Louis XV: After Me the Deluge Trivia Quiz

Answer: Great-grandson

Louis XV became king of France in 1715 when he was only five years old. Between 1711 and 1712 his grandfather, both parents and elder brother all died unexpectedly. He grew up an orphan, lonely and all too aware of the huge responsibility that awaited him.

Philippe of Orléans (Louis XIV's nephew) acted as regent until Louis XV reached maturity at the age of 13.

Answer: Marie Leszczynska

Marie was the daughter of the deposed king of Poland. She was 21 and Louis was 15 when they were married. Although Louis took many mistresses, the couple had ten children.

Infanta Maria Anna Victoria of Spain was his first cousin to whom he had been betrothed before.

Caroline of Ansbach was the wife of George II of England.

Sophia von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg is better known as Catherine the Great,
czarina of Russia.

Answer: False

This is not true, but not too far off. She was the eldest of five and Louis took three of her sisters as mistresses too. Fidelity was seen as laughable at the time. Having mistresses was expected from a king and considered a sign of virility. Louis took this to a level shocking even in those days.

Answer: Austria

The War of the Polish succession was a Polish civil war about the succession of August II that other European powers got involved in. France used it as an excuse to seize the Duchy of Lorraine. They feared that the impending marriage between Duke Francis III of Lorraine and Maria Theresa, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, would bring Austrian power dangerously close to the French border.

However, Louis' attempt to restore his father-in-law Stanislaw Leszczynski to the Polish throne failed. Peace was restored in 1735 and formalized by the Treaty of Vienna (1738). Stanislaw received the duchy of Lorraine as compensation. Upon Stanislaw's death Lorraine would pass on to Louis XV as his son-in-law.

Spain and Sardinia were France's allies in the war of the War of the Polish Succession.

Answer: The Beloved

Although history's judgement of Louis XV is devastating, he was actually quite popular in the first years of his reign.

From 1726 till 1743, Louis left the actual governing of France in the hands of his capable prime minister, Cardinal de Fleury. This was a period of peace and prosperity where France was able to recover from the wars fought under the rule of his predecessor.

The birth of his son in 1729 secured the Bourbon dynasty with a successor.

With the success in the campaign against Austria and diplomatic success in the aftermath of the war of the Polish succession, Louis' prestige reached its highest point.

It was in this period that he was nicknamed "Le bien-aimé" (the beloved). The people were willing to overlook his high taxes and scandalous lifestyle.

Augustus was the nickname of Philip II, king of France from 1165 to 1223.
Saint Louis was the nickname of Louis IX, king of France from 1226 to 1270.
The sun king was the nickname of Louis XIV, king of France from 1643 to 1715 and predecessor of Louis XV.

Answer: True

When Charles VI of the Habsburg empire died in 1740 he had only daughters to succeed him. His eldest daughter, Maria Theresia, took the crown but was seen as weak and other (male) claimants put their candidacy forward which eventually sparked war.

In the War of the Austrian succession France sided with Prussia against Austria, Great Britain and the Netherlands (i.a.) and had decisive victories the Battle of Fontenoy (1745), the Battle of Rocourt (1746), and the Battle of Lauffeld (1747).

As mentioned above France conquered the entire Austrian Netherlands but in the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle he gave it all back to Austria. He motivated this by saying he wanted to be seen as 'a king and not a merchant'. This attitude was hailed in Europe but his subjects were shocked. From then on the proverb 'bête comme la paix' (stupid as the peace) was often used in Paris.

1748 proved a turning point in Louis' popularity: from then on pamphlets against his mistresses became increasingly widely published and read, and his popularity steadily declined.

Answer: Madame de Pompadour

In 1745 Madame de Pompadour made her appearance at the French court. She was very beautiful but also intelligent, well-read, charming and a good dancer. She was Louis' perfect match as she could amuse and charm him.

She stayed Maîtresse en titre until her death in 1764 although their sexual relationship stopped somewhere around 1750. Curiously, after she stopped sharing his bed her influence grew even more. Louis depended heavily on her opinion and gave her the position of go-between with the Austrian ambassador, a position she wasn't qualified for. Although she was clever she didn't understand how politics worked and was manipulated into supporting an alliance between France and Austria, an alliance most of the people detested.

Madame du Barry was a later mistress of Louis, when he was in his 60s (she was a teenager). Madame de Maintenon was the second wife of Louis XIV, Madame de Montespan was one of his mistresses.

Answer: Robert-François Damiens

Damiens was just a disgruntled nobody whose half-hearted murder attempt failed miserably. Louis escaped with a small flesh-wound. Although his physical injuries were minor the mental implications were much bigger. Louis was convinced he was going to die and sank into a depression. He realised he had become 'the hated' rather than 'the beloved'.

Damiens was executed in the most gruesome way imaginable, which further damaged Louis' reputation and diminished his popularity.

François Ravaillac was the murderer of an earlier king of France, Henry IV (1610). People at court left notes where Louis would find them saying that he should change his policies, if not the 'Sons of Ravaillac' would get him too. Unsurprisingly this worsened Louis' state of mind.

Charles Guiteau is the murderer of US president Garfield, Charlotte Corday murdered Jean-Paul Marat.

Answer: The 7 years' war

In the 1750s, France and Britain were competing against each other for supremacy as a colonial power. They engaged in several minor wars in North America. Initially France was successful on the American stage but when war erupted in Europe, they chose to concentrate their troops there rather than send them across the Atlantic where they had to face the superior British navy.

In Europe, France was allied with Austria, Russia and Sweden against Prussia who had only Great Britain and a number of the smaller German states as ally. However, the French and their allies failed to win a conclusive victory against Prussia between 1757 and 1762.

Meanwhile on the American front, the British managed to capture Quebec, Montreal and then the rest of Canada. In the West Indies the British seized Martinique and Guadeloupe.

After many defeats and with France's finances in a poor state, by the end of 1762 they were forced to sue for peace. The end result of the war was that France had lost most possessions in North America and Asia and was on the brink of bankruptcy.

The 100 years' war (1337 - 1453) was a conflict between England and France for control of the French throne. The 30 years' war (1618 - 1648) was mainly a religious war in which most of Europe's main powers were involved. The 6 day war (5 to 10 June 1967) was fought between Israel and its neighbours Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

Answer: Smallpox

In 1774 Louis caught smallpox which deformed his appearance and produced a terrible smell from his decaying organs. Some of the courtiers said this was the outward expression of inner depravity.

He was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI.

His predecessor Louis XIV had died of gangrene. Mme de Pompadour had died of tuberculosis.