Louis

Louis, name of 18 kings of France. Louis I (778–840), Holy Roman Emperor 814–40, known as the Pious. The third son of Charlemagne, he divided the empire among his sons, thereby contributing to its fragmentation but laying the foundations of the state of France. Louis II (846–79), reigned 877–79. Louis III (c.863–82), reigned 879–82. Asking of northern France he defeated Norman invaders. Louis IV (c.921–54), reigned 936–54. He was called Transmarinus because of his childhood exile in England. Louis V (c.966–87), reigned 986–87. The last Carolingian ruler of France, he was known as the Sluggard. Louis VI (1081–1137), reigned 1108–37. He subdued the robber barons around Paris, granted privileges to the towns, and aided the Church. He engaged in war against Henry I of England (1104–13 and 1116–20). Louis VII (1120–80), reigned 1137–80. He joined the Second Crusade (1147–49) in defiance of a papal interdict. From 1157 onward, Louis was at war with Henry II of England, who had married Louis' former wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Louis VIII (1187–1226), reigned 1223–26. Nicknamed the Lion, he was a great soldier and was at first successful in his attempts to aid the barons rebelling against King John of England. Louis IX, Saint (1214–70), reigned 1226–70. He repelled an invasion by Henry III of England (1242) and led the Seventh Crusade (1248), but was defeated and captured in Egypt and had to be ransomed.

In 1270 he led another crusade, but died of plague after reaching North Africa. A just ruler, he was regarded as an ideal Christian king. Louis X (1289–1316), reigned 1314–16, a period in which the nobility reasserted their strength. Louis XI (1423–83), reigned 1461–83. A cruel and unscrupulous king, he plotted against his father for the throne but unified most of France. Louis II (1462–1515), reigned 1498–1515. Nicknamed Father of the People, he was a popular ruler who inaugurated reforms in finance and justice and was ambitious for territorial gains. Louis XIII (1601–43), reigned 1610–43. A weak king, he was greatly influenced by the chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu. Louis XIV (1638–1715), reigned 1643–1715, known as Louis the Great and the Sun King. The archetypal absolute monarch, he built the great palace at Versailles. “The state is myself,” he is said to have declared. His able ministers, Mazarin and Colbert, strengthened France with their financial reforms. But Louis squandered money in such escapades as the War of Devolution (1667–68) and the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), which broke the military power of France. Louis XV (1710–74), reigned 1715–74), nicknamed the “Well-Beloved.” He was influenced by Cardinal Fleury until the cardinal's death in 1743. A weak king dependent on mistresses (especially Madame de Pompadour), his involvement in foreign wars created enormous debts. Louis XVI (1754–93), reigned 1774–92. Although he accepted the advice of his ministers on the need for social and political reform, Louis was not strong enough to overcome the opposition of his court and his queen, Marie Antoinette. This led to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, with the formation of the National Assembly and the storming of the Bastille. In 1791 Louis attempted to escape but was brought back to Paris and guillotined. Louis XVII (1785–95), son of Louis XVI, king in name only. He was imprisoned in 1793 and was reported dead in 1795. Louis XVIII (1755–1824), brother of Louis XVI. He escaped from France in 1791 For more than 20 years he remained in exile, but after the final defeat of Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo (1815), he became firmly established, proclaiming a liberal constitution. On his death the reactionary Ultraroyalists gained control under Charles X.