Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême

Louis XIX
King of France and Navarre
Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (Louis XIX)
Reign	Twenty minutes on 2 August 1830; pretender 6 November 1836 – 3 June 1844
Full name	Louis-Antoine d'Artois (later Louis-Antoine de France)
Titles	Duke of Angoulême (1775–1824) Dauphin de Viennois (1824–30)
Born	6 August 1775(1775--)
	Palace of Versailles, France
Died	3 June 1844 (aged 68)
	Gorizia, Austrian Empire
Buried	Gorizia, Nova Gorica
Predecessor	Charles X
Successor	De facto: Louis-Philippe, King of the French As Legitimist Claimant: 'Henry V'
Consort	Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France (1778–1851)
Royal House	House of Bourbon
Father	Charles X (1757–1836)
Mother	Marie Thérèse of Sardinia (1756–1805)

Louis-Antoine d'Artois [1], Dauphin of France and Duke of Angoulême (Louis XIX, King of France and Navarre for twenty minutes in 1830 and Legitimist Pretender to the throne from 1836 to 1844) (August 6, 1775 – June 3, 1844) was the eldest son of the comte d'Artois (later King Charles X of France) and Marie-Thérèse de Savoie. He was the last Dauphin of France. His maternal grandparents were Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Bourbon. She was the youngest daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth Farnese.

He and his younger brother Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry, were educated in a chateau a few miles from Versailles. On the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 the two young princes followed their father into exile in Turin, Italy, then to Germany and finally England. In 1792, d'Angoulême joined the emigré army of his cousin, the Prince de Condé.

In June 1795 his uncle was proclaimed King Louis XVIII, and later that year the 20-year old d'Angoulême led an attempted Royalist uprising in the Vendée, which ended in failure. In early 1797 he joined his brother and uncle in the German Duchy of Brunswick hoping to join the Austrian Army. Unfortunately the defeat of Austria by France obliged them to flee, and they took refuge in Mittau, Courland, under the protection of Tsar Paul I of Russia. There in June 1799 he married his cousin, Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte (1778–1851). Commonly known as Madame Royale, she was the eldest daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and the only one of their children to survive the French Revolution. Since her release from the Temple Prison in 1795, she had been living at the Austrian court. They appeared to be happy, but had no children. In April 1800, d'Angoulême took command of a regiment of cavalry in the Bavarian army and took part in the battle of Hohenlinden against the French, showing some ability.

In early 1801 Tsar Paul made peace with Bonaparte, and the French court in exile fled to Warsaw, then controlled by Prussia. For the next ten years, d'Angoulême accompanied and advised his uncle the King. They returned to Russia when Alexander became Tsar, but in mid-1807 the treaty between Bonaparte and Alexander forced them to take refuge in England. There, at Hartwell, King Louis reconstituted his court, and d'Angoulême was granted an allowance of £300 a month. Twice (in 1807 and 1813) he attempted to return to Russia to join the fight against Bonaparte, but was refused permission by the Tsar. He remained in England until 1814 when he sailed to Bordeaux, which had declared for the King. His entry into the city on 12 March 1814 was regarded as the beginning of the Bourbon restoration. From there d'Angoulême fought alongside Wellington to restore his cousin Ferdinand VII to the throne of Spain.

During the "Hundred Days", as chief of the royalist army in the southern Rhône River valley, d'Angoulême was unable to prevent Napoleon's return to Paris. He was again forced to flee to England, until the final defeat of Bonaparte at Waterloo. After the second restoration of Louis XVIII, he served Louis loyally until the King's death in 1824, when d'Angoulême became Dauphin — the heir-apparent to the throne, under his father, now King Charles X.

House of Bourbon

Henri IV Sister    Catherine of Navarre, Duchess of Lorraine Children    Louis XIII    Elisabeth, Queen of Spain    Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy    Nicholas Henri    Gaston, Duke of Orléans    Henriette-Marie, Queen of England and Scotland Louis XIII Children    Louis XIV    Philippe, Duke of Orléans Louis XIV Children    Louis, Dauphin    Marie-Anne    Marie-Therèse    Philippe-Charles, Duc d'Anjou    Louis-François, Duc d'Anjou Grandchildren    Louis, Dauphin    King Felipe V of Spain    Charles, Duke of Berry Great Grandchildren    Louis, Dauphin    Louis XV Louis XV Children    Louise-Elisabeth, Duchess of Parma    Madame Henriette    Louis, Dauphin    Madame Marie Adélaïde    Madame Victoire    Madame Sophie    Madame Louise Grandchildren    Marie Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia    Louis XVI    Louis XVIII    Charles X    Madame Élisabeth Louis XVI Children    Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Duchess of Angouleme    Louis-Joseph, Dauphin    Louis XVII    Sophie-Beatrix Louis XVII Louis XVIII Charles X Children    Louis XIX    Charles, Duke of Berry Grandchildren    Henri V    Louise, Duchess of Parma

As Dauphin he supported his father's policy of ridding France of her recent revolutionary and imperial past, expelling former imperial officers from the Army, and commanding a French military expedition — the "Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis" — that helped quell an anti-Bourbon revolt in Spain (1823).

Finally in 1830 in the July Revolution the people, angered and frustrated by Charles's repressive policies, demanded his abdication, and that of his descendants, in favour of Louis-Philippe, and sent a delegation to the Tuileries Palace to force his compliance.

When Charles reluctantly signed the document of abdication on August 2, 1830, Louis-Antoine and his wife became the King and Queen of France, though the brevity of his effective reign makes it often unaccounted for by historians. It is said that the now King Louis XIX spent the next twenty minutes listening to the entreaties of his wife not to sign, while the former Charles X sat weeping. Eventually he too abdicated (in favour of his nephew), making history as the shortest-ever reigning King. For the final time he left for exile, where he was known as the "Comte de Marnes". He never returned to France again.

However, some legitimists did not recognize the abdications as valid, and recognized Charles X as King until his death in 1836, with Louis XIX succeeding him thereafter. Louis-Antoine died in Görz, Austria in 1844, aged 69. Upon his death his nephew the Comte de Chambord, also known as the duc de Bordeaux, became head of the royal family of France in exile.

Ancestors

See also

• List of shortest reigning monarchs of all time

Legitimist Pretenders to the French throne since 1792
French Revolution
Louis XVI (1792-1793) Louis XVII (1793-1795) Louis XVIII (1795-1814)
Bourbon Restoration I
Louis XVIII (1815)
Bourbon Restoration II
Charles X (1830-1836) Louis XIX (1836-1844) Henri V (1844-1883) Jean III (1883-1887)