Biography on marie antoinette

The story of revolution and resistance in 18th-century France is a complicated one, and no two historians tell the story the same way. This incident, it seemed to many, was proof that the queen was not just a foreigner: She was a traitor.

The royal family was returned to Paris and Louis XVI was restored to the throne.

In October 1789, a mob of Parisian women protesting the high cost of bread and other goods marched to Versailles, dragged the entire royal family back to the city, and imprisoned them in the Tuileries.

In June 1791, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette fled Paris and headed for the Austrian border–where, rumor had it, the queen’s brother, the Holy Roman Emperor, waited with troops ready to invade France, overthrow the revolutionary government and restore the power of the monarchy and the nobility.

(For example, she had a model farm built on the palace grounds so that she and her ladies-in-waiting could dress in elaborate costumes and pretend to be milkmaids and shepherdesses.) Widely circulated newspapers and inexpensive pamphlets poked fun at the queen’s profligate behavior and spread outlandish, even pornographic rumors about her.

Marie Antoinette continued to be a convenient target for their rage.

Their relationship set tongues wagging at the gossipy French court, with some going so far as claiming von Fersen had fathered one of Marie Antoinette’s children. She likely first met Swedish diplomat Axel von Fersen at a ball at Versailles in 1774, shortly before she became queen, and they became close following his return to France in 1778.

But they remain uncertain whether it’s medically possible for such a sudden and drastic change to occur so quickly.

Reports of the same mysterious condition have appeared elsewhere in history, most notably, to English scholar and author Sir Thomas More, who ran afoul of King Henry VIII’s efforts to reform the Anglican Church during the English Reformation.

Her marriage was difficult and, as she had very few official duties, she spent most of her time socializing and indulging her extravagant tastes. (They were 15 and 16 years old, and they had never met.) On May 16, 1770, a lavish second wedding ceremony took place in the royal chapel at Versailles. I did not do it on purpose.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness.

Marie Antoinette was a devoted mother, though royal protocol prevented her from handling their day-to-day care.

Dive Deeper

Tragedy struck the family when Sophie died less than a year after her birth and Louis-Joseph died in 1789 at age 7, just weeks before the storming of the Bastille that would ignite the French Revolution.

Marie-Thérèse and Louis-Charles initially followed their parents into captivity following their arrest in 1789 but were eventually separated from them.

Four years later, Marie Antoinette and the dauphin were married by proxy in Vienna. When the king went to bed before midnight, Marie Antoinette’s nights of partying and carousing had yet to begin. Within months, Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste, the future King Louis XVI, were pledged to marry.

Three years later, Louis XV dispatched a tutor to Austria to instruct his grandson’s future wife.