Editing Louis XV (section)

==Government of the Duke of Bourbon (1723–1726)==
[[File:Sacre de Louis XV.jpg|Coronation of Louis XV at Reims Cathedral (1722)|thumb]]
On 15 June 1722, as Louis approached his thirteenth birthday, the year of his majority, he left Paris and moved back to Versailles, where he had happy memories of his childhood, but where he was far from the reach of public opinion. On 25 October, Louis was crowned King at the [[Cathedral of Reims]].<ref>Bluche (2003), p. 36.</ref> On 15 February 1723, the king's majority was declared by the Parlement of Paris, officially ending the regency. Philippe continued to manage the government, and took the title of Prime Minister in August 1723, but while visiting his mistress, far from the court and medical care, he died in December of the same year. Following the advice of his preceptor Fleury, Louis XV appointed his cousin [[Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon]], to replace the late Duke of Orléans as prime minister.

===Marriage and children===
[[File:Carle Van Loo - Marie Leszczinska, reine de France (1703-1768) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|220px|upright|Queen [[Marie Leszczyńska]], by [[Carle Van Loo]] (1747)]]
Before his ascension, he was engaged to [[Mariana Victoria of Spain|Infanta Mariana Victoria]], and when the regent died, the royal court knew it was too early for the Infanta to have children early, so the engagement was called off and was sent back to Spain.
One of the first priorities of the Duke of Bourbon was to find a bride for the King, to assure the continuity of the monarchy, and especially to prevent the succession to the throne of the Orléans branch of the family, the rivals of his branch.<ref name="Guéganic 68">Guéganic (2008), p. 68.</ref> A list of 99 princesses was prepared, among them being [[Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange|Princess Anne of Great Britain]], [[Barbara of Portugal]], [[Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark]], [[Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine]], [[Enrichetta d'Este]] and the Duke's own sisters [[Henriette Louise de Bourbon]] and [[Élisabeth Alexandrine de Bourbon]].<ref>de Goncourt (1906).{{page needed | date=April 2023}}</ref> In the end, the 21-year-old [[Marie Leszczyńska]], daughter of [[Stanislaus I of Poland|Stanislaus I]], the deposed king of Poland, was chosen. The others on the list along with Marie would either marry or stay unmarried. This is what would happen next:
*Mariana Victoria, Louis’s former fiancée, would marry the [[Joseph I of Portugal|Crown Prince of Portugal]] and be mother to future [[Maria I of Portugal|Maria I]].
*Anne of Great Britain would marry [[William IV, Prince of Orange|the Prince of Orange]]. 
*Barbara of Portugal would marry [[Ferdinand VI of Spain|the Prince of Asturias]].
*Charlotte Amalie of Denmark would live to be unmarried.
*Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine would become the third wife of [[Charles Emmanuel III|the King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy]]. 
*Enrichetta d’Este would marry [[Antonio Farnese|the Duke of Parma]], and later Leopold of Hesse-Darmstadt.
*Henriette Louise would become ''Abbess de Beaumont-lès-Tours''.
*Élisabeth-Alexandrine would also never marry.

The marriage was celebrated in September 1725 when the king was 15 and Marie was 22. Louis was said to have fallen in love with Marie instantly, and [[consummation|consummated]] his marriage to her seven times on their wedding night.<ref>HRH Princess Michael of Kent (2005), p. 60.</ref> From 1727 to 1737, Marie gave Louis XV ten children: eight girls and two boys. Of the boys, only the elder, the Dauphin [[Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765)|Louis]] (1729–1765), survived childhood. While he did not live to rule, his birth as the awaited heir was welcomed with celebration in all spheres of French society. (The Dauphin Louis would go on to marry [[Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France|Maria Josephina of Saxony]] in 1747, who gave birth to the next three Kings of France: [[Louis XVI]], [[Louis XVIII]], and [[Charles X of France|Charles X]]).<ref name="Guéganic 68"/> Louis XV's second son, the [[Philippe, Duke of Anjou|Duke of Anjou]], was born in 1730 and died in 1733. Of the daughters only the two oldest daughters, who were fraternal twins, were raised at Versailles; the others were sent away to be raised at the [[Abbey of Fontevrault]].

Marie was a pious and timid Queen who spent most of her time secluded with her own courtiers. She was a musician, read extensively, and played social games with her courtiers. After 1737, she did not share her bed with the King. She was deeply upset by the death of her son the Dauphin in 1765, and died on 24 June 1768.<ref name="Guéganic 68"/>

===''Unigenitus'', Jansenism and religious conflict===
One of the first serious conflicts that disturbed the early reign of Louis XV was a battle within the Catholic Church over a [[Papal Bull]] called ''[[Unigenitus]]''. The Bull was requested by Louis XIV of [[Pope Clement XI]] and granted on 8 September 1713. It was a fierce condemnation of [[Jansenism]], a Catholic doctrine based largely on the teachings of [[Saint Augustine]]. Jansenism had attracted many important followers in France, including the philosopher [[Blaise Pascal]], the poet [[Louis Racine|Racine]], aristocrats including [[Madame de Sévigné]] and Madame de Lafayette.  The faculty of the Sorbonne, then primarily a theological college and a center of Jansenism, demanded clarification from the government. The Jansenists were allied with the Gallicans, theologians who wanted the Catholic Church in France to be distinctly French. The opposition to ''Unigenitus'' was particularly strong among the members of the [[Parlement of Paris]], the assembly of the nobles. Despite the protests, on 24 March 1730 Cardinal Fleury persuaded the King to issue a decree that ''Unigenitus'' was the law of France as well as that of the Church.

The government and church imposed repressive measures. On 27 April 1732, the Archbishop of Paris threatened to excommunicate any member of the Church who read the Jansenist journal, ''Nouvelles Ecclésiastiques''. The ''Parlement'' was strictly forbidden to discuss religious questions, preventing them from opposing the ''Unigenitus'' bull. Priests who did not accept ''Unigenitus'' were denied the authority to administer last rites to the dying.<ref>Bluche (2003), pp. 56–58.</ref> A new tax, the ''cinquantième'', was levied against religious figures who had previously been exempted from taxation. Jansenists and Protestants were threatened with prison and banishment.<ref>Bluche (2003), pp. 39–47.</ref> As a result of these repressive acts, religious dissent remained an issue throughout the King's reign.

Tension grew between the Duke of Bourbon and Cardinal de Fleury over the King's favor. The Duke's rigid and cold personality did not appeal to the young King, who turned to his old tutor for advice on how to run the affairs of state. When the King insisted that Fleury was to be included in all meetings between himself and the Duke of Bourbon, the Duke was infuriated and began to undermine Fleury's position at court. When the King became aware of the Duke's intrigue, he abruptly dismissed him and replaced him with Fleury.<ref name="Bluche 53">Bluche (2003), pp. 53–55.</ref>