Charles X

Charles X (1757-1836). Grandson of Louis XV, younger brother of Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, the last Bourbon king of France. As comte d'Artois he was a bitter enemy of the Revolution, going into emigration in 1789. He led the ultras after the Restoration. Succeeding to the throne in 1824, he precipitated his downfall in July 1830 by his reactionary policies. The faithful Chateaubriand gives a haunting description of his exile in Prague in the Mémoires d'outre-tombe.

[Peter France]