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Louis XVI
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Portrait of Louis XVI by Antoine-Francois Callet, 1786, showing the king in a red coat with royal decorations, against a dark background. Marie-Antoinette Louis XVI receiving Benjamin Franklin
Black and white illustration of French revolutionaries storming the Bastille, with armed crowds, cannon, smoke, and the fortress gate in the background.
Louis XVI: Execution by guillotine Louis XVI, detail of a painting by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis, c. 1780s; in the Chateau de Versailles, France. Painting of the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, showing a large crowd, soldiers, and a guillotine on a raised platform with officials preparing for the beheading.
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Portrait of Louis XVI by Antoine-Francois Callet, 1786, showing the king in a red coat with royal decorations, against a dark background.
Louis XVI summary
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Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon in Coronation Robes or Napoleon I Emperor of France, 1804 by Baron Francois Gerard or Baron Francois-Pascal-Simon Gerard, from the Musee National, Chateau de Versailles.
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Portrait of Louis XVI by Antoine-Francois Callet, 1786, showing the king in a red coat with royal decorations, against a dark background.
Louis XVI Louis XVI, oil on canvas by Antoine-François Callet, 1786; in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris.

Louis XVI

king of France
Also known as: Berry, Louis-Auguste, duc de, Citizen Capet, Louis Capet, Louis-Auguste, duc de Berry(Show More)
Written by
Jeremy David Popkin
Professor of History, University of Kentucky, Lexington.
Jeremy David PopkinAll
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

Louis XVI (born August 23, 1754, Versailles, France—died January 21, 1793, Paris) was the last king of France (1774–92) in the line of Bourbon monarchs preceding the French Revolution of 1789. The monarchy was abolished on September 21, 1792; later Louis and his queen consort, Marie-Antoinette, were guillotined on charges of counterrevolution. Louis was known for his role in two revolutions: the American and the French. Although the first revolution was a foreign policy success...

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