CHARLES X, King of France. - Son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and of Maria Josepha of Saxony, b. 9 Oct. 1757 at Versailles, d. 6 Nov. 1836 at Gorizia. He bore the title of Count of Artois, and in 1773 married Maria Theresa of Savoy. Opposed to any reform, he left France on the day after the storming of the Bastille and settled in Turin. He later moved to Koblenz, and finally to England, and was one of the leaders of the emigration. After the fall of Napoleon, on 12 Apr. 1814 he made a triumphal entry into Paris as lieutenant-general of his brother, King Louis XVIII. On the latter's death, in 1824, he succeeded him on the throne.

He promised to be, and was, the king of the émigrés. He had a law approved to indemnify those whose property had been confiscated during the Revolution, and sought to reintroduce even the right of primogeniture, meeting with the opposition of the Chamber. In 1829 he proceeded to form a ministry of pure royalists, whose foremost figure was the Prince of Polignac. On 26 July 1830 the four "ordinances" were issued, on the suppression of freedom of the press, on the dissolution of the Chamber, on the modification of the electoral body and on the date of the new elections. This was the signal for the so-called July Revolution, and on 2 Aug. the king had to abdicate. C. X, although not free from the traditional Gallican preconceptions of the sovereigns of France, maintained, during his reign, a cordial attitude toward the Catholic Church and the Holy See.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: E. Lavisse-A. Rambaud, Histoire générale du IVe siècle à nos jours, X, Paris 1898, pp. 124 and 267 ff.; J. Lucas-Dubecton, Charles X (le prince, l'emigré, le roi), ibid. 1927; P. de la Gorce, La Restauration; Charles X, ibid. 1928. On the Count of Artois during the emigration cf. E. Daudet, Histoire de l'émigration pendant la Révolution Française, 3 vols., ibid. 1904-1907, passim.

Silvio Furlani

@incollection{ec3_carlo_x_re_di_francia, author = {Furlani, Silvio}, title = {Carlo X, re di francia}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {841--842}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/carlo-x-re-di-francia} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Charles X, King of France

About this entry