Louis XVIII

The fourth son of Louis-Ferdinand de France, dauphin de Viennois, and of Maria Josepha Carolina Eleonora Franziska Xaveria, princess of Saxony (French: Marie-Josèphe-Caroline-Éléonore-Françoise-Xavière); grandson of King Louis XV and brother of kings Louis XVI and Charles X; became heir presumptive after the accession of Louis XVI (10 May 1774); fled France (21 Jun 1791); declared himself regent (28 Jan 1793, Hamm, Westphalia) for his nephew, Louis-Charles (Louis XVII), imprisoned in Paris; upon receiving the news (24 Jun 1795) on demise of Louis-Charles, proclaimed himself king; wandered throughout Europe, sojourning in Prussia, England, and Russia, promoting the royalist cause until the fall of the Empire of Napoléon I; was offered to occupy the throne of France in accordance with the Constitution promulgated by the Sénat conservateur (6 Apr 1814); assumed the government and rejected the Constitution (2 May 1814); entered Paris (3 May 1814); was invested with executive powers and a right of legislative initiative in the Charte Constitutionnelle (4 Jun 1814); abandoned Paris (20 Mar 1815) on the eve of Napoléon's return; left France (23 Mar 1815), under the name of comte de Lisle; after Napoléon's defeat at Waterloo (18 Jun 1815) and abdication, returned to Paris (8 Jul 1815); attempted to find a compromise with the ultraroyalists, who dominated the Chambre des députés (Chamber of Deputies), by appointing moderate governments; turned to reaction after the murder of his nephew, duc de Berry (14 Feb 1820). Biography source: [7]