#maria antoinette de lorraine d'autriche

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Fragment of fabric from a dress belonging to Marie Antoinette and an order of payment signed with the Queen's signature from the collection of my dear friend, the talented 18th century perfume maker Mattia Scavuzzo.

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Marie Antoinette on PBS: History or Fiction? with Elena Maria Vidal - Pl...

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Impératrice Marie-Louise d’Autriche, Lithographie 1833

Marie-Louise Léopoldine Françoise Thérèse Josèphe Lucie de Habsbourg-Lorraine (Maria Ludovica Leopoldina Francisca Theresa Josepha Lucia de Habsbourg-Lorraine), archiduchesse d'Autriche, princesse de Hongrie et de Bohême, née le 12 décembre 1791 à Vienne (Autriche) et morte le 17 décembre 1847 à Parme (Parme), est impératrice des Français de 1810 à 1814, puis duchesse de Parme, Plaisance et Guastalla jusqu'en 1847. Fille aînée de l'empereur François Ier d'Autriche, elle est donnée en mariage en 1810 à l'empereur des Français et roi d'Italie Napoléon Ier pour sceller le traité de Schönbrunn entre la France et l'Autriche, après la défaite de celle-ci lors de la bataille de Wagram en 1809. Rejoignant à contrecœur la cour impériale des Tuileries, Marie-Louise commence rapidement à apprécier sa nouvelle position bien que les Français ne l'aiment pas et qu'elle ne se sente pas chez elle dans ce pays qui, vingt ans auparavant, a décapité une autre archiduchesse autrichienne, sa grand-tante Marie-Antoinette, épouse de Louis XVI.

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Marie Antoinette by Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller (1788)

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Marie Antoinette and her children by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Photo taken by me @killem-all-if-they-wont-eat-cake

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Robe Parée à l'Anglaise that belonged to Marie Antoinette

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“No, the French Revolution was not a good thing. It must also be pointed out that Louis XVI had made many reforms and the situation was improving. 

The Daily Signal

As revolutionaries concluded that their maximalist aims at leveling society could not be achieved through the slow process of deliberation, compromise, and genuine tolerance, they began destroying art, statues, and property—both public and private—in the iconoclastic desire to repudiate the social mores of their country’s past. The radicals did this as they turned to outright killing of their enemies of the present. Mass purges of art and symbols of religion turned to mass executions of the enemies of the revolution.

Tens of thousands were killed and executed throughout France as the revolution consumed itself. Even Maximilien Robespierre, dubbed “the incorruptible,” who led the Reign of Terror, saw its conclusion when he and a group of his Jacobin supporters went to the guillotine. Jefferson and many other American observers who initially supported the revolution eventually turned away in disgust.

As with most of history’s revolutions, the French version simply went full circle. One tyrannical regime was replaced by another one, one in many ways more ruthless and absolutist than the last. From the maelstrom of this anarchy and ruthless self-destruction came forth a dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte restored order in France, but brought the revolution to a close after tearing a violent swath across Europe, then meeting utter defeat at the hands of the Russian winter and final at Waterloo.

Then, to cap it off, the hated monarchy was restored, barely a generation after the fateful storming of the Bastille. It’s noteworthy that the Constitution of the United States went into effect in 1789, the same year as the storming of the Bastille and launch of the French Revolution. (read more)” - Text by the wonderful @emvidal P.S.: here goes a podcast by Elena Maria Vidal on Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette & the Bastille day

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"The letters portray a rebellious and independent queen who risked everything and broke all the rules to love the man who succeeded in conquering her heart." —  click here for a summary on Ms. Farr’s book.

First and foremost I would like to retract the statements I made on Evelyn Farr’s book “I love you, Madly”, by the time I’ve written it I had not read her book yet, only sensationalist reviews on it. I am aware it was hasty and foolish of me and for that I apologize to Ms. Farr.

After actually reading her book, I’ve realized it is an excellent account of MA and Fersen’s correspondence and historical context of the Revolution itself, not at all the novelesque opprobium portrayed in the reviews, which is indeed reminiscent of a piece by Monsieur Choderlos de Laclos.

If anything, this was merely a marketing strategy, and at worst, Ms. Farr is at fault in trying to promote her book at the cost of Marie Antoinette’s already far too slandered reputation. That is in fact reproachable coming from a historian!

Furthermore, I want to reiterate that it is still my opinion that Marie Antoinette’s love life remains private and therefore it is nobody’s business. The reason I say that it is because this is a woman who has had every aspect of her entire life scrutinized within and after her lifespan. And who has been and is still greatly demonized or idolized from an strictly sexual concept of morality. Though this was quite common by the time, we’re not in a Samuel Richardson’s novel and definitely not in the 18th century anymore.

Quoting myself: “Do not attempt to intrude into the painful secrets of the heart of this most unhappy princess. Remember this is the age of La Nouvelle Heloïse and the Sorrows of the Young Werther, not thirty years since Pamela and Clarissa. She was a sentimental person and she communicated in a sentimental language. There won’t be anything in their letters appointing to a physical consummation, but perhaps to the depth of their secret feelings for each other and the despair of an impossible and hopeless love.” — “He is more myself than I am, whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same”; — befitting quote from Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Brontë.

“If you are an admirer of Marie Antoinette you should try to focus on her qualities as an individual and not attempt to define her value based on untarnished virtue or hypothetical sexual misconduct. She was a good mother and had a generous, forgiving nature. She was a very decent human being. Thus people should try to see her best and focus on how beautiful she was in all her features.. ”

Finally, to anyone who is intrigued but is not acquainted with MA, here goes a short video on her fascinating and tragic life from the official channel of the Château de Versailles.

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'The wedding took place at 6 o’clock in the evening at the Augustinian Church in Vienna. Imperial chamberlains led the procession to the church. The privy counsellors and conference members followed and after them, the Knights of the Golden Fleece in long medieval robes. The groom was clad in cloth of silver, a white hat and wearing the collar of the Golden Fleece. The bride wore a gown of silver-thread fabric studded with diamonds and pearls. She was flanked by her mother and Joseph I’s widow, Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg.'

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On October 16, 1793, Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, Archduchess of Austria and Dowager Queen of France and Navarre (commonly referred as Marie Antoinette) was executed at the age of 37 years and eleven months old at the Place de La Concorde (formely Place Louis XV) in Paris.

Below there is her last letter  directed to her sister in law, Madame Élisabeth:

“ Ce 16 octobre, à quatre heures et demie du matin. C’est à vous, ma soeur, que j’écris pour la dernière fois. Je viens d’être condamnée, non pas à une mort honteuse – elle ne l’est que pour les criminels, mais à aller rejoindre votre frère. Comme lui innocente j’espère montrer la même fermeté que lui dans ses derniers moments. Je suis calme comme on l’est quand la conscience ne reproche rien. J’ai un profond regret d’abandonner mes pauvres enfants. Vous savez que je n’existais que pour eux et vous, ma bonne et tendre soeur, vous qui avez par votre amitié tout sacrifié pour être avec nous, dans quelle position je vous laisse ! J’ai appris par le plaidoyer même du procès que ma fille était séparée de vous. Hélas ! la pauvre enfant, je n’ose pas lui écrire, elle ne recevrait pas ma lettre, je ne sais pas même si celle-ci vous parviendra. Recevez pour eux deux ici ma bénédiction ; j’espère qu’un jour, lorsqu’ils seront plus grands, ils pourront se réunir avec vous et jouir en entier de vos tendres soins. Qu’ils pensent tous deux à ce que je n’ai cessé de leur inspirer : que les principes et l’exécution exacte de ses devoirs sont la première base de la vie, que leur amitié et leur confiance mutuelle en fera le bonheur. Que ma fille sente qu’à l’âge qu’elle a, elle doit toujours aider son frère par les conseils que l’expérience qu’elle aura de plus que lui et son amitié pourront lui inspirer ; que mon fils, à son tour, rende à sa soeur tous les soins, les services que l'amitié peuvent inspirer ; qu’ils sentent enfin tous deux que dans quelque position où ils pourront se trouver ils ne seront vraiment heureux que par leur union ; qu’ils prennent exemple de nous. Combien, dans nos malheurs, notre amitié nous a donné de consolation ! Et dans le bonheur on jouit doublement quand on peut le partager avec un ami, et où en trouver de plus tendre, de plus uni que dans sa propre famille ? Que mon fils n’oublie jamais les derniers mots de son père que je lui répète expressément : qu’il ne cherche jamais à venger notre mort. J’ai à vous parler d’une chose bien pénible à mon coeur. Je sais combien cet enfant doit vous avoir fait de la peine. Pardonnez-lui, ma chère soeur, pensez à l’âge qu’il a et combien il est facile de faire dire à un enfant ce qu’on veut et même ce qu’il ne comprend pas. Un jour viendra, j’espère, où il ne sentira que mieux le prix de vos bontés et de votre tendresse pour tous deux. Il me reste à vous confier encore mes dernières pensées. J’aurais voulu les écrire dès le commencement du procès, mais, outre qu’on ne me laissait pas écrire, la marche a été si rapide que je n’en aurais réellement pas eu le temps. Je meurs dans la religion catholique, apostolique et romaine, dans celle de mes pères, dans celle où j’ai été élevée et que j’ai toujours professée, n’ayant aucune consolation spirituelle à attendre, ne sachant pas s’il existe encore ici des prêtres de cette religion, et même le lieu où je suis les exposerait trop s’ils y entraient une fois. Je demande sincèrement pardon à Dieu de toutes les fautes que j’ai pu commettre depuis que j’existe ; j’espère que, dans sa bonté, il voudra bien recevoir mes derniers voeux, ainsi que ceux que je fais depuis longtemps pour qu’il veuille bien recevoir mon âme dans sa miséricorde et sa bonté. Je demande pardon à tous ceux que je connais et à vous, ma soeur, en particulier, de toutes les peines que, sans le vouloir, j’aurais pu leur causer. Je pardonne à tous mes ennemis le mal qu’ils m’ont fait. Je dis ici adieu à mes tantes et à tous mes frères et soeurs. J’avais des amis, l’idée d’en être séparée pour jamais et leurs peines sont un des plus grands regrets que j’emporte en mourant ; qu’ils sachent du moins que, jusqu’à mon dernier moment, j’ai pensé à eux. Adieu, ma bonne et tendre soeur ; puisse cette lettre vous arriver. Pensez toujours à moi ; je vous embrasse de tout mon coeur ainsi que ces pauvres et chers enfants. Mon Dieu, qu’il est déchirant de les quitter pour toujours ! Adieu, adieu ! je ne vais plus m’occuper que de mes devoirs spirituels. Comme je ne suis pas libre dans mes actions, on m’amènera peut-être un prêtre ; mais je proteste ici que je ne lui dirai pas un mot et que je le traiterai comme un être absolument étranger.”

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“ 6th October, 4.30 A.M. It is to you, my sister, that I write for the last time. I have just been condemned, not to a shameful death, for such is only for criminals, but to go and rejoin your brother. Innocent like him, I hope to show the same firmness in my last moments. I am calm, as one is when one's conscience reproaches one with nothing. I feel profound sorrow in leaving my poor children: you know that I only lived for them and for you, my good and tender sister. You who out of love have sacrificed everything to be with us, in what a position do I leave you! I have learned from the proceedings at my trial that my daughter was separated from you. Alas! poor child; I do not venture to write to her; she would not receive my letter. I do not even know whether this will reach you. Do you receive my blessing for both of them. I hope that one day when they are older they may be able to rejoin you, and to enjoy to the full your tender care. Let them both think of the lesson which I have never ceased to impress upon them, that the principles and the exact performance of their duties are the chief foundation of life; and then mutual affection and confidence in one another will constitute its happiness. Let my daughter feel that at her age she ought always to aid her brother by the advice which her greater experience and her affection may inspire her to give him. And let my son in his turn render to his sister all the care and all the services which affection can inspire. Let them, in short, both feel that, in whatever positions they may be placed, they will never be truly happy but through their union. Let them follow our example. In our own misfortunes how much comfort has our affection for one another afforded us! And, in times of happiness, we have enjoyed that doubly from being able to share it with a friend; and where can one find friends more tender and more united than in one's own family? Let my son never forget the last words of his father, which I repeat emphatically; let him never seek to avenge our deaths.

I have to speak to you of one thing which is very painful to my heart, I know how much pain the child must have caused you. Forgive him, my dear sister; think of his age, and how easy it is to make a child say whatever one wishes, especially when he does not understand it. It will come to pass one day, I hope, that he will better feel the value of your kindness and of your tender affection for both of them. It remains to confide to you my last thoughts. I should have wished to write them at the beginning of my trial; but, besides that they did not leave me any means of writing, events have passed so rapidly that I really have not had time. I die in the Catholic Apostolic and Roman religion, that of my fathers, that in which I was brought up, and which I have always professed. Having no spiritual consolation to look for, not even knowing whether there are still in this place any priests of that religion (and indeed the place where I am would expose them to too much danger if they were to enter it but once), I sincerely implore pardon of God for all the faults which I may have committed during my life. I trust that, in His goodness, He will mercifully accept my last prayers, as well as those which I have for a long time addressed to Him, to receive my soul into His mercy. I beg pardon of all whom I know, and especially of you, my sister, for all the vexations which, without intending it, I may have caused you. I pardon all my enemies the evils that they have done me. I bid farewell to my aunts and to all my brothers and sisters. I had friends. The idea of being forever separated from them and from all their troubles is one of the greatest sorrows that I suffer in dying. Let them at least know that to my latest moment I thought of them. Farewell, my good and tender sister. May this letter reach you. Think always of me; I embrace you with all my heart, as I do my poor dear children. My God, how heart-rending it is to leave them forever! Farewell! farewell! I must now occupy myself with my spiritual duties, as I am not free in my actions. Perhaps they will bring me a priest; but I here protest that I will not say a word to him, but that I will treat him as a total stranger.”

Let us pray for the soul of this most unfortunate princess.

Image: Marie Antoinette painted as a widow in 1793 by Alexander Kucharski (1742 - 1819), today found at the Musée Carnavalet;

Image Source: Wikipedia

Text Source: Tea at Trianon, a great blog by the wonderful author @emvidal

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‘13 June, the feast of her patron saint St Anthony, tended to be regarded as Marie Antoinette’s personal day of celebration, just as the feast of St Teresa of Avila on 15 October was the name-day of her mother.’ -  Marie Antoinette, the Journey by Antonia Fraser

Image Source: Autour de Marie Antoinette

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https://mailchi.mp/d055da835bdf/merry-christmas-and-a-happy-new-year-1623773?fbclid=I My Mardi Gras newsletter

Happy Mardi Gras! Some happy news is that, after many tribulations, Marie-Antoinette, Daughter of the Caesars is now available on Audible, read by the lovely Courtney Shelly. Released last night, Daughter of the Caesars quickly rose to #15 in Historical France Biographies, #25 in Royalty Biographies and #20 in French History on Amazon.

I love Audible and find it a great use of my time because I can listen to the books while driving, sewing, cleaning or cooking.  Being read to is a special way of enjoying a story. Order my book HERE and begin listening right away. Meanwhile, it is Mardi Gras, also known as Carnival. Carnival season officially began on January 6 and ends on Shrove Tuesday or "Fat Tuesday," called Mardi Gras. It is now Shrovetide, when most parishes used to have Forty Hours devotions in order to atone for the excesses of Carnival. Outside of certain exotic places such as New Orleans, Carnival is not celebrated to the extent that it once was in the Christian west, when the season was a time of joyful merry-making before undertaking the rigors of Lent. At home, we usually have a "king cake;" HERE is an easy recipe. Amid the festivities, the traditions of the liturgy remind us that Lent is near. Not only Lent approaches, but death as well; the hour of reckoning for each soul is unknown.

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Le Grand Appartement de La Reine - Château de Versailles

‘Antechamber of the Queen Maria Theresa, it was in this room that Marie Leszczinska granted her solemn audiences, seated under a canopy. She also held her circle there, as it was called the time of conversation settled with the ladies of the Court. Marie-Antoinette had the entire decoration changed, retaining only the paintings on the ceiling, and for her, the apple-green damask walls were lined with large gold strips. New furniture was delivered, both extremely modern and refined. Riesener, the queen's favorite ébeniste (cabinet-maker), indulged to the latest English fashion, abandoning his usual flowery marquetry for large mahogany à-plats, while the golden bronze and turqueoise blue marble pieces of this majestic clock were used to match the fireplace, which was also new.’

Text and Image can be found at: Château & Royautés; Château de Versailles