Louis XVIII

Louis XIX was King of France from 26 February 1848 to May 1878. Shortly before his third birthday, Louis became king of France and Navarre after his grandfather Louis XVII died. His mother, Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his grandmother Maria Amalia Teresa of Naples and Sicily were co-regents during his minority. His early reign was was a period marked by palace intrigues, back-stairs and antechamber influences, barracks conspiracies, and military pronunciamientos.

His reign as an adult was dominated by political disputes as France had only become a constitutional monarchy in 1814 and the balance of power between the sovereign and parliament was still in dispute. Louis died aged 30 in 1875, and was succeeded by his son, Louis XX, who was born in four months after his death. The King is remembered for ended a century of political and civil strife by confirming the primacy of Parliament over the Crown.

Birth and regencies
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Beginnings
Although Louis XIX became of age at thirteen (1850), his grandmother did not give up her position as Regent until 1853, when he was 16. Louis XIX as declared of age and swore the 1845 Constitution on 10 November 1857, age thirteen. Although his coming-of-age formally ended Maria's Regency, she remained the de facto ruler of France. On 5 December, Louis was crowned King at the Cathedral of Reims. The crown was so heavy that nobles had to hold it in place for him.

Despite the alleged parliamentary supremacy, in practice, the "double trust" led to Louis XIX having a role in the making and toppling of governments, undermining the Feuillants. The uneasy alliance between Progressives and Feuillants that had toppled his mother in July 1847 was already cracking up by the time of the coming of age of the king.

Feuillant Decade
On 24 November 1861, the Feuillants made their sixteen-year-old king marry Marie Isabelle, daughter of Margaret of Spain. This marriage followed a tradition of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with royal marriages. The tradition went back to the marriage of Louis VII of France and Constance of Castile. The marriage was only briefly happy, and the King's duties often kept them apart, as he was preoccupied with his turbulent reign.

Progressive biennium
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Constitutional reign
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