Friday, September 18, 2015

Count Hans Axel von Fersen: A Short Bio

Although I do not believe that Fersen had an affair with Marie-Antoinette, which I have written and spoken about at length, he was devoted to the Queen and to her husband Louis XVI, and was one of the faithful friends who worked hard to rescue the Royal Family. Madame Gilflurt has a post about the Count's remarkable life. To quote:
Fersen remained fiercely loyal to Marie Antoinette and her family, remaining at court as the clouds of revolution gathered. With the worsening situation he began assisting with plans to get the family to safety, playing an important role in the ill-fated flight to Varennes. It was Fersen who commissioned the carriage that would carry the Marie Antoinette, Louis and their children and he even travelled with them on part of their unsuccessful journey to the border. One can only imagine the horror with which he must have greeted news of their capture and from that moment, there would be no more hope of escape for the doomed family.

With the  situation in France growing ever more dire, Fersen was dispatched to Austria to entreat Emperor Leopold to join a coalition in support of the French monarchy. When Leopold proved himself disinterested in the idea, Fersen requested that he be released from the pointless mission and returned to France. At great danger to himself, he presented himself in Paris under an assumed identity and stole into the Tuileries, where he was able to spend an evening with the king and queen discussing counterrevolutionary plans. He made further secret visits but his audacity was to prove unrewarded, the royal family utterly trapped. (Read more.)
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1 comment:

Hans Georg Lundahl said...

Thank you for linking.

The information of how he died seems like the liberal revenge on this not so much reactionary as primary Ancien Régime man, and as a way to avoid him swaying things (the 1809 revolution was illegal and could have landed people to quartering, as was the case with Anckarström, if it hadn't stayed successful and in control) in favour of the legitimate line.

I think 4 Sept Gregorian 1755, precisely like 6 Sept Gregorian 1968, would without the Gregorian reform have been styled same Julian date.

24th of August, St Bartholomew.

So, in a way, we were "born the same day".