Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, also known as Marie Antoinette, was born November 2, 1755 to the Empress Maria Theresa, Queen of Austria. She was a beautiful blond Austrian princess, youngest of several girls in her family, a prized daughter of the Queen, ...grew up focusing on learning things like dress and etiquette, language, music and culture. She was cheerful and generally happy, and had difficulty finding interest in schoolwork, although she was bright, her kindness and plaisant demeanor not to be mistaken for stupidity.
She was in many ways the model archduchess, a truly beautiful girl. A fine catch for a French prince, no doubt. Her womb was a valuable bargaining chip for her mother's political affairs with France, which was not on so good of terms in the geopolitical atmosphere of the day. Her womb served as a peace offering to the French crown, a political shaking of hands so to speak. That's how they did things.
When she was about 14 or 15 years old, she was taken to an island in the Rhine River, stripped down to her birthday suit of all symbols of her native Austrian culture, outfitted with the finest French clothing available, then taken far from her home to a palace north west of Paris, where she would eventually serve as queen.
Louis XVI was an awkward boring quiet pompous spoiled teenage prince, and likely completely terrified of his unbelievably beautiful new bride. Imagine the intimidation he must have felt having a smoking hot blond signed sealed and delivered to him with no idea what to do with her. And that is not to mention the pressure of public opinion, as it was common cultural practice to know the very personal affairs of the royal family. It was a celebration in many ways, ...as if to say, "Hooray, the prince broke the hymen!, new heirs are coming!" I imagine it is like being told to fuk on command.
He choked under the pressure, choosing avoidance and therefore causing her to feel rejected. It wasn't that he didn't want her, it was that he was so completely floored by her that he was stunned. You might say she was a complete knockout. POW! One hell of a trophy wife.
Her feelings of rejection combined with her mother pressuring her to seal the deal with France by producing a child put her in a rather awkward position. It was as if her mother was asking her to rape him for political stability. She was young, married at 15 years old, and still sorting out feelings with her new husband who was not cooperating. Rumors were spreading as people were all wondering why the two had not produced an heir after a few years. From a princess' perspective, from someone who was bread to be a royal trophy wife and political chip, she must have been under enormous pressure. They later consummated and produced heirs, and it was, as I understand, quite grand.
But before that could happen, King Louis XV became ill with smallpox and was unable to reign. He died on 10 May 1774, thus making his son reigning king by default. And therefore the former Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna of Austria was now reigning Queen of France.
France wasn't exactly in the best of shape due to inner turmoil from competing factions and wars, etc. Two awkward teenage spoiled rich kids were just thrust into command of one of the largest destabilizing kingdoms in Europe. They basically had a mess dropped into their laps. And they still hadn't consummated. They were nowhere near ready. The finer things in life did not teach them the necessary skills in what it meant to reign as King and Queen. But they handled it as best as they could. And it worked for a while.
Maria Antonia was content spending most of her time enjoying life, doing a bit of partying, diplomacy, public relations, charity, etc. Her charming personality was well suited for anything of a social nature. She was kind of a a bubbly people person with that 'girlish charm', if you will, always sending out good vibes. For the most part, as the French people and royal circles got to know Maria Antonia, they rather liked her, and in spite of that she was Austrian. She was a hit in social circles. They had accepted their fine new Queen of France.
Her and Louis XVI eventually consummated and had their first heir Marie Therese Charlotte on 19 December 1778. They had 3 more children in the following years. Louis Joseph and Louis Charles. ...and Sophie who died of illness around age one.
Maria Antonia made an excellent mother for no other reason than because she had a genuine affectionate and compassionate nature, a strong motherly instinct. She knew what love is. She also had a little playfulness in her as to relate well and bond with her children.That is to say that she was still able to touch her inner child through motherhood.
One thing I think is worth noting, is when a pheasant orphan boy ran in front of her carriage wagon and was kicked by a horse. He was okay, but instead of allowing this poor orphan to go off to fend for himself she adopted him as one of her own, taking him into live at Versailles Palace. If I am not mistaken, there were more whom she took in.
She was the kind of mom who provided a social atmosphere which allowed them to be free of the political pressures she experienced as a young archduchess. She was the kind of mom who arranged play dates.
Things worsened for France, more adverse effects from wars and finances brought more discontent and problems for everything else. Maria Antonia was often smeared as a scapegoat, being blamed for overspending, wasting France's money on lavishness. The reality is that it was a combination of things that had very little to do with her. It was more about things like failing agricultural markets and loaning money to fund things like the American Revolution, which France was a primary key ally.
But she still took the brunt of her husband's mismanagement of finances. Not that he didn't inherit a mess to begin with, but he did not manage France's economy into a solution either.
She never said "Let them eat cake". It was part of a smear campaign referencing an earlier quote from a book when Maria Antonia was only a small child. It got pinned on her nonetheless. Her attitude was quite different than as she was portrayed in local circulars. When she became aware of economic issues, she cut her spending back quite a bit. But it was too late. She had already been deemed the scapegoat.
When things finally erupted, somewhere around 1789 the revolutionaries captured the royal family, Mother Father and Children, and put them into the Tuileries Palace, which was a palace converted into a prison. Maria Antonia was put on trial and convicted of numerous crimes, none of which she actually did. The revolutionaries even coerced her son into 'confessing' his mother had sexually molested him. It was all a vicious smear campaign, a product of made up scandals to justify murdering an innocent woman.
King Louis XVI was tried then beheaded on Monday, 21 January 1793.
Maria Antonia was also killed by guillotine 12:15, 16 October 1793.
Her last words were to say 'pardon me', followed by 'I didn't mean to' because she accidentally stepped on the executioner's toe. I imagine she was a nervous wreck inside, knowing she was going to die. She was about to be beheaded and was still humble and lady like, calm as she could be.
Her remaining children were left to be tortured in a prison. Louis Charles was tortured and left to die of disease and parasites in a cell while his older teenage sister Marie Therese Charlotte was nearby in her cell. She literally was pinned in a room while listening to her brother scream and fight. What she endured must have been horrifying. Imagine being a teen girl all alone, your family tortured and murdered.
She was released at age 16 if I remember correctly. She moved to Great Britain, later marrying her cousin and moving to Austria. She never had children. She died in October of 1851.
That was the last of the French monarchy.
Marie Antoinette was a woman who was essentially bred born and raised to be subjected to a life of torture and imprisonment as a consequence of the family obligation she was born into. She had very little say in much of the course of her life. She lived her life making the best of it, making a genuine honest daily effort to be a righteous woman. She was a knockout blond that stunned a prince and took over France, a good mother, charitable person and beloved socialite, the target of a relentless smear campaign. She had a certain innocence about her to the end. She had 4 children, two who died of disease, one tortured and malnourished left to die in a cell, the other surviving with scars. Her husband executed as well.
She lived well, never having to worry or need much of anything, but otherwise was a slave to her pretty royal blood. It costed her everything. If given the choice, I wonder if she would trade it for freedom.
She was in many ways the model archduchess, a truly beautiful girl. A fine catch for a French prince, no doubt. Her womb was a valuable bargaining chip for her mother's political affairs with France, which was not on so good of terms in the geopolitical atmosphere of the day. Her womb served as a peace offering to the French crown, a political shaking of hands so to speak. That's how they did things.
When she was about 14 or 15 years old, she was taken to an island in the Rhine River, stripped down to her birthday suit of all symbols of her native Austrian culture, outfitted with the finest French clothing available, then taken far from her home to a palace north west of Paris, where she would eventually serve as queen.
Louis XVI was an awkward boring quiet pompous spoiled teenage prince, and likely completely terrified of his unbelievably beautiful new bride. Imagine the intimidation he must have felt having a smoking hot blond signed sealed and delivered to him with no idea what to do with her. And that is not to mention the pressure of public opinion, as it was common cultural practice to know the very personal affairs of the royal family. It was a celebration in many ways, ...as if to say, "Hooray, the prince broke the hymen!, new heirs are coming!" I imagine it is like being told to fuk on command.
He choked under the pressure, choosing avoidance and therefore causing her to feel rejected. It wasn't that he didn't want her, it was that he was so completely floored by her that he was stunned. You might say she was a complete knockout. POW! One hell of a trophy wife.
Her feelings of rejection combined with her mother pressuring her to seal the deal with France by producing a child put her in a rather awkward position. It was as if her mother was asking her to rape him for political stability. She was young, married at 15 years old, and still sorting out feelings with her new husband who was not cooperating. Rumors were spreading as people were all wondering why the two had not produced an heir after a few years. From a princess' perspective, from someone who was bread to be a royal trophy wife and political chip, she must have been under enormous pressure. They later consummated and produced heirs, and it was, as I understand, quite grand.
But before that could happen, King Louis XV became ill with smallpox and was unable to reign. He died on 10 May 1774, thus making his son reigning king by default. And therefore the former Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna of Austria was now reigning Queen of France.
France wasn't exactly in the best of shape due to inner turmoil from competing factions and wars, etc. Two awkward teenage spoiled rich kids were just thrust into command of one of the largest destabilizing kingdoms in Europe. They basically had a mess dropped into their laps. And they still hadn't consummated. They were nowhere near ready. The finer things in life did not teach them the necessary skills in what it meant to reign as King and Queen. But they handled it as best as they could. And it worked for a while.
Maria Antonia was content spending most of her time enjoying life, doing a bit of partying, diplomacy, public relations, charity, etc. Her charming personality was well suited for anything of a social nature. She was kind of a a bubbly people person with that 'girlish charm', if you will, always sending out good vibes. For the most part, as the French people and royal circles got to know Maria Antonia, they rather liked her, and in spite of that she was Austrian. She was a hit in social circles. They had accepted their fine new Queen of France.
Her and Louis XVI eventually consummated and had their first heir Marie Therese Charlotte on 19 December 1778. They had 3 more children in the following years. Louis Joseph and Louis Charles. ...and Sophie who died of illness around age one.
Maria Antonia made an excellent mother for no other reason than because she had a genuine affectionate and compassionate nature, a strong motherly instinct. She knew what love is. She also had a little playfulness in her as to relate well and bond with her children.That is to say that she was still able to touch her inner child through motherhood.
One thing I think is worth noting, is when a pheasant orphan boy ran in front of her carriage wagon and was kicked by a horse. He was okay, but instead of allowing this poor orphan to go off to fend for himself she adopted him as one of her own, taking him into live at Versailles Palace. If I am not mistaken, there were more whom she took in.
She was the kind of mom who provided a social atmosphere which allowed them to be free of the political pressures she experienced as a young archduchess. She was the kind of mom who arranged play dates.
Things worsened for France, more adverse effects from wars and finances brought more discontent and problems for everything else. Maria Antonia was often smeared as a scapegoat, being blamed for overspending, wasting France's money on lavishness. The reality is that it was a combination of things that had very little to do with her. It was more about things like failing agricultural markets and loaning money to fund things like the American Revolution, which France was a primary key ally.
But she still took the brunt of her husband's mismanagement of finances. Not that he didn't inherit a mess to begin with, but he did not manage France's economy into a solution either.
She never said "Let them eat cake". It was part of a smear campaign referencing an earlier quote from a book when Maria Antonia was only a small child. It got pinned on her nonetheless. Her attitude was quite different than as she was portrayed in local circulars. When she became aware of economic issues, she cut her spending back quite a bit. But it was too late. She had already been deemed the scapegoat.
When things finally erupted, somewhere around 1789 the revolutionaries captured the royal family, Mother Father and Children, and put them into the Tuileries Palace, which was a palace converted into a prison. Maria Antonia was put on trial and convicted of numerous crimes, none of which she actually did. The revolutionaries even coerced her son into 'confessing' his mother had sexually molested him. It was all a vicious smear campaign, a product of made up scandals to justify murdering an innocent woman.
King Louis XVI was tried then beheaded on Monday, 21 January 1793.
Maria Antonia was also killed by guillotine 12:15, 16 October 1793.
Her last words were to say 'pardon me', followed by 'I didn't mean to' because she accidentally stepped on the executioner's toe. I imagine she was a nervous wreck inside, knowing she was going to die. She was about to be beheaded and was still humble and lady like, calm as she could be.
Her remaining children were left to be tortured in a prison. Louis Charles was tortured and left to die of disease and parasites in a cell while his older teenage sister Marie Therese Charlotte was nearby in her cell. She literally was pinned in a room while listening to her brother scream and fight. What she endured must have been horrifying. Imagine being a teen girl all alone, your family tortured and murdered.
She was released at age 16 if I remember correctly. She moved to Great Britain, later marrying her cousin and moving to Austria. She never had children. She died in October of 1851.
That was the last of the French monarchy.
Marie Antoinette was a woman who was essentially bred born and raised to be subjected to a life of torture and imprisonment as a consequence of the family obligation she was born into. She had very little say in much of the course of her life. She lived her life making the best of it, making a genuine honest daily effort to be a righteous woman. She was a knockout blond that stunned a prince and took over France, a good mother, charitable person and beloved socialite, the target of a relentless smear campaign. She had a certain innocence about her to the end. She had 4 children, two who died of disease, one tortured and malnourished left to die in a cell, the other surviving with scars. Her husband executed as well.
She lived well, never having to worry or need much of anything, but otherwise was a slave to her pretty royal blood. It costed her everything. If given the choice, I wonder if she would trade it for freedom.