He was the third son of his parents but his two elder brothers fell victim to the medical tradition of bleeding ill people. Louis XV survived only because his governess hid him from the doctor. He became king at the age of five, succeeding his great-grandfather, Louis XIV. At first, Regent was the Duke of Orl‚ans who arranged his betrothal to a Spanish Infanta. 
In 1723 the Duke of Orleans died and Louis XV appointed Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon-Conde, as his minister. He then cancelled the Spanish engagement and married Louis XV to Marie Leszczynska who was seven years his senior. In 1726 the Duke of Bourbon-Cond‚ was replaced 
by Bishop de Fleury, who later was elevated to the rank of Cardinal. Louis XV became personally involved in France's Government only after the death of Cardinal Fleury in 1744. He announced that he would no longer have infuential ministers but was too indolent and lacked self-confidence. His government degenerated into factions of scheming ministers and courtiers. 
After having given birth to ten children, his wife withdrew from him and, as he was highly sexed, the king, who till then, most probably had been faithful, embarked on a wide and varied search for 
sexual gratification. His first four mistresses were sisters; a fifth declined the honour. These mistresses involved themselves with politics and the most capable was Jeanne Antoinette Poisson who, in 1745, became his official mistress and is known in history as the Marquise de Pompadour. Her political influence lasted until she died in 1764. 
Louis XV had at first been popular and in his youth was known as the Well-Beloved, but gradually he earned the contempt of his subjects. To strenghten the authority of the crown, he withdrew from the Parliaments the privilege of obstructing royal legislation. In 1771 the chancellor, Ren‚ de Maupeou, abolished the sale of judicial offices. The new judicial system functioned effectively until the king died and it might have saved the Bourbon monarchy from the path that led to revolution had his successor not gratuitously abandoned the reform. 
Louis XV's long reign was marked by a decline in the crown's moral and political authority. When he died in 1774, he was hated as much as Louis XIV had been. Only one illegitimate child was recognised but, as he had many affairs and even operated a brothel with himself as the 
only patron, many more are ascribed to him. 
 

Source: Leo van de Pas