Charles X of France
The last Bourbon king of France, whose stubborn devotion to an absolute past provoked the revolution that ended his reign.
1757–1836 (age 79)·King of France from 1824 to 1830·Birthday: October 9
Biography
Charles X lived a life bookended by revolution. As the younger brother of Louis XVI, he fled France during the Terror, becoming a symbol of exiled royalist intrigue. He spent years in Britain and later led the reactionary Ultra-royalist faction upon the Bourbon Restoration in 1814. When he finally ascended the throne in 1824, France was a constitutional monarchy, but Charles viewed the charter as a nuisance. His reign was a deliberate attempt to turn back the clock, reinstating the power of the Catholic Church and seeking to compensate nobles for lands lost in the 1789 revolution. His July Ordinances of 1830, which suspended the press, dissolved the liberal chamber, and restricted voting, were the final straw. Paris erupted in the July Revolution—the 'Three Glorious Days'—and rather than fight, Charles abdicated and returned to exile in Britain, closing the book on the senior Bourbon line's rule in France.
#1 When Charles Was Born
The biggest hits of 1757
Charles's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1757Born
1762Started school
1770Became a teenager
1773Could drive
1775Could vote
1778Turned 21
1787Turned 30
1797Turned 40
1807Turned 50
1817Turned 60
1827Turned 70
1836Died at 79
Key Achievements
- Served as King of France from 1824 until his abdication in the July Revolution of 1830.
- Was the leader of the ultra-royalist faction during the reign of his brother, Louis XVIII.
- Oversaw the French expedition to Spain in 1823 that restored the absolute monarch Ferdinand VII.
- His abdication marked the end of the direct Bourbon line's rule in France, replaced by the more liberal Orleansit branch.
Did You Know?
For a time during the French Revolution, he was known as 'Citizen Charles Capet.'
He was the last French monarch to be crowned at Reims Cathedral, in 1825.
He died of cholera in exile in Gorizia, then part of the Austrian Empire, in 1836.
Before becoming king, he held the title Count of Artois.
“I would rather chop wood than be a king like the King of England.”
