Louis << LOO ee or lwee >> XV (1710-1774) was a king of France who contributed to the decline of royal authority. During his reign, France fought a number of expensive and disastrous wars. Louis also led a scandalous personal life. For these reasons, many French people hated him, and his reign did much to bring on the French Revolution (1789-1799). Louis could see a disaster coming but made only feeble attempts to prevent it. Louis is often remembered for his remark, “After me, the deluge!”
Louis was born at Versailles, France, on Feb. 15, 1710. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of 5. His reign began peacefully, though the government had accumulated a large debt under Louis XIV. Philippe, Duke of Orléans, a relative of the young king, ruled on his behalf until 1723. In 1726, Louis’s former tutor, Cardinal André Hercule de Fleury, became the real head of the government. Fleury worked to revive the weak economy of France.
When Fleury died in 1743, the king announced that he would rule without a chief minister, as Louis XIV had done. But Louis XV was a weak king interested more in pleasure than in government. He also was influenced too much by his mistresses. For 20 years, one of them, Madame de Pompadour, dictated policies and appointed ministers. After she died in 1764, another mistress, Madame du Barry, dominated Louis. Louis’s favorites looted the treasury and prevented reforms.
In 1725, Louis married Maria Leszczyńska, daughter of Stanislas I, the exiled king of Poland. France fought the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1738) in a vain attempt to restore Stanislas to his throne. France won Lorraine in this war. In the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), France gained nothing. In the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), France lost to Britain most of its colonies in Canada and India. Louis died on May 10, 1774.
See also Mississippi Scheme; Pompadour, Marquise de.
