3 Floréal
An CCXXXIV
Marie Antoinette
The whore from Austria
was Queen of France for 18 years. Poverty and deprivation were foreign to her. She only knew the tormenting boredom of Versailles – as the wife of a clumsy king whom she had to marry at the age of 15. Marie Antoinette fled into nightlife and boundless luxury. Her addiction to extravagance fueled the hatred of the common people toward the decadent aristocracy of the Ancien Régime. But in the last four years of her life, as a de facto prisoner of the Revolution, she revealed her true strength. She developed a greater understanding of politics than her husband and conspired with foreign courts to save her family. In vain. In the end, she was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal after a revolting show trial. Yet she remained steadfast until the very end. Marie Antoinette died to the screams of the frenzied mob she had always despised.
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1755 - 1793
- November 2, 1755 · Birth in Vienna as the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa.
- May 16, 1770 · Marriage to the French heir to the throne in Versailles.
- May 10, 1774 · Death of Louis XV. Her husband becomes Louis XVI, King of France.
- December 19, 1778 · Birth of her first child, Marie Thérèse Charlotte, eight years after the wedding. She will bear four children in total.
- 1783 · Begins a romantic relationship with Count Axel von Fersen.
- May 31, 1786 · Verdict in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which permanently damages her reputation.
- October 6, 1789 · Forced relocation of the royal family to Paris.
- June 21, 1791 · The royal family’s escape attempt fails in Varennes.
- August 1792 · After the storming of the Tuileries Palace, the royal family is imprisoned in the Temple.
- July 3, 1793 · Her son Louis Charles is taken from her and placed in the care of the cobbler Antoine Simon.
- August 1, 1793 · Transferred to the Conciergerie prison.
- October 14, 1793 · Trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal for high treason and conspiracy against the Republic.
- October 16, 1793 · Execution on the Place of the Revolution in Paris.
Quotes
The people have no bread? Let them eat cake.
Quote mistakenly attributed to Marie Antoinette
The king has only one man – and that is his wife.
Mirabeau
Pardon me, sir, I did not do that on purpose.
Marie Antoinette after stepping on the executioner's foot
Le Moniteur
Le 6 du 2e mois (27 octobre) l'an IIe de la République une et indivisible
Marie Antoinette on the execution cart, drawing by David.
The trial of Marie Antoinette
· · · Gérald Walter: Actes du Tribunal Révolutionnaire · · ·
External links
