Marie Antonia Josepha Joanna - Essay

Marie Antonia Josepha Joanna - Essay

Marie Antonia Josepha Joanna, the last queen of France, died on October 16, 1793, after being executed on the guillotine. She was 37. Marie Antoinette was born on November 2, 1755, in Vienna, Austria. She was the youngest and most beautiful daughter of Maria Theresa and Francis I. Before she was executed, her children and family were separated from her. Marie was married to Louis Auguste of France, who was executed months before her. During her early years, Antoinette was sent to France to marry Louis Auguste, at the age of fourteen. This marriage strengthened the alliance between Austria and France. Still in her teens, Marie and Louis were crowned Queen and King when Louis XV died of smallpox. At first, the French people welcomed her, but as time went by, the royal couple was still childless, and the people began to question her. Marie had four children in total, but only one survived, Madame Royale. One of her nicknames was ‘Madame Deficit’ because she spent money lavishly and she was held responsible for France’s financial problems. Because Marie was of Austrian blood, many French were jealous and angry at her and tried to accuse her of many crimes. In the end, Marie was found guilty of these crimes without any proof. The most famous crime she was accused of was the Diamond Necklace Affair. She was also accused of having affairs with men and sexually abusing her son. Although she is known by many as the queen who “danced while the people starved; who spent extravagantly on clothes and jewels without a thought for her subjects’ plight,” truthfully, she was a queen who was extremely humble and ate sparingly. She is well known by many for the saying “Let them eat cake,” but there has been no proof of her actually saying those words. Antoinette was not a selfish queen, but helped the needy when she could by sacrificing her time and belongings. She became very popular among the common people when she sacrificed a whole year’s worth of her own...

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