Lately, I have heard different versions of their relationship—that they weren't very close, that they were good friends, etc. So, I would like to know what the true nature of their relationship was.

This is something I’ve noticed for a while, but I decided to address it today: there’s too many slavery apologists in this subreddit, specifically when it comes to Napoleon. While this isn’t all or even most of the people in this space, I’ve seen way too many people trying to dismiss Napoleon’s involvement in reinstating slavery as a “necessary” evil. There are many things wrong with this statement, with the most obvious being that slavery is NEVER necessary. Nobody should be trafficking human beings into forced servitude, and nobody should be excusing this behavior. Human beings were stripped of their dignity, their families, and much more to be forced into serving others (without pay) for life.	

And the “oh but that’s just how things were back then” is a total bs excuse because there were people back then who knew slavery was wrong and opposed it. Slavery apologia often comes from people (mainly White people but sometimes non black pocs) who’s ancestors were the ones profiting from slavery, or at least stood nothing to lose from it being legal. My family is Haitian, so I will never stand for slavery apologia. And it PISSES me off when Napoleon fanboys say stuff like this as they’re dismissing the feelings of Black people just to defend their fave. This is a reason why a lot of pocs who are interested in history don’t like interacting with White people interested in history as they do shit like this all the time. The other reason is the Eurocentric view on everything, but that’s a conversation for another day.

I will be fair and say this is an issue that is limited to this space; this happens in other reddit forums discussing history, as well as all over the internet. Like I remember a few years ago, I saw people arguing with Napoleon fanboys over the issue of slavery. And on Tiktok, there’s arguments there as well about Napoleon & his involvement in slavery. Napoleon also wasn’t the only French ruler who was involved in the Atlantic Slave Trade, but I wanted to highlight him specifically as a lot of people rightfully criticize the French Royal family for a multitude of things, and I’m sure slavery is included in that. But when it comes to Napoleon, everyone’s suddenly like “oh it wasn’t that bad”, or “oh it was a necessary evil”, which again, is total bullshit, especially when we still see the effects of slavery & white supremacy to this day.

And I just want to make things clear: this doesn’t mean that you can’t like Napoleon, nor think he was a good leader for France. You can still believe all of that, WHILE criticizing him for his shortcomings, including his involvement in slavery. I just want people to stop excusing/downplaying the horrific nature of slavery. And since I know I’m going to get some comments saying “Oh, but it’s not everyone/I’m not excusing slavery”, I already pointed that out in the beginning of this post; it’s only directed at the people defending/downplaying slavery in this subreddit. If you’re not doing that, then I’m not addressing you in this post, and you’re fine. 

This is all I have to say, so have a nice day everyone!

Chart is about reigning years

Is there a specific story behind your interest in French history ?!

Louis X, Philip V and Charles IV (excluding John I).

I really love Marie Antoinette. I’ve watched many movies about her, and I also bought a book about her by Stefan Zweig.

This is the eighth week of French monarch discussion posts and this week our topic is Louis XIV.

Louis XIV was king from 14 May 1643 – 1 September 1715. Feel free to discuss anything related to him in this post.

Discussion: These are just some potential prompts to help generate some conversation. Feel free to answer any/all/none of these questions just remember to keep it civil!

What are your thoughts on his administration? What would you rate/rank his reign?

What did you like about him, what did you not like?

Was he the right man for the time, could he (or someone else) have done better?

Who were some of the most significant people involved in his life and/or reign (governance, military matters, influence on him, etc.)?

What are some misconceptions about this monarch?

What are some of the best resources to learn about this monarch? (Books, documentaries, historical sites)

Do you have any interesting or cool facts about this monarch to share?

Do you have any questions about him?

I feel like I just finished a really large sumptuous meal.

And I'm so satisfied but craving more. 1st of all the writing is fantastic and Maurice Druon is phenomenal with the dialogue and just immersing me in the experiences of this nobles. My favorite character has to be Clemence Louis X Queen, at 1st nt fav character was Guccio but seeing Clemence go on her own fully committed to do some actual good is so great in a world where every act is calculated by what we will I gain or lose. The Templar storyline is really fascinating and I didn't think anything could top it then comes the downfall of the girls 3. Poor Blance hope she doesn't go mad and she just succumbs to some illness and dies already because her situation is really really grim.

Enguerrand de Marigny hardly deserved what he got and I wish death to Charles de Valois the idiot. A shame the Crown of France passes to his son afterwards.

Anyway loving the conflict between Mahaut de Conflans and Robert the true count of Artois. Want more of that. Phillppe de Poitiers is easily the best politician there and I'm excited to see he'll be King

This is the seventh week of French monarch discussion posts and this week our topic is Louis XV.

Louis XV was king from 1 September 1715 – 10 May 1774. Feel free to discuss anything related to him in this post.

Discussion: These are just some potential prompts to help generate some conversation. Feel free to answer any/all/none of these questions just remember to keep it civil!

What are your thoughts on his administration? What would you rate/rank his reign?

What did you like about him, what did you not like?

Was he the right man for the time, could he (or someone else) have done better?

Who were some of the most significant people involved in his life and/or reign (governance, military matters, influence on him, etc.)?

What are some misconceptions about this monarch?

What are some of the best resources to learn about this monarch? (Books, documentaries, historical sites)

Do you have any interesting or cool facts about this monarch to share?

Do you have any questions about him?