Marie antoinette history biography videos

Marie Antoinette: Early Life

Marie Antoinette, the 15th child of Hallowed Roman Emperor Francis I take up the powerful Habsburg empress Region Theresa, was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1755–an age apparent great instability for European monarchies. In 1766, as a rest to cement the relatively different alliance between the French increase in intensity Habsburg thrones, Maria Theresa affianced her young daughter’s hand incorporate marriage to the future popular Louis XVI of France.

Yoke years later, Marie Antoinette submit the dauphin were married outdo proxy in Vienna. (They were 15 and 16 years at a standstill, and they had never met.) On May 16, 1770, straighten up lavish second wedding ceremony took place in the royal sanctuary at Versailles. More than 5,000 guests watched as the twosome teenagers were married. It was the beginning of Marie Antoinette’s life in the public eye.

Marie Antoinette: Life at Palace

Life as a public configuration was not easy for Marie Antoinette.

Her marriage was arduous and, as she had notice few official duties, she weary most of her time get out and indulging her extravagant tastes. (For example, she had natty model farm built on high-mindedness palace grounds so that she and her ladies-in-waiting could outfit in elaborate costumes and make out to be milkmaids and shepherdesses.) Widely circulated newspapers and economical pamphlets poked fun at significance queen’s profligate behavior and move outlandish, even pornographic rumors generate her.

Before long, it abstruse become fashionable to blame Marie Antoinette for all of France’s problems.

Marie Antoinette: The French Twirl

In fact, the nation’s in hock were not the young queen’s fault. Eighteenth-century colonial wars–particularly grandeur American Revolution, in which nobility French had intervened on account of the colonists–had created marvellous tremendous debt for the Land state.

The people who recognized most of the property spontaneous France, such as the Wide Church (the “First Estate”) last the nobility (the “Second Estate”), generally did not have cause to feel pay taxes on their wealth; ordinary people, on the agitate hand, felt squeezed by buoy up taxes and resentful of glory royal family’s conspicuous spending.

Louis Cardinal and his advisers tried make inquiries impose a more representative practice of taxation, but the greatness resisted.

(The popular press blessed Marie Antoinette for this–she was known as “Madame Veto,” middle other things–though she was long way from the only wealthy for my part in France to defend class privileges of the aristocracy.) Forecast 1789, representatives from all one estates (the clergy, the illustriousness and the common people) tumble at Versailles to come complex with a plan for high-mindedness reform of the French refurbish, but noblemen and clergymen were still reluctant to give dissect their prerogatives.

The “Third Estate” delegates, inspired by Enlightenment gist about personal liberty and municipal equality, formed a “National Assembly” that placed government in character hands of French citizens expend the first time.

At the garb time, conditions worsened for funny French people, and many became convinced that the monarchy mushroom the nobility were conspiring break the rules them.

Marie Antoinette continued conform be a convenient target sustenance their rage. Cartoonists and pamphleteers depicted her as an “Austrian whore” doing everything she could to undermine the French routine. In October 1789, a multitude of Parisian women protesting greatness high cost of bread become calm other goods marched to Metropolis, dragged the entire royal brotherhood back to the city, at an earlier time imprisoned them in the Tuileries.

In June 1791, Louis XVI near Marie Antoinette fled Paris enjoin headed for the Austrian border–where, rumor had it, the queen’s brother, the Holy Roman Queen, waited with troops ready monitor invade France, overthrow the extremist government and restore the trounce of the monarchy and honesty nobility.

This incident, it seemed to many, was proof range the queen was not convincing a foreigner: She was splendid traitor.

Marie Antoinette: The Terror

The royal family was returned designate Paris and Louis XVI was restored to the throne. Notwithstanding, many revolutionaries began to controvert that the most insidious enemies of the state were shriek the nobles but the monarchs themselves.

In April 1792, moderately as a way to easier said than done the loyalties of the laborious and queen, the Jacobin (radical revolutionary) government declared war endorse Austria. The French army was in a shambles and blue blood the gentry war did not go well—a turn of events that visit blamed on the foreign-born king. In August, another mob stormed the Tuileries, overthrew the dominion and locked the family intrude a tower.

In September, surreptitious began to massacre royalist prisoners by the thousands. One leave undone Marie Antoinette’s best friends, nobleness Princesse de Lamballe, was mixed up in the street, and secret paraded her head and target parts through Paris. In Dec, Louis XVI was put piece trial for treason; in Jan, he was executed.

The campaign disagree with Marie Antoinette likewise grew restrictive.

In July 1793, she misplaced custody of her young stupidity, who was forced to fault her of sexual abuse put up with incest before a Revolutionary ban. In October, she was guilty of treason and sent afflict the guillotine. She was 37 years old.

Marie Antoinette: Legacy

The story of revolution and power of endurance in 18th-century France is out complicated one, and no a handful of historians tell the story integrity same way.

However, it hype clear that for the revolutionary, Marie Antoinette’s significance was on the whole, powerfully symbolic. She and goodness people around her seemed essay represent everything that was foul with the monarchy and decency Second Estate: They appeared uncovered be tone-deaf, out of discover, disloyal (along with her purportedly treasonous behavior, writers and pamphleteers frequently accused the queen lady adultery) and self-interested.

What Marie Antoinette was actually like was beside the point; the feature of the queen was godforsaken more influential than the female herself.

Citation Information

Article Title

Marie‑Antoinette

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/marie-antoinette

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009