Marie Antoinette’s Gilded Horror Story D
Few members of the French monarchy during the revolutionary era are as well known outside of France as Marie Antonet. Queen during the volatile French Revolution, her story of excessive glamour and eventual fate to the guillotine captured imaginations worldwide. Yet there was much more to the last queen of France’s Anen regime than people know.
And she led a very fascinating life before the events of the revolution. Shortly before her husband, the king, was executed, the New Republic forcefully tore her 8-year-old son from her arms. Yet, what they did next to him was very disturbing. Maria Antuinette was born Maria Antonia Yosepha Johanna as the daughter of Empress Maria Teresa and Francis I Holy Roman Emperor.
By birth, she was the Arch Duchess of Austria. Growing up, Maria Antonia was raised by a royal governness alongside her elder sister. Although she had access to the very best tutors, she struggled. She had difficulties writing in German and in speaking French and Italian. As her sisters had been before her, Maria Antonia was a piece that her parents could use in the game of politics.
Maria Antonia’s mother, Empress Maria Theresa, wished to secure a newfound alliance with France and desired to marry her off. It just so happened that Maria Antonia was a similar age to the eldest grandson, an heir of King Louis X 15th of France. As part of these negotiations, Louis X 15th sent a man named Matia Jacqu de Vermo to be Maria Antonia’s tutor.
He discovered what most already knew. Maria Antonia was poorly educated and struggled with writing. However, he did not find her completely devoid of positive qualities. He thought that she had a good character and heart and was more intelligent than people generally thought. In order to better suit the images and expectations of the French court, they ordered a makeover for Maria Antonia.
They straightened her teeth, changed her wardrobe, and they modeled her hair after respected court ladies of Versailles. Although it seemed glamorous at first, life at court was often demanding, and each one had its own set of secret rules that determined if you were in or out. Maria Antonia’s makeover into Maria Antuinette was a stark, but she would also have to behave like those in court as well.
She was even taught to walk differently, as was court custom. King Louis X 15th officially sealed the deal between himself and Maria Teresa on February 7th, 1770 when he made an official offer of marriage between Maria Antonia and his heir, his eldest surviving grandson, Louisa Gust, Duke of Berry and Dolphin of France.
They were married on April 19th, 1770 in Vienna with her brother, Archduke Ferdinand, standing in for her husband during the ceremony. she would not meet her actual husband despite already being married for another month when she arrived in France. The young couple officially met on May 14th, 1770, some miles north of Paris.
Once on French soil, Maria Antonia adopted the French version of her name, officially becoming Maria Antuinette. Another ceremonial wedding was held 2 days later at Versailles, and this time with a strange ritual included. During this period, it was common for a wedding to end with a ritual bedding whereby a large group, typically friends and family, would gather around the bed of the newlyweds and witness their first physical union.
However, in most cases, including this one, the ritual ended with the group leaving before any intimacy actually happened. As it turned out, nothing would happen on their first night together, and they would actually fail to consummate their marriage for a further 7 years. This was a problem as the need to produce heirs was a pressing issue for any royal couple.
While their inability to consummate the marriage plagued the couple, Maria Antinet had other problems to deal with. She was a foreigner in the French court and she was also Austrian which meant that many simply disliked her just for existing. One of her biggest problems at court when she arrived was Madame Dubari.
Although Madame Dubari had arrived at the French court through scandal, by 1770, she had been King Louis X 15th’s primary mistress for several years and held significant power. She seemingly intended to use that power to undermine the Nudafin. Since Maria Antonet was new and foreign, she naturally had few allies. Among the few she did have were Etien Francois and his sister, the Duchess of GMO.
As it happened, Madame Dubari had these two both exiled. This was a clear attack on Maria Antonet’s few close allies. Madame Dubari did this most likely because Maria Antonet had decided not to acknowledge her. Many saw this as mistake which jeopardized her standing in the court. Eventually, she did reluctantly acknowledge Madame Dubari, thus easing the tension between the two of them.
When Louis X 15th died in 1774, Marie Antwanet’s husband rose to power becoming King Louis V 16th of France and Marie rose to the title of Queen Consort. Only 2 days later, the new king had Madame Dubari exiled. Although her exile eventually ended, she would never be allowed to return to Versailles. When she was young, many saw Maria Antuinette as frivolous, enjoying lavish things over anything serious.
Once she became queen, these tendencies quickly revealed themselves in her liberal spending habits. Upon being gifted a small chateau on the Versail grounds by her husband, rumors circulated that she decorated the walls in gold and diamonds. But this was only the start. Marie had a respected fashion designer create all of her dresses and she made sure that she was always the best dressed.
During this time, France was in a financial crisis. The common people were suffering while Marian Twinet was spending lavishly and residing over the most fashionable court in history. Perhaps she was not aware, but her public image was not in good standing at all, and she would do nothing to improve it.
In 1774, as a result of poor weather, that year’s harvest was severely lacking. In addition, authorities withheld access to the royal grain stores of the prior year, which led to a steep rise in grain prices and thus the price of bread. The people were hungry, and by 1775, they had had enough. Riots raged across all portions of France from April to May of that year.
Although it was eventually resolved, these disturbances damaged Marie Antuinette’s image considerably, people began to blame her for the state of the country. And it was not a good thing that she spent so much money on luxuries while the people suffered so much. During all of this, Maria Antonet and King Louie remained childless, their marriage unconsumated.
Her brother, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, visited and seemed to think that they simply didn’t know what they were doing, calling them quote complete fumblers, and even advised Louie to apply himself more. Evidently, it worked, and their first child would be born in 1778. Marie Antinet generally took little interest in political matters and rarely involved herself.
Yet when she did, she managed to damage her image even more. On one occasion, she successfully pleaded involvement in an affair with her home country of Austria, giving the public the view that she’d sided with them over France. A few years later, she supported involvement with the American Revolution, which the people viewed as another costly reason France could not pay their debts.
As the 1770s turned into the 1780s, Maria Antonet’s approval continued to sink. She elevated people the nobles did not approve of, and she behaved in an extravagant manner that enraged the lower classes. In 1785, Maria Antonet became embroiled in a new scandal. The whole thing had started many years before with the involvement of her old foe, Madame Dubari.
In 1772, King Louis X 15th requested two Paris jewelers to create an elaborate necklace as a gift for his mistress, Madame Dubi. However, this would take several years, and by the time the necklace was finished, Louis X 15th had died and his mistress was gone. Nonetheless, with the work completed, the jewelers tried to sell it to Marianette, but she always refused.
A conw woman by the name of Jean de Valawa Sami manipulated the cardinal de Roon who was trying to get back into the queen’s good graces. She used his money to buy the necklace which led everyone to believe that Maria and Twinette had actually ordered it. Once Jean had the necklace, she promptly broke it apart and sold all the jewels.
When Maria and Twinette discovered the plot, the authorities detained Rohan, Jean, and several of Jean’s accompllices. They all stood trial. Jean and her lowerass companions were found guilty and punished. The courts acquitted Rohan on the grounds that he was an innocent, deceived party. Although the conspirators were brought to justice, the optics of the nobility punishing the lower classes was not a good look.
Even though the courts ruled that Maria Antuinette knew nothing about this and was actually the victim, the public had a different opinion. Many people believed that Maria Antonet had fabricated the entire thing only to gain more expensive trinkets. Following this scandal, it became clear that Maria Antonette needed to reform her image.
She began to set aside her frivolities and become more involved in politics, publicly devoting herself to the education and raising of children. Yet these efforts would be too little and too late. Around this time, Louisie began suffering from depression and therefore began depending more on the advice of his wife.
Maria Antuinette was influential in many of the efforts to reform their financial system and pull the nation out of poverty. Yet these reforms failed due to factors outside of her control and the public blamed her for every failure. In 1789, the royal couple’s eldest son, Lu Joseph, succumbed to tuberculosis. By this point, the nation was in too much turmoil to sympathize with the king and queen.
Marian Twinette became heavy-handed as she intended to crush the threats of revolution. And after several small exchanges, this would culminate with the storming of the Basti on July 14th. By now, many members of the aristocracy began to flee Paris. Yet, the king and queen remained. Another bread shortage broke out among the common people and the royal family would be forced into house arrest in the Tulery Palace in Paris.
Careful negotiations between the monarch and the people filled this period. Maria Antuinet was able to sway their biggest ally in the revolution, the comp demibo to their side. He was a moderate revolutionary and supported the idea of constitutional monarchy. Yet after Mirabbo died, the national guard barred the royal family from leaving Paris for the country.
The situation was becoming more dire and they now needed to flee. Maria Antuinette had desired to leave Paris sooner. Yet, the king always posed a problem, either by refusing or taking too long to take action. Finally, in June 1791, they planned for the whole royal family to flee, disguised as servants. It was a poorly executed plan, and guards had caught the entire family less than 24 hours later.
The attempt to escape destroyed any support the royal family had left. They were brought back to the Tuleri and placed under constant guard. Her health began to deteriorate and her unwillingness to compromise lost her what few allies she and the king continued to have. Maria Antuinet’s biggest hope was that her family in Austria would support her, ending the revolution in France.
Her brother Leupold and his son were both willing to use their strength in Austria to offer some support. But this only resulted in France declaring war on Austria, leading to Maria Antonet being considered an enemy. Throughout 1791 and two, tensions grew, particularly as the king refused to agree to any suggestions that might limit his power.
Eventually, a mob descended on the Tulery Palace and the royal family fled to the legislative assembly. They only sheltered here for a few days. On August 12th, they were moved again, this time to the Temple Dum Marai, where they were now imprisoned without their luxuries. A little while later, the people of France declared themselves a republic.
Louie was tried for treason. Now no longer a king in the eyes of the republic. In 1793, they voted to execute him and he soon faced the guillotine. Maria Antonet was now alone and they didn’t know what to do with her. Although the New Republic could not yet agree on what to do with Marie Antonet, they had plans for her 8-year-old son, Louisie Charles.
Feeling that he was still young enough for them to influence, they forcefully ripped Louis Charles away from Maria Antuinette. In a matter of weeks, they turned him against her. And the young Louie Charles was most likely even forced to sign a statement accusing Maria Antonette of wrongful inappropriate relations towards him.
He was completely under their control. In the end, Maria Antonet stood trial in October 1793 with only a day to prepare. And most historians agree that the trial was a sham, no more than a means to ridicule the woman they loathed. They accused her of inflated and ridiculous charges.
She was found guilty of high treason and sent to the guillotine just like her husband. Before the end, she reportedly accidentally stepped on her executioner’s shoe and asked to be pardoned, for she did not do it on purpose. While Maria Antuinette was undeniably careless at many points in her life, over the years, stories conflated her true nature to paint a picture that did not fit the woman she really was.
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