Essay: Louis XVI The Silent King (John Hardman)

Throughout history Kings have come and gone, most are not majorly noted for doing something significant, however Louis XVI is perhaps best-known for doing too little or not saying enough, earning him the name The Silent King by Hardman, which would ultimately lead to his reign’s end and demise. Hardman places Louis XVI’s life under a microscope but at a different angle than viewed before. Hardman claims Louis XVI is perhaps not the lazy, unemotional, fool responsible for the downfall of the Monarchy during French revolution but was ill-prepared and ill-advised during his life.
Hardman examines the effect Louis XVI’s childhood as a possible root problem during Louis XVI reign. “This honourable king with his simple nature, ill-adapted to the role he had to assume and the history which awaited him, can equally well inspire emotions at the unfairness of fate or an indictment against his lack of foresight as a sovereign” (Hardman 10). Although Louis was highly educated and intelligent, Louis’ parents blatantly preferred his brother and often put Louis out of sight and out of mind. Louis was never supposed to be King and even after the death of his brother and father his Mother never fully recovered from the loss. As result, he was very ill-prepared to take over the throne.
We know a great deal about the education of young Louis thanks to a study published in 1972 by Mme P. Girault de Coursac. It is made clear that Louis was a very gifted student, however his thinking process lacked elasticity and reflected only the views of his teachers. What Louis lacked in originality, he made up for in his elegant presentation. Lack of mental elasticity rendered the young king useless in in forming a reasonable argument, let alone governing an entire state.
In 1770 at the young age of fifteen, Louis was married to fourteen year old Maria Antonia. Even this marriage was put under scrutiny by the French people due to their disastrous experience in the Seven Years War. The French were critical of the Austrian alliance and perhaps even xenophobic. As a result, when their King married a foreign ally that got them involved in a horrific war, the overall feeling was not celebratory.
One thing many overlook is Louis could have been more a capable leader if he was not limited to merely conducting war and mediating foreign affairs, even while under the guidance of advisors. “The King understood the affairs of Europe infinitely better than those of France, because he had received instruction in the former, whilst the latter had been neglected” (Hardman 62). Although he was the king, the National Assembly fought him every step of the way. Louis developed a plan for a Constitutional Monarchy which could have saved his country as well as himself. Unfortunately said plan was denied when presented to the Estates General in 1787. Hardman also makes the point that if it was not for tradition Louis would not have been forced to listen to his advisors, many of whom were inexperienced or had clandestine agendas.
For the last phase of his life, Louis was a prisoner. for the last 5 months of his life he spent his time preparing a defense, preparing to die, and educating his son if he were to have ‘the misfortune to rule’ as Louis himself had put it.even up to the last moments of his life, he kept his dignity. Between January 14 and 20, the convention voted on the following motion: “Is Louis Capet, former king of the French, guilty of conspiring against liberty and an attempt against the safety of the state? Yes or no”. 691 voted yes, with 27 abstentions. Another motion regarded Louis’ punishment: 361 of 721 voted unconditionally for death — a majority of just. On January 20, 1793, Louis XVI was guillotined in his former palace within sight of the Tuileries.
`In a political, impersonal, and defensive biography, Hardman (a retired lecturer in modern history at the Univ. of Edinburgh) claims that Louis XVI, reputedly “stupid, lazy, and impassive,” was merely reticent, timid, ill-advised, lonely, and misunderstood- -and could have been called “Louis the Silent.” Born into a sprawling, extravagant, and unpopular monarchy, orphaned at age 11, Louis–private, shy, immature, and the least favored and least prepared heir to the throne–ascended to his kingship at age 19, when his grandfather died. Louis liked woodworking, hunting, and playing with locks, maps, and his young and frivolous wife, Marie Antoinette–against whom, according to Hardman, the king spent his life defending himself.