Marie Antoinette
Notes & Videos
The information on this page does not cover every single life event of Marie Antoinette – she lived a life filled to the brim with important people, places, and happenings. Some of the most notable moments in her life can be found below.
However, for those that wish to know as much as humanly possible, I'd recommend starting with these videos that sum up Marie’s life in the most engaging way
The Beginning
Marie Antoinette, archduchess of Austria, was the last queen of France before the French Revolution.
Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna was born on November 2nd, 1755 at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. She was the 15th child of Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I.
She excelled in music and dancing, but her writing skills were considered to be lacking. She struggled writing in her own language at the age of ten, let alone any others. A tutor who was tasked with preparing Marie for marriage to Louis-Auguste, the heir apparent of the French throne, stated that "her character, her heart, are excellent." He found her "more intelligent than has been generally supposed," but since "she is rather lazy and extremely frivolous, she is hard to teach."
She officially became dauphine of France at the age of fourteen when she married Louis-Auguste, and four years later, he became Louis XVI and ascended the throne. Marie adopted the French version of her name, Marie Antoinette, upon her arrival in France.
The Middle
As queen, Marie Antoinette had a penchant for the expensive. She spent heavily on luxury goods – fashionable dresses and accessories, and even spent money gambling despite the grave financial crisis France was currently going through. Many French citizens began blaming Marie for the economic situation of the country, and her spending habits even sparked some civil unrest.
Her favor with the people increased when she gave birth to her first child. During her first pregnancy, Marie Antoinette also began making some changes within the court – away from the heavy makeup and wide hoop skirts, and more in the direction of a simplistic yet feminine look. Her changes in this regard were frequently met with disapproval from others, but Marie trudged on.
Marie Antoinette was undoubtedly a large part in the success of the American Revolution, which was notoriously one of her earlier political triumphs. She secured Austrian and Russian support for France, which resulted in the establishment of the First League of Armed Neutrality, stopping many of Britain’s attacks.
In 1781, she gave birth to her second child, Louis Joseph Xavier François, Dauphin of France.
Throughout the 1780s, Marie was accused of being sexually deviant by the public. Pamphlets circled the country, claiming that Marie had sexual relations with numerous other royals. These pamphlets started as an attack on the royal court in general, but then escalated to focus primarily on Marie Antoinette herself. The rumors, stories, and pamphlets highlighted the people’s disdain for her association with Austria (her homeland), and many suggested that she learned “lesbianism” from her home country, as it was considered to be a “German vice.”
In 1785, the “Affair of the Diamond Necklace” damaged Marie’s reputation in a way it would never recover from. This entire affair is better explained in video, so please enjoy the following:
The Middle
Marie’s reputation declining for multiple reasons (several expensive wars, family costs paid for by the state, and nobility unwilling to aid in the paying of taxes), she still found herself to be the scapegoat for France’s financial troubles. She even earned the nickname “Madame Déficit” from the citizens in 1787. Marie tried to repair her reputation by portraying herself as a kind and caring mother, commissioning paintings of her and her children. While this may have helped a little, it was not enough to keep slander from multiple sources from spreading like wildfire.
As the French Revolution approached, Marie’s first born son was suffering from tuberculosis. Her son passed away on June 4th, 1789, amidst the creation of the National Assembly post-Estates-General. The French people did not acknowledge the death, and instead blew directly past it in support of the growing revolution.
Though unpopular with the general public, Marie Antoinette did prove to be a better decision-maker than her husband King Louis XVI in the early days of the French Revolution. In the fall of 1789, she successfully swayed her husband to resist the National Assembly’s attempts to abolish feudalism. While decisive in nature, this caused her to become the main target of many revolutionaries.
Many associate Marie Antoinette with the phrase, “Let them eat cake!” but she did not actually say this. Writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau quoted in one of his works that a “great princess” had told peasants who had no bread, Qu'ils mangent de la brioche! Many historians believe that Marie was not the aforementioned princess, but this quote was widely attributed to her due to her penchant for expensive luxury goods, brioche and cakes being some of those said goods.
The royal family was swept up in the Women’s March in October of 1789, and moved from Versailles to Paris amidst a horde of citizens. In Paris, they were virtually held captive by the people, and due to this, the royal couple planned an escape to Varennes the following summer. They were quickly caught by revolutionaries, and were brought back to Paris.
In an attempt to salvage the crown’s power, Marie began opening secret negotiations with leaders from the Constituent Assembly in hopes of restoring power to the royal family through the help of others in favor of the same ideals. She frequently worked with other royals from her homeland of Austria, which only enraged and cause distrust in the French citizens as the country quickly entered a war with Austria and Prussia.
She was arrested after the storming of the Tuileries Palace, also known as the August 10th Insurrection. She spent the remainder of her life in various Parisian prisons.
The End
Marie Antoinette was accused of orchestrating orgies in Versailles, sending endless money to Austria, planning the 1792 massacre of the National Guards, declaring her son to be the King of France, and incest. She was declared guilty of the depletion of the national treasury, conspiracy against the security of the State, and high treason.
She was forced to wear white for the execution, despite wanting to wear black, her hair was shorn, her hands bound, and she was led by a rope leash. She was made to sit in an open cart for the hour long journey to the guillotine, during which time she was mocked, yelled at, and harassed by the crowds she passed by.
On October 16th, 1793, her last recorded words were Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l’ai pas fait exprès, or “Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose”, said after accidentally stepping on her executioner’s shoe.