Louis XVI biography

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Louis XVI was born on August 23, 1754, in the Palace of Versailles. Named Louis-Auguste de France, he was given the title Duc de Berry, signifying his junior status in the French Court. He was the third son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and grandson of King Louis XV of France. His mother, Marie-Josephe of Saxony, was the daughter of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, also the king of Poland. Louis-Auguste grew up strong and healthy, though very shy. He was tutored by French noblemen and studied religion, morality and humanities. He excelled in Latin, history, geography and astronomy, and achieved fluency in Italian and English. With his good health, he enjoyed physical activities such as hunting and wrestling, and from an early age he enjoyed locksmithing, which became a lifelong hobby. Louis-Auguste’s parents paid little attention to him, instead focusing on his older brother, the heir apparent, Louis duc de Bourgogne, who died at age nine in 1761. Then, on December 20, 1765, his father died of tuberculosis and Louis-Auguste became the dauphin at age 11. His mother never recovered from the family tragedies and also succumbed to tuberculosis on March 13, 1767. Louis-Auguste was ill-prepared for the throne he was soon to inherit. Besides the loss of his parents, his tutors provided him with poor interpersonal skills. They exacerbated his shyness by counseling that austerity was a sign of a strong character in monarchs. As a result, he presented himself as being very indecisive. At age 15, Louis-Auguste married 14-year-old Habsburg Archduchess Maria Antonia (Marie Antoinette), his second cousin once removed, in an arranged marriage in May 1770. She was the youngest daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa. The marriage was met with some skepticism by members of the French court, as they remembered a previous alliance with the Habsburgs pulled France into the Seven Years War. Though initially charmed by her personality, the French people eventually came to loathe her, accusing her of being promiscuous and sympathetic to enemies of France. The first few years of marriage for Louis and Marie were amicable but distant. His shyness kept him distant from her in private, and his fear of her manipulation made him cold toward her in public. It is believed the couple did not consummate their marriage for some time, having their first child eight years after their wedding. Historians debate the cause, but most likely, Louis-Auguste suffered from