You can’t really blame her for not knowing about her people’s suffering. She was a foreign-born royal who was kept sequestered and expected to be beautiful, charming, and nothing else.
I don't agree with the past's characterization of her being a cruel, greedy monster; however, regardless of your role in the royal family, the people are your responsibility. It was her duty to be aware of her subjects' suffering, whether this information was given to her, or whether she had to discover it herself. I don't think she intentionally put the country in debt, but she certainly should have taken her role more seriously and looked into how her people lived. (Plus, as Ms. Holliday states in the video, the queen's mother wrote to her often about the dire straits her people were in due in part to her lavish spending. She was made aware repeatedly.)
@@Patrick3183 ik all of the history teachers I've had barely knew about the subject so we learned mostly through reading and all of the information is vague and boring and the place i live has a decent education system
@chippi chippi because she was like 15 and basically had her underwear showing through her dress, her wedding dress, when she is marrying a prince, in front of the entire French court.
chippi chippi the shift is basically a bra. Also no underpants. Just a shift, stockings and garters. Men wore the same as well expect the shift was a shirt. The shift is also called a chemise
@chippi chippi Underpants (or knickers as us Brits say) haven't been invented yet and the reason Marie's shift was showing was because the dress was too small so they couldn't lace it together completely
chippi chippi no one wore them then. In the 1830s girls stared wearing them but they were basically tubes lied around the waist for the dress to look pretty. They were more widespread and functional and not for show by the 1860s.
Even if Marie hadn't been an excessive spender, her fate would have been the same. The French people were angry and needed someone to hate and she was the perfect candidate. On part because she was simply a woman. She didn't deserve to die the way she did.
Basically people are looking for someone to blame and just because she was part of the aristocrat, she was mainly their target. True that her spendings were undoubtedly a lot, but that reason only doesn't really means that she should receive ALL the hate. She was reported to actually love children and adopted many "peasant" children, she actually pushed her husband to came up to policies that helps the common poor people. During one Christmas, it was noted that she told her daughter she did not buy her any gifts because she has donated all of her money to the poors. She also invited poor children to come and have lunch/dinner with her children so that they can learn not to discriminate poorer ppl.
She did nothing t help, and when her husband was offered a constitutional monarchy she advised him to refused, then she advised him to flee and asked her brother to attack France and crush the revolution, that at the time still wanted to keep them as King and queen. Get some education!
Empress Sisi: Help the Austrian Court is so strict. I wish I could come back to Bavaria. Queen Marie Antoinette: Stop! The French Court is on an whole other Level.
I always have felt bad for Marie Antoinette . She really did understand what was really going on in france , she did,'t think it was that bad, but her husband and the french government , knew very well what was going on ,and kept the real matters away from her until it was too late . She loved children ,and even took in children who were parentheses until she could find a loving home for them. She even took in her maids daughter when her maid died , and treated the girl as one of her own ,and was a playmate for her own daughter . Marie also had a home built for excepting mothers ,and children . She Even helped a common man , when he was run over by her driver . She jumped out of her carriage, and attend to the hurt man , until the dr came , she even paid for his care . does that sound like a cold heartless bitch ? To me that doesn't sound like an evil woman at all , just very misunderstood woman who I think was a great person .
@@wannabehistorian371 She was against sharing power and wanted to maintain the absolute monarchy. She knew what she was doing. And when finally she got involved in politic, it was only to give he worst advices possible.
@@brianapennington7384 Technically that supposed to be the job of Louis XV. Louis XVI inherited a bankrupt treasury and a famine. He actually enacted progressive reforms, but the damage had been done.
@@brianapennington7384 her husband inherited a bankrupt treasury as George said, and Marie Antoinette throwing money away didnt exactly help. Even if her husband did everything right, if his wife was spending money like crazy, that's not sustainable
The French court seemed to put all the blame on her for their shortcomings. The money they spent, the culture of adultery. Probably because of how foreign she was. ven the necklace she didn't buy was somehow her fault. Most of what we hear about her is bullying TBH. She sounded really naive. Poor girl, they tore her apart before she had her head chopped off.
She was also a teenager when she became queen as well, and the king and queen were ill-prepared because Louis wasn't even supposed to be king. The plan was that Charles, Louis's brother, was supposed to be king instead. I feel so bad for Louis and Marie
I feel kind of bad for Marie. She didn’t know any better 🥺and she should’ve but she was only a teenager when she was queen. I would’ve been that stupid too
She was not supposed to be involved in politics but she did things that she also was not expected or supposed to do like adopting commoners kids who couldn't feed them and raising them with their own (they are even depicted in family portraits), her and her's husband only sin, because they didn't live a more lavish life than any other monarch, was inherit Luis XV debt who spend only in one of his many mistresses 100 times more than Marie in all her time as a Queen. Le Petit Trianon and all that it included which was the best of the best was constructed as a gift for Madame du Pompadour, not even a Queen his mistress. At least Du Bary who also enjoyed Le PetitTrianon and the lavish life of style doing nothing but prostituting herself rightfully did lose her head too because this woman who did abuse her ''title'' as official mistress and didn't show any kindness to common people who were starving why she enjoyed King's unimaginably expensive gifts that the crown at the end couldn't even pay without compromising the people.
Oh my gosh....I remember reading the Royal Diaries volume of Marie Antoinette as a tween and being totally immersed in her story, recounting every little detail like you mention in the video and wondering how any teen can go through what Marie did at such as young age (esp the Bedding Ceremony, yikes!). BUT I also thought Marie should’ve studied harder if she had great tutors, but that’s the studious bookworm in me talking!
They would have accepted the constitutional monarchy, not declare war to Austria in the hope to crush the revolution and not try to flee... It would have been a complete different outcome.
For all the hate she gets for her actions as Queen, I think a lot of people might feel differently upon learning that she was an ignorant child bride thrown headfirst into a sumptuous adult world that encouraged those actions. :(
Well her mother did try to tell her to not be spendy with money and had she let go of her obsession with money spending she could have lived longer and even escaped france but her pride wouldnt let her. she was told to make the right decisions and she chose not too so i dont feel empathy for her she should of listened.
black sheep98 Yet, some people todau wanted an Absolute Monarchy, unaware that the royals are just human beings like normal people who can make mistakes as well.
@@firemangan2731 i never said she was a bad woman she was framed for a lot of crimes she didn't do and was heartbroken over losing her children over and over again and she loved her husband and was a very polite person but if the people are starving and suffering shes spending vicariously and everyone around her is telling a grown woman who's smart enough to comprehend the situation and she still chooses not too i dont feel sympathy shes was in her late 30s almost 40s she knew very well most of her counseling is what drove the people to be financial debt and eventually they got their come ups they weren't going to honor the treaty they made with the people and tried to flee which made their deaths inevitable they were two people who should've never been king or queen.
@@blacksheep9834 Ya, if im not mistaken she and sister-in-law were framed for r*apping her son when they were imprisoned in “The Tower” aka the Tower they lived at before they died.
Лисичка Yup, same thing happened to Russia, ousted an Autocrat Absolute Monarchy only te be replaced with a communist dictatorship under Lenin, then eventually, Stalin.
It was so vile and disgusting the drawings they created of her. Fascinating woman. The film by Sofia Coppola really lets you in on her inner life, the severe pressure on such a young woman to change what was not within her power is unimaginable on youth today. I will point out (as I hear it a lot) the hamlet the queen created was actually one of the cheapest created by royals in that era and before it. I’m not saying it was a wise use of money, not at all! But it was what you could consider “smart spending” for the cost of its production. And it is so beautiful and lovingly preserved today.
What wasn’t in her power? So it was impossible to stop spending? She was forced to make those political decisions that blocked commoners from higher positions and uplifted the 1%? really now. She may not have been the only greedy politician who made bad decisions but she definitely contributed to the bad situation and had power to help.
What an amazing video! I love learning about Marie Antoinette. Just a suggestion: It would be nice if you make a video about empress Maria Leopoldina of Brazil. She was a Habsburg princess who married the heir to the throne of Portugal, but later they both became rulers of an independent Brazilian Empire. She had a rather sad life in Brazil, however she was a brilliant and strong woman and was a major player in brazilian independence!
Although an arranged marriage must've sucked, it was pretty normal. Given that she was able to spend lavishly on herself, loved to party, and wasn't married off to an aggressive king twice her age, I don't know if she had such a bad life that justified so much sympathy. However, poverty seemed to have elevated jealousy and false rumors to the point of no return. I think she was blamed for way more than she ever did.
I don't know if this is a fact or fiction that tsarina Alexandrahad a life-size portrait of Marie Antoinette in her private apartments in the winter palace in st Petersburg
One of my favorite queens, such an interesting and tragic story. I truly believe she didn’t deserve all the blame for why France was in such a bad situation.
I watched Maria Theresa's daughters part 2 last night, and she told me she was going to do a separate video on Marie Antoinette. And it came today. What a coincidence!
Lindsay, I love your videos!! I had covid back in march and i watched almost all of your videos for the duration of my quarantine. I am better now and still watch usually the day of when you post!! Thank u for such thorough videos !
Please do a video on Mary Queen of Scots! I feel like her life is so sad and filled with struggles and sacrifices. She didnt deserve the ending she got but she definitely tried her best.
Sofia Coppolas movie is of course a more stylistic interpretation but I'm impressed with how much was actually very historically accurate including the one thing she said to Du Barry!
I'm so glad you've done a video on Marie. I'm working on a story set during the French Revolution, and now I have an idea for the hamlet that Marie Antoinette had built behind the palace in Versailles.
I read somewhere that the reason Maria Carolina and Maria Antionette had to be separated was that their favorite hobby was to make fun of other people at court lol
Isn't she also accountable for bringing the croissant to France? It evolved from an Austrian pastry, to the now most known French pastry, because of her home sickness, as far as I know.
Honestly, if France wasn’t poor she would’ve been a good queen 🤷🏾♀️ not like she wasn’t an already good queen. The movie about her (2006) portrayed her most accurately imo
It really created a lot of sympathy in my heart for her. Seeing the agony and helplessness in the early years of her reign and marriage really struck a cord with me, Marie Antionette was a fascinating woman
Warning a bit of a long read. It seems this biography has taken the more conservative view of Marie Antoinette. By all accounts she was the ideal Queen consort. She mostly kept out of politics (and only got involved when the situation deteriorated in France with the looming revolution) and fulfilled her duty of providing the French throne with an heir and a space. Albeit seven years was a rather long time. The main thing working against her was the fact that she was Austrian. An olive branch offered to a country that had been at odds with each other for centuries. France was well on the road to ruin well before they had ascended the throne starting with Louis XV. Louis XV never did properly ensure his heir, grandson Louis Auguste would be ready to take over the throne and left them a country in ruin thinly veiled by the opulence that was Versailles. Marie Antoinette was never properly prepared for her role and that was apparent with her shoddy education. Especially when her marriage alliance became official and she was hastily educated. Louis XVI was rather a pragmatic and sensible ruler who had to contend with the powerful nobility and clergy who paid no taxes. Unlike his predecessors, he did not have brilliant ministers such as Cardinal Richelieu or Cardinal Mazarin. France's greatest enemy was from within and keeping the powerful nobles families in check. Louis XIII with the help of Cardinal Mazarin reigned in the nobility during a conflict known as the Fronde. Louis XIV stripped their power base by having them close at hand in the court of Versailles. Often the French Revolution of 1789 is cited as a peasant rebellion while in reality the French nobility and even members of the French royal family played a fair share such as Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (cousin to Louis XVI) and Louis Stanislas Xavier, Count of Provence (brother to Louis XVI). The former changed his name to Philippe Égalité during the revolution and was in favor of abolishing the absolute monarchy in favor of a constitutional one. He was also responsible for funding of the libel against the French royal family. Philippe Égalité even voted for the death of his cousin. After all, his family was the second most important in all of France and had the most to gain if the main Bourbon line died out. Marie Antoinette also did not like him. The latter, the Count of Provence was at odds with his brother and wanted to gain political influence in the court. While Louis and Marie failed to produce an heir much to their detriment in those 7 years, it also meant Louis Stanislas was the heir until the birth of his nephew. Now back to Marie Antoinette. She is often criticized for her spending but it was rather not out of the norm. The French royal family were spending just as much if not exceeding her. Take her spinster aunt-in-laws, Princess Victoire and Princess Adelaide. Even Marie's brother-in-laws, the Count of Provence and Count of Artois were spending the country into ruin. The Count of Provence who went into exile and thus traveled accumulated a debt of totaling 10 million livres, which Louis XVI paid off. To understand the situation Marie Antoinette married into, one has to discuss the rather dysfunctional French royal family. When Marie Antoinette began to dress down and more informal, she was criticized for not projecting an image worthy of her station as the Queen of France. The portrait of her in the white muslin dress was so controversial, that Marie's favorite artist Vigée Le Brun had it taken it down from exhibition and painted an exact replica but with the Queen in more formal attire. That is why the blue dress portrait is so similar to the white muslin one. Marie was accused of trying to destroy the local French silk industry by patronizing other materials. Yet before that the French "public" accuses Marie of spending too much money despite dressing suitably for the role as Queen of France? Unlike his predecessors, Louis XVI did not take on a royal mistress. So Marie Antoinette also took on the criticisms that were traditionally laid against the royal mistresses who for the most part were scapegoats. Since the court was at odds with Marie she formed her own inner circle. The Petit Trianon and her Hamlet were meant to Marie's getaway from the vigor of the demanding French court etiquette and protocol. Those who could not get in mocked it as Marie simply playing peasant. That criticism was just another propaganda piece. Marie was not naive either and was aware of such criticisms or libels against her. She simply did not want to comment on such criticisms to give them credence and who can blame her.
I think the idea that Marie Antoinette was a poor innocent naif is a bit overdone by some. She was, for better or for worse, a very influential part of court politics (she certainly seemed to be more headstrong than her husband, though she was just as clueless politically) and the conservative wing of the royal family. I think her fate was not deserved, but if I think of female victims of the revolutionary onslaught I think of Roland, De Gouges, Corday etc. (Even though I think the Girondins were foolish warmongerers who have even more blood on their hands than the royalists or the mountain). Or the armies of San culotte women who were the engines of the revolution and drove some of its most critical setpieces. Even the enrage women like Pauline Leon, despite their bloodthirsty message are sympathetic in their own way. By contrast, MA constantly begging her brother to come invade despite knowing the implications of that is deeply suspect. That said, I do find her last stand bin court very saddening. That was at the most bizarre and deranged phase of the Terror, after Danton was purged but before Robespierre standardized it (which was its own form of derangement), and the prosecution against the queen made a series of accusations so ghastly that the San culotte women in the crowd - who would have happily killed the despised Austrian themselves - began to boo and hiss the Jacobin delegates.
Is it true that the round concave shaped cocktail glasses are shaped after one of her breasts? This is like a common belief but it is so specific i have never believed it. But like what a weird legacy to have. Edit: just looked it up. It's a champagne glass and the shape i described existed nearly a century before Marie Antoinette existed. It is merely just a legend and and a made up story. Not truth. Still a weird thing to have connected to you.
Marie Antoinette grew to have a 43" bust, so I'm sure she was busty enough to inspire such a thing if it were true,, but they've said the same thing about Diane de Poitiers and Madame de Pompadour as well
I did find out that that specific shape of champagne glass existed before Marie Antoinette and was used to serve sparkling wine. The Marie Antoinette connection came later and is actually not true its just i think a fun story people connect to this because as someone here said Marie Antoinette grew to have very large breasts. It is weird and a bit wrong that the one thing she is most associated with is her boobs and champagne.
No thats not true. It is said that the size of Champagne glasses are after the breasts of Jeanne Antoinette, Madame du Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV. Not Marie Antoinette. Jeanne Antoinette died before Marie Antoinette got married.
Hey, i love your videos! I have two suggestions for you: Maria I and Maria II from Portugal! They were the only two reigning queens of Portugal and, despite having played great roles, it is not very prominent on youtube! I think they would be interesting figures to explore!
for more details on the whole necklace scandal, I highly recommend the episode of "puppet history" covering it! it's really funny, but also very informative!
I've loved viewing your videos of various monarchies, especially the French & English. Have you ever considered doing a bio on Germaine de Stael or the famous Parisian Salons of the 17th & 18th century? Or maybe one on Lafayette or Talleyrand?
A lot of people bashes her on not knowing how to rule a country and her spending habits. I mean, what did you expect from a teenager? Both her and he husband were just not capable for the role. 🤷♀️
I have always absolutely adored Marie Antoinette and saw her as a very misunderstood woman. This video has shown new light on some of her history. Thank you for that.
I read also that had Louis XVI had a mistress things might have been better for MA. The mistresses set fashion, then everyone else followed. The mistresses were hated then ousted. Not the queen
you know, i play this one game where there is a character based on her and her character’s name is bloody queen, where she got stitches on her neck which basically means her head was sewn together with her body, and it said that her dress turned into red from her blood after she was beheaded (the game is identity v, if you know) so after i started the game, i’ve always wondered why she was executed such way and whether or not she deserved it. i also thought she was a france, but now i know she was from austria. and i guess now i have to learn more about her by watching these kind of videos. kudos!!
Palace of Versailles is amazing, not great during holiday seasons, such as Easter or Christmas or in summer, its so busy. We queued over 4 hours in the sun to get inside. But so much to see and the gardens are lovely. Its like going back in time.
Motzart even at his young age was so taken by her beauty that he proposed. But she was already engaged to the dauphin. There’s also a rumor that Motzart fell and Marie helped him up.
So many controversies, so much of suffering and so many subtle manipulations in the lives of these beautiful queens! Maybe it is better to live an uneventful, peaceful life than such a spectacular life!
I think there's a lot of sadness that people don't realize with Marie Antoinette, she seemed like such a sweet person at heart, if not a little oblivious and shallow sometimes. She basically lived in the 18th century equivalent of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, constantly under scrutiny by the court, and it was so obvious that she wasn’t a good match for Louis the 16th. Not only that, they were dealing with a financial crisis that most prepared rulers would struggle with. She clearly was a bright young woman when she put her mind to it, she told those jewlers to divide the necklace and sell it by piece (which isn't a bad idea at all and was probably the best solution to that problem) and America exists greatly because she encouraged Louis to help the soldiers. Hearing that she was so excited to meet the king and how Louis reacted, and how homesick she was just heartbreaking. She wasn't perfect by any means, but she wasn't some wicked gold digger either.
The lives of royals were extremely unjust in history. Marie Antoinette was a wonderful person placed into a terrible situation that was completely out of her control. She was regarded as nothing but a piece upon her mother’s chessboard, and in her mother’s eyes was only an expendable. She was unimportant in her family, evidence for which is provided by the Empress’s constant neglect of her. Maria Theresa saw her as uninteresting, lazy, altogether too pleasure-loving, and - to be quite blunt - stupid. She did not believe that Marie Antoinette would amount to much and therefore did not invest, as she should have, into her education or her upbringing. Marie Antoinette’s utter lack of political education was her mother’s fault, her lack of attention was her mother’s fault. In short, many of Marie Antoinette’s faults were results of the lack of upbringing from her careless mother. Of course, Maria Theresa did have many matters of state to attend to; however, she made it a point to grant some children more attention than others. Evidence for this can be found in her favoritism of Marie Christine, who she doted on affectionately. This extra attention may have been due to a shared birthday (May 13). However, other issues included the fact that Louis XVI also played a significant role in Marie Antoinette’s downfall. It appeared that when it came to their duty to consummate their marriage, he was psychologically unable. This is understandable as he and his new wife did not know each other whatsoever; however, she did attempt to arouse some sort of passion within her husband in order to complete the act and after seven years of marriage, still nothing had happened. Additionally, Louis XV was just as pleasure-loving as Marie Antoinette and spent lavishly on his mistresses and his comfort, leaving all of his debts to be inherited to the unfortunate couple, showing that he was a rather selfish man. Conclusively, Marie Antoinette did not deserve her fate. It was out of her control completely.
She only lived the way she was raised. And in those times there was really nothing expected of a woman of her stature. Men had the power then, so I don't get why she was hated so much. They should have taken the issue to the king and the king alone.
You can’t really blame her for not knowing about her people’s suffering. She was a foreign-born royal who was kept sequestered and expected to be beautiful, charming, and nothing else.
From what I heard she was actually pretty sweet too. She even apologized to the man who literally executed her, for stepping on his foot.
Crookshanks True
L. T C. I heard that as well. Kinda sad.
I don't agree with the past's characterization of her being a cruel, greedy monster; however, regardless of your role in the royal family, the people are your responsibility. It was her duty to be aware of her subjects' suffering, whether this information was given to her, or whether she had to discover it herself. I don't think she intentionally put the country in debt, but she certainly should have taken her role more seriously and looked into how her people lived. (Plus, as Ms. Holliday states in the video, the queen's mother wrote to her often about the dire straits her people were in due in part to her lavish spending. She was made aware repeatedly.)
Oh Danny Boy truth
This channel teaches me more history than school does
I feel ya
I love her videos - it's inspired me to start my own channel about Art History. x
Because school is an indoctrination place?
That’s Awful.
@@Patrick3183 ik all of the history teachers I've had barely knew about the subject so we learned mostly through reading and all of the information is vague and boring and the place i live has a decent education system
"With her shift showing down the back of her dress"
Poor Marie Antoinette was basically showing her underwear in public - how humiliating!
@chippi chippi because she was like 15 and basically had her underwear showing through her dress, her wedding dress, when she is marrying a prince, in front of the entire French court.
chippi chippi the shift is basically a bra. Also no underpants. Just a shift, stockings and garters. Men wore the same as well expect the shift was a shirt. The shift is also called a chemise
@chippi chippi Underpants (or knickers as us Brits say) haven't been invented yet and the reason Marie's shift was showing was because the dress was too small so they couldn't lace it together completely
I wonder how bad it was :( I can’t imagine, especially since she messed up her signature too
chippi chippi no one wore them then. In the 1830s girls stared wearing them but they were basically tubes lied around the waist for the dress to look pretty. They were more widespread and functional and not for show by the 1860s.
Even if Marie hadn't been an excessive spender, her fate would have been the same. The French people were angry and needed someone to hate and she was the perfect candidate. On part because she was simply a woman. She didn't deserve to die the way she did.
Basically people are looking for someone to blame and just because she was part of the aristocrat, she was mainly their target. True that her spendings were undoubtedly a lot, but that reason only doesn't really means that she should receive ALL the hate. She was reported to actually love children and adopted many "peasant" children, she actually pushed her husband to came up to policies that helps the common poor people. During one Christmas, it was noted that she told her daughter she did not buy her any gifts because she has donated all of her money to the poors. She also invited poor children to come and have lunch/dinner with her children so that they can learn not to discriminate poorer ppl.
Her children didn’t deserve their fate either.
"Simply because she was a woman"- her husband was executed first
@@MichaelSmith-zx5lw guess her husband is a woman lol
She did nothing t help, and when her husband was offered a constitutional monarchy she advised him to refused, then she advised him to flee and asked her brother to attack France and crush the revolution, that at the time still wanted to keep them as King and queen. Get some education!
Empress Sisi: Help the Austrian Court is so strict. I wish I could come back to Bavaria.
Queen Marie Antoinette: Stop! The French Court is on an whole other Level.
Russian Court: hold my vodka
I always have felt bad for Marie Antoinette . She really did understand what was really going on in france , she did,'t think it was that bad, but her husband and the french government , knew very well what was going on ,and kept the real matters away from her until it was too late . She loved children ,and even took in children who were parentheses until she could find a loving home for them. She even took in her maids daughter when her maid died , and treated the girl as one of her own ,and was a playmate for her own daughter . Marie also had a home built for excepting mothers ,and children . She Even helped a common man , when he was run over by her driver . She jumped out of her carriage, and attend to the hurt man , until the dr came , she even paid for his care . does that sound like a cold heartless bitch ? To me that doesn't sound like an evil woman at all , just very misunderstood woman who I think was a great person .
Yeah. People can confuse ignorance for maliciousness. Marie was really just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
She used to powder her hair with wheat while the poor people of Paris couldn't even afford food
@@adityas3587 still that is sad but she is so nice
@@adityas3587 Again, she was unaware of what was truly going on. Completely sheltered. She should have listened to her mom.
@@wannabehistorian371 She was against sharing power and wanted to maintain the absolute monarchy. She knew what she was doing. And when finally she got involved in politic, it was only to give he worst advices possible.
Marie Antoinette didn’t deserve all the hate she got during her lifetime.
She didn't, at least not as a child, but 99% of people were starving, so enough is enough
errorsinconduct that wasn't her fault, it was her husband's job to be prepared for a famine
@@brianapennington7384 Technically that supposed to be the job of Louis XV. Louis XVI inherited a bankrupt treasury and a famine. He actually enacted progressive reforms, but the damage had been done.
@@brianapennington7384 her husband inherited a bankrupt treasury as George said, and Marie Antoinette throwing money away didnt exactly help. Even if her husband did everything right, if his wife was spending money like crazy, that's not sustainable
She deserves it all. She was sheltered, yes, but at some point a person has to become aware of their surroundings and take responsibility.
The French court seemed to put all the blame on her for their shortcomings. The money they spent, the culture of adultery. Probably because of how foreign she was. ven the necklace she didn't buy was somehow her fault. Most of what we hear about her is bullying TBH. She sounded really naive. Poor girl, they tore her apart before she had her head chopped off.
She was also a teenager when she became queen as well, and the king and queen were ill-prepared because Louis wasn't even supposed to be king. The plan was that Charles, Louis's brother, was supposed to be king instead.
I feel so bad for Louis and Marie
hearing her story in detail disturbed me because i realised she was just a regular person like all of us
@@thegamingwitch His brother died as a boy. Louis XVI knew from quite a while that he would be king.
@@w23c-e9c What? Are you a princess? daughter of an impress, wife of a king?
so much stupidity and ignorance in just few sentences...
I feel kind of bad for Marie. She didn’t know any better 🥺and she should’ve but she was only a teenager when she was queen. I would’ve been that stupid too
She was not supposed to be involved in politics but she did things that she also was not expected or supposed to do like adopting commoners kids who couldn't feed them and raising them with their own (they are even depicted in family portraits), her and her's husband only sin, because they didn't live a more lavish life than any other monarch, was inherit Luis XV debt who spend only in one of his many mistresses 100 times more than Marie in all her time as a Queen.
Le Petit Trianon and all that it included which was the best of the best was constructed as a gift for Madame du Pompadour, not even a Queen his mistress.
At least Du Bary who also enjoyed Le PetitTrianon and the lavish life of style doing nothing but prostituting herself rightfully did lose her head too because this woman who did abuse her ''title'' as official mistress and didn't show any kindness to common people who were starving why she enjoyed King's unimaginably expensive gifts that the crown at the end couldn't even pay without compromising the people.
Marie Antoinette.,Heeft Lekkere Tietjes..!..Ik vindt ook dat ze de Doodstraf niet Heeft Verdient.!.
forever a teenager? She was in her mid 30s when the revolution started, hardly a teenager.
@@booliev3275 Initially she was and yes she was immature but I think ppl were too mean
Well I agree but stupid is a strong word. I would use the term absent minded. But I agree
Do the most beautiful and most handsome monarchs next.
I'm trying to find some monarchs or royal bloods that's been blessed with looks but-
Empress Elisabeth of Austria! she's quite lovely but she had a very unfortunate royal life
That's because they were mostly inbred monsters. Having said that, Henry the eighth was said to be handsome in his youth
Check these woman out! Louise of Prussia, Princess Alexandra of Bavaria, carlota of Mexico, eugine of Sweden, theodolinde of leuchtenberg
Εlizabeth woodville and her daughter elizabeth of york. isabelle of france.
I mean, the standards of beauty have changrd and so has art. Not every person looks like a supermodel so it's unlikely that royals would too
Oh my gosh....I remember reading the Royal Diaries volume of Marie Antoinette as a tween and being totally immersed in her story, recounting every little detail like you mention in the video and wondering how any teen can go through what Marie did at such as young age (esp the Bedding Ceremony, yikes!). BUT I also thought Marie should’ve studied harder if she had great tutors, but that’s the studious bookworm in me talking!
As a tween who owns the Marie Antoinette royal diary i absolutely agree with everything you.
Apparently being catfished existed in the 1700s
Jael Ortega Henry the 8th al so apparently got “catfished” according to him by Anne of cleeves
@@user-wy1yb7zj1j no he was just but hurt because he tried to cat fish her irk and she found him repulsive and hurt his ego.
Aingeal Jackson Well Henry is the catfish then but I am sure there are earlier one which I don’t know of
Even though she was spoiled, she wasn't the only reason for France's monarchy downfall...
They would have accepted the constitutional monarchy, not declare war to Austria in the hope to crush the revolution and not try to flee... It would have been a complete different outcome.
@@booliev3275 Ya, if im not mistaken Louis was willing to be part of a constitutional monarchy but the people wouldn’t give him the chance
For all the hate she gets for her actions as Queen, I think a lot of people might feel differently upon learning that she was an ignorant child bride thrown headfirst into a sumptuous adult world that encouraged those actions. :(
Well her mother did try to tell her to not be spendy with money and had she let go of her obsession with money spending she could have lived longer and even escaped france but her pride wouldnt let her. she was told to make the right decisions and she chose not too so i dont feel empathy for her she should of listened.
black sheep98 Yet, some people todau wanted an Absolute Monarchy, unaware that the royals are just human beings like normal people who can make mistakes as well.
@@firemangan2731 i never said she was a bad woman she was framed for a lot of crimes she didn't do and was heartbroken over losing her children over and over again and she loved her husband and was a very polite person but if the people are starving and suffering shes spending vicariously and everyone around her is telling a grown woman who's smart enough to comprehend the situation and she still chooses not too i dont feel sympathy shes was in her late 30s almost 40s she knew very well most of her counseling is what drove the people to be financial debt and eventually they got their come ups they weren't going to honor the treaty they made with the people and tried to flee which made their deaths inevitable they were two people who should've never been king or queen.
That what princesses were supposed to do, still better that being born a peasant at that time, isn't it?
@@blacksheep9834 Ya, if im not mistaken she and sister-in-law were framed for r*apping her son when they were imprisoned in “The Tower” aka the Tower they lived at before they died.
The irony is that they ousted a relatively benign monarchy and ended up with a quasi-dictatorship under Napoleon.
That’s usually the irony with revolutions isn’t it?
@@kibbykibby Destroy the german monarchy and you get hitler
Лисичка Yup, same thing happened to Russia, ousted an Autocrat Absolute Monarchy only te be replaced with a communist dictatorship under Lenin, then eventually, Stalin.
Лисичка Well, not all revolutions end that way, take the United States as an example.
It was so vile and disgusting the drawings they created of her. Fascinating woman. The film by Sofia Coppola really lets you in on her inner life, the severe pressure on such a young woman to change what was not within her power is unimaginable on youth today.
I will point out (as I hear it a lot) the hamlet the queen created was actually one of the cheapest created by royals in that era and before it. I’m not saying it was a wise use of money, not at all! But it was what you could consider “smart spending” for the cost of its production. And it is so beautiful and lovingly preserved today.
What wasn’t in her power? So it was impossible to stop spending? She was forced to make those political decisions that blocked commoners from higher positions and uplifted the 1%? really now. She may not have been the only greedy politician who made bad decisions but she definitely contributed to the bad situation and had power to help.
19 year old Louis XVI: We are too young to rule.
Mary Queen of Scots: That's cute.
Marie Antoinette and her husband were too young to rule.
What an amazing video! I love learning about Marie Antoinette.
Just a suggestion: It would be nice if you make a video about empress Maria Leopoldina of Brazil. She was a Habsburg princess who married the heir to the throne of Portugal, but later they both became rulers of an independent Brazilian Empire. She had a rather sad life in Brazil, however she was a brilliant and strong woman and was a major player in brazilian independence!
thedashy Seconded.
Didn't deserve her fate
Marie Antoinette., Heeft Lekkere Tietjes.!.Ik vindt ook dat ze de Doodstraf niet Heeft Verdient.!.
The Affair of the Diamond necklace was ridiculous (but effective). I learned about it from the Puppet History video.
Although an arranged marriage must've sucked, it was pretty normal. Given that she was able to spend lavishly on herself, loved to party, and wasn't married off to an aggressive king twice her age, I don't know if she had such a bad life that justified so much sympathy. However, poverty seemed to have elevated jealousy and false rumors to the point of no return. I think she was blamed for way more than she ever did.
I think the only alternative to marrying well by political arrangement and having royal baby heirs was going to a convent and being a nun.
no one said anything about her having an arranged marriage
Her being born on all souls day is actually a nice foreshadowing on what awaited her in life when u stop to think about it
True….🤔
Yes, so excited! I was waiting for a dedicated Marie Antoinette vid.
They have her diamond earrings
Heidi Scott I’m confused baby. What are talking about?
Marie Antoinette reminds me a lot of tsarina Alexandra in some ways
No Rasputin this time lol
I can see that.
ironically the tsarina was fascinated by marie antoinette and even had a portrait of her in her sitting room
I don't know if this is a fact or fiction that tsarina Alexandrahad a life-size portrait of Marie Antoinette in her private apartments in the winter palace in st Petersburg
Both tsarina Alexandra and tsarina Maria
One of my favorite queens, such an interesting and tragic story. I truly believe she didn’t deserve all the blame for why France was in such a bad situation.
You, Hamilton the musical, and my own love for weird facts are the only reasons I didn't fail my history class
Thanks to her history videos, I'm not too dumb in quarantine anymore
I missed this Queens of Europe series. Beautiful video as always. Thank you 💙.
Yayy!! One of my favorite queens! Even though she was extremely out of touch like most royals, she was so interesting
Realized that this upload on Bastille Day today
I watched Maria Theresa's daughters part 2 last night, and she told me she was going to do a separate video on Marie Antoinette. And it came today. What a coincidence!
This is everything ❤️ can't wait for part 2!
She really is the tragic queen. She was a kind soul who didn’t know about the suffering outside.
Lindsay, I love your videos!! I had covid back in march and i watched almost all of your videos for the duration of my quarantine. I am better now and still watch usually the day of when you post!! Thank u for such thorough videos !
Please do a video on Mary Queen of Scots! I feel like her life is so sad and filled with struggles and sacrifices. She didnt deserve the ending she got but she definitely tried her best.
I’m ready for part two
im so happy that you made a video off of my favorite queen!
Marie Antoinette was a woman who never saw the sea...
Sofia Coppolas movie is of course a more stylistic interpretation but I'm impressed with how much was actually very historically accurate including the one thing she said to Du Barry!
i clicked so fast when is saw this, idk why but I’m really relaxed when I see your videos
Would be nice to get old & die comfortably inbed.
Been waiting for this! :D
I'm so glad you've done a video on Marie. I'm working on a story set during the French Revolution, and now I have an idea for the hamlet that Marie Antoinette had built behind the palace in Versailles.
Learning more and more about Marie Antoinette frigging breaks my heart.
I’ve been waiting for this for months!!!!!!
Omg!! You finally did it! I love you !!!💕
I read somewhere that the reason Maria Carolina and Maria Antionette had to be separated was that their favorite hobby was to make fun of other people at court lol
This is very interesting. Thank you for posting!
Isn't she also accountable for bringing the croissant to France? It evolved from an Austrian pastry, to the now most known French pastry, because of her home sickness, as far as I know.
Honestly, if France wasn’t poor she would’ve been a good queen 🤷🏾♀️ not like she wasn’t an already good queen. The movie about her (2006) portrayed her most accurately imo
Her husband could have been better at governing too
Renias vA I said “In my opinion”
lrose Louis didn’t even want to be ruler tbh
It really created a lot of sympathy in my heart for her. Seeing the agony and helplessness in the early years of her reign and marriage really struck a cord with me, Marie Antionette was a fascinating woman
@@SomePerson_Online True, but that's what you get with a monarchy like that. It's a roll of the dice.
Warning a bit of a long read. It seems this biography has taken the more conservative view of Marie Antoinette. By all accounts she was the ideal Queen consort. She mostly kept out of politics (and only got involved when the situation deteriorated in France with the looming revolution) and fulfilled her duty of providing the French throne with an heir and a space. Albeit seven years was a rather long time. The main thing working against her was the fact that she was Austrian. An olive branch offered to a country that had been at odds with each other for centuries.
France was well on the road to ruin well before they had ascended the throne starting with Louis XV. Louis XV never did properly ensure his heir, grandson Louis Auguste would be ready to take over the throne and left them a country in ruin thinly veiled by the opulence that was Versailles. Marie Antoinette was never properly prepared for her role and that was apparent with her shoddy education. Especially when her marriage alliance became official and she was hastily educated.
Louis XVI was rather a pragmatic and sensible ruler who had to contend with the powerful nobility and clergy who paid no taxes. Unlike his predecessors, he did not have brilliant ministers such as Cardinal Richelieu or Cardinal Mazarin. France's greatest enemy was from within and keeping the powerful nobles families in check. Louis XIII with the help of Cardinal Mazarin reigned in the nobility during a conflict known as the Fronde. Louis XIV stripped their power base by having them close at hand in the court of Versailles. Often the French Revolution of 1789 is cited as a peasant rebellion while in reality the French nobility and even members of the French royal family played a fair share such as Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (cousin to Louis XVI) and Louis Stanislas Xavier, Count of Provence (brother to Louis XVI). The former changed his name to Philippe Égalité during the revolution and was in favor of abolishing the absolute monarchy in favor of a constitutional one. He was also responsible for funding of the libel against the French royal family. Philippe Égalité even voted for the death of his cousin. After all, his family was the second most important in all of France and had the most to gain if the main Bourbon line died out. Marie Antoinette also did not like him. The latter, the Count of Provence was at odds with his brother and wanted to gain political influence in the court. While Louis and Marie failed to produce an heir much to their detriment in those 7 years, it also meant Louis Stanislas was the heir until the birth of his nephew.
Now back to Marie Antoinette. She is often criticized for her spending but it was rather not out of the norm. The French royal family were spending just as much if not exceeding her. Take her spinster aunt-in-laws, Princess Victoire and Princess Adelaide. Even Marie's brother-in-laws, the Count of Provence and Count of Artois were spending the country into ruin. The Count of Provence who went into exile and thus traveled accumulated a debt of totaling 10 million livres, which Louis XVI paid off. To understand the situation Marie Antoinette married into, one has to discuss the rather dysfunctional French royal family.
When Marie Antoinette began to dress down and more informal, she was criticized for not projecting an image worthy of her station as the Queen of France. The portrait of her in the white muslin dress was so controversial, that Marie's favorite artist Vigée Le Brun had it taken it down from exhibition and painted an exact replica but with the Queen in more formal attire. That is why the blue dress portrait is so similar to the white muslin one. Marie was accused of trying to destroy the local French silk industry by patronizing other materials. Yet before that the French "public" accuses Marie of spending too much money despite dressing suitably for the role as Queen of France?
Unlike his predecessors, Louis XVI did not take on a royal mistress. So Marie Antoinette also took on the criticisms that were traditionally laid against the royal mistresses who for the most part were scapegoats. Since the court was at odds with Marie she formed her own inner circle. The Petit Trianon and her Hamlet were meant to Marie's getaway from the vigor of the demanding French court etiquette and protocol. Those who could not get in mocked it as Marie simply playing peasant. That criticism was just another propaganda piece. Marie was not naive either and was aware of such criticisms or libels against her. She simply did not want to comment on such criticisms to give them credence and who can blame her.
Can’t wait to dive in
You should do a video on Carlota of Mexico, her story is really interesting :)
And her husband Maximilian i . He was some months younger than his brother Franz joseph
It always made me truly sad how dirty they made here in Mexico
I’ve been waiting for this yessss!!!!!
I've been waiting for this one
There’s a book called “Parisians” by Graham Robb that has a pretty cool story about Marie Antoinette.
gabriella gulla thank you and that book sounds fun! I love reading books! Thank you for the information!
I think the idea that Marie Antoinette was a poor innocent naif is a bit overdone by some. She was, for better or for worse, a very influential part of court politics (she certainly seemed to be more headstrong than her husband, though she was just as clueless politically) and the conservative wing of the royal family. I think her fate was not deserved, but if I think of female victims of the revolutionary onslaught I think of Roland, De Gouges, Corday etc. (Even though I think the Girondins were foolish warmongerers who have even more blood on their hands than the royalists or the mountain). Or the armies of San culotte women who were the engines of the revolution and drove some of its most critical setpieces. Even the enrage women like Pauline Leon, despite their bloodthirsty message are sympathetic in their own way. By contrast, MA constantly begging her brother to come invade despite knowing the implications of that is deeply suspect.
That said, I do find her last stand bin court very saddening. That was at the most bizarre and deranged phase of the Terror, after Danton was purged but before Robespierre standardized it (which was its own form of derangement), and the prosecution against the queen made a series of accusations so ghastly that the San culotte women in the crowd - who would have happily killed the despised Austrian themselves - began to boo and hiss the Jacobin delegates.
Is it true that the round concave shaped cocktail glasses are shaped after one of her breasts? This is like a common belief but it is so specific i have never believed it. But like what a weird legacy to have.
Edit: just looked it up. It's a champagne glass and the shape i described existed nearly a century before Marie Antoinette existed. It is merely just a legend and and a made up story. Not truth. Still a weird thing to have connected to you.
Marie Antoinette grew to have a 43" bust, so I'm sure she was busty enough to inspire such a thing if it were true,, but they've said the same thing about Diane de Poitiers and Madame de Pompadour as well
I did find out that that specific shape of champagne glass existed before Marie Antoinette and was used to serve sparkling wine. The Marie Antoinette connection came later and is actually not true its just i think a fun story people connect to this because as someone here said Marie Antoinette grew to have very large breasts. It is weird and a bit wrong that the one thing she is most associated with is her boobs and champagne.
No thats not true. It is said that the size of Champagne glasses are after the breasts of Jeanne Antoinette, Madame du Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV. Not Marie Antoinette. Jeanne Antoinette died before Marie Antoinette got married.
Please never stop making videos ❤️❤️❤️
Your videos are always so detailed and informed!
Hey my hair is a boat
-Marie Antoinette
Marie is one of my favorite Queens. She was very misunderstood and got blamed for a lot of what wasn't her fault.
Hey, i love your videos! I have two suggestions for you: Maria I and Maria II from Portugal! They were the only two reigning queens of Portugal and, despite having played great roles, it is not very prominent on youtube! I think they would be interesting figures to explore!
5:52 Marie Antoinette: IMA mAtEriAl gWoRl💅💅💅 the broke peasants: working their butts off to eat and not starve to death
Marie: Didn't understand birds and the bees...
Also her: *DiD anYoNe saY *****
she didn't deserve to be hated like she was
Feeling proud of myself because I knew about the necklace scandal from the episode of Puppet History on it.
Yes Ive been waiting for this
Both Louis and Marie were too young to rule, especially Marie, who didn’t know what was going outside.
What happened to the third installment of American princess
There isn’t one😔
I guess we have to wait to the 22nd century
I think most people are more interested in blood royals from history than modern day American women marrying into royalty.
for more details on the whole necklace scandal, I highly recommend the episode of "puppet history" covering it! it's really funny, but also very informative!
I've loved viewing your videos of various monarchies, especially the French & English. Have you ever considered doing a bio on Germaine de Stael or the famous Parisian Salons of the 17th & 18th century? Or maybe one on Lafayette or Talleyrand?
A lot of people bashes her on not knowing how to rule a country and her spending habits. I mean, what did you expect from a teenager?
Both her and he husband were just not capable for the role. 🤷♀️
She didn't died as a teenager. She was already 20 when she became queen.
Loved it! Part 2 please!!
Finally! Thank you!♥️
Those dresses look agonizing
the cottage that marie built is actually really nice i’ve been there but it most have cost a fortune
I have always absolutely adored Marie Antoinette and saw her as a very misunderstood woman. This video has shown new light on some of her history. Thank you for that.
Despite being a Habsburg, she was gorgeous. One of my favourite queens!
I read also that had Louis XVI had a mistress things might have been better for MA. The mistresses set fashion, then everyone else followed. The mistresses were hated then ousted. Not the queen
Finally a nice video in quarantine
you know, i play this one game where there is a character based on her and her character’s name is bloody queen, where she got stitches on her neck which basically means her head was sewn together with her body, and it said that her dress turned into red from her blood after she was beheaded (the game is identity v, if you know) so after i started the game, i’ve always wondered why she was executed such way and whether or not she deserved it. i also thought she was a france, but now i know she was from austria. and i guess now i have to learn more about her by watching these kind of videos. kudos!!
nice timing. uploading a french themed video on the national day of france
Palace of Versailles is amazing, not great during holiday seasons, such as Easter or Christmas or in summer, its so busy.
We queued over 4 hours in the sun to get inside. But so much to see and the gardens are lovely. Its like going back in time.
Motzart even at his young age was so taken by her beauty that he proposed. But she was already engaged to the dauphin. There’s also a rumor that Motzart fell and Marie helped him up.
The narrator's voice is so relaxing to listen to
I love your channel so much! Keep up the great work♥️
So incredible!
You should do a video on Charlotte, Princess of Wales
There's no Charlotte, Princess of Wales but there is a Princess Charlotte of Wales
I know I'm so out of place, but I grew up watching the anime Lady Oscar and I'm so (surprised) glad it's so historically accurate
So many controversies, so much of suffering and so many subtle manipulations in the lives of these beautiful queens! Maybe it is better to live an uneventful, peaceful life than such a spectacular life!
2 dislikes!!! They are the french revolutionaries descendants for sure
I think there's a lot of sadness that people don't realize with Marie Antoinette, she seemed like such a sweet person at heart, if not a little oblivious and shallow sometimes. She basically lived in the 18th century equivalent of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, constantly under scrutiny by the court, and it was so obvious that she wasn’t a good match for Louis the 16th. Not only that, they were dealing with a financial crisis that most prepared rulers would struggle with. She clearly was a bright young woman when she put her mind to it, she told those jewlers to divide the necklace and sell it by piece (which isn't a bad idea at all and was probably the best solution to that problem) and America exists greatly because she encouraged Louis to help the soldiers.
Hearing that she was so excited to meet the king and how Louis reacted, and how homesick she was just heartbreaking. She wasn't perfect by any means, but she wasn't some wicked gold digger either.
My go to European history lesson channel 😃😃😃 thank you Lindsay
for the next video after the Marie Antoinette mini series, I think you should make one about Charlotte of Mecklenberg-Strelitz
Awkward. Why couldn't the court just leave them alone.
Finally some good drama
Is it a coincidence that I was just listening to Antonia the musical when this popped up on my notifications? 🤨😂💖
The lives of royals were extremely unjust in history. Marie Antoinette was a wonderful person placed into a terrible situation that was completely out of her control. She was regarded as nothing but a piece upon her mother’s chessboard, and in her mother’s eyes was only an expendable. She was unimportant in her family, evidence for which is provided by the Empress’s constant neglect of her. Maria Theresa saw her as uninteresting, lazy, altogether too pleasure-loving, and - to be quite blunt - stupid. She did not believe that Marie Antoinette would amount to much and therefore did not invest, as she should have, into her education or her upbringing. Marie Antoinette’s utter lack of political education was her mother’s fault, her lack of attention was her mother’s fault. In short, many of Marie Antoinette’s faults were results of the lack of upbringing from her careless mother. Of course, Maria Theresa did have many matters of state to attend to; however, she made it a point to grant some children more attention than others. Evidence for this can be found in her favoritism of Marie Christine, who she doted on affectionately. This extra attention may have been due to a shared birthday (May 13). However, other issues included the fact that Louis XVI also played a significant role in Marie Antoinette’s downfall. It appeared that when it came to their duty to consummate their marriage, he was psychologically unable. This is understandable as he and his new wife did not know each other whatsoever; however, she did attempt to arouse some sort of passion within her husband in order to complete the act and after seven years of marriage, still nothing had happened. Additionally, Louis XV was just as pleasure-loving as Marie Antoinette and spent lavishly on his mistresses and his comfort, leaving all of his debts to be inherited to the unfortunate couple, showing that he was a rather selfish man.
Conclusively, Marie Antoinette did not deserve her fate. It was out of her control completely.
She only lived the way she was raised. And in those times there was really nothing expected of a woman of her stature. Men had the power then, so I don't get why she was hated so much. They should have taken the issue to the king and the king alone.