Editing Louis XV (section)

==Early life and the Regency (1710–1723)==
{{Main|Régence}}
[[File:Louis XIV of France and his family attributed to Nicolas de Largillière.jpg|thumb|The infant Louis with his [[Madame de Ventadour|governess]], [[Louis, Grand Dauphin|grandfather]], [[Louis XIV|great-grandfather]] and [[Louis, Duke of Burgundy|father]], and the busts of [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]] and [[Louis XIII]] in the background. Madame de Ventadour holds her charge's reins. The portrait, painted for her, commemorates her part in saving the dynasty.]]
[[File:Louis XV cours principaux fleuves P1600549.jpg|thumb|''Cours des principaux fleuves et rivières de l'Europe'', or "Courses of the main rivers of Europe", composed & printed by Louis XV, aged 8. Education of the young king included [[geography]] and [[printing]].]]
[[File:P1600523 Louis XV lit de justice.jpg|thumb|[[Lit de justice]] held by young Louis XV; his governess, the only woman in the assembly, sits next to him]]
Louis XV was the great-grandson of [[Louis XIV]] and the third son of the [[Louis, Duke of Burgundy|Duke of Burgundy]] (1682–1712), and his wife [[Marie Adélaïde of Savoy]], who was the eldest daughter of [[Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia|Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy]]. He was born in the [[Palace of Versailles]] on 15 February 1710 and was immediately styled the Duke of Anjou. At this time, the possibility of the Duke of Anjou becoming the next king seemed rather remote as Louis XIV's eldest son and heir, Louis's paternal grandfather Louis ''[[Le Grand Dauphin]]'', was expected to assume the throne upon the old king's death. Next in line to the throne behind the Grand Dauphin was his eldest son- Louis's father ''Le Petit Dauphin'' and then Louis's elder brother, a child named Louis, Duke of Brittany. Disease, however, steered the line of succession forward three generations and sideways: on 14 April 1711 the Grand Dauphin, died of [[smallpox]],<ref name="Guéganic 14">Guéganic (2008), p. 14.</ref> and less than a year later, on 12 February 1712 the future king's mother, Marie Adélaïde, who had been stricken with [[measles]], died, followed six days later by Louis's father, her devoted husband who would not leave her side during her illness. With the death of both the ''Grand'' and ''Petit'' dauphins, Louis's elder brother immediately became [[Dauphin of France]], but just over two weeks further still, on 7 March, it was found that both the elder Louis and the younger Louis had also contracted measles. The two brothers were treated in the traditional way, with [[bloodletting]]. On the night of 8–9 March, the new Dauphin, age five, died from the combination of the disease and the treatment. The governess of Louis, [[Madame de Ventadour]], forbade the doctors to bleed the two year old Duke of Anjou by hiding him in a palace closet where she cared for him alone; where he survived despite being very ill.<ref>Bluche (2003), pp. 15–17.</ref> When Louis XIV himself finally died on 1 September 1715, Louis, at the age of five, trembling and crying and against all probability, inherited the throne as Louis XV.<ref name="Guéganic 14"/>

According to Charles V's royal ordinance of 1374 the Kingdom of France must be governed by a regent until a given king had reached the age of 13.<ref>Adams (2014), p. 16.</ref> The title of regent was customarily assigned to an under-aged king's nearest adult living relative, often his mother or an uncle. But as Louis's mother had been struck down by disease, and as his only uncle had already been enthroned as King of Spain, the job fell to his great-uncle [[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]]. However Louis XIV had distrusted Philippe, who was a renowned soldier but was regarded by the late King as an atheist and libertine. The King referred privately to Philippe as a ''Fanfaron des crimes'' ("braggart of crimes").<ref name="Guéganic 14"/> Louis XIV had desired for France to be ruled by his favorite but illegitimate son, the [[Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine|Duke of Maine]] (illegitimate son of Louis XIV and [[Madame de Montespan]]), who was in the council and who, because of a dramatic change in the laws of succession instituted by Louis XIV, and, as his oldest surviving male descendant, could now legally become king if the legitimate direct line of succession became extinguished. In August 1714, shortly before his own death, the King rewrote his will to restrict the powers of the regent; it stipulated that the nation was to be governed by a Regency Council made up of fourteen members until the new king reached the age of majority. Philippe, nephew of Louis XIV, was named president of this Council, but other members included the Duke of Maine and at least seven of his well-known allies. According to the will, all decisions were to be made by majority vote, meaning that the president could always be outvoted by Maine's party and effectively allowing Maine to rule France for the next eight years.

Philippe saw the trap. The [[Parlement of Paris]], an assembly of French nobles among whom Philippe had many friends, was the only judicial body in France with the authority to have this portion of the deceased King's will annulled, and immediately after the King's death Philippe approached the Parlement requesting that they do just this.<ref name="Antoine 33">Antoine (1989), p. 33–37.</ref> In exchange for their support he agreed to restore to the Parlement its ''droit de remontrance'' (right of remonstrance) – the right to challenge a king's decisions – which had been removed by Louis XIV. The ''droit de remontrance'' would impair the monarchy's functioning and marked the beginning of a conflict between the Parlement and King which contributed to the [[French Revolution]] in 1789.<ref name="Antoine 33"/> In the mean time, however, the will was annulled and Philippe was installed as Regent with full powers to act in the name of the King in all matters.
[[File:Louis Hersent - Peter I of Russia and Louis XV of France.jpg|Tsar [[Peter the Great]] of Russia picks up the young King (1717), painted around 1838|thumb]]

On 9 September 1715, Philippe had the young King transported away from the court in Versailles to Paris, where the Regent had his own residence in the [[Palais Royal]]. On 12 September, the King performed his first official act, opening the first ''[[lit de justice]]'' of his reign at the Palais Royal. From September 1715 until January 1716 he lived in the [[Château de Vincennes]], before moving to the [[Tuileries Palace]]. In February 1717, when he had reached the age of seven, the King was taken away in tears from his beloved governess Madame Ventadour and placed in the care of [[François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi|François de Villeroy]], the 73-year-old Duke and ''Maréchal de France'', named as his governor in Louis XIV's will of August 1714. Villeroy instructed the young King in court etiquette, taught him how to review a regiment, and how to receive royal visitors. His guests included the Russian Tsar [[Peter the Great]] in 1717; at their first meeting and contrary to ordinary protocol between such great rulers, the two-meter-tall Tsar greeted Louis by picking him up under the arms and giving him a kiss. Louis also learned the skills of horseback riding and hunting, which became great passions.<ref>Bluche (2003), pp. 26–28.</ref> In 1720, following the example of Louis XIV, Villeroy had the young Louis dance in public in two ballets—once at the Tuileries Palace on 24 February 1720, and then again in ''The Ballet des Elements'' on 31 December 1721.<ref name="Bluche 2003, p. 226">Bluche (2003), p. 226.</ref> The shy Louis was terrified of these performances, and never danced in another ballet.<ref>Antoine (1989), pp. 64–65.</ref>

The King's tutor was the Abbé [[André-Hercule de Fleury]], the bishop of Fréjus (and later to become Cardinal de Fleury), who saw that he was instructed in Latin, Italian, history and geography, astronomy, mathematics and drawing, and cartography. The King had charmed the visiting Russian Tsar in 1717 by identifying the major rivers, cities and geographic features of Russia. In his later life the King retained his passion for science and geography; he created departments in physics (1769) and mechanics (1773) at the [[Collège de France]],<ref>Herbermann (1913), p. 103.</ref> and he sponsored the first complete and accurate map of France, the Cartes de Cassini.<ref>Guéganic (2008), p. 20.</ref> Besides his academic studies, he received a practical education in government. Beginning in 1720 he attended the regular meetings of the Regency Council.
[[File:Philippe, duc d'Orléans, Régent, et son fils le duc de Chartres - Versailles MV 5456.jpg|Louis with the regent, Philippe of Orléans (1718)|thumb|left]]
One economic crisis disrupted the Regency; the Scottish economist and banker [[John Law (economist)|John Law]] was named controller-general of finances. In May 1716, he opened the ''Banque Générale Privée'' ("General Private Bank"), which soon became the Banque Royal. It was mostly funded by the government, and was one of the earliest banks to issue paper money, which he promised could be exchanged for gold.<ref>Backhouse (1994), p. 118.</ref> He also persuaded wealthy Parisians to invest in the [[Mississippi Company]], a scheme for the colonization of the French territory of Louisiana. The stock of the company first soared and then collapsed in 1720, taking the bank with it. Law fled France, and wealthy Parisians became reluctant to make further investments or trust any currency but gold.<ref name="Bluchr 223">Bluche (2003), pp. 223–226.</ref>

In 1719, France, [[Triple Alliance (1717)|in alliance]] with Britain and the [[Dutch Republic]], declared war on Spain. Spain was defeated on both land and sea, and quickly sought peace. A Franco-Spanish treaty was signed on 27 March 1721. The two governments proposed to unite their royal families by marrying Louis to his cousin, [[Mariana Victoria of Spain]], the three-year-old daughter of [[Philip V of Spain]], who was himself a grandson of Louis XIV. The marriage contract was signed on 25 November 1721, and the future bride came to France and took up residence in the Louvre. However, after the death of the Regent, in 1725, the new Prime Minister decided she was too young to have children soon enough, and she was sent back to Spain.<ref name="Bluchr 223"/> During the rest of the Regency, France was at peace, and in 1720, the Regent decreed an official silence on religious conflicts.<ref name="Bluche 2003, p. 226"/> [[Montesquieu]] and [[Voltaire]] published their first works, and the [[Age of Enlightenment]] in France quietly began.<ref>Guéganic (2008), pp. 16–17.</ref>