Coronation of Louis XVI

The Coronation of Louis XVI the King of France took place at Reims Cathedral on 11 June 1775 which fell on Trinity Sunday. Louis XVI had come to the throne the previous year in succession to his grandfather Louis XV who had reigned for 59 years. It was the first coronation since 1722 and only the second since 1654 due to the longevity of the two previous monarchs Louis XV and Louis XIV.

The city of Reims in Champagne was the traditional site of French coronations, a ceremony that stretched back in some form to the baptism of Clovis I in the city. The ceremony was performed by Charles Antoine de La Roche-Aymon, the Archbishop of Reims. Louis was crowned alongside his wife Marie Antoinette who he had married in 1770 in a dynastic match to support the Franco-Austrian Alliance. The couple were childless at the time of the coronation but went on to have several children following the birth of Marie-Thérèse in 1778.

In contrast to his predecessors Louis, rejected a role as leader of fashion and ceremony, and as soon as the coronation was over he took off his heavy coronation robes and never wore them again. He preferred lighter and less ceremonial dress at court.

Aftermath


Both Louis and Marie Antoinette were guillotined during the Revolution and their young heir Louis XVII died in prison. The succession then passed to Louis XVI's younger brothers Louis XVIII and Charles X.

It was the last coronation of the Ancien Regime before the French Revolution thirteen years later led to the overthrow of the monarchy. It was also the penultimate coronation of a French king followed only by the Coronation of Charles X (Louis' younger brother the Count of Artois) in Reims during the Bourbon Restoration. The Coronation of Napoleon in 1804 had taken place at Notre Dame in Paris.