Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) was the last Queen of France before the French Revolution, known for her lavish lifestyle and tragic fate. Born in Vienna as Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria-Lorraine, she was the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Emperor Francis I. At only fourteen years old, in 1770, she married the future King Louis XVI of France, cementing an alliance between the royal houses of France and Austria.
As queen, Marie Antoinette quickly became a target of criticism due to her luxurious lifestyle and excessive spending. The Palace of Versailles, where she resided, was a symbol of the opulence and detachment of the monarchy from the hardships of the French people. Despite her charitable initiatives, such as founding an orphanage, her public image suffered greatly. The famous, but probably apocryphal, phrase "Let them eat cake" was attributed to her to highlight her supposed indifference to the people's suffering.
During the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette and the royal family were forced to leave Versailles and move to Paris under the supervision of the revolutionaries. After a failed attempt to escape in 1791, the situation of the royal family worsened further. Louis XVI was deposed and, in January 1793, executed. Marie Antoinette was tried for treason and various other crimes. The trial was swift and heavily influenced by revolutionary propaganda.
Marie Antoinette was sentenced to death and guillotined on October 16, 1793. Her execution symbolically marked the end of the Ancien Régime. In the years following, the figure of Marie Antoinette has been reassessed, and many of the negative legends about her have been reconsidered. Today, she is seen as a complex and tragic figure whose fate reflects the tumultuous social and political transformations of her era.
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