17 novembre 1755
16 septembre 1824
Comte de L'Isle-Jourdain (1755-1824)
Louis Stanislas Xavier de France (1755-1824)
Comte de Provence (1755-1824)
Comte de Lille (1755-1824)
Louis XVIII (roi de France ; 1755-1824)
Né à Versailles le 17 novembre 1755, Louis Stanislas Xavier de France, comte de Provence (1755-1824) est le quatrième fils du dauphin Louis-Ferdinand et de sa seconde épouse Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, et le petit-fils de Louis XV. Il est le frère cadet de Louis Auguste, duc de Berry, futur Louis XVI (1754-1793), et le frère aîné de Charles-Philippe, comte d'Artois futur Charles X (1757-1824). Lui-même sera roi de France du 6 avril 1814 au 20 mars 1815 puis du 8 juillet 1815 à sa mort, le 16 septembre 1824. Quand son frère le duc de Berry monte sur le trône sous le nom de Louis XVI, il reçoit le titre de « Monsieur ».
Il épouse le 14 mai 1771 Marie-Joséphine de Savoie (1753–1810), fille du roi Victor-Amédée III de Sardaigne et de Marie-Antoinette d'Espagne, et soeur de Marie-Thérèse de Savoie qui épousera le 16 novembre 1773 le comte d'Artois. De cette union il n'aura pas d'enfant.
Avant 1789, le comte de Provence se veut un prince éclairé, à l'esprit voltairien et libertin. Il s'oppose aux ministres réformateurs Turgot, Necker, Calonne, et en tant que président de l'un des bureaux de l'Assemblée des notables de 1787, il réclame pour le Tiers état le doublement du nombre de députés aux États généraux.
À la suite du départ de la cour de Versailles pour Paris après les journées des 5 et 6 octobre 1789, le comte de Provence s'installe au palais du Petit Luxembourg. Le 21 juin 1791, il réussit à s'enfuir à Bruxelles en prenant un déguisement de laquais et en faisant voyager sa femme par une route séparée. Il trouve refuge à Coblence, auprès d'un oncle maternel, le prince électeur Clément Wenceslas de Saxe. A Coblence se réunissent le comte d'Artois, la comtesse de Balbi, maitresse du comte de Provence et une grande partie des émigrés français.
Bien que Louis XVI, retenu prisonnier au château des Tuileries, lui refuse la lieutenance générale du royaume, il tente avec son frère le comte d'Artois, de prendre la tête d'une opposition politique et militaire à la Révolution et de trouver appui auprès des cours européennes. Il rencontre l’empereur Léopold II et lui inspire la déclaration de Pillnitz d’août 1791, qui propose une conférence pour examiner les moyens de sauver la royauté française. Déchu de ses droits en janvier 1792, par l'Assemblée législative, il tente de rentrer en France en août avec une armée de 14.000 émigrés français agrégés aux troupes prussiennes et autrichiennes mais après la bataille de Valmy il réfugie à Hamm, en Westphalie.
A la mort de Louis XVI (21 janvier 1793), le comte de Provence se déclare régent du petit roi Louis XVII enfermé au Temple et se réfugie à Vérone. Il devient lui-même roi sous le nom de Louis XVIII à la mort de celui-ci, le 8 juin 1795 et publie une proclamation publique dite de Vérone. En avril 1796, le Directoire lance un ultimatum à la République de Venise, qui l'expulse de Vérone. Il se rend alors à Riegel dans le pays de Bade au quartier général de l’armée de Condé mais le gouvernement autrichien peu désireux de le voir en première ligne, l’en expulse en juillet. Il réside ensuite à Blankenburg dans les états du duc de Brunswick, puis, expulsé une fois de plus par le roi de Prusse, à Mittau (Jelgava) en Courlande, à partir de mars 1798, sous la protection du tsar de Russie Paul Ier qui, tout à son rapprochement avec Bonaparte, finit par l’en chasser en janvier 1801. En désespoir de cause, il finit par s’installer à Varsovie où le roi de Prusse l’accueille à nouveau. En septembre 1804, Louis XVIII, chassé de Varsovie, réside quelques semaines à Blankenfeld au sud de la Courlande, chez le comte de Königfeld, avant d’être à nouveau accueilli à Mittau par le tsar Alexandre Ier. A l'issue d'une entrevue de trois semaines à Calmar (Suède) avec son frère Artois, Louis XVIII adresse aux Français le 2 décembre 1804 une proclamation qui servira plus tard pour la rédaction de la Charte constitutionnelle, où il adopte les principes de la première constitution de 1791
Après le traité de Tilsit, signé le 9 juillet 1807 entre Napoléon Ier et le tsar Alexandre Ier, la présence de Louis XVIII devient indésirable sur le sol de l'empire tsariste. Après de longues tractations avec la couronne anglaise (Louis XVIII doit renoncer à son titre de roi de France et portera le titre de comte de L'Isle-Jourdain ou comte de Lille), il fixe sa résidence à Gosfield Hall, dans l'Essex, fin 1807. Il quitte ce château au bout de quatre ans, début 1811, peu après la mort de sa femme Marie-Joséphine de Savoie le 13 novembre 1810 et vient alors habiter Hartwell House, propriété du baronnet Sir Henry Lee, dans le comté de Buckingham, près de Londres.
Après la défaite de Napoléon en 1814, les coalisés réunis au congrès de Vienne, choississent Louis XVIII, après beaucoup d'hésitations, et sur les conseils de Talleyrand, pour occuper le trône de France. Le 24 avril 1814, il débarque à Calais et une Charte constitutionnelle est promulguée le 4 juin. Celle-ci reconnaît les principes fondamentaux de liberté, d'égalité et de propriété, y compris pour les biens nationaux ; la liberté religieuse est assurée, mais le catholicisme est religion d'État. Le 19 mars 1815, Napoléon étant aux portes de Paris, Louis XVIII et sa cour quittent Paris et se dirigent à Beauvais puis s'installent à Gand, en Belgique. La défaite de Waterloo le 18 juin le réinstalle sur le trône de France. Son règne est consacré à la lourde tâche de concilier les héritages révolutionnaires et napoléoniens avec ceux de l’Ancien Régime. Il cherche à établir une politique de réconciliation nationale, grâce à une politique libérale de juste milieu. Celle-ci est incarnée en la personne de son ministre favori, Decazes, qu'il soutient au besoin contre son frère le comte d'Artois, porte-parole des ultras-royalistes, pendant quatre ans. L'assassinat du duc de Berry (février 1820) fait échouer cette politique libérale et met fin à la carrière de Decazes, provoquant une réaction brutale (loi de sûreté générale, loi sur la presse). Louis XVIII perd son rôle d'arbitre et laisse gouverner les hommes de droite comme le duc de Richelieu et Villèle, l'ultraroyaliste, qui garde le pouvoir à partir de 1821.
Souffrant de diabète et de goutte, Louis XVIII, qui a toujours eu de l'embompoint, doit se déplacer à la fin de sa vie en béquilles et fauteuil roulant. Il meurt le 12 septembre 1824, sans postérité. Son frère le comte d'Artois lui succède sous le nom de Charles X.
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