Royal Mugshots; 1780-S Style.

Here's my new collecting area; The 1780s mugshot gallery. I currently only have two countries represented at present.



Joseph II (1765-1790) of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire. 1786-B Two Ducat piece




Joseph II was the son of Maria Theresa and ruled with her as joint monarch until her death in 1780. Joseph was greatly relieved to be able to finally make up his own mind on state matters with his mother no longer cramping his style. She was very much a dominating matriarch of conservative leaning whilst he was an enlightened liberal. Unfortunately Joseph whilst meaning well proved to be somewhat inept as a king. He failed militarily and politically. By his death in 1790 he'd lived long enough to watch all of his amendments and work as a king be overturned. He died knowing he was a failure.


Louis XVI (1774-1792) of France. 1788-MA Dixieme d'Ecu




In stark contrast to Joseph his brother-inlaw Louis XVI was the epitome of the Ancien Regime. The old school aristocracy, absolute an infallible. Or so people were inclined to be led to believe. Louis was not much interested in ruling but more in a life of leisure, he'd happily leave it to his officials to run the country. So perhaps Louis XVI wasn't as absolute as contemporaries might have thought. His brother the future Charles X was much more of the ultra-Royalist radical. Louis however like Joseph was inept. If Joseph was in for a major disappointment, Louis was in for alot more of a disappointment. By the 1780s they'd spent up (thanks to Marie Antoinette and some poor excuses for national budgeting by successive financial administraters ever since Louis XIV's reign) and the country was in debt. Unrest was brewing and in 1789 the French Revolution was triggered. Louis then tried a bothed compromise, it was a case of too little, too late. Whilst the very fabric of French society unravelled and the aristocracy unravelled with it, Louis and Marie managed to successfully hold on by pretending to go along with the revolution. Whilst doing this though they were begging the kings of Europe, notably Spain to come to their rescue by declaring war on France. Charles of Spain buried his head in the sand.

By 1792 the revolution had grown more and more radical as the Jacobins gained control. The king and Queen attempted to flee their captivity and escape to Varenne. Unfortunately for them their were caught, and their letters came to light. It was clear the king was untrustworthy and the radicals used it as a good escuse to finally cut lose the royal family. The monarchy was abolished and they were imprisoned. Louis was guillotined in January 1793 and Marie followed later that year.