Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/80

MARIE ANTOINETTE. Maria Theresa, and was born at Vienna, Xoveni- ber 2, 17.55. At the age of fourteen she was betrothed to the French Daupliin. and in the fol- lowing year was married at Versailles. Her re- ception by her husband and the King, Louis XV., was flattering; but her nai'vcti'-. unceremonious pleasantry, and detestation of rigid etiquette scandalized Versailles. Soon after the accession of Louis XVI. (1774), libels were circulated by her enemies, chief among them being the Count of Provence, younger brother of the King, who subsequently ruled as Louis XVI II., accusing her of constant intrigues, not one of which has ever , been proved. Her faults as a queen (and in that age, rapidlj- growing earnest, angry, and iinl)it- tered, they were fatal ones) were a certain levity of disposition, girlish love of ]ilcasure, banquets, and fine dress, an aristocratic indifTerence to general opinion, and a lamentable incapacity to see the actual misery of France. She attempted to use her inlluence with Louis X'l. to shape the foreign jjolicy of France in accordance with the interests of Austria, but her unconcealed pro-Austrian .sympathies aroused dissatisfaction among the nation and gained her the unpleasant epithet of "the .ustrian Wonum" ( r.lulrichif/ntc) . The affair of the Diamond Necklace (q.v.),in 178.5. hopelessly compromised her good name in the eyes of the public. Her intluence on the internal politics of the eoinitry was not more fiirtunale. Lomonie de Bricnne and Calonnc were ministers of her choice, and she shared the ii])pr(ibriuMi called down upon them for their n'ckless squandering of the national finances. She strongly opposed the summoning of the Notables (1787). and of the States-General (1789); and she had good reason to dread their convocation, for one of the very first things the Notables did was to declare the Queen the cause of the derangement of the finances. From the lirsl hour of the Revolution she was an object of fanatical hatred to the iiioli of Paris, who regarded her as conspiring willi her brother. Leopi>lil II. of .ustria. for the re- establishment of the al)solute monarchy. In hours of crisis her resolute bearing spurred on the weak-willed Louis XV'I. to spasmodic assertions of his authority without bringing him to take a decisive step in defense of his rights. After the removal of the royal family from Versailles to the Ttiileries (October 0, 178!)). she attempted on various occasions to coniiliate the good will of the people, but failed before the vindictive enmity of the Parisian jiopulace. Out of hatred of Mirabean she could not be brought to accept the aid of the man who alone might have saved the monarchy from destruction. At last she re- solved on flight. Her husband long refused to abandon his country, but .she could not go with- out him. and finally the King consented. The flight took place on the night of .Tune iOth. but the royal fugitives were recognized and turned back at Varennes. The flight to Varennes only served to confirm the popular belief as 'to the (Jueen's intrigiu' with foreign powers, and, as a matter of fact, there is no doubt that Marie Antoinette had corresponded and continued to correspond with her brother relative to the in- vasion of France by an .Austrian army for the purpose of rescuing the royal family. On June 20, 1702. a mob invaded the Tiiileries. forced Louis XVI. to don a liberty cap, and heaped outrageous insults on the ueen as they filed past her throughout the .Ti-niir pnrl fif I lie afternoon. On August 10th came the final storm- ing of the Tuileries. Marie Antoinette's guards wvve murdered at her chamber door, and the unhappy Queen was compelled to seek refuge with her liu.sband in the hall of the Conven- tion, whence they were consigned on the 13th as prisoners to the Temple. Louis XVI. was executed on January 21, 1793. Marie Antoi- nette was separated from her son July 3, 1793, and on August 1st was removed to the C'oncier- gerie. Twice while she was a jjrisoner in the Temple were unsuccessful attempts made to ell'ect her escape. On October 14th she was brought be- fore the Revolutionary Tribunal, and charged with fomenting civil war and lending coiuisel to the. foreign enemies of France. Testiniimy against her was given by the unspeakable H<'l)crt, who sought to blacken her personal character with trumped-up charges. She was found guilty of treason after a two days' trial, was condeimied to death on October Kith, and was executed the same day.

The tragic fate of JIarie Antoinette has given rise to a voluminous literature, in which the Queen has been depicted as the victim, the sainted martyr, almost, of the Revolution. In reaction against this view, other writers have dealt with her character and with her role in French his- tory in a spirit of cruel analysis that probably sins in its way as much as the exaggeration of the sentimentalists.

liiiii.i(i!Ai>iiv. The memoirs of Madame de Canipan, lady-in-waiting to the Queen, are im- portant. They were first ])ublished in France in 1822, and liave since appeared in numerous French and Knglish editions. The latest edition in Eng- lish is entitled The I'rivate Life of Marie An- loiiiettc. Queen of Frnnee and Sararre (New York, 1887). Much of the Queen's correspondence lias been published by Von .rncth. d'Hunolstcin, I)e Reisct. and (i<'lii(iy. The iiiciiioirs of the Prince de Ligne anil the Duke de Choiseul are of value. Consult, also: MieUnell, The .S'(on/ of Marie Antoinette (New York. 1897): .Jacob. "I'ebcr den politischen Einfiuss der Konigin Marie An- toinette von Frankreich." in IliKlorisehcs Ta- .iclunbtieh, vol. ix. (Leijizig, 1838), with a list of authorities; Lenotre, La eaplirite et la mart de Marie Antoinette (Paris, 1897); Weber, La jeunesse de Marie Antoinette (ib., 1897); Les- cure. IjU vraie Marie Antoinette (ib., 1863); E. and .T. de Goncourt. Ilistoire de Marie Antoinette (ib.. 18r.8 and 1S7S).

MARIE DE FRANCE, dc friiNs (twelfth century y). The earliest l'"rench poet. She was born in France. She dedicated her fables to a certain William, whom some have identified with William Longsword of Salisburv; and she alludes in her Falilen to a king, sometimes iden- tified with Henry III, of England. If these hypotheses be correct, it would appear that she lived in England and in the early thirteenth ceilturv. but textual evidence points to an earlier date. She wrote Lais and a collection of animal fables, a so-called Ysopit. A poem of 2300 lines on Saint Patrick's purgatory ( L'lxitufiatnire ffeint Patriz) she derived from a Latin treatise by Henry of Saltrey, written before ll8o. The Lais are fourteen narrative poems, ranging in length from 100 to 1200 verses. Of these the best known is the Chivrrfruillr. describ- ing an episode in the loves of Tristan and Isenlt (Isolde); the finest is Elidue. Noteworthy