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.

Coronation and queenship

Louis XVI's coronation took place at Rheims during the height of a bread shortage in Paris. Tradition would later state that it was at this point that Marie Antoinette joked, "If they have no bread, then let them eat cake!" ("Qu'ils mangent de la brioche.") However, this phrase was never uttered by Marie Antoinette ? although it might have been said by an earlier French queen (Maria Theresa of Spain). When Marie Antoinette actually heard about the bread shortage she wrote, "It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness. The king seems to understand this truth; as for myself, I know that in my whole life (even if I live for a hundred years) I shall never forget the day of the coronation."

Related Topics:
Louis XVI - Rheims - Paris - Brioche - Maria Theresa of Spain

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The royals had been greeted with an outpouring of national joy and the young queen was especially adored; despite the cost of the coronation (almost 7000 livres were spent on a new crown for Louis XVI) and Marie Antoinette's magnificent gown was ordered from the fashion house of Paris's most exclusive designer, Rose Bertin.

Related Topics:
Louis XVI - Paris

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Shortly after the coronation, Marie Antoinette attempted to bring Étienne François, duc de Choiseul back to court. He had been banished by Madame du Barry because of his loyalty to Marie Antoinette and the alliance with Austria. However, the new queen did not have much success. Although King Louis did meet with Choiseul, he did not bring him back to court permanently. Later, when she tried to have her friend, the duc de Guines, appointed ambassador to England, Louis XVI said, "I have made it quite clear to the queen that he cannot serve in England or in any other Embassy." It was obvious that Marie-Antoinette enjoyed no political influence with her husband, whatsoever.

Related Topics:
Étienne François, duc de Choiseul - Madame du Barry - Austria - England - Louis XVI

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When Marie Antoinette's sister-in-law, Marie Thérèse, the wife of the Comte d'Artois, gave birth to her first child in August 1775, Marie-Antoinette was subjected to cat-calls from market women asking why she had not produced a son too. She spent the next day weeping in her rooms; much to the distress of her ladies-in-waiting, who felt she was "extremely affecting when in misfortune."

Related Topics:
August - 1775

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Fulfilling Marie Antoinette's determination to avoid boredom, conversation in her circle shied away from the mundane or intellectual. According to Madame Campan, one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting, "The newest songs from the Comédie, the most timely joke or pun or quip, the bon mot of the day, the latest and choicest titbit of scandal or gossip ? these comprised the sole topics of conversation in the intimate group about the queen; discussion on a serious plane was banished from her court."

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The queen's circle of friends was very exclusive. This caused resentment in Versailles, where the courtiers thought the queen was deliberately excluding them. Soon, she became the target of the vicious gossip of Versailles. She, however, remained oblivious.

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Under the influence of d'Artois, Marie Antoinette began visiting the Paris Opéra balls in disguise. It was not long before gossips began whispering that the queen was orchestrating such events to meet with various secret lovers.

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She also began spending more and more money, since she had no real idea of its value. She had three major weaknesses; clothes, gambling and diamonds. For her twenty-first birthday, she participated in a three-day long gambling party, in which huge amounts of money changed hands.

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Marie Antoinette had already caused enough anger at Versailles when she started appointing her friends to places which were traditionally held by others. She made Thérèse de Lamballe the Superintendent of the Queen's Household, despite the fact that there were some aristocratic ladies who had greater right to have that job.

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She then began spending less time living at the palace and more time at Le Petit Trianon, which was a small château in the palace grounds. The château was renovated for her and the costs soon spiralled out of control, especially whenever the gardens were re-designed to suit the queen's new tastes.

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Vindictive rumours began that Marie Antoinette was sleeping with her brother-in-law. Illegal presses in Paris soon began printing pamphlets showing the queen and Artois as adulterous lovers. The first pamphlet was called Les Amours de Charlot et Antoinette. L'Autrichienne en Goguette showed Artois and the Queen having anal sex in a palace salon. Le Godmiché Royal showed Marie Antoinette masturbating, and later pamphlets would suggest that she had indulged in bestiality and lesbianism. None of these charges were true, but they began to chip away at the queen's popularity with the people.

Related Topics:
Paris - Artois - Anal sex - Masturbating - Bestiality - Lesbianism

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There were also wider problems affecting France at the time; for the entire country was standing on the edge of bankruptcy. The long series of wars fought by Louis XIV and Louis XV had left France with the highest national debt anywhere in Europe. French society was under-taxed and what little money was collected failed to save the economy. An anti-British clique at court persuaded Louis XVI to support the American revolutionaries in their fight for independence from George III. This decision was a disaster for France, for the cost was enormous.

Related Topics:
Louis XIV - Louis XV - France - Louis XVI - George III

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Marie Antoinette's brother, Emperor Joseph II, visited her in April 1777. He had come to inquire about the state of her marriage, since the Austrians were concerned about her failure to produce a son. They went for a long walk in the grounds of Le Petit Trianon, during which Joseph criticised her gambling and her taste in friends. He also had a deep conversation with Louis XVI, in which they discussed his sexual problems. Whatever Joseph II said to Louis XVI, it obviously worked, for the marriage was soon consummated and by April 1778, the queen could happily announce that she was pregnant.

Related Topics:
Joseph II - April - 1777 - Louis XVI - 1778

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