page_title: Louis XV
section_title: Personal government (1743–1757)
hierarchical_section_title: Louis XV / Personal government (1743–1757)
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Diese Karte zeigt Europa in den Jahren nach dem Frieden von Aachen 1748 und in der Zeit des Siebenjährigen Krieges (1756-1763). Bis 1766 kam es zu keinen größeren geographischen Veränderungen in Europa. Die Arbeit wurde mit Inkscape erstellt und beruht hauptsächlich auf einer Karte in: Putzger - Historischer Weltatlas, Berlin 1990, S.78f. English: This map shows Europe in the years after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle 1748 and the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Europe did not see another major geographical change until 1766. The red line marks the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. The work was created with Inkscape and is mainly based on a map in: Putzger - Historischer Weltatlas, Berlin 1990, 78 pp. Français&#160;: Cette carte montre l'Europe dans les années après le Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) et pendant les années de la Guerre des Sept Ans (1756-1763). L'Europe n'a pas vu un autre changement géographique important jusqu'à 1766. Le travail a été créé avec Inkscape et il est basé principalement sur une carte dans: Putzger - Historischer Weltatlas, Berlin 1990, 78 pp. Polski: Ta mapa ukazuje Europę w latach po pokoju w Akwizgranie z 1748 i wojnie siedmioletniej (1756-1763). Europa nie uświadczyła żadnych poważniejszych zmian geograficznych aż do 1766. Czerwona linia znaczy granice Świętego Cesarstwa Rzymskiego. Praca została stworzona z użyciem Inkscape i powstała głównie na bazie mapy w: Putzger - Historischer Weltatlas, Berlin 1990, 78 pp. Русский: Эта карта представляет Европу после заключения Аахенского мира в 1748 г. и во время Семилетней войны (1756-1763 гг.). До 1766 г. эта картина Европы не исменилась. Эта работа нарисована с помощью программы Inkscape и основана на карте из книги: Putzger - Historischer Weltatlas, Berlin 1990, 78 cc.
context_page_description: Louis XV, known as Louis the Beloved, was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity on 15 February 1723, the kingdom was ruled by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, as Regent of France.
  Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinal's death in 1743, at which time the king took sole control of the kingdom.
  His reign of almost 59 years was the second longest in the history of France, exceeded only by his predecessor and great-grandfather, Louis XIV, who had ruled for 72 years. In 1748, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745. He ceded New France in North America to Spain and Great Britain at the conclusion of the disastrous Seven Years' War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of the Duchy of Lorraine and the Corsican Republic into the Kingdom of France. He was succeeded in 1774 by his grandson Louis XVI, who was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution. Two of his other grandsons, Louis XVIII and Charles X, occupied the throne of France after the fall of Napoleon.
context_section_description: After Fleury's death in January 1743, his war minister, the Duke of Noailles, showed the King a letter that Louis XIV had written to his grandson, Philip V of Spain; it counseled: "Don't allow yourself to be governed; be the master. Never have a favorite or a prime minister. Listen, consult your Council, but decide yourself. God, who made you King, will give you all the guidance you need, as long as you have good intentions." Louis followed this advice and decided to govern without a prime minister. Two of his ministers took the most prominent positions in his government; the finance minister, Jean Baptiste de Machault D'Arnouville, and the minister of the armies, Comte d'Argenson.
  With the end of the war, Louis decided to take the opportunity to reduce the debt and modernize the system of taxation of the Kingdom. The package of reforms was put together by his finance minister D'Arnouville and was approved by the King and presented in two decrees issued in May 1749. The first measure was an issue of bonds, paying five percent interest, to pay off the 36 million livres of debt caused by the cost of the war. This new measure was an immediate success. The second measure was the abolition of the dixième, a tax of ten percent of revenue, which had been created to finance the war, and its replacement by the vingtième, a tax of five percent on net revenue, which, unlike the dixième, taxed the income of all French citizens, including for the first time the income from the property of the clergy and the nobility.
  While the new tax was supported by many, including Voltaire, it met immediate and fierce resistance from both the nobility and the church. When on 5 May 1749 it was presented for formal registration to the Parlement of Paris, the assembly composed of high nobles and wealthy Parisians who had purchased seats, it was rejected by a vote of one hundred six to forty nine; the majority asked for more time to consider the project. The King responded by demanding immediate registration, which the Parlement reluctantly granted on 19 May. Resistance to the new measures grew with the church and in the provinces, which had their own parlements. While the Parlements of Burgundy, Provence and Artois bowed to the King's demands, Brittany and Languedoc refused. The royal government closed down the Parlement of Brittany, ordered the members of the Parlement of Languedoc to return to their estates and parishes, and took direct control of the Provence.
  Within Paris, the battle between the King and Parlement was fought over the status of the Hôpital Général, a semi-religious organization which operated six different hospitals and shelters in Paris, with a staff of some five thousand persons. Many of the hospital staff and officials were Jansenists, while the board of directors of the hospital included many prominent members of the Parlement of Paris. In 1749, the King decided to purge the hospital of Jansenists and corruption, appointed a new "Supérieure" against the will of the administrators, who resigned, then appointed four temporary administrators, and asked the First President of the Parlement of Paris, René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, to implement his decree for the reorganization of the hospital. De Maupeou refused to carry out the decree without the authorization of the Parlement, and the Parlement, without taking any action, went on vacation. On 20 November, when the Parlement returned, the King again summoned de Maupeou for an audience and again demanded action without delay. This time the Parlement members met but refused to discuss the Hospital. On 28 January 1752, the King instructed the Grand Council to change the administration of the Hospital without the approval of the Parlement. Voltaire, describing the affair, wrote, "Never before has such a small affair caused such a great emotion of the spirit." It was the first overt disobedience of the legislature against the King, and one of the first signs that the Parlement believed it, not the King, was the legitimate source of laws in the nation.
  The King's original pla
caption: Europe in the years after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748
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