Tea at Trianon: Blessed Charles of Austria and Empress Zita

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Blessed Charles of Austria and Empress Zita

Here is an article from a few years ago about Blessed Emperor Karl von Habsburg and his empress, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, another union of the Bourbon and Habsburg families, just like Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Share

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: Empress Zita makes an appearance at the end of "Madame Royale." Very apropos.; January 16, 2007 at 1:56:00 PM EST
Jeffrey Smith said...: What a wonderful article! The thought of HIRH, The Archduke---correction, HIRM, The Emperor Otto behaving in such a magnificent manner will stay with me for a long time.; January 16, 2007 at 6:04:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Jeffrey. It was sent to me by Monsieur de Brantigny, one of our regular contributors. I think it contains a lot of info.; January 16, 2007 at 6:16:00 PM EST
Jovan-Marya Weismiller, T.O.Carm. said...: Mr Smith,

Yet another (but very friendly!) correction. It is not HIRM Otto, since the Crown of Hungary is not "Royal" but "Apostolic" by grant of the Pope to St Istvan. The title is "His Imperial and Apostolic Majesty".

It is my great honour that HIAM Otto and his gracious consort, HIAM Regina, are the godparents of my youngest daughter.

Hoch der Kaiser!; January 16, 2007 at 8:41:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Very interesting, thank you, sir!; January 16, 2007 at 8:48:00 PM EST