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MARIE ANTOINETTE
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See also:MARIE ANTOINETTE (1755-1793>, See also:queen of See also:France, ninth See also:child of Maria See also:Theresa and the See also:emperor See also:Francis I., was See also:born at See also:Vienna, on the 2nd of See also:November 1755. She was brought up under a See also:simple and austere regime and educated with a view to the See also:French See also:marriage arranged by Maria Theresa, the See also:abbe Vermond being appointed as her See also:tutor in 1769. Her marriage with the dauphin, which took See also:place at See also:Versailles on the 16th of May 1770, was intended to See also:crown the policy of See also:Choiseul and See also:con-See also:firm the See also:alliance between See also:Austria and France. This fact, combined with her youth and the extreme corruption of the French See also:court, made her position very difficult. Madame du See also:Barry, whose See also:influence over See also: Thus from the very first she appeared in the See also:light of a See also:partisan, having against her all the enemies of Choiseul and of the Austrian alliance, and was already given the See also:nickname of " 1'autrichienne " by mesdames the king's aunts. At the same time her undisguised impatience of the cumbrous court See also:etiquette shocked many See also:people, and her See also:taste for See also:pleasure led her to seek the society of the comte d'See also:Artois and his young and dissolute circle. But the greatest weakness in her position See also:lay in her unsatisfactory relations with her See also:husband. The king, though affectionate, was See also:cold and apathetic, and it was not till seven years after her marriage that there was any possibility of her bearing him an See also:heir. This fact naturally decreased her popularity, and as See also:early as See also:September 1794, was made the subject of offensive See also:pamphlets and the like, as in the See also:case of the a,$See also:aire See also:Beaumarchais. (See BEAUMARCHAIS.)
The end of the See also:period of See also:mourning for the See also:late king was the See also:signal for a See also:succession of gaieties, during which the queen displayed a See also:passion for amusement and excitement which led to unfortunate results. Being childless, and with a husband who could not command her respect, her longing for affection led her to See also:form various intimate friendships, above all with the princesse de See also:Lamballe and the comtesse Jules de See also:Polignac, who soon obtained such an See also:empire over her affections that no favour was too great for them to ask, and often to obtain. Thus for the benefit of Madame de Lamballe the queen revived the superfluous and expensive See also:office of See also:superintendent of her household, which led to See also:constant disagreements and jealousies among herladies and offended many important families. In frequenting the salons of her See also:friends the queen not only came in contact with a number of the younger and more dissipated courtiers, whose high See also:play and unseemly amusements she countenanced, but she See also:fell under the influence of various ambitious intriguers, such as the See also:baron de Besenval, the comte de Vaudreuil, the duc de See also:Lauzun and the comte d'See also:Adhemar, whose interested manoeuvres she was induced to further by her affection for her favourites. Thus she was often led to interfere for frivolous reasons in public affairs, sometimes with serious results, as in the case of the trial of the comte de See also:Guines (1776), when her interference was responsible for the fall of See also:Turgot. At the same time her extravagance in See also:dress, See also:jewelry and amusements (including the gardens and theatricals at Trianon, of the cost of which such exaggerated reports were spread about) and her presence at See also:horse-races and masked balls in See also:Paris without the king, gave rise to great See also:scandal, which was seized upon by her enemies, among whom were Mesdames, the See also:count of See also:Provence, and the See also:duke of See also: As the result of his visit he See also:left with the queen a memorandum in which he pointed out to her in See also:plain terms the dangers of her conduct.' He also took See also:advantage of his visit to advise the king, with such success that at last, in 1778, the queen had the See also:hope of becoming a See also:mother. For a time the emperor's remonstrances had some effect, and after the See also:birth of her daughter, Marie Therese See also:Charlotte (afterwards duchesse d'See also:Angouleme) in See also:December 1778, the queen lived a more quiet life. The death of Maria Theresa (Nov. 29, 1780) deprived her of a See also:wise and devoted friend, and by removing all See also:restraint on the rashness of Joseph II. was See also:bound to increase the dislike of the Austrian alliance and cause embarrassment to Marie- Antoinette. Her position was very much strengthened by the birth (Oct. 22, 1781) of a dauphin, Louis Joseph See also:Xavier See also:Francois, and on the death of See also:Maurepas, which left the king without a See also:chief See also:minister, she might have exerted a considerable influence in public affairs had she taken a consistent See also:interest in them; but her repugnance to serious matters triumphed, and she preferred to occupy herself with the See also:education of her See also:children, to whom she was a wise and devoted mother,2 and with her friends and amusements at Trianon. See also:Personal motives alone would See also:lead her to interfere in public affairs, especially when it was a question of obtaining places or favours for her favourites and their friends. The influence of the Polignacs was now at its height, and they obtained large sums of See also:money, a dukedom, and many nominations to places. It was Madame de Polignac who obtained the See also:appointment of See also:Calonne as controller-See also:general of the finances,3 and who succeeded Madame de Guemenee as " governess of the children of France " after the See also:bankruptcy of the See also:prince de Guemenee in 1782.4 Again, in response to Mercy and Joseph II.'s urgent representations, Marie Antoinette exerted herself on behalf of Austria in the affairs of the opening of the See also:Scheldt (1783—1784) and the See also:exchange of See also:Bavaria (1785), in which, though she failed to provoke active interference on the See also:part of France, she succeeded in obtaining the See also:payment of considerable indemnities to Austria, a fact which led to the popular See also:legend of her having sent millions to Austria, and aroused much indignation against her. Later, on the recommendation of Mercy and Vermond, she supported the nomination of Lomenie de Brienne in 1787, an appointment which, though widely approved at the time, was laid to the queen's blame when it ended in failure.
Two more children were born to her; Louis See also: In 1785—1786 the affair of the See also:Diamond Necklace (q.v.) 1 See See also:Arneth, Marie Antoinette, Joseph II. and See also:Leopold II., pp. 1—18, 2 v. the Instructions donnees a la marquise de Tourzel, governess of the children of France, dated the 24th of July, 1789, in la Rocheterie and Beaucourt, Lettres de Marie Antoinette, ii. 131. 8 But see Arneth and Flammermont, i. 228, See also:foot-See also:note. 4 This had reflected discredit on the queen, Madame de Guemenee having been one of her intimate friends. revealed the See also:depth of the hatred which her own follies and the the king was forced to make (See also:April 20) threw her definitely into calumnies of her enemies had aroused against her. The public held her responsible for the bankrupt See also:state of the See also:country; and though in 1788, following the popular outcry, she prevailed upon the king to recall See also:Necker, it was impossible for him to avert the Revolution. The year 1789 was one of disaster for Marie Antoinette; on the loth of March her brother Joseph II. died, and on the 4th of June her eldest son. The same year saw the assembling of the States-general, which she had dreaded, the taking of the See also:Bastille, and the events leading to the terrible days of the 5th and 6th of See also:October at Versailles and the removal of the royal See also:family to the Tuileries. Then began the negotiations with See also:Mirabeau, whose high estimate of the queen is well-known (e.g. his famous remark, " The king has only one See also:man on his See also:side, and that is his wife "). But the queen was violently prejudiced against him, believing him among other things to be responsible for the events of the 5th and 6th of October, and he never gained her full confidence. She was naturally incapable of seeing the full import of the Revolution, and merely temporised with Mirabeau. She dreaded the thought of See also:civil See also:war; and even when she had realized the See also:necessity for decisive See also:action the king's apathy and indecision made it impossible for her to persuade him to carry into effect Mirabeau's See also:plan of leaving Paris and appealing to the provinces. Her difficulties were increased by the departure of Mercy for the See also:Hague in September 1790, for Montmorin who now took his place in the negotiations had not her confidence to the same extent. Feeling herself helpless and almost isolated in Paris, she now relied chiefly on her friends outside France—Mercy, Count Axel See also:Fersen, and the baron de See also:Breteuil; and it was by their help and that of See also:Bouille that after the death of Mirabeau, on the 8th of April 1791, the plan was arranged of escaping to Montmedy, which ended in the See also:flight to Varennes (June 21, 1791). After the return from Varennes the royal family were closely guarded, but in spite of this they still found channels of communication with the outside See also:world. The king being sunk in apathy, the task of negotiation devolved upon the queen; but in her inexperience and See also:ignorance of affairs, and the uncertainty of See also:information from abroad, it was hard for her to follow any clear policy. Her courageous bearing during the return from Varennes had greatly impressed See also:Barnave, and he now approached her on behalf of the Feuillants and the constitutional party. For about a year she continued to negotiate with them, forwarding to Mercy and the emperor Leopold II. letters and memoranda dictated by them, while at the same time secretly warning her friends not to accept these letters as her own opinions, but to realize that she was dependent on the Constitutionals." She agreed with their plan of an armed See also:congress, and on this See also:idea both she and Fersen insisted with all their might, Fersen leaving See also:Brussels and going on a See also:mission to the emperor to try and gain support and checkmate the emigres, whose See also:desertion the queen bitterly resented, and whose rashness threatened to frustrate her plans and endanger the lives of her family. As to the See also:acceptance of the constitution (See also:Sept. 1791), " See also:tissue of absurdities " though the queen thought it, and much as she would have preferred a bolder course, she considered that in the circumstances the king was bound to accept it in See also:order to inspire confidence.2 Mercy was also in correspondence with the Constitutionals, and in See also:letter after letter to him and the emperor, the queen, strongly supported by Fersen, insisted that the congress should be formed as soon as possible, her appeals increasing in urgency as she saw that Barnave's party would soon be powerless against the extremists. But owing to the lengthy negotiations of the See also:powers the congress was continually postponed. On the rst of March 1792 Leopold II. died, and was succeeded by the young Francis II. Marie Antoinette's actions were now directed entirely by Fersen, for she suspected Mercy and the emperor of sacrificing her to the interests of Austria (Fersen, i. 251; Arneth, pp. 254, 256, &c.). The See also:declaration of war which " Letters of 31st July 1791 to Mercy. Arneth, p. 193 and 194, and letter of 1st See also:August. 2 Arneth, pp. 196, 203; Klinckowstrom, Fersen, i. 192. opposition to the Revolution, and she betrayed to Mercy and Fersen the plans of the French generals (Arneth, p.259; Fersen, ii. 220, 289, 30$, 325, 327). She was now certain that the life of the king was threatened, and the events of the loth of June added to her terrors. She considered their only hope to See also:lie in the intervention of the powers and in the See also:appeal to force, and endorsed the See also:suggestion of a threatening manifestos which should hold the See also:National See also:Assembly and Paris responsible for the safety of the king and royal family. Immediately after Bruns-See also:wick's manifesto followed the storming of the Tuileries and the removal of the royal family to the See also:Temple (Aug. 1o). During all these events and the captivity in the Temple Marie Antoinette showed an unvarying courage and dignity, in spite of her failing See also:health and the illness of her son. After the See also:execution of the king (See also:Jan. 17, 1793) several unsuccessful attempts were made by her friends to See also:rescue her and her children, among others by Jarjayes, Toulan and Lepitre, and the " baron de Batz," and negotiations for her See also:release or exchange were even opened with See also:Danton; but as the allied armies approached her trial and condemnation became a certainty. She had already been separated from her son, the sight of whose See also:ill-treatment added terribly to her sufferings; she was now parted from her daughter and Madame See also: (4) Is Marie Antoinette, the widow Capet, convicted of having participated in this plot and conspiracy ? The jury decided unanimously in the affirmative, and on the 16th of October 1793 Marie Antoinette was led to the See also:guillotine, leaving behind her a touching letter to Madame Elizabeth, known as her " Testament." As to the See also:justice of these charges, we have seen how the queen was actually guilty of betraying her country, though it was only natural for her to identify the cause of the See also:monarchy with that of France. To civil war she was consistently opposed, and never ceased to dissociate herself from the plans of the emigres, but here again her very position made her an enemy of the republic. In any case, all her actions had as their aim—firstly, the safe-guarding of the monarchy and the king's position, and later, when she saw this to be impossible, that of securing the safety of her husband and her son. H. Belloc,Marie-Antoinette, pp. 311-312, states that clause VIII. of See also:Brunswick's manifesto was " drafted " by Marie Antoinette, i.e., that the idea of holding Paris responsible for the safety of the royal family was first suggested by her. He bases this statement entirely upon the queen's letters of July 3rd to Fersen, of July 4th to Mercy, the reception of which Fersen notes in his See also:Journal on July 8th and 9th (Fersen ii. 21). But these letters were obviously the See also:answer to Fersen's letter of June 3oth to the queen (Fersen ii. 315), in which he tells her the terms of the manifesto. Moreover, the suggestion of holding the Assembly responsible is to be found as early as in the memo. of the Constitutionals of September the 8th, 1791, and is included in the Instructions of See also:Mallet du See also:Pan (Mems. ed. Sayous, i. 281, and appendix 445). Fersen (Fersen ii. 329, 337, 18th July and 28th July to the queen, and p. 338, 29th July to Taube) states that it was he who See also:drew up the manifesto by means of the See also:marquis de See also:Limon. For a See also:bibliographical study see: M. See also:Tourneux, Marie Antoinette devant l'histoire. Essai bibliographique (2nd ed., Paris, 19o1); id. Bibliogr. de la ville de Paris . . .(vol. iv. 1906), nos. 20980–21338 ; also Bibliogr. de femmes celebres (See also:Turin and Paris, 1892, &c.). The most important material for her life is to be found in her letters and in the correspondence of Mercy-Argenteau, but a large number of forgeries have found their way into certain of the collections, such as those of See also:Paul See also:Vogt d'Hunolstein (Correspondance inedite de Marie Antoinette, (3rd ed., Paris, 1864), and F. See also:Feuillet See also:des Conches Louis X VI., Marie Antoinette et Madame Elisabeth, lettres et documents inedits (6 vols., Paris, 1864-1873), while most of the See also:works on Marie Antoinette published before the See also:appearance of Arneth's publications (1865, &c.) are based partly on these forgeries. For a detailed examination of the question of the authenticity of the letters see the introduction to Lettres de Marie Antoinette. Recueil des lettres authentiques de la reine, publie pour la societe d'histoire contemporaine, See also:par M. de la Rocheterie et le marquis de Beaucourt (2 vols., Paris, 1895–1896) ; also A. See also:Geffroy, Gustave III. et la cour de France (2 vols., Paris,1869), vol. ii., appendix. Of the highest importance are the letters from the archives of Vienna published by See also:Alfred von Arneth and others: A. von Arneth, Maria Theresia and Marie Antoinette, ihr Briefwechsel 1770–1780 (Paris and Vienna, 1865) ; id., Marie Antoinette, Joseph II. and Leopold II. ihr Briefwechsel (See also:Leipzig, Paris and Vienna, 1866) ; id. and A. Geffroy, Correspondance secrete de Marie-Therese et du comte de Mercy-Argenteau (3 vols., Paris, 1874) ; id. and J. Flammermont, Correspondance secrete du comte de Mercy-Argenteau avec Joseph II. et le prince de Kaunitz (2 vols., Paris, 1889–1891); for further letters see Comte de Reiset, Lettres de la reine Marie Antoinette a la See also:landgrave See also:Louise de See also:Hesse-See also:Darmstadt (1865) ; id. Lettres inedites de Marie Antoinette et de Marie-Clotilde, reine de Sardaigne (1877). See also Correspondance entre le comte de Mirabeau et le Comte de la See also:Merck, 1789-1791, recueillie ... par F. de Bacourt (3 vols., Paris, 1857), and Baron R. M. de Klinckowstrom, Le Comte de Fersen et la cour de France (2 vols., Paris, 1877–1878). See also:Memoirs: See most contemporary memoirs, e.g. those of the prince de Ligne, Choiseul, S6gur, Bouill6, See also:Dumouriez, &c. Some, such as those of Madame See also:Campan, See also:Weber, Cl6ry, Mme de Tourzel, are prejudiced in her favour ; others, such as those of Besenval, Lauzun, Soulavie, are equally prejudiced against her. M. Tourneux (op. cit.) discusses the authenticity of the memoirs of See also:Tilly, C16ry, Lauzun, &c. The chief of these memoirs are: Mme Campan, Memoires sur la See also:vie privee de Marie Antoinette (5th ed., 2 vols., Paris, 1823, Eng. trans. 1887), the in-accuracy of which is clearly demonstrated by J. Flammermont in Etudes critiques sur See also:les See also:sources de l'histoire du xviii' siecle: Les Memoires de Mme Campan, in the Bulletin de la Faculte des lettres de See also:Poitiers (4th year, 1886, pp. 56, 109) ; J. Weber, Memoires concern-See also:ant Marie Antoinette (3 vols., See also:London, 1804–1809; Eng. trans., 3 vols., London, 18o5–18o6); Memoires de M. le baron de Besenval (3 vols., Paris, 18o5); Memoires de M. le duc de Lauzun (2nd ed., 2 vols., Paris, 1822) ; E. Bavoux, Mems. secrets de J. M. Augeard, secretaire des corr. mandements de la reine M. Antoinette (Paris, 1866) ; Mme Vig6e-Le-Brun, See also:Mes souvenirs (2 vols., Paris, 1867); Memoires de Mme la duchesse de Tourzel, ed. by the duc de Cars (2 vols., Paris, 1883); Memoires de la baronne d'Oberkirch (2 vols., Paris, 1853). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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