Tea at Trianon: Josephine's Jewels

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

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Josephine's Jewels

Lucy has an extensive post on the jewelry collection of Napoleon's first wife. Share

4 comments:

M Buvat de Virginy said...: Elena, maybe you can answer this question. I know I've read this somewhere- isn't it true that Marie-Antoinette actually spent less than Josephine on clothing and jewellery ?

Thank you !
Charles-Antoine; January 31, 2009 at 12:11:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, I have read that, too, and not only on clothes and jewels but on houses, gardens, and pets, Josephine spent more than the Queen. However, people were willing to forgive and overlook Josephine's faults and she was always beloved and popular in France. But then, Josephine was not as much a threat to the forces of change and revolution as Marie-Antoinette had been, and so there was not the same effort to discredit her. In Marie-Antoinette's case, she was an Austrian and the mother of the heir and so the propaganda against her was fierce.; January 31, 2009 at 5:21:00 PM EST
Lucy said...: Hello Elena. Yes that is so true about the difference in perception of both Josephine and MA. Anything MA did was always scrutinized and criticized. Poor Queen. Thanks so much for linking me! I'm really honored.; January 31, 2009 at 9:13:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: You are welcome, Lucy. Josephine is one of my favorite historical people. I dressed up like her one year for Halloween.; January 31, 2009 at 9:26:00 PM EST