Louis III

**Louis III** (born Jean Phillip Francis de Charmaine; 9 July, 1799-14 August 1850) was King of the Netherlands from January 2nd 1828, till his death in 1850. He was the first Charmaine Monarch of The Netherlands and the 2nd King of the nation. He was second son of Louis de Charmaine, and younger brother of Charles X. Throughout his reign, he ruled as an absolute monarch with greatly conservative ideals, and instituted relations with Prussia and France to keep peace in Europe.

## Early Life

Jean was born on the 9th of July, 1799 at the families estate north of Paris to Louis de Charmaine, and Princess Louisa. Jean's early life was similar to his brothers lives but Jean was much quieter, and shy then his elder brothers. He often spent time with his younger sisters, and brother Henry do to the separation he felt from his 2 older brothers. Jean was named Jean after his Fathers first middle name, Phillip after Phillip V, his ancestor, and Francis after his uncle.

Jean and his siblings were raised almost entirely by their mother, and their governess Maria de Lansac. When he was 4, his father died of Yellow Fever in Haiti and his Grandfather took him and his 6 siblings in, moving them north to Amsterdam. Upon hearing of the coronation of Napoleon, Charles "*the elder"* moved back to France and went back to his honorary career as a Judge. Jean learned basic Math, Latin, English, Dutch, and German during his time at school in Nancy. Jean took a profound like in his history and government classes just like his older brothers, who both found the classes extremely helpful and necessary if you wanted to be important in your life. Jean excelled in his government classes which was a pleasant welcome to his grandfather.

## Consolidation of Power

After the death of Charles *the elder*, the House of Charmaine was elevated to great importance

### Second in line

Charles, elder brother of Jean was elected Crown Prince of Sweden-Norway by the King. Jean accompanied his elder brother, Alexander, on all of his trips to Sweden and Norway. Jean was shadowed behind both of his brothers but enjoyed being in the spotlight. For most of his life he had been excluded and didn't want to be forgotten.

### First in line

Jeans elder brother, Charles was made King of France which left Alexander as Crown Prince. That left Jean as second in line to France, and first in line to Sweden. No one did expect Jean to become King of either country as all presumed his elder brothers would have sons who could succeed them but their still was a small possibility.

Charles made Jean a Prince of France, making Jean have the official title of: His Royal Highness, Prince Jean de Charmaine of France, Sweden and Norway.

Jean pursed a military career like his father and grandfather, joining the French Army and serving as a Captain. He was elevated to the rank of Admiral in Sweden, and Captain in Norway. On January 5th, 1818 his brother Alexander became Gustav V, and was coronated.

### Marriage Prospects

In order to legitimize the dynasty, both Charles and Gustav began looking for a suitable spouse for Jean. After 2 years, in 1820 Jean was given 3 choices:

Archduchess Clementine of Austria, a daughters of Francis I

Princess Charlotte of Prussia, daughter of Frederick William III

Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, daughters of William I

Jean chose to marry the Archduchess, as it was almost love at first sight. He became great friends with Charlotte but never found the like to marry her, and Marianne was 11 years younger and afraid of Jean. Jean and Clementine married on September 9th, 1820 in Calais. Jean and his wife moved to Vienna, and lived their up until 1828.

### Rhine War

As the Rhine war began, Jean and his wife moved south to Naples in order to get out of the chaos of fighting. Charles ordered they return to France but they originally refused. After 7 weeks, they returned and lived at Versailles for the duration of the war.

#### Heir

As the war carried on, the Netherlands surrendered and Charles needed someone to succeed the throne. His sons were too young so he resorted to his next available brother, Jean. He originally refused but 2 days later he accepted the offer.

## King

At the end of the Rhine war, Jean was made King of The Netherlands and choose Louis III, as his regnal name.

### Early reign

During Louis' early reign, he made basic reforms to improve the literacy and education rates of the nation in attempts to make it better than the previous regime. Louis also greatly spent money into the Navy and trade posts which helped expand the economy of the state. In 1835, Louis III changed the name of the Netherlands to simply Holland.

During his reign, it was not uncommon for revolutions to spark. The Dutch people were not exactly happy that they had a French King and on multiple occasions actively went against him. His absolute power was challenged on multiple occasions, but he conceded by allowing a collection of councils to support him, oppose him and represent the people. The population was originally happy with this but as the councils began rejecting the King, Louis simply removed them.

### Later reign

In 1845, the King moved to France and left Holland for 8 months. During this time the government was in chaos, as only the King was able to go with or veto acts. When Louis returned, he used the military to remove protestors, and government officials. The next year, all of the councils had been removed and Louis was the only person with power.

### Assassination

While touring the streets of Amsterdam, Louis was shot 14 times and died immediately. The assassin then burned his body before running off, and being shot by Dutch guards. Louis had a private funeral attended by the family, and the throne passed to his son Remy who reigned as Louis IV.

## Children

With Archduchess Clementine, Louis only had 2 surviving children between 1821 and 1837

* Miscarriage
* Miscarriage
* Stillborn
* Prince Remy Alexander de Charmaine (21 June, 1824-5 October 1894) Future King
* Miscarriage
* Stillborn
* Stillborn
* Stillborn
* Miscarriage
* Stillborn
* Prince Charles Remy de Charmaine (2 March, 1836-7 December 1894) Succeeded elder brother, Remy
* Stillborn