Death and the Crown

Anne Byrne is a former British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, now Honorary Research Fellow, at Birkbeck, University of London

• Introduction: ceremony in history1 The deathbed ceremonies of Louis XV, May 17742 The funeral of Louis XV, July 17743 The lit de justice of November 17744 'Le roi se fait sacré': preparing the coronation, 1774–75 5 'Vive le roi!': the coronation of Louis XVI, 11 June 17756 'Le roi te touche': the coronation and the king's healing touch ConclusionIndex

'This is a brilliant addition to the historiography of ceremony, ancien régime politics and the court that will particularly interest scholars of politics, ceremony and ritual, and the French monarchy.'Lynette White, Royal Studies Journal'This is one of the most important books to be published on the twilight of the ancien régime in several decades. In this meticulously researched and splendidly written study Anne Byrne presents us with the most scholarly account to date of the turbulent accession to the throne of Louis XVI in 1774. It will be invaluable and essential reading for scholars and students of eighteenth-century France alike.'Ambrogio Caiani, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History, University of Kent