| Marie Antoinette | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portrait, c. 1775 | |||||
| Queen consort of France | |||||
| Tenure | 10 May 1774 – 21 September 1792 | ||||
| Born | Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria 2 November 1755 Hofburg, Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire | ||||
| Died | 16 October 1793 (aged 37) Place de la Révolution, Paris, France | ||||
| Cause of death | Execution by guillotine | ||||
| Burial | 21 January 1815 | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | |||||
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| House | Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
| Father | Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor | ||||
| Mother | Maria Theresa | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
| Coat of arms |  | ||||
Marie Antoinette (/ˌæntwəˈnɛt, ˌɒ̃t-/;[1] French: [maʁi ɑ̃twanɛt] ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last Queen of France prior to the French Revolution and the French First Republic. Marie Antoinette was the wife of Louis XVI. Born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, she was the penultimate child and youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. She married Louis XVI, Dauphin of France, in May 1770 at age 14. She then became the Dauphine of France. On 10 May 1774, her husband ascended the throne as Louis XVI and she became queen.
As queen, Marie Antoinette became increasingly a target of criticism by opponents of the domestic and foreign policies of Louis XVI, and those opposed to the monarchy in general. The French libelles accused her of being profligate,[2] promiscuous, having illegitimate children, and harboring sympathies for France's perceived enemies, including her native Austria. She was falsely accused of defrauding the Crown's jewelers in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, but the accusations damaged her reputation further. During the French Revolution, she became known as Madame Déficit because the country's financial crisis was blamed on her lavish spending and her opposition to social and financial reforms proposed by Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Jacques Necker.
Several events were linked to Marie Antoinette during the Revolution after the government placed the royal family under house arrest in the Tuileries Palace in October 1789. The June 1791 attempted flight to Varennes and her role in the War of the First Coalition were immensely damaging to her image among French citizens. On 10 August 1792, the attack on the Tuileries forced the royal family to take refuge at the Assembly, and they were imprisoned in the Temple Prison on 13 August 1792. On 21 September 1792, France was declared a republic and the monarchy was abolished. Louis XVI was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793. Marie Antoinette's trial began on 14 October 1793; two days later, she was convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of high treason and executed by beheading by guillotine on 16 October 1793 at the Place de la Révolution during the French Revolution.
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-3-12-539683-8.
- ^ Royal household spending in 1788 was 13% of total state expenses(excluding interest on debts).(Finances of Louis XVI (1788) | Nicholas E. Bomba https://blogs.nvcc.edu Archived 20 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine › nbomba › files › 2016/10, https://books.google.com/books?id=ixJWG9q0Eo4C