Youth
Louis Stanislas Xavier, titled comte de Provence at birth, was born on 17 November 1755 in the Palace of Versailles, the son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and of his wife, Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony. He was the grandson of the reigning King Louis XV. As a son of the Dauphin he was a Fils de France. Louis Stanislas was christened Louis Stanislas Xavier six months after his birth, in accordance with Bourbon family tradition, being nameless before his baptism. By this act, he became also a Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit.
The name of Louis was bestowed because it was typical of a Prince of France; Stanislas after his great-grandfather King Stanisław Leszczyński of Poland; and Xavier for Saint Francis Xavier, whom his mother's family held as one of their patron saints.
At the time of his birth, Louis Stanislas was fourth in line to the throne of France, behind his father, the Dauphin; and his two elder brothers, Louis Joseph Xavier, Duke of Burgundy and Louis Auguste, Duke of Berry. The former died in 1761, leaving Louis Auguste as heir apparent until the Dauphin's own premature death in 1765. The two deaths elevated Louis Stanislas to second in the line of succession, while Louis Auguste acquired the title of Dauphin.
Louis Stanislas found comfort in his governess, Madame de Marsan, Governess of the Children of France, (Gouvernante des Enfants de France), as he was her favourite among his siblings. Louis Stanislas was taken away from his governess when he turned seven, age at which the education of boys of royal blood and of the nobility was turned over to men. Antoine de Quélen de Stuer de Caussade, Duke of La Vauguyon, a friend of his father, was named his governor. Louis Stanislas was an intelligent boy, excelling in classics. His education was of the same quality and consistency as that of his older brother, Louis Auguste, despite the fact that Louis Auguste was heir and Louis Stanislas was not. Louis Stanislas' education was quite religious in nature, several of his teachers being ecclesiastics. La Vauguyon drilled into young Louis Stanislas and his brothers the way he thought princes should "know how to withdraw themselves, to like to work," and "to know how to reason correctly".
In April 1771, Louis Stanislas's education was formally concluded, and his own independent household was established, which astounded contemporaries with its extravagance: in 1773, the number of servants reached 390. In the same month his household was founded, Louis was granted several titles by his grandfather, Louis XV: Duke of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Perche and Count of Senoches.
On 17 December 1773 he was ordained as Grand Master of the Order of St. Lazarus.
Read more about this topic: Louis XVIII Of France
Famous quotes containing the word youth:
“Hail, bounteous May, that does inspire
Mirth and youth and warm desire!
Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.
Thus we salute thee with our early song,
And welcome thee, and wish thee long.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“The white man regards the universe as a gigantic machine hurtling through time and space to its final destruction: individuals in it are but tiny organisms with private lives that lead to private deaths: personal power, success and fame are the absolute measures of values, the things to live for. This outlook on life divides the universe into a host of individual little entities which cannot help being in constant conflict thereby hastening the approach of the hour of their final destruction.”
—Policy statement, 1944, of the Youth League of the African National Congress. pt. 2, ch. 4, Fatima Meer, Higher than Hope (1988)
“Not the less does nature continue to fill the heart of youth with suggestions of his enthusiasm, and there are now men,—if indeed I can speak in the plural number,—more exactly, I will say, I have just been conversing with one man, to whom no weight of adverse experience will make it for a moment appear impossible, that thousands of human beings might exercise towards each other the grandest and simplest of sentiments, as well as a knot of friends, or a pair of lovers.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)