On 12 May 1774 Louis XV died, ending a reign that had started in 1715. Standard accounts of his death focus on faction-fighting around a weak, self-indulgent king. In this article I wish to examine these accounts critically and, by bringing new sources to the fore, construct a richly contextualized account of the deathbed. Sin, smallpox and ceremony are drawn together to create a new understanding of this crucial event.