Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette (2 November 1755 - 16 October 1793), was Queen of France and Archduchess of Austria. She was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his wife Empress Maria Theresa, wife of Louis XVI, and mother of Louis XVII. She was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution, and is interred with her husband in the Chapelle Expiatoire in Paris.

Childhood

Marie Antoinette was the fifteenth child (the youngest daughter; she had a brother one year younger) of the Austrian empress, Maria Theresa and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. She was born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna on 2 November 1755. She was christened Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna. Maria was in honour of the Virgin Mary, Antonia in honour of Saint Anthony of Padua, Josepha in honour of her elder brother, Archduke Josef and Johanna in honour of Saint John the Evangelist. A court official described the new baby as "a small, but completely healthy Archduchess."

Related Topics:
Maria Theresa - Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor - Vienna - 2 November - 1755 - Virgin Mary - Archduke Josef

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Maria Antonia was brought up in the company of her nearest siblings in age, sister Maria Carolina (two years older) and brother Max (one year younger). Her other brothers ? Joseph, Leopold, and Ferdinand Karl ? already had important official roles within the Habsburg Empire.

Related Topics:
Joseph - Leopold - Habsburg

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As a child, legend has that Maria Antonia met the young child genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He performed a short musical concert for the Imperial Family. When the Empress asked him what he would like as a reward, Mozart is said to have responded by saying he would like the hand of the Empress's youngest daughter, Maria Antonia, in marriage (much to the Empress's amusement).

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Maria Antonia's sisters were soon married off to European royalty. Maria Christina, the eldest, was married to the Regent of the Netherlands, Maria Amalia was married to the Prince of Parma and Maria Antonia's favourite sister, Maria Carolina, was married to King Ferdinand of Naples.

Related Topics:
Netherlands - Parma - Maria Carolina - King Ferdinand - Naples

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Charming and well-mannered as a child, Maria Antonia had little real education. She was flighty, artistic and read almost nothing. Her French was imperfect and she preferred to speak German. However, when her sister Johanna Gabriella died of smallpox in 1762, Maria Antonia became the next child to be involved in her mother's political games.

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With a new peace treaty having been signed between Austria and France, it was hoped that the fighting which had being going on intermittently since 1494 would finally end. Louis XV's heir was his grandson, Louis-Auguste, and it was proposed that he should marry one of Maria Theresa's daughters. With Johanna Gabriella dead, it was decided that Maria-Antonia should be sent to France to marry the dauphin.

Related Topics:
Austria - France - 1494 - Louis XV - Maria Theresa

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When Maria Theresa asked a seer if her daughter would be happy in France, he replied, "There are crosses for all shoulders." Maria Antonia left Vienna in April 1770, when she was fourteen. The Empress's parting words to her sobbing daughter were, "Farewell, my dearest child. Do so much good to the French people that they can say that I have sent them an angel."

Related Topics:
Vienna - April - 1770

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Two and half weeks after leaving Vienna, Maria Antonia was handed over to messengers from the French court. She was stripped of all her Austrian clothes and re-dressed in French attire. She was then taken to Strasbourg, where a Thanksgiving Mass was held in her honour. The streets of the city were covered in flowers, which Marie Antoinette (as she was now known) gently picked up like "the goddess Flora". The entire city was illuminated in her honour and a few days later, she began the journey to Versailles.

Related Topics:
Vienna - Strasbourg - Versailles

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