A symbol of the French monarchy’s unpopularity, Marie Antoinette the queen consort of France
was beheaded in front of a huge crowd on the 16th October 1793 at the Place de la Revolution
in Paris.
Thousands of guards lined the streets to ensure that her execution went ahead as planned,
and she was hated by sections of the French population.
Her famous comment of ‘Let them have cake,’ showed her frivolity and extravagance along
with her disconnect to the French population who were suffering greatly.
She fell from grace heavily, and spent her last few days in prison a sharp departure
from the rich lifestyle she was living.
Today we look at ‘The Brutal Execution of Marie Antoinette,’ and remember to support
our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Born on the 2nd November 1755 in Vienna Austria, Maria Antonia was the youngest daughter of
the rule of the Habsburg Empire Empress Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I the Holy
Roman Emperor.
It was clear that she was destined to live a lavish lifestyle, and she spent her early
years living in the royal Austrian palaces.
She was educated, however teachers commented on her lack of aptitude for learning, and
she was poor at writing in different languages, and was also poor at speaking different languages.
For princesses mastering different languages was extremely important, as the hope was that
they would marry a prince or king from a different country to forge alliances, and this did not
stand Maria in good stead.
She was a talented musician, preferring more practical things than academic, and it was
said that ‘her heart and character are excellent.’
In February 1770, Louis XV requested the hand of Maria for a match with his oldest surviving
grandson, Louis Auguste the Dauphin of France.
This was accepted to seal an alliance between the nations, and the Dauphin and Maria became
engaged and then married by proxy.
She met her husband on the 14th May 1770 at Versailles and there was a mixed reaction
to their marriage.
Marie initially was liked by the French people, but some did oppose the alliance with Austria.
Following the death of Louis XV, the Dauphin became King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
the Queen of France.
She initially had little influence over her husband, but received extremely lavish gifts
from the King.
Allegedly one chateau she was gifted was renovated with the walls covered in diamonds and gold,
and she continued to spend extremely heavily on luxuries.
At the time France was suffering greatly from financial problems, and the people of France
were in great hardship with many being unable to even buy bread for their family.
Because of this many poor people were dying, but in the face of this Marie the Queen kept
spending huge sums of money on her dresses, hairstyles, luxuries, and furniture.
There were riots in France and she began to become a figure of hatred even being blame
for the economic crisis.
Everyone could see what she was doing, but Marie ignored it.
Her husband Louis also was suffering, a number of blunders had lent him poorly to the French
population.
They did have children, but problems in France still remained.
There was celebration when these children were born especially with the birth of the
Dauphin, but Marie also became involved in European politics.
At court she promoted her favourites, and its alleged had affairs with high up members
of society, however leaflets about the Queen’s sexual deviance emerged across France.
Allegations of the Queen having affairs and illicit behaviour was levelled against her,
including accusations of affairs with women.
With this her mother feared for her daughter’s safety, but things continued spending large
amounts of money buying property and living the high life.
More allegations emerged too regarding her lifestyle, with some levelling accusations
of illegitimacy against her second born son.
With Marie willing to become involved in politics, she wanted to improve her image.
The Diamond Necklace Affair occurred which was a scandal at court, in which part of France’s
most valuable jewellery was visually stolen.
Tricks emerged and it was levelled that Marie Antoinette name was linked to swindling the
jewellery, and this further enhanced Marie’s negative reputation despite her lack of involvement.
Louis XVI often asked Marie for advice on politics, but there was a situation brewing
between the assembly and the King, but the major factor in the revolution was the financial
problems in France.
This was due to a number of expensive wars Louis took part in, a royal family who spent
heavily, and unwillingness from the higher up members of society to help the lower classes.
Marie became a target of disgrace, and when the revolution broke out it had devastating
consequences for the King and Queen.
The Revolution in France had a number of key events that saw the monarchy overthrown.
The Storming of the Bastille was a sign of the King’s decreasing power, and how the
people can rise up and overthrow the monarchy, and the anger they had towards Louis and Marie
and the desperation spurred on the Revolt.
The Revolution even forced the royal family to move out of their palace, and European
powers sought to try and find a way for the French royal family to escape the anarchy.
Several plots were drawn up, but the Queen rejected them as her refused to leave without
Louis, her husband.
Te royal family found themselves imprisoned, and on the 21st September 1792, the National
Assembly declared France a republic.
Previously an angry mob had broken into the French royal palace and insulted Marie and
threatened to kill her, and there was bloodshed inside the palace.
With the declaration of the republic, Louis was placed on trial and was sentenced to death
on the 15th January 1793.
He was then 6 days later executed by guillotine in front of a huge crowd in Paris.
The Queen now a widow was in great mourning, she hoped that her son one day would become
King, however was a prisoner to the French people.
Whilst imprisoned at the Tower of the Temple, she along with her children were insulted
and kept under strict watch to ensure she could not communicate with the outside.
Marie’s fate after Louis execution became a big question, with debate occurring as to
what to do with her.
Other’s wished to have her executed, but some wanted her exchanging in a swap for French
prisoners of war, or even sending to America.
Decisions were made to retrain her son the eight year old Dauphin in the ways of the
Revolution, and Marie was transferred from the Temple to a small cell in the Conciergerie.
She was kept under constant watch, and given no privacy during this time.
She was brought to trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal on the 14th October 1793, and it’s
thought that the outcome had already been decided that she would be put to death.
She faced a number of different charges, financials ones, ones regarding her relationships and
even planning massacres.
She was even accused of incest, but little could be done she was found guilty of 3 main
charges.
Of the depletion of the national treasury, of conspiracy against the security of the
state and of High treason, for this she was sentenced to death.
She believed the worst she would get was imprisonment so the death sentence was a shock.
In her final days, she wrote to her sister in law expressing her love for her children,
and her devotion to Catholicism, and her will was made.
In preparation for her execution, she was forced to change her clothes in front of her
guards.
She was forced to wear a plain white dress, although wished to wear a black dress.
Her hair was cut short, against her wishes to ensure that the guillotine took her life
without any issue.
As she was taken out of her cell, she was bound with her hands tied behind her back,
painfully hurting the former queen of France.
Marie was then placed on a rope lead, and taken to her carriage.
She was taken to her execution on an open cart, with it taking an hour to arrive at
the Place de la Revolution.
The crowds would have lined the streets as the slow cart moved throughout the city of
Paris, and when she arrived at her execution site the guillotine stood ready for her.
At around 12:15pm on the 16th October 1793, Marie Antoinette stepped onto the scaffold
to greet Charles Henry Sanson, a notorious executioner who took her husband’s head
10 months before.
He was stood in a.
Black mash, and probably never dreamed of the fact he would execute the Queen of France.
As she approached the executioner, she stood accidentally on Sanson’s foot, and said
‘Pardon me sir, I didn’t mean to.’
Whilst on the scaffold it was said she maintained her composure, but the crowd hurled insults
and jeers at her.
A priest accompanied her and everything was ready for the Queen’s execution.
Minutes after she made her way onto the scaffold, she was placed onto the guillotine.
Marie Antoinnete’s execution was remarkably swift, as was common with the guillotine and
her head was taken clean off by the blade.
She would have been placed on the board, then slid under the blade before it fell and within
seconds her head was taken clean off.
Her head was then held up to the crowd, and Sanson proclaimed to the roaring crowd ‘Viva
le Republique!’
Marie Antoinette’s remains were then taken to a graveyard behind the Church of Medeleine
around half a mile away.
The gravediggers were on a lunch break, which allowed Madame Tussaud to take a wax imprint
of her face, before she was then placed in an unmarked grave.
Decades later her body was exhumed and given a proper burial, and it was said that some
of her white hair remained on her skeleton.
Marie Antoinette was a very divisive figure in France, and the vast majority of the French
population greatly disliked her for her lavish spending, all whilst the French were struggling
to buy a loaf of bread.
She was a figure of the monarchy in France, and became a controversial figure of the French
Revolution.
Some see her as a scapegoat, but what cannot be excused is the expense she spent on nonsense
during her time as Queen, gambling away thousands whilst everyone was suffering.
Without Marie, there most probably wouldn’t have been any revolution in France.
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