LOUIS XVI: (1754-1793) King of France and Navarre 1774-1791, King of the French 1791-92. The only King of France to have been executed.

D.S., Louis, as King, at the conclusion, two pages (vellum), folio, Versailles, May 1786, in French. The document is a Letters Patent addressed to the Bishop of St. Brieuc, authorising him to purchase, according to the King´s derogation, some properties which were pending the decisions of the Court, and which the Bishop claims he requires, stating '..the Bishop of St. Brieuc has explained in his request of 26th March 1785 that he has begun to re-build his Epicospal Palace which is in ruins, that he would need to have enough space to create a courtyard and a second lower courtyard with a sufficient extension because at the present date he does not have the sufficient space....and that he will not be able to obtain it unless he can acquire two houses..´ further explaining `according to all said, and having seen the sale contracts, the Council has approved and permits, and we sign the present document, authorising the Bishop of St. Brieuc to exercise the feudal revocation and to purchase the aforementioned properties.' With several countersignatures at the conclusion of the document, including those of Louis Charles Auguste le Tonnelier de Breteuil and Armand Thomas Hue de Miromesnil. Some overall age wear and dust staining and some small areas of paper loss (just affecting a few words of text) to the right edge and a neat, irregular tear to the lower left corner, not affecting the text or signatures, about G

Hugues-François de Regnauld de Bellescize (1732-1796) French Clergyman, Bishop of the Catholic Church of St. Brieuc from 1774.

Louis Charles Auguste le Tonnelier de Breteuil (1730-1807) French Aristocrat, Diplomat, Statesman & Politician. He was the last Prime Minister of the Bourbon Monarchy, appointed by King Louis XVI just one hundred hours before the storming of the Bastille.

Armand Thomas Hue de Miromesnil (1723-1796) French Minister, Keeper of the Seals under King Louis XVI.

King Louis XVI, the husband of Marie Antoinette, daughter of the Emperor and Empress of Austria, succeeded his grandfather, Louis XV, as King of France in 1774. French support of the colonists in the American War of Independence had brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy and the King initially supported attempts by his ministers to relieve France's financial problems. Meanwhile, accusations of frivolity, extravagance and scandalous behaviour against the Queen, Marie Antoinette, further discredited the monarchy. In 1789, to avert the deepening crisis, Louis agreed to summon the 'estates-general' (a form of parliament, but without real power) in order to try and raise taxes. This was the first time the body had met since 1614. Angered by Louis' refusal to allow the three estates - the first (clergy), second (nobles) and third (commons) - to meet simultaneously, the Third Estate proclaimed itself a national assembly, declaring that only it had the right to represent the nation. Rumours that the king intended to suppress the assembly provoked the popular storming of the Bastille prison, a symbol of repressive royal power, on 14 July 1789. In October, Louis and his family were forced by the mob to return to Paris from their palace at Versailles. In June 1791, they attempted to escape, which was considered proof of Louis' treasonable dealings with foreign powers. He was forced to accept a new constitution, thereby establishing a constitutional monarchy. Nonetheless, against a background of military defeat by Austria and Prussia, the revolutionary leadership was becoming increasingly radicalised. In September 1792, the new National Convention abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. Louis was found guilty of treason and executed at the guillotine on 21 January 1793, bringing to an end more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy. Marie Antoinette was executed nine months later.