1757–1836
○ Died in exile
Count of Artois who led émigré royalism during the Revolution
At his 1825 coronation at Reims he tried to revive the royal touch, asserting the sacredness of monarchy; in July 1830 his ordinances dissolved the chamber and censored the press, and the Paris rising forced his abdication on 2 August.
Louis XVI’s younger brother, the Count of Artois left France soon after the fall of the Bastille in 1789. Abroad he promoted Bourbon restoration and became a political centre of émigré royalism. He succeeded as Charles X in 1824 and was overthrown by the July Revolution of 1830.
Also known as: Count of Artois · Comte d’Artois · Charles Philippe
Activities and affiliations
-
1824–1830
French monarchy state institutionsKingHeads of state and government of FranceMain
Monarchs and royalty
Career Timeline
- 1765Death of his father, the Dauphin Louis
- 1773Married Marie Thérèse of Savoy
- 1789Left France on 17 July, three days after the storming of the Bastille
- 1791–1792Set up a court-in-exile in the Electorate of Trier and prepared a counter-revolutionary invasion
- 1814Acted as Lieutenant General of the realm during the Bourbon Restoration
- 1824.09.16–1830.08.02King of France; crowned at Reims in 1825
- 1830Issued the July Ordinances; abdicated on 2 August
Related historical events
- 1789–1799French RevolutionLeader of émigré royalismDuring the Revolution, he established a court in exile and prepared a counter-revolutionary invasion.
- 1791–1804The Haitian RevolutionKing of France who issued the ordinance of 1825By the ordinance of 17 April 1825 recognised Haitian independence on condition of an indemnity of 150 million francs.
- 1793–1796The War in the VendéeThe Count of Artois, head of the émigré royalistsAppointed Puisaye general-in-chief of the royalists in Brittany, landed with a British fleet on the Île d’Yeu in October 1795 but sailed home without joining Charette, and ordered Stofflet to rise again in January 1796.
Revolutionary choices and political context
The Count of Artois’s early emigration shows that the French Revolution was not confined to domestic politics. Émigré nobles sought restoration and foreign intervention through connections with European monarchies, helping to intensify war and fears of counter-revolution inside France.
His rule as Charles X from 1824 shows that conflict over royal authority, church, and property did not end with the Revolution. His deposition by the July Revolution of 1830 is one example of a restored monarchy’s inability to reverse political expectations transformed after 1789. His life connects émigré royalism during the Revolution to restoration politics afterward.