Editing Louis XVIII (section)

==At his brother's court==
[[Image: Duplessis - The Count of Provence (future Louis XVIII), Musée Condé.jpg|thumb|Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, during the reign of [[Louis XVI]]]]
[[Image:Marie Josephine de Savoie.png|thumb|[[Princess Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy|Marie Joséphine]], Countess of Provence, Louis Stanislas' wife, by [[Jean-Baptiste André Gautier-Dagoty]], 1775]]

On 27 April 1774, Louis XV fell ill after contracting [[smallpox]] and died a few days later on 10 May, aged 64.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|pages=136-138}} Louis Stanislas' elder brother, the Dauphin Louis Auguste, succeeded their grandfather as King Louis XVI.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=43}} As eldest brother of the King, Louis Stanislas received the title [[Monsieur]]. Louis Stanislas longed for political influence. He attempted to gain admittance to the King's council in 1774, but failed. Louis Stanislas was left in a political limbo that he called "a gap of 12 years in my political life".{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=16}} Louis XVI granted Louis Stanislas revenues from the [[Counts and Dukes of Alençon|Duchy of Alençon]] in December 1774. The duchy was given to enhance Louis Stanislas's prestige. However, the [[appanage]] generated only 300,000 [[French livre|livres]] a year, an amount much lower than it had been at its peak in the fourteenth century.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=24}}

Louis Stanislas travelled about France more than other members of the Royal Family, who rarely left the [[Île-de-France]]. In 1774, he accompanied his sister [[Clotilde de France|Clotilde]] to [[Chambéry]] on the journey to meet her bridegroom [[Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia|Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont]], heir to the throne of [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Sardinia]]. In 1775, he visited [[Lyon]] and also his spinster aunts [[Princess Marie Adélaïde of France|Adélaïde]] and [[Princess Victoire of France|Victoire]] while they were taking the waters at [[Vichy]].{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=20}} The four provincial tours that Louis Stanislas took before the year 1791 amounted to a total of three months.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=21}}

On 5 May 1778, Dr. Lassonne, Marie Antoinette's private physician, confirmed her pregnancy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Castelot |first=André |title=Madame Royale |publisher= Librairie Académique Perrin |location=Paris |year= 1962 |page= 15 |isbn=2-262-00035-2 |language=French}}</ref> On 19 December 1778, the Queen gave birth to a daughter, who was named [[Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France]] and given the honorific title [[Fils de France|Madame Royale]]. That the baby was a girl came as a relief to the Count of Provence, who kept his position as heir to Louis XVI, since [[Salic Law]] excluded women from acceding to the throne of France.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=199}}{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=201}} However, Louis Stanislas did not remain heir to the throne much longer. On 22 October 1781, Marie Antoinette gave birth to the Dauphin [[Louis-Joseph, Dauphin of France|Louis Joseph]]. Louis Stanislas and his brother, the [[Charles X of France|Count of Artois]], served as godfathers by proxy for [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor]], the Queen's brother.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|pages=221-223}} When Marie Antoinette gave birth to her second son, [[Louis XVII|Louis Charles]], in March 1785, Louis Stanislas slid further down the line of succession.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|pages=224-225}}

In 1780, [[Anne Nompar de Caumont]], Countess of Balbi, entered the service of Marie Joséphine. Louis Stanislas soon fell in love with his wife's new lady-in-waiting and installed her as his mistress,{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=28}} which resulted in the couple's already limited affection for each other cooling entirely.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=30}} Louis Stanislas commissioned a pavilion for his mistress on a parcel of land  at Versailles which became known as the ''Parc Balbi''.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=29}}

Louis Stanislas lived a quiet and sedentary lifestyle at this point, not having a great deal to do since his self-proclaimed political exclusion in 1774. He kept himself occupied with his vast library of over 11,000 books at Balbi's pavilion, reading for several hours each morning.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=34}} In the early 1780s, he also incurred huge debts totalling 10&nbsp;million livres, which his brother Louis XVI paid.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=178}}

An [[Assembly of Notables]] (the members consisted of magistrates, mayors, nobles and clergy) was convened in February 1787 to ratify the financial reforms sought by the Controller-General of Finance [[Charles Alexandre de Calonne]]. This provided the Count of Provence, who abhorred the radical reforms proposed by Calonne, his long-awaiting opportunity to establish himself in politics.{{sfn|Hibbert|1982|page=38}} The reforms proposed a new property tax,{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=40}} and new elected provincial assemblies which would have a say in local taxation.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=41}} Calonne's proposition was rejected outright by the notables, and, as a result, Louis XVI dismissed him. The Archbishop of Toulouse, [[Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne]], acquired Calonne's ministry. Brienne attempted to salvage Calonne's reforms, but ultimately failed to convince the notables to approve them. A frustrated Louis XVI dissolved the assembly.{{sfn|Hibbert|1982|page=39}}

[[File:Joseph Boze (1745-1826) - Louis-Stanislas-Xavier (1755–1824), comte de Provence, Later Louis XVIII, King of France - 1548061 - National Trust.jpg|thumb|''Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, comte de Provence'' by [[Joseph Boze]]]]

Brienne's reforms were then submitted to the ''[[Parlement of Paris|Parlement]]'' of Paris in the hopes that they would be approved. (A ''parlement'' was responsible for ratifying the King's edicts; each province had its own ''parlement'', but the ''Parlement'' of Paris was the most significant of all.) The ''Parlement'' of Paris refused to accept Brienne's proposals and declared that any new taxation would have to be approved by an [[Estates General (France)|Estates-General]] (the nominal parliament of France). Louis XVI and Brienne took a hostile stance against this rejection, and Louis XVI had to implement a "bed of justice" (''[[Lit de justice]]''), which automatically registered an edict in the ''Parlement'' of Paris, to ratify the desired reforms. On 8 May, two of the leading members of the ''Parlement'' of Paris were arrested. There was rioting in [[Brittany]], Provence, [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]] and [[Béarn]] in reaction to their arrest. This unrest was engineered by local magistrates and nobles, who enticed the people to revolt against the ''Lit de Justice'', which was quite unfavourable to the nobles and magistrates. The clergy also joined the provincial cause, and condemned Brienne's tax reforms. Brienne conceded defeat in July and agreed to a convocation of the Estates-General to meet in 1789. He resigned from his post in August and was replaced by the Swiss magnate [[Jacques Necker]].{{sfn|Hibbert|1982|page=40}}

In November 1788, a second Assembly of Notables was convened by Jacques Necker, to consider the makeup of the next Estates-General.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=44}} The ''Parlement of Paris'' recommended that the Estates should be the same as they were at the last assembly, in 1614 (this would mean that the clergy and nobility would have more representation than the [[Estates General (France)|Third Estate]]).{{sfn|Hibbert|1982|page=329}} The notables rejected the "dual representation" proposal. Louis Stanislas was the only notable to vote to increase the size of the Third Estate.{{sfn|Mansel|1999|p=45}} Necker disregarded the notables' judgment, and convinced Louis XVI to grant the extra representation. The king duly obliged on 27 December.{{sfn|Hibbert|1982|page=44}}

===Outbreak of the French Revolution===
{{Main|French Revolution}}

The [[Estates-General of 1789|Estates-General]] were convened in May 1789 to ratify financial reforms.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=326}} The Count of Provence favoured a stalwart position against the Third Estate and its demands for tax reform. On 17 June, the Third Estate declared itself a [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]], an Assembly not of the Estates, but of the people.

The Count of Provence urged the King to act strongly against the declaration, while the King's popular minister [[Jacques Necker]] aimed at reaching a compromise with the new assembly. Louis XVI was characteristically indecisive. On 9 July, the assembly declared itself a [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]] that would give France a Constitution. On 11 July, Louis XVI dismissed Necker, which led to widespread rioting across Paris. On 12 July, the sabre charge of the ''[[Régiment Royal–Allemand Cavalerie]]'' ''(Royal German Cavalry Regiment)'' of [[Charles-Eugène de Lorraine, prince de Lambesc|Charles-Eugène de Lorraine, Prince de Lambesc]], against a crowd gathered at the [[Tuileries Palace|Tuileries gardens]], sparked the [[Storming of the Bastille]] two days later.<ref>''Le Petit Robert 2'', Dictionnaire universel des noms propres, Dictionnaires Le Robert, Paris, 1988, p. 1017.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lever |first=Évelyne |author-link=Évelyne Lever|title=Louis XVI |publisher= Fayard |location= Paris |year=1985 |page=508}}</ref>

On 16 July, the King's brother, [[Charles X of France|Charles, Comte d'Artois]], left France with his wife and children, along with many other courtiers.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=338}} Artois and his family took up residence in [[Turin]], the capital city of his father-in-law's ([[Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia|Carlo Emanuele IV]]) [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]], with the family of [[Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé|Louis Joseph, ''Prince de Condé'']].{{sfn|Nagel|2008|page=65}}

The Count of Provence decided to remain at Versailles.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=340}} When the Royal Family plotted to abscond from Versailles to [[Metz]], Provence advised the King not to leave, a suggestion he accepted.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=342}}

The Royal Family was forced to leave the palace at Versailles on the day after [[the Women's March on Versailles]], 5 October 1789.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=357}} They were taken to Paris. There, the Count of Provence and his wife lodged in the [[Luxembourg Palace]], while the rest of the Royal Family stayed in the [[Tuileries Palace]].{{sfn|Fraser|2002|pages=361-362}} In March 1791, the National Assembly created a law outlining the regency of Louis Charles in case his father died while he was still too young to reign. This law awarded the regency to Louis Charles' nearest male relative in France (at that time the Count of Provence), and after him, the [[Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orleans|Duke of Orleans]], thus bypassing the Count of Artois. If Orleans were unavailable, the regency would be submitted to election.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=383}}

The Count of Provence and his wife fled to the [[Austrian Netherlands]] in conjunction with the royal family's failed [[Flight to Varennes]] in June 1791.{{sfn|Fraser|2002|p=412}}