Charles X (October 9 1757- November 6 1836) was born at the Palace of Versailles grandson of Louis XV and his Polish queen, Marie Leszczynska and son of Louis (the uncrowned dauphin) and his German wife, Maria-Josefa of Saxe. He was crowned King of France in 1824 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until the French Revolution of 1830 when he abdicated rather than become a constitutional monarch. He was the last king of the Bourbon line.

He was the brother of both King Louis XVI and King Louis XVIII, as well as uncle to Louis XVII

He married Marie-Thérèse de Savoie, the daughter of Victor Amadeus III of Savoy, on November 16, 1773.

Their children:

• 1) Louis-Antoine (August 6, 1775 - June 3, 1844)
• 2) Sophie (August 5, 1776 - December 5, 1783)
• 3) Charles-Ferdinand (January 24, 1778 - February 13, 1820)

As a young prince he was a noted womaniser, popular, well-mannered and entertaining. He struck up a firm friendship with his sister-in-law, Marie Antoinette and he was part of her social set. His affairs were numerous, and according to the Comte d'Hezecques few beauties were cruel to him. Later, he embarked upon a life-long love affair with the beautiful Madame de Polastron, sister of Marie-Antoinette's favourite lady-in-waiting, the duchesse de Polignac. Madame de Palastron stayed with Charles for the rest of his life. However, Charles's unpopularity was such that he was unjustly accused of having seduced Marie-Antoinette.

His decline started with the first great crisis of the monarchy in 1787, after which he headed the reactionary faction at the court of Louis XVI. Charles supported the removal of the aristocracy's financial privilieges, but he was opposed to any reduction in the social privilieges enjoyed by either the Church or the nobility. He also enraged the Third Estate (politicians representing the commoners) by objecting to every initiative they proposed to increase their voting-power in 1789. This prompted criticism from his brother, who feared Charles's indiscretion and accused him of being plus royaliste que le roi ("more royalist than the king".) Indiscretion aside, Charles was also arrogant, vindictive, extravagnt and explosively temperamental; these negative traits unfortunately over-shadowed his more appealing characteristics - such as his wit, conversational skills, sincere religious convictions and affability. He had political alliances arranged to depose the prime minister, Jacques Necker. After the fall of the Bastille on 14th July 1789 he was ordered to leave France by Louis XVI, because it was feared Charles would soon be the victim of an assassination.

In exile - first in Germany and then Italy - Charles feared that his brother Louis would compromise with the Revolution. He took the disatorous decision of appointing Calonne to his council, which outraged Marie Antoinette, who had never liked him. This was an end to Charles and Antoinette's deep friendship, and Charles was left wracked with guilt after her execution in 1793. Charles's major foreign ally at this time was Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia.

Charles later emigrated to Britain, where George III allowed him to live in Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh. He was not comfortable with the ultra-Protestant environment of the city and spent most of his time behind the palace walls. Communication between Charles and his surviving brother, the Comte de Provence, (living in Lithuania) was particularly strained once it became apparent that Charles was utterly indifferent to Provence's financial problems.

Charles's wife, Marie-Therese, died in 1805. His eldest son, the duc d'Angouleme, was married to his cousin (also called Marie-Therese) who was the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Charles's other son, the duc de Berry, secretly married an English Protestant who was also a commoner. This marriage was annulled when it was discovered - probably at Charles's behest. Berry was later married to an Italian princess, and they produced the Comte de Chambord.

Charles was still living in Edinburgh with Madame de Palastron in 1814 when the French monarchy was restored under his other brother, who assumed the name Louis XVIII. The two royal brothers were not especially close, since Charles viewed Louis XVIII as glacial, treacherous and irreligious.

Charles never met any of the claimants pretending to be his long-lost nephew, Louis XVII, since he was convinced the child had died in Paris in 1795 (see links below). In his later years, he became even more religious and supported the Ultramontane movement within the Catholic Church.

During the reign of Louis XVIII he headed the ultraroyalist opposition, which took power after the assassination of Charles's son the Duc du Berry. The event caused the fall of the ministry of Élie Decazes and the rise of the Comte de Villèle, who continued as chief minister after Charles became king.

The Villèle cabinet resigned in 1827 under pressure from the liberal press. His successor, the Vicomte de Martignac, tried to steer a middle course, but in 1829 Charles appointed Jules Armand de Polignac, an ultrareactionary, as chief minister. Polignac initiated French colonization in Algeria. His dissolution of the chamber of deputies, his July Ordinances, which set up rigid control of the press, and his restriction of suffrage resulted in the July Revolution.

Charles abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Comte de Chambord, and left for England. He felt that a constitutional monarchy would be a violation of his devout Catholic faith and the absolutist beliefs of his great ancestors - particularly Louis XIV. However, the Duc d'Orléans, whom Charles had appointed Lieutenant-General of France, was chosen as "King of the French." He reigned as Louis Philippe.

Fleeing initially to England, he later settled in Prague and then in present-day Slovenia. He died on November 6, 1836 in the palace of Count Michael Coronini Comberg zu Graffenberg at Goritz, Illyria and is buried in the Church of Saint Mary of the Annunciation, Castagnavizza, Slovenia.

Links

The character of Charles X recently appeared in a controversial Northern Irish play based on the mystery of Louis XVII. To read the author's assessment of this play, you can visit: http://www.angelfire.com/in3/theodore/opinion/articles/russell.html (WARNING: This site contains political and religious views.)