Born in Versailles, he was the brother of Louis XVI of France and in early life was known as the Comte de Provence. He remained in Paris after the French Revolution began in 1789 but escaped to Belgium two years later. After Louis XVI's execution in 1793 and the death of Louis XVI's son in 1795, he called himself Louis XVIII. He lived as an exile in various European countries until he became king after Napoleon's first abdication in 1814. On Napoleon's return to power in 1815, however, Louis again fled to Belgium; later the same year he was restored to the throne after Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo. He remained on the throne until his death in 1824.