Historical Figure
Marie Antoinette
1755–1793
Queen of France from 1774 to 1792
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Biography
Marie Antoinette was Queen of France from 1774 until the fall of the monarchy in 1792 and her subsequent execution during the French Revolution.
Timeline
The story of Marie Antoinette, told in moments.
Marries the Dauphin of France, Louis-Auguste, at Versailles. She is 14. He is 15. The marriage isn't consummated for seven years. Her mother Maria Theresa writes letter after letter demanding grandchildren. French libelles accuse the young Dauphine of promiscuity, illegitimate children, and sympathy for Austria. The attacks begin before she ever does anything wrong.
Louis XVI ascends the throne. She becomes Queen of France at 18. She spends lavishly on fashion, gambling, and her private retreat, the Petit Trianon. The Diamond Necklace Affair of 1785, in which she's falsely accused of defrauding the crown jewelers, destroys what remains of her reputation. She didn't do it. It doesn't matter.
A mob of Parisian women marches to Versailles and forces the royal family to return to Paris. They're installed in the Tuileries Palace under house arrest. "Let them eat cake" is almost certainly something she never said. The phrase predates her by decades.
The Flight to Varennes. The royal family attempts to escape France disguised as servants. They're recognized at a relay station and dragged back to Paris. Whatever remaining public sympathy existed evaporates. Louis is executed on January 21, 1793. Marie Antoinette is held in the Conciergerie for nine months.
Executed by guillotine at the Place de la Revolution. She is 37. At her trial, she's accused of sexually abusing her own son. She turns to the crowd: "I appeal to all mothers here present. Is it true?" The women in the gallery murmur support. It doesn't save her. She steps on the executioner's foot on the scaffold. "Pardon me, sir. I did not mean to do it."
In Their Own Words (3)
We had a beautiful dream and that was all. The interest of my son is the only guide I have, and whatever happiness I could achieve by being free of this place I cannot consent to separate my self from him. I could not have any pleasure in the world if I abandoned my children.I do not even have any regrets.
Marie Antoinette to the Chevalier Jarjayes on his persuading her to escape alone from the Tower; Lettres, II. p. 433; also quoted in Marie Antoinette: The Journey (2001) by Antonia Fraser, ISBN 0307277747., 2001
It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness. The king seems to understand this truth; as for myself, I know that in my whole life (even if I live for a hundred years) I shall never forget the day of the coronation.
After learning of the bread shortages that were occurring in Paris at the time of Louis XVI's coronation in Rheims, as quoted in Marie Antoinette: The Journey (2001) by Antonia Fraser, p. 135 . Tradition persists that Marie Antoinette joked "Let them eat cake!" (Qu'ils mangent de la brioche.) This phrase, however, occurs in a passage of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, written in 1766, when Marie Antoinette was 11 years old and four years before her marriage to Louis XVI. Cf. The Straight Dope, "On Language" by William Safire at The New York Times, and in the discussions at Google groups., 2001
Courage! I have shown it for years; think you I shall lose it at the moment when my sufferings are to end?
Responding to the priest who had accompanied her to the foot of the guillotine, who had whispered, "Courage, madame! Now is the time for courage." Quoted in Women of Beauty and Heroism (1859) by Frank B. Goodrich, p. 301., 1859
Artifacts (15)
Caricature Showing Marie Antoinette as a Dragon
Anonymous, French, 18th century
![Marie-Antoinette: [photograph]](http://gallica.bnf.fr/iiif/ark:/12148/btv1b530281842/f1/full/512,/0/native.jpg)
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