Marie Antoinette

by Bernardine Kielty

SAME COVER AS STOCK PHOTO SHOWN. SCUFFING, EDGE WEAR AND SOME DINGS ON COVERS AND SPINE. FORMER SCHOOL LIBRARY BOOK WITH USUAL STAMPS AND MARKINGS. CONTENT PAGES TANNED, CLEAN AND INTACT.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title was part of the superb Landmark Books series, an old series that produced titles mostly in the field of history as I recall. This is excellent. This coverage of Marie Antoinette puts a lot of blame for the events of her life on her mother, Marie Theresa, and her husband, Louis XVI. The first got blame for how uneducated Marie was, and unaware of how her actions could have political ramifications, such as her bad choice of friends from a family that got much richer from the innocent friendship Marie extended to them (BTW according to this title, her most famous saying is completely false: she never said "let them eat cake"). Her husband got blame because of his indecisiveness especially at crucial moments in their lives. They almost certainly would have escaped from France if they hadn't waited around so long to do so. The author also pointed out how little they knew about the outside world contributed to failure in their attempts to disguise themselves. One person took out a coin and compared the head on the coin with the so called valet in front of him and knew he was the king.

My one big objection in this title is this: Marie's daughter just drops out of the story. There is no indication that her future life was unknown, or short or anything else. The Dauphin's life was noted as being unknown, but not the daughter's. Marie comes across as a tragic figure in this book because of character defects that were instilled into her and were a result of her class in life which was on the explosive way out of history. She was born at the wrong time, married to the wrong person, to have a decent life.

[TE · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the volumes in the World Landmark series, but it was published around the same time as the ones in the US series (this one in 1955). It's not surprising that this world famous personage would feature prominently, as Marie Antoinette is one of the most famously maligned figures in history. It is, however, questionable whether that is deservedly so. As the book highlights, the animosity of the French, who initially embraced her, but later turned murderously against her and her family, was more directed at what she represented than who she was as a person. Thomas Jefferson, in fact, no stranger to revolution himself, once quipped, "I have ever believed that, had there been no Queen, there would have been no revolution."

Marie Antoinette's much-maligned reputation seems to still be the predominant one today. In her own day, she came to be seen as a symbol of everything wrong with the Old Regime, and essentially served as a scapegoat for the excesses of the royal ruling classes. She was not the person who built Versailles, however - that system of excesses and exploitation had been established long before she arrived on the scene. Yet, she is the personage most closely associated with the downfall of the French monarchy, due in large part to its own vices and extravagant excesses at the cost of its own people's welfare.

Today, Marie's legacy usually consists of little more than her reputation as a spendthrift whose lavish expenditures bankrupted her country, a crime she went to the guillotine for. This rather reductionist view is unfortunate, however, as Marie's rich life was far more complex than is typically acknowledged, as was the world in which she lived. This short yet informative volume provides a detailed but comprehensible account of the life of a figure who lived during an admittedly transformative time.

The lovely, innocent girl who essentially witnessed the death of the Old World and the birth pangs of the New, was first known as Maria Antonia. Described as uncommonly beautiful - diminutive, slender, with light blonde hair, pale blue eyes and alabaster skin, Marie was the youngest daughter of one of the most powerful women in Europe, the venerable Empress Maria Theresa, ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, who ultimately had some sixteen children.

It was never lost on young Marie that she had been born on All Souls' Day, November second, a Catholic day of mourning. Her early life certainly didn't start out as such, however: she was notoriously pampered and indulged by all, but that seemingly didn't sour her personality or make her ill-tempered. All those around her in her youth described her as sweet and pleasant, if largely ignorant of almost all aspects of life outside the sheltered palace. Remaining nearly illiterate all her life, her existence was largely spent pursuing frivolities and leisure, but, in her defense, that was really all that was expected of her - all she was ever prepared for - until she was married off to a foreign court at age sixteen.

Not unintelligent, Marie did learn some skills, including how to play multiple musical instruments. The book includes several factual errors - contrary to what it claims, Marie DID once meet the young child prodigy, Mozart. However, anything cerebral seemed beyond her: she hated reading and had notoriously bad handwriting, to the degree that she could scarcely write her own name. She did learn several languages, however, including fluent French, suggesting that she was not completely devoid of intellect. She was also required to master the complex and demanding protocols of the French court, even if she later spurned them, which contributed to her eventual downfall.

That said, Marie, as the Queen Consort, was never expected to be much involved in matters of governance, unlike her hapless husband, who as a divine figure, was viewed as the ultimate authority over his realm. Unfortunately, Louis XVI, who was only a year older than Marie, was clearly incapable of negotiating the complicated and perilous political terrain that was Europe of the seventeenth century, let alone competent to administer the vast empire that was Baroque France. When she tried, and inserted herself into the fray that was the French political scene, disaster usually ensued.

As the book correctly notes, young Marie also remained under the direction of her powerful mother until the Empress's death, in November, 1780, when Marie was twenty-five, at a time when she sorely needed her mother's advice and guidance. Maria Theresa had ruled for forty years, since the death of her father Charles VI, in 1740. It's clear that she at times heavily relied upon the woefully inexperienced and unprepared Marie at the French court to maintain relations between the two countries, a function she simply wasn't fit for, essentially setting her up for monumental failure.

One of the first difficulties Marie and Louis faced, although the book doesn't discuss it, was that fact that their marriage was almost certainly not... consummated... for seven years after they were wed at Versailles shortly after her arrival. The situation was more than just a personal one, as Marie's primary duty was to provide the king with an heir, and ideally a spare, as well as female children whose marriages, like Marie's herself, would cement alliances with other nations and ruling dynasties.

It was for a time, even among some modern scholars, speculated, in fact, that Louis had some type of physical problem, which can often be the result of generations of inbreeding (including hemophilia, another dreaded genetic defect of European royalty). Eventually, however, after many years of marriage and much discussion among senior royalty and officials, Marie gave birth to a daughter, ultimately the only survivor of the family. She later had several other children as well, but none survived to adulthood.

Another problem was that Marie struggled mightily with life at Versailles, which was radically different than her own upbringing. The book does a good job of describing what the royal existence was like. There was an almost complete absence of privacy - that included when the Queen gave birth - as the gigantic palace was almost entirely open to the public, who could wander around at leisure. Reportedly, vendors lined its stairways and passages, selling various wares. The book describes it well as "about a private as a railway terminal."

Louis XV, the grandfather of Marie's husband, died in 1774, making a twenty-year-old the King of France, Louis XVI. Trouble began almost immediately. Only two weeks later, Louis XVI gifted his wife Petit Trianon, a small chateau on the grounds of Versailles, which had been constructed by his grandfather for one of his mistresses. Eventually, the compound became a small country village, replete with barns, livestock and small acreage of crop fields. The queen began spending more and more of her time in seclusion, away from the prying eyes of the court at Versailles, much to the chagrin of courtiers and commoners alike, who were accustomed to having almost unfettered access to the royal family.

By this time, young queen was already a notorious spendthrift, but with the acquisition of her little private palace, she took state spending to new heights, despite the severe financial crisis her nation was facing. The Affair of the Necklace, whereby Marie was accused of defrauding the Crown jewelers, further damaged her reputation and rapport with her increasingly discontented subjects. Food shortages had resulted in riots, and it was widely rumored that that the queen opposed any and all social or financial reforms, as austerity measures would cut into her lavish budget.

As often happens, the people's troubles began to be blamed on the exploitative ruling class, and rumors began to fly. Marie was accused of being unfaithful to the king, and even of having illegitimate children. It was long rumored that she had been having an affair with one Count Axel von Fersen. There may have been some truth to the allegations. In 2016, it was announced that researchers at the Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of France had used x-ray and infrared scanners to decipher some of her letters, which proved their affair, although these claims are still disputed.

Even today, the queen, centuries dead, is still having to defend her reputation. Much of this is due to the slanderous accusations of her enemies, some so ridiculous that they defy belief. Pamphlets describing the queen's sexual escapades began to circulate widely, including charges that she had been romantically involved with a number of figures in addition to Fermin, including her grandfather-in-law, King Louis XV, and even the Duchess of Polignac, a close friend. Lesbianism, in fact, was known as the "German Vice," making her perpetually suspect. Although these charges were untrue, they led to even more animosity toward her and other members of the royal family.

In addition to accusations decrying the queen's lack of moral virtue, some of the most serious charges claimed that she still harbored sympathies for France's enemies, including its longtime enemy, Marie's native Austria. Indeed, the dauphin's betrothal to an Austrian princess who would one day become the Queen of France had been a source of initial consternation for French citizens, as conflict with Austria had cost them dearly. It was rumored that she had been siphoning off funds to send to Austrian allies, thereby exacerbating the grain crisis.

Even after the birth of the dauphin, the next heir to the throne, an event which had been anxiously awaited for years, Marie's popularity continued to decline. She increasingly began to play a role in the political intrigues of the court, none of which typically worked out in her favor. Ill-equipped to deal with the machinations of her political enemies, she was seen as the instigator of many of the scandals and foibles which had plagued Louie's court.

Her constant breaking with royal protocol and etiquette, such as elevating one of her dearest friends to the highly coveted position of governess of the royal children, which also included a thirteen-room apartment at Versailles, as well as a generous salary, further alienated her from both the court and the populace. Her actions had resulted in blocking the access of many of the sons of the professional classes to important positions in the military, leading to charges of nepotism and favoritism. Many of Marie's appointments to court positions had ruffled feathers, which eventually met with disaster.

Louis wasn't doing much better at running his vast empire. When war broke out in the American colonies, he capitalized on the opportunity to undermine the British by funding and providing financial support to the colonists. I'm not sure we can criticize his efforts, as the colonists would likely not have won without his and others' support, but his aid to the Americans was yet an additional expenditure that France could ill afford. And, it goes without saying: the die had been cast - the French people learned from both Americans like Benjamin Franklin as well as revolutionaries of their own, most notably the Marquis de La Fayette, that it had become possible for the people to throw off the yoke of their royal masters, and govern themselves.

A seemingly endless stream of blunders and publicity disasters committed by the clueless royal couple contributed to this eventuality: their constant mistakes and misjudgments damaged the reputation of the royal family to the point that it was all but unsalvageable, sowing the seeds for revolution. Case in point: in 1784, a scandalous play, "The Marriage of Figaro," which later inspired the now immortal opera by none other than Mozart, was allowed to premier in Paris. Louis XVI had initially banned it, due to its open criticism and highly negative portrayal of the French nobility, but he later changed his mind and permitted it to be performed, due in no small part to Marie's own support and its popularity at court.

Yet again, Marie's good intentions, namely to placate some of the aristocrats, completely backfired, setting the stage for what was to shortly come. The play became an instant sensation, for all the wrong reasons. It further turned the French people against their rulers, heralding the death knell for the French monarchy.

The final straw came after some additional political positioning at court. As a last resort to avert a disastrous rebellion, Louie had announced his intention to bring back the Estates General, a traditional elected legislature, which had not convened since 1614, in response to the growing bread crisis. Marie herself participated in the King Council, the first queen to do so in 175 years, but one of her most bitter rivals, the Duke of Orleans, was making a move against her. And another tragedy befell the couple: sadly, the dauphin died during this period, and Marie went into seclusion during mourning, but she still urged the King not to conceded to popular demands for financial reforms.

On July 11, 1789, the political situation came to a head. At Marie Antoinette's urging, a popular finance minister was replaced by an appointee whose job it was to crush revolutionary activities with Swiss mercenaries. Large scale riots broke out in Paris in response, which culminated with the famous storming of the Bastille on July 14, which sought to free political prisoners (despite the fact that it contained only seven inmates at the time, and had even been slated for demolition). The famous event is acknowledged as the flashpoint of the French revolution, a day which is analogous to America's Fourth of July, and is still celebrated yearly in France as its independence day.

I won't go into all the sordid details, but the end was nigh. On August 4, 1789, feudal privileges were abolished by National Constituent Assembly. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, drafted by Lafayette with the help of Thomas Jefferson, was adopted on 26 August, which established a short-lived a Constitutional Monarchy (1791-1792). On October 5, a riot descended upon Versailles, which forced the family to flee to the Tuileries Palace in Paris, where they lived under house arrest under the watchful eye of Lafayette's National Guard. Louie and Marie continued to engage in some official functions, even returning to Paris to attend the Fête de la Fédération, in commemoration of the fall of the Bastille a year earlier. In 1791, a failed escape attempt resulted in the royal family being essentially imprisoned in the Tuileries.

To make matters worse, Marie continued to make a series of severe blunders and misjudgments, which essentially sealed her fate. It is almost as if she were courting death, although unintentionally. In response to a mob breaking into the Tuileries and forcing Louis to wear a red cap to demonstrate loyalty to the Revolution, Marie asked Count de Fersen, with whom she had been accused of having a long-standing affair, to urge Austria and its allies to invade France and to issue a manifesto in which threatened to destroy Paris if the royal family were harmed. The response was predictable: this "Brunswick Manifesto," issued on July 25, 1792, set in motion yet another insurrection.

On August 10, an enraged and heavily armed mob forced the family to shelter in place at the Legislative Assembly. Ninety minutes later, the Tuileries palace was invaded. The rioters then massacred the Swiss Guards. With things at an all-time low for the royals, three days later, on August 13, the family was imprisoned in the Square du Temple in the Marais, formerly an aristocratic district. France was declared a republic on September 21, 1792, formally abolishing the monarchy, and whatever was left of Louis's reign.

But the worst was yet to come. The royal family name was downgraded to the commoner name of "Capet," stripping them of their royal status. Preparations began in earnest for an actual trial of the former king in a court of law on charges of treason. Louis was separated from his family and subjected to a show trial in December, 1792. He was quickly found guilty and sentenced to death, on January 15th, 1793. His sentence was carried out the following week, on Jan. 21, 1793. Marie went into deep mourning upon learning of his death. She remained hopeful that her one surviving son, Louis-Charles, would one day assume the throne, but it was not to be. He himself died at age ten, during his confinement, after suffering horrific abuse.

Marie herself was put on trial, after much deliberation as to what to do with the now Widow Capet. Unfortunately for her, the notorious Committee of Public Safety, dominated by Maximilien Robespierre, had convened during what is now known as the Reign of Terror, in April, 1793. Marie was cruelly separated from her son, who was then subjected to weeks of brainwashing, intended to force him to proffer false evidence at her trial. Marie was tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal on October 14, 1793, on trumped-up charges ranging from treason, orchestrating orgies at Versailles, sending millions to France's enemy, Austria, and even incest, a charge leveled at her by her own son, who had been coerced into giving the false testimony.

The outcome was, of course, pre-determined by the Committee of Public Safety. Marie and her lawyers had been given but a single day to prepare for her defense. No matter. She was declared guilty of three main charges on October 16: depleting the national treasury (which was the money of the royal family according to French law at the time, in any case), conspiracy against the State, and high treason, due to her activities in the interest of the enemy, her native Austria. She was then sentenced to death.

Wearing a plain white dress, Marie courageously went to the guillotine, the same day she was condemned. With her hands bound behind her back, her hair shorn short, and with a rope leash around her neck, she was convened to the guillotine in an open cart, which had been set up in the then Place de la Révolution, now Place de la Concorde. She went bravely to her death, which was recorded at 12:15, on October 16, 1793. The famous Madame Marie Tussaud had been hired to make a death mask of her.

After her execution, her body was carried to the Madeleine cemetery, and unceremoniously dumped in an unmarked grave. She and Louie were later exhumed and given a dignified burial in 1815, in the necropolis of French kings in the Basilica of Saint-Denis during the so-called Bourbon Restoration. In the end, Marie Antoinette is still a household name, despite her many shortcomings and mistakes.

[Caleb Meyers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great biography, and taught me a number of lessons.
1. It makes me think of Adam and Eve as described in 1 Tim. 2. She was foolish, and Louis the XVI was weak.
2. They both may have saved their nation if they had had a better upbringing. The parents in both cases did not teach character, logic, or libertarianism, and so they were ill-prepared.
3. The sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children. The penalty Louis XVI and his family felt is the retribution his forefathers had been storing up for centuries for their profligacy and persecution of the Huguenots.
4. Where there is no vision, the people perish. The theological and philosophical leaders in England had been Wesley and Whitefield, the leaders in France Voltaire and Rousseau.
5. Bad habits from the past will hurt you is the future. Her profligacy in her early years, caused one her ministers to be duped by the most foolish trick.
6. The populace of city look for trivial, foolish, and secondary causes to blame. Rather than dealing with the problem before them the way the founders of America did, they started a war and simply began cutting peoples heads off.
7. A small percentage can have a great influence on the rest. 1 in 30 (or 130, I'm not sure which) supported the revolution, but because they were vocal it was as bloody as it was.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of the French Revolution, as well as a biography of Marie Antoinette. Such a tragic figure. I read this one aloud to all of my children; may need to be slightly edited if reading aloud to very young/sensitive children. I would recommend this for about ages 8/9 and older.

[Jennifer Neher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a few things from this book, however I felt like it left a number of details out. Overall is was ok

[LaWindes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers whole life. Being royalty and queen is not a 'bed of roses' leading to happiness. Nice illustrations.

[Samaneh Khanlari · Rating 5 out of 5]

این کتاب فوق العاده ست... یاد آرایشگر ماری آنتوانت بخیر که یک روز موهای ماری را مثل قلعه درست میکرد فرداش مث صاعقه....پس فرداش مث کشتی :))
و البته سرنوشت ملکه زیبا که سرش را روزها در میخانه ها گرداندند و در دهانش شراب ریختند و از گلوی بریده اش سر کشیدند بسیار رقت انگیز است...ماری آنتوانت البته همان ملکه ی سفیهی ست که وقتی به او گفتند مردم نان ندارند بخورند گفت خوب بیسکوییت بخورند... شخصا طرفدار سلطنت نیستم اما کلا زنهای خاندان سلطنتی در ایران بسیار فهیم تر و با درایت تر از او بوده اند...ر.ک. امینه و این سه زن
و دخترم فرح

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

over simplified bio, I think for a younger reader. a bore for me.

[WSL Library]

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