Louis XVI

noun

1. 1754–93, king of France 1774–92 (grandson of Louis XV and husband of Marie Antoinette).

Louis XVI

noun

1. 1754–93, king of France (1774–92); grandson of Louis XV. He married Marie Antoinette in 1770 and they were guillotined during the French Revolution

Louis XVI

1. The last king of France before the French Revolution; the husband of Marie Antoinette. He at first accepted a change from absolute monarchy (see ancien régime) to constitutional monarchy in France. Then he tried to flee the country and was brought back a prisoner. Radicals, including the Jacobins, assumed control of the revolution and had Louis and Marie Antoinette beheaded for treason.

Example Sentences

Seeking a mandate from the French people for his policies, Louis XVI convened the Estates General.

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In 1789 France’s finances stood on the brink of crisis, in part from Louis XVI’s decision a decade earlier to join the American Revolution.

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He noted that Ambassador Benjamin Franklin received a diamond-encrusted snuff box from France’s King Louis XVI, but only with the OK from Congress.

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The last queen of France, Marie Antoinette was born in Austria in 1755 and sent to France to be the child bride of the future King Louis XVI.

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Louis XVI — the Sun King — and Queen Marie Antoinette held lavish banquets at Versailles before they were beheaded during the French revolution.

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