*** Welcome to piglix ***

Louis the XVI

Louis XVI
Antoine-François Callet - Louis XVI, roi de France et de Navarre (1754-1793), revêtu du grand costume royal en 1779 - Google Art Project.jpg
King of France
Reign 10 May 1774 – 4 September 1792
Coronation 11 June 1775
Reims Cathedral
Predecessor Louis XV
King of the French
Reign 4 September 1791 – 21 September 1792
Proclamation 30 September 1791
Successor Provisional Executive Council
Monarchy abolished
National Convention
Born (1754-08-23)23 August 1754
Palace of Versailles, France
Died 21 January 1793(1793-01-21) (aged 38)
Place de la Révolution, Paris, France
Burial 21 January 1815
Basilica of St Denis, north of Paris
Spouse Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria
Issue Marie Thérèse, Queen of France
Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France
Louis XVII of France
Princess Sophie
Full name
Louis Auguste de France
House Bourbon
Father Louis, Dauphin of France
Mother Maria Josepha of Saxony
Religion Roman Catholicism
Signature Louis XVI's signature
Full name
Louis Auguste de France
Royal styles of
King Louis XVI
Par la grâce de Dieu, Roi de France et de Navarre
France moderne.svg
Reference style His Most Christian Majesty
Spoken style Your Most Christian Majesty
Alternative style Monsieur Le Roi

Louis XVI (French pronunciation: ​[lwi sɛːz]; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793), born Louis-Auguste, was the last King of France before the French Revolution, after which the victors renamed him Louis Capet during the final weeks of his life. In 1765, at the death of his father, Louis, son and heir apparent of Louis XV, Louis-Auguste became the new Dauphin of France. Upon his grandfather's death on 10 May 1774, he assumed the title "King of France and Navarre", which he used until 4 September 1791, when he received the title of "King of the French" until the monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792. Louis XVI was guillotined on 21 January 1793.

The first part of his reign was marked by attempts to reform France in accordance with Enlightenment ideas. These included efforts to abolish serfdom, remove the taille, and increase tolerance toward non-Catholics. The French nobility reacted to the proposed reforms with hostility, and successfully opposed their implementation. Louis implemented deregulation of the grain market, advocated by his liberal minister Turgot, but it resulted in an increase in bread prices. In periods of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt. From 1776, Louis XVI actively supported the North American colonists, who were seeking their independence from Great Britain, which was realised in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.


...
Wikipedia

...