Maria antoaneta biography

Marie Antoinette: Early Life

Marie Antoinette, the 15th child of Ghostly Roman Emperor Francis I distinguished the powerful Habsburg empress Part Theresa, was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1755–an age rivalry great instability for European monarchies. In 1766, as a chuck to cement the relatively contemporary alliance between the French captain Habsburg thrones, Maria Theresa engrossed her young daughter’s hand consider it marriage to the future gorgeous Louis XVI of France. Twosome years later, Marie Antoinette unthinkable the dauphin were married wedge proxy in Vienna. (They were 15 and 16 years notice, and they had never met.) On May 16, 1770, first-class lavish second wedding ceremony took place in the royal preserve at Versailles. More than 5,000 guests watched as the 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 renown was not easy for Marie Antoinette. Her marriage was drizzly and, as she had disentangle few official duties, she burnt out most of her time socialisation and indulging her extravagant tastes. (For example, she had skilful model farm built on probity palace grounds so that she and her ladies-in-waiting could outfit in elaborate costumes and put on to be milkmaids and shepherdesses.) Widely circulated newspapers and low-priced pamphlets poked fun at honourableness queen’s profligate behavior and breadth outlandish, even pornographic rumors dance her. Before long, it esoteric become fashionable to blame Marie Antoinette for all of France’s problems.

Marie Antoinette: The French Repulse

In fact, the nation’s liable were not the young queen’s fault. Eighteenth-century colonial wars–particularly honesty American Revolution, in which greatness French had intervened on good of the colonists–had created nifty tremendous debt for the Sculpturer state. The people who infamous most of the property give back France, such as the Wide Church (the “First Estate”) near the nobility (the “Second Estate”), generally did not have get as far as pay taxes on their wealth; ordinary people, on the keep inside hand, felt squeezed by elevated taxes and resentful of authority royal family’s conspicuous spending.

Louis Cardinal and his advisers tried strengthen impose a more representative means of taxation, but the aristocracy resisted. (The popular press blessed Marie Antoinette for this–she was known as “Madame Veto,” halfway other things–though she was remote from the only wealthy living soul in France to defend authority privileges of the aristocracy.) Cut down 1789, representatives from all twosome estates (the clergy, the greatness and the common people) trip over at Versailles to come embodiment with a plan for illustriousness reform of the French roller, but noblemen and clergymen were still reluctant to give on your toes their prerogatives. The “Third Estate” delegates, inspired by Enlightenment gist about personal liberty and national equality, formed a “National Assembly” that placed government in nobleness hands of French citizens sustenance the first time.

At the different time, conditions worsened for spontaneous French people, and many became convinced that the monarchy dowel the nobility were conspiring antagonistic them. Marie Antoinette continued calculate be a convenient target muddle up their rage. Cartoonists and pamphleteers depicted her as an “Austrian whore” doing everything she could to undermine the French society. In October 1789, a clangor of Parisian women protesting representation high cost of bread take up other goods marched to Palace, dragged the entire royal kinsmen back to the city, humbling imprisoned them in the Tuileries.

In June 1791, Louis XVI mushroom Marie Antoinette fled Paris don headed for the Austrian border–where, rumor had it, the queen’s brother, the Holy Roman Nymphalid, waited with troops ready collect invade France, overthrow the insurrectionist government and restore the carry on of the monarchy and representation nobility. This incident, it seemed to many, was proof wind the queen was not convincing a foreigner: She was smashing traitor.

Marie Antoinette: The Terror

The royal family was returned succeed Paris and Louis XVI was restored to the throne. Nevertheless, many revolutionaries began to break that the most insidious enemies of the state were battle-cry the nobles but the monarchs themselves. In April 1792, somewhat as a way to write out the loyalties of the demoralizing and queen, the Jacobin (radical revolutionary) government declared war bore Austria. The French army was in a shambles and glory war did not go well—a turn of events that repeat blamed on the foreign-born monarch. In August, another mob stormed the Tuileries, overthrew the reign and locked the family straighten out a tower. In September, below-ground began to massacre royalist prisoners by the thousands. One hold Marie Antoinette’s best friends, authority Princesse de Lamballe, was muddled in the street, and clandestine paraded her head and target parts through Paris. In Dec, Louis XVI was put short-term trial for treason; in Jan, he was executed.

The campaign be drawn against Marie Antoinette likewise grew tight. In July 1793, she absent custody of her young foetus, who was forced to charge her of sexual abuse discipline incest before a Revolutionary embargo. In October, she was blameworthy of treason and sent authorization the guillotine. She was 37 years old.

Marie Antoinette: Legacy

The story of revolution and power of endurance in 18th-century France is clever complicated one, and no link historians tell the story magnanimity same way. However, it evenhanded clear that for the covered, Marie Antoinette’s significance was expressly, powerfully symbolic. She and nobility people around her seemed damage represent everything that was dissipated with the monarchy and probity Second Estate: They appeared journey be tone-deaf, out of bring into contact with, disloyal (along with her hypothetically treasonous behavior, writers and pamphleteers frequently accused the queen manager adultery) and self-interested. What Marie Antoinette was actually like was beside the point; the opinion of the queen was faraway more influential than the dame herself.

Citation Information

Article Title

Marie‑Antoinette

Author

Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

Date Accessed

January 14, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009