How was Louis XVI Innocent?
I would focus on the circumstances of his upbringing and the necessarily insular world in which he lived. During the reign of Louis XVI (and the Louis’ before him) the King was reliant on the words and opinions of advisers who had their own agenda; he was not expected to be a “Man of the People” as today’s leaders are. The King was chosen by God and ruled by Divine Right…..He was only as arrogant (and, essentially, clueless) as he was nurtured to be. Probably Louis XVI would have been happier in his relative ignorance without a crown and all the pressure which that entailed….but history, tradition and circumstance were not on his side…..or on the side of the French people in general.
