Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Queen Consort of France
Tenure	10 May 1774 – 21 September 1792
Born	(1755-11-02)2 November 1755 Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria
Died	16 October 1793 (aged 37) Place de la Révolution, Paris, France
Burial	(21 January 1815, at time of Bourbon Restoration)
Spouse	Louis XVI of France
Issue	Marie Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France Louis XVII of France Princess Sophie
Full name Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Empress Maria Theresa of Austria

Marie Antoinette (2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last Queen of France, as the wife of King Louis XVI, before the monarchy was ended in the French Revolution. She was born as Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna (Marie Antoinette Joseph Jeanne) as an Archduchess of Austria.^[1]

She married Louis in 1770, when she was 14 years old and four years before he became the king. They were not close at first, and at first it was difficult for them to have children.^[2] After seven years of marriage, she gave birth to a daughter, and later to three more children. She was the mother of Louis XVII of France, who never actually became king.

Although she was not unpopular at first, many people in France did not want the country to have an Austrian queen. France's alliance with Austria was unpopular; the two countries had been enemies until 1756, and their alliance had led to France's defeat in the Seven Years' War. It was not until during the French Revolution that she became an unpopular symbol of the old French monarchy (Ancien Régime). There were rumours that she spent too much money, had lovers and supported France's enemies. There was a rumour that when she learned that peasants were starving, she said "Let them eat cake," but there is no evidence she said this. Many of these rumours were started by other people at the court, where Marie Antoinette had few friends.^[3] It is not clear what caused the French Revolution,^[1] but there were far bigger causes than her spending.

She helped plan the royal family's failed escape from Paris in 1791. This caused many people to think that the royal family, especially Marie Antoinette, were plotting with foreign governments to overthrow the elected government. The royal family were arrested in 1792 and the monarchy was abolished. She was executed by guillotine in 1793, nine months after her husband was executed.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Marie-Antoinette (queen of France) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia". britannica.com. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
2. ↑ "Marie Antoinette — FactMonster.com". factmonster.com. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
3. ↑ Fraser, Antonia 2001. Marie Antoinette. New York: N.A. Talese/Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-48948-5