January 2012: Marie Antoinette

[Misfit]

Here you go Moppet. Let me know if you'd like any changes to the title.

[Miss Moppet]

[quote=""Misfit""]Here you go Moppet. Let me know if you'd like any changes to the title.[/quote]

Thanks, Misfit! Title is just fine, first post coming up soon.

[Miss Moppet]

I will be posting on the following topics in this order:

1: Marie Antoinette's Life - Important Dates and Controversies
2: Marie Antoinette in Fiction
3: Marie Antoinette - Biographies, Non-Fiction and Primary Sources
4: Marie Antoinette in Film
5: Marie Antoinette Online
6: Finding Marie Antoinette - where to see places MA lived and objects associated with her

I'll subdivide the topics as necessary so my posts don't get too long. None of these topics will be covered comprehensively because there is such a huge amount of material, but I will aim to mention the most important/interesting works, books and sites in each category. Anything I've missed (links, titles of books etc) that others mention/recommend I will edit into my posts (with a credit) so as to make this thread a permanent guide to all things MA. I will launch the topics as often as needed in order to keep discussion going through the month. The topics are really just intended to spark discussion so we don't have to keep to them too strictly.

[Miss Moppet]

2 November 1755: Birth of Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette Josephe Jeanne de Lorraine, Archduchess of Austria, daughter of Francois de Lorraine and of Maria Theresa, was born on the
2nd of November, 1755, the day of the earthquake at Lisbon; and this catastrophe, which appeared to stamp the era of her birth with a fatal mark, without forming a motive for superstitious fear with the Princess, nevertheless made an impression upon her mind.
The Private Life of Marie Antoinette, by Madame Campan.

The second of November, in the Catholic Church, is celebrated as the Feast of All Souls. In France this is still a day on which families lay flowers on their relative's graves. The proximity of this sombre ceremony to Hallowe'en two days earlier may be the reason why Hallowe'en has never really taken off as a commercial holiday in France.

MA was the fifteenth of the sixteen children of the Empress Maria Theresia and her consort Francois-Etienne de Lorraine. As the youngest of seven surviving daughters, she seemed destined for a relatively modest marriage, perhaps to one of the rulers of the many small principalities which made up the Holy Roman Empire. Had Maria Theresia suspected that she might one day be in the running for the queenship of France, the greatest matrimonial plum in Europe, she would have taken far more care with Marie Antoinette's upbringing and education. As it was, MA was indulged by her governess and allowed to run wild with the sister next in age, Marie Caroline (known as Charlotte during her childhood). Meanwhile, a sequence of events was unfolding which would put her on the path to the French throne.

1 May 1756: An alliance was signed between France and Austria.

This is known to historians as the "reversal of alliances" because these two countries, traditionally enemies, were joining forces for the first time in centuries. This made a marriage between an Austrian archduchess and the French heir, the Dauphin Louis-Auguste (a year older than MA) possible. But it also meant that the Austrian bride, once arrived in France, would be faced with the task of overcoming a very deep-rooted antagonism to her country. In years to come, Marie Antoinette would be known as "the Austrian woman" - in French, l'Autrichienne, which can also be translated as "the Austrian bitch."

18 August 1765: Death of the Emperor Francois, MA's father
20 December 1765: Death of the Dauphin, son of Louis XV
13 March 1767: Death of the Dauphine Marie-Josephe of Saxony
24 June 1768: Death of Marie Leszczska, wife of Louis XV

The death of MA's father, who had been very fond of her, left her completely under the control of her mother, who was herself prostrated with grief and went into permanent mourning just as Queen Victoria was to do following Albert's death. The passing of Louis XV's queen, son and daughter-in-law, although unknown to MA, was even more significant. The death of Louis XV's heir meant that his grandson Louis-Auguste, MA's future husband, was next in line to the throne. The deaths of his queen and daughter-in-law meant that the teenage MA, on arrival at Versailles, would be expected immediately to take up the role of First Lady of France - a role heavily weighted with etiquette and expectation. In similar circumstances, Louis XV's mother, the Duchesse de Bourgogne, had arrived in France as a twelve-year-old and been thoroughly schooled by Louis XIV and his morganatic wife Mme de Maintenon before taking up her ceremonial duties. MA would have no such period of training and no older female figure such as Maintenon to guide her. The nearest equivalents were the Comtesse de Noailles, head of her household, whom she disliked for her rigid approach to etiquette, and her aunts-in-law, Louis XV's daughters, who had their own very specific agenda.

One more death sealed Marie Antoinette's fate. In 1767, the Archduchess Marie Josephe, who was betrothed to Ferdinand of Naples, died of smallpox. It seems that one of the most widely reproduced portraits of MA, by Martin van Meytens, actually depicts Josephe. Marie Caroline went to Naples in Josephe's place. Otherwise, she rather than her younger sister probably would have been Queen of France.

Once it was clear that Marie Antoinette would be going to France, Maria Theresia made every effort to prepare her for the role, hiring tutors to make up her lost education and employing a hairdresser and a dentist to give her a makeover (which has received a lot of attention recently from authors such as Carolyn Meyer, Melanie Clegg and Juliet Grey).

22 April 1769: Presentation of Mme du Barry at the court of Versailles
19 April 1770: Marriage of MA to the Dauphin by proxy in Vienna
16 May 1770: The real marriage, at Versailles

In the absence of any senior female royal, MA became First Lady of France, but not of Versailles. That place was already taken by Louis XV's beautiful, plebeian mistress, the Comtesse du Barry. The rivalry between MA and the Du Barry would create the drama of her four years as Dauphine, while behind the scenes another drama was unfolding: the ongoing saga of the non-consummation of her marriage.

More to follow!

[fljustice]

Thanks for the post, Misfit. Already leaned a lot. While reading Catherine the Great by Massie, I was fascinated by the role MA's mom Marie Theresa played in European politics. Another powerful woman, I had heard almost nothing about. The fact that she neglected MA explains a lot.

[LoveHistory]

Last year I read Antonia Fraser's book about MA. This is bringing it all back.

[boswellbaxter]

Thanks for getting us started with our new feature, Miss Moppet!

[Brenna]

I read Becoming MA and saw the movie with Kirsten Dunst, which was a little overdone, but ok. That concludes my limited knowlege of this lady.

[Miss Moppet]

[quote=""fljustice""]While reading Catherine the Great by Massie, I was fascinated by the role MA's mom Marie Theresa played in European politics. Another powerful woman, I had heard almost nothing about. The fact that she neglected MA explains a lot.[/quote]

[quote=""LoveHistory""]Last year I read Antonia Fraser's book about MA. This is bringing it all back. [/quote]

<object width="450" height="560"><param name="movie" value="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf?1"><param name="flashvars" value="id=189138729&width=1337"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf?1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="560" flashvars="id=189138729&width=1337" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br><a href="http://Sheilacherry.deviantart.com/art/ ... 729">Maria Theresa statue in Vienna</a> by ~<a class="u" href="http://sheilacherry.deviantart.com/">Sheilacherry</a> on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com">deviantART</a>

<a href="" title="Kaisergruft / Kapuzinerkirche by Olivier Bruchez, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2072/2286 ... 9c4cfa.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Kaisergruft / Kapuzinerkirche"></a>

The double tomb of MA's parents, by Olivier Bruchez at Flickr.

MA's two most recent biographers, Fraser and Simone Bertiere, both point out that while MA was raised to be a consort queen and not to hold political power, her role model throughout childhood was her mother, a powerful ruler in her own right. MT was also not well equipped to guide MA through an arranged marriage, since she herself had married for love. Their experiences in this respect were totally different.

While MT is remembered and celebrated in Austria, MA is thought of as French. The French thought of her as Austrian, so in effect she became stateless!

[Miss Moppet]

10 May 1774: Death of Louis XV
6 August 1775: Birth of the duc d'Angouleme to the comte d'Artois, brother of Louis XVI
18 April 1777: Joseph II, MA's brother, arrives in Paris
20 December 1778: MA gives birth to a daughter, Madame Royale

Marriage and motherhood

It was several years before MA's marriage was consummated, and she was not to give birth to a child until 1778. In the intervening years she and her husband Louis-Auguste faced tremendous pressure from their families, equally anxious to see them produce an heir. While Maria Theresa told MA that the situation was all her fault for not showing the Dauphin more affection, Louis XV called in physicians to try to determine if his grandson needed to have an operation. The Dauphin's hunting diary bears witness to the fact that the situation was resolved without an operation: while the entry ("Rien" = "nothing") on his wedding night simply meant that he had not hunted that day, later entries show that he was never out of the saddle long enough to recover from surgery. Advice from MA's brother Joseph, who visited Versailles in 1777 partly in order to resolve his sister's marital troubles, seems to have been effective. Joseph himself wrote an account of the problem to his brother Leopold, but it is rather frank so I'm putting it behind spoilers:

He [the King] has strong, perfectly satisfactory erections; he introduces the member, stays there without moving for about two minutes, withdraws without ejaculating but still erect, and bids goodnight. It's incredible because he sometimes has night-time emissions; it is only when he is actually inside and going at it, that it never happens. Nevertheless the King is satisfied with what he does.

Although MA was eventually to become a mother, her childless years had done great damage to her image. As dauphine and later queen, her most important job was to provide an heir for France. She knew that the entire court was discussing the matter and that it was being reported back to every other court in Europe. An unconsummated marriage could be annulled, and a queen who had not produced a son could be repudiated and sent back to her homeland. By contrast, the mother of an heir was safe and secure, because any challenge to the legality of her marriage would also bring the legitimacy of the heir into question.

The birth of a son to her sister-in-law, when she herself was still childless, was deeply humiliating to Marie Antoinette. Moreover, the state of her marriage invited speculation: would she take a lover in order to have an heir? When she finally did become a mother, not everyone believed that the King was the father. Both the monarchy and MA's reputation were damaged by her years of celibacy.

Dauphine vs Du Barry

I've written a blog post which goes into more detail on the MA/DB rivalry (scroll down). Madame du Barry would have liked a friendly relationship with MA, and made several overtures to her, even offering to have the King buy her diamonds - an offer haughtily rejected by MA. With the encouragement of the king's aunts, particularly the strong-willed Mme Adelaide, who loathed Mme du Barry, she began to freeze out the favourite, refusing to speak to her in public. Eventually MA was forced to comply, speaking one sentence to Mme du Barry: "There are many people at Versailles today." On the death of Louis XV from smallpox in 1774, making her Queen at 19, she had the royal mistress packed off to a convent.

Unusually for a queen of France, MA was unrivalled by any mistress or favourite. However, this meant that the hatred that royal mistresses usually attracted was diverted to her. Her popularity as Dauphine rapidly dissipated once she was queen, and she succeeded Mme de Pompadour and Mme du Barry as a national hate figure.