the violent pamphlets and general discontent with the king, convinced him that he had to commit regicide in order to save France. Other sources say that he did not want to kill the king, but merely to give him a warning and thus force him to change his behaviour. In any case, it was the first attempt at regicide in France since the murder of King Henry IV by Ravaillac in 1610.

The king, bent on forgiving Damiens, could not avoid a trial for regicide. Tried by the Parlement of Paris, Damiens was executed on the Place de Grève on 28 March 1757, following the horrible procedure applied to regicides: after numerous tortures, Damiens was carried to the Place de Grève in the cold afternoon of that day. There, he was first tortured with red-hot pincers; his hand, holding the knife used in the attempted murder, was burnt using sulphur; molten wax, lead, and boiling oil were poured into his wounds. Horses were then harnessed to his arms and legs for his dismemberment. Damiens's joints would not break; after some hours, representatives of the Parlement ordered the executioner and his aides to cut Damiens's joints. Damiens was then dismembered, to the applause of the crowd. His trunk, apparently still living, was then burnt at the stake. There was an immense crowd to watch this gruesome spectacle, which nobody had witnessed in 147 years. Balconies in buildings above the Place de Grève were rented to women of the aristocracy for the exorbitant price of 100 livres per balcony (approx. $700 in 2005 US dollars).

This gruesome execution was harshly criticized by the “philosophes”, who saw it as a remnant of a more brutal age. In truth, the king himself had nothing to do with the method of execution, and the people rejoiced at the king having escaped Damiens's knife unharmed. It was the members of the Parlement of Paris who selected such a horrific execution, as they thought it would please the king, willing as they were to reconcile themselves with the king after their opposition to the tax on the twentieth and their support of the Jansenists against the king's will.

But above all, the people were outraged that the king did not dismiss Madame de Pompadour, despite the clear signal sent by Damiens. Posters appeared on the walls of Paris with the following ironic pun: "Ruling from the Mint Court: A louis not properly struck shall be struck a second time." The Austrian ambassador wrote to Vienna: "The public discontent is general. All the conversations are about death and poison. There appeared in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles some dreadful posters threatening the life of the king."

Later life[link]

The king, who had displayed calm and royal dignity on the day of the assassination attempt, sank into profound depression in the following weeks. He became convinced that he was on the wrong track. All attempts at reforms were abandoned. At the marquise de Pompadour's instigation, the king dismissed his two most hated ministers, the comte d'Argenson, secretary of state for war, and Machault d'Arnouville, keeper of the seals (justice minister) and before that controller-general of finances; and he called Choiseul to the government. Reforms would resume only with Maupeou in 1771.

Louis and his minister were deeply unhappy about Great Britain's victory in the Seven Years War and in the years following the Treaty of Paris they began drawing up a long-term plan that would involve construction of a larger navy, building an anti-British coalition of states that would lead to an eventual war of revenge and see France regain its former colonies from Britain. Choiseul was the leading advocate of this scheme, and was prepared to go to war with Britain over the Falklands Crisis in 1770. Louis, however, did not believe France was ready and instead dismissed Choiseul.

Death[link]

Louis XV died on 10 May 1774 of smallpox at the Palace of Versailles.^[3] Louis XV was the first Bourbon whose heart was not, as tradition demanded, cut out and placed in a special coffer.^{[citation needed]} The body was not embalmed for fear of contamination; instead, alcohol was poured into the coffin.^[4] The remains were also soaked in quicklime.^[5] In a surreptitious late-night ceremony attended by only one courtier, the body was taken to the Saint Denis Basilica.^{[citation needed]}

Louis's death saw the French monarchy at its nadir, in political, financial and moral terms.^{[citation needed]} Since Louis XV's son, Louis, the dauphin, had died nine years earlier, the throne passed to his grandson, the conventional and unimaginative Louis XVI. Two of Louis XV's other grandchildren, Louis XVIII and Charles X, would occupy the throne of France after the fall of Napoleon I.

Image and public opinion[link]

Edme Bouchardon's equestrian statue of Louis XV was originally conceived to commemorate the monarch's victorious role in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) and artistically executed to display a benign representation of the king as peacemaker. However it was, ironically, unveiled in 1763 following France's defeat in the Seven Years War. Bouchardon's work designed to be a powerful symbol of loyalty to the king became the centerpiece of a public relations event staged to restore public confidence in a monarchy in decline using art as propaganda on a grand scale.^[6]

Louis was unequal to the high expectations of his subjects. Contemporary songs, poems, and public declarations looked for a king who was absolute "master," unblemished "Christian," and benevolent provider ("baker"). Young Louis's failings were attributed to inexperience and manipulation by unscrupulous handlers. As his troubled reign progressed, his debauched private life was revealed and famine repeatedly battered France; the people withdrew their respect, reviled the sycophant king, and ultimately celebrated his demise. The institution of monarchy was intact, but Louis XV saddled his successor with a damaging legacy of popular discontent.^[7]

The many sermons on his death in 1774 praised the monarch and went out of their way to excuse his faults. But those ecclesiastics who not only raised their eyebrows over the sins of the Beloved but also expressed doubts about his policies reflected the corporate attitude of the First Estate more accurately. They hoped his successor would restore morals and serve the will of God, which they claimed the role of interpreting.^[8]

The financial strain imposed by these wars and by the excesses of the royal court, and the consequent dissatisfaction with the monarchy, contributed to the national unrest which culminated in the French Revolution of 1789.^[9]

Louis XIV had left France with serious financial difficulties. Ultimately, Louis XV failed to overcome these fiscal problems, mainly because he was incapable of putting together conflicting parties and interests in his entourage. Worse, Louis seemed to be aware of the forces of anti-monarchism threatening his family's rule and yet failed to do anything to stop them.^[10]

At first, he was known popularly as Le Bien-aimé (the well-beloved) and after a near-death illness in Metz in 1744 many of his subjects prayed for his recovery.^[11] His weak and ineffective rule accelerated the general decline that culminated in the French Revolution in 1789. The king was a notorious womaniser, although this was expected in a king; the monarch's virility was supposed to be another way in which his power was manifested. Nevertheless, popular faith in the monarchy was shaken by the scandals of Louis’s private life and by the end of his life he had become the well-loved.^[12]

Popular legend holds that Louis said, "After me, the flood" ("Après moi, le déluge"). In fact this quotation is more precisely attributed to Madame de Pompadour, although it is not certain that even she ever said it.^[13]

Louis XV in popular culture[link]

The character of Louis XV has appeared in many French Revolution-era films, especially films about the lives of Marie Antoinette and Madame du Barry.

Portrayal in film[link]

Issue[link]

Illegitimate issue[link]

Louis XV had several illegitimate children:

One son with an unknown mother:

• Antoine, comte d'Horne (1735–1765), married 1764 Maria Aurora von Sachsen (in French: Marie Aurore de Saxe) (1748 – 25 December 1821), an illegitimate daughter of Moritz, Graf von Sachsen by Marie Rinteau de Verrières, who, during the first year of her life, bore the surname de la Riviere, until her father, shortly before his own death, recognized her as his daughter and gave her the surname de Saxe, without issue

One son with Pauline Félicité de Mailly, mademoiselle de Nesle (Paris, 1 August 1712 – Versailles, 10 September 1741), married Paris, 28 September 1739 to Jean Baptiste Félix de Vintimille, marquis de Luc et de Castelnau (23 July 1720 – Paris, 10 September 1777), without issue:

• Charles Emanuel de Vintmille, marquis de Luc, dit Demi-Louis (Versailles, 2 September 1741 – Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 14 February 1814), married Paris, 26 November 1764 Marie Adélaïde de Castellane-Esparron (1747 – Paris, 29 March 1770), and had three children:
  • Charles Félix René, comte de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 17 December 1765 – Calabria, 3 September 1806), married Versailles, 28 September 1783 Marthe Gabrielle Artois de Lévis (Arras, 12 October 1765 – guillotined Paris, 10 July 1794), and had three daughters:
    • Anne Caroline Gabrielle de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 12 June 1785 – Paris, 8 January 1810), married Tracy-le-Val, 30 January 1809 Louis-l'Espérance des Acres, 5e marquis de l'Aigle (Paris, 5 August 1764 – Tracy-le-Val, 18 October 1851), and had one son
    • Marie Françoise Louise Célestine de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 26 June 1787 – Paris, 2 January 1862), married firstly Paris, 23 April 1811 Jean, 1er comte Greffulhe (Amsterdam, 21 May 1774 – Paris, 23 February 1820), son of Louis Greffulhe (1 July 1741 – 7 April 1810) and first wife Judith Dumoulin (- 9 October 1782), and had three children, married secondly Paris, 1826 as his second wife Philippe Paul, comte de Ségur (Paris, 4 November 1780 – Paris, 25 February 1873), and had two daughters
    • Fidèle Henriette Joséphine de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 16 January 1789 – Paris, 29 November 1864), married 4 January 1811 Alexandre, comte de Girardin-d'Ermenonville (- 6 August 1855), without issue
  • Adélaïde Pauline de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 4 January 1767–1825), married Versailles, 26 April 1785 Henri, marquis de Lostanges et de Montpézat (- London, 4 June 1807), son of Armand de Lostanges, marquis de Sainte-Alvère, and Pauline de L'Hôpital de Choisy, and had two sons
  • Candide Dorothée Louise de Vintimille de Luc (Paris, 14 December 1767 – 6 October 1825), married Versailles, 21 November 1788 Jean Baptiste de Félix d' Ollières, comte du Muy et de Saint-Mesme (- Paris, 3 June 1820), without issue

One daughter with Marie Irène Cathérine de Buisson de Longpré (- 1767), daughter of the seigneur de Longpré, near Falaise^{[disambiguation needed ]}, and married a bourgeois of that town named Filleul:

• Marie Françoise Filleul (Château de Longpré, 1751 – Paris 1822), married Château de Menars, 1767 Abel Poisson, marquis de Vandières (- 1781)
• Adélaïde-Émilie Filleul (Paris, 14 May 1761 – 19 April 1836)

One daughter with Marie-Louise O'Murphy de Boisfaily:

• Agathe Louise de Saint-Antoine (Paris, May 1754 – Paris, 6 September 1774, bur Paris), who married in Paris in 1773 René Jean de La Tour du Pin, marquis de la Charce (Paris, 26 July 1750–1781), without issue^[14]

One son with Françoise de Châlus (bap. Château de Châlus-Chabrol, Châlus, Haute-Vienne, 24 February 1734 – Paris, 7 July 1821), one of the ladies-in-waiting of Elizabeth, Duchess of Parma and Chamberlain-Major of Princess Marie Adélaïde of France, daughter of Gabriel de Châlus, seigneur de Sansac^{[disambiguation needed ]}, and Claire Gérault de Solages, married on 10 July 1749 to Don Jean François, 1er duc de Narbonne-Lara Grandee of Spain 1st Class, Lieutenant General of the Army, Commander in Name of the King of the Dioceses of Castres, Albi and Lavaur, 1st Gentleman of the House of H.R.H. the Duke of Parma (Aubiac, Lot-et-Garonne, 27 December 1718 – 12 August 1806, son of François de Narbonne-Lara, seigneur d' Aubiac, and second wife Olympie Angélique de Goth:

• Louis Marie Jacques Amalric, comte de Narbonne-Lara (17, 23 or 24 August 1755 – 17 November 1813)

Two daughters by Marguerite Cathérine Haynault (Paris, 11 November 1736 – 17 March 1823):

• Agnès Louise de Montreuil (bap. Paris, 20 May 1760 – Montmélas, 2 September 1837), married Paris, 29 November 1778 Gaspard, comte d' Arod de Montmélas (Montmélas, 15 September 1747 – Montmélas, 28 August 1815), and had three children
• Anne Louise de La Réale (Versailles, 20 February 1763 – Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 30 April 1831), married Paris, 28 August 1780 Gabriel, comte de Geslin de La Villeneuve (Saint Malo, 27 May 1753 – Paris, 24 February 1796), and had one son

Two daughters with Lucie-Madeleine d'Estaing (1743–1826), illegitimate daughter of Charles François d' Estaing, marquis de Saillans, vicomte de Ravel (1683 – 29 August 1746) by Madeleine Erny:

• Agnès Lucie d'Auguste (Paris, 14 April 1761 – Château de Boysseulh, 4 July 1822), married Paris, 11 December 1777 Charles II, vicomte et marquis de Boysseulh (1753 – Fontainebleau, 14 January 1808), and had two sons
• Aphrodite Lucie d'Auguste (Versailles, 8 March 1763 – Artonne, 22 February 1819), married Paris, 21 December 1784 Louis Jules Philippe, comte de Boysseulh (8 April 1758 – Mangres, 6 December 1795), and had two daughters

One son with Anne Couffier de Romans, dame de Meilly-Coulonges (1737–1808):

• Louis Aimé de Bourbon, dit l'Abbé de Bourbon (Passy, 13 January 1762 – Naples, 28 February 1787)

One son with Jeanne Louise Tiercelin de la Colleterie, dit mademoiselle de Bonneval (1746–1779):

• Benoît Louis Le Duc, dit l'Abbé Le Duc (Paris, 7 February 1764–1837)

One daughter with Cathérine Eléonore Bernard (1740–1769):

• Louise Françoise Adélaïde de Saint-Germain (Versailles, 13 January 1769 – Thauvenay, 10 March 1850), married Valence, 1797 Jean Pierre Bachasson, comte de Montalivet (Neukirch^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Moselle, 5 July 1766 – Château de Lagrange, Cher, 22 January 1823), son of Charles Victor Bachasson, seigneur de Montalivet, and second wife Marthe de Saint-Germain, and had six children

One son with Marie Thérèse Françoise Boisselet (- 1800):

• Charles Louis Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 23 January 1769 – Paris, 21 November 1821), married Paris, 8 January 1789 (divorced 1798) Madeleine Félicité Baudet (1775 – 26 July 1830), and had two sons:
  • Charles Louis Félix Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 11 September 1789 – 22 December 1881), married 1818 Clémentine Dubois (12 January 1802–1835), and had three children:
    • Charles Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 31 October 1826 – Sèvres, 10 June 1900), married Paris, 20 August 1870 Lucie Perrelet (Paris, 11 October 1840 – Paris, 11 December 1927), and had one son:
      • Félix Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 29 December 1871 – Paris, 21 February 1953), married Paris, 1899 Juliette Fabre (Caen, 5 October 1875 – Paris, 25 December 1912), and had two sons:
        • Jean Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 28 July 1900 – Coiron, 18 October 1914)
        • Louis Jules André Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 16 January 1906 – Paris, 30 December 1964), married Paris, 9 April 1960 Aline Élisabeth Marie Kermorgant (Issy-les-Moulineaux, 26 April 1921 – Albertville, Savoie, 5 June 1965), without issue
    • Clémentine Cadet de Gassicourt (22 June 1819 – 19 June 1870), married firstly 30 April 1839 Marie Joseph Napoléon Camus, without issue, married secondly 1861 Louis Geneviève Léon Journault (Paris, 24 February 1827 – Sèvres, 21 July 1892), without issue
    • Félicité Louise Cadet de Gassicourt (8 May 1822 – 5 May 1893), married firstly 1840 François Gorré (- 17 December 1855), without issue, married secondly 1859 Giovanni Paolo (Gianpaolo), conte Pinelli (19 July 1827 – 25 April 1893), without issue
  • Louis Hercule Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 12 February 1794 – 26 February 1879), married Paris, 10 September 1831 Antoinette Pataille (1810 – 4 June 1863), and had two daughters:
    • Félicité Cadet de Gassicourt (Bar-sur-Seine, 28 December 1832 – April 1897), married Paris, 28 July 1855 Jules Aurous (Castres, Tarn, 13 February 1825 – 10 December 1903), and had two children
    • Julie Cadet de Gassicourt (Paris, 23 June 1834 – 18 April 1904), married Paris, 24 April 1858 Eugène Masselin (Paris, 29 August 1825 – 3 August 1903), and had four children

He also served as stepfather to Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour's only child:

• Alexandrine-Jeanne Le Normant d'Étiolles (10 August 1744 – 14 June 1754)

Louis XV may have had other illegitimate children, but paternity has not been established for sure.

Titles, styles, honours and arms[link]

Titles and styles[link]

• 15 February 1710 – 8 March 1712 His Royal Highness The Duke of Anjou
• 8 March 1712 – 1 September 1715 His Royal Highness The Dauphin of France
• 1 September 1715 – 10 May 1774 His Majesty The King

Ancestors[link]