Decline
Regiments of the Maison du Roi did not see significant active service after the Seven Years War of 1756-1763. For reasons of economy, at a time of financial crisis, several of these expensive units were disbanded in 1787. These included the gardes de la prevote, the gardes de la porte, the gendarmes de la Garde, the mousquetaires de la Garde, and the chevau-legers de la Garde. The Garde du Corps (Body Guard), the Gardes francais (French Guards) and the Gardes suisses (Swiss Guards) were however retained in service, the first named because of its close ties to the Royal Court, the second two because they comprised the largest, and historically most effective, infantry components of the Maison du Roi.
At the outbreak of the French Revolution in July 1789, the French Guards defected from the Monarchy and joined in the attack on the Bastille. The Body Guard was formally disbanded in 1791, although this aristocratic body had dispersed when the Royal Family had been forced to leave Versailles in October 1789. This left the Swiss Guard as the last remaining unit of the old Maison du Roi, although a short-lived Garde Constitutionelle du Roi was raised on 16 March 1792.
On 10 August 1792, most of the 900 Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries were massacred when the palace was stormed by revolutionary forces. With the overthrow of the Monarchy the Maison militaire du Roi ceased to exist.
Read more about this topic: Maison Militaire Du Roi De France, History, 18th Century
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