Tea at Trianon: The Royal Family at Mass

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

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The Royal Family at Mass

Mass while under house arrest at the Tuileries in 1792. Share

5 comments:

Unknown said...: Missing your radio show. Would love to hear about Advent/Christmas traditions at Versailles. You mentioned a biography on MA that should be coming out. Is that still in the works?; December 30, 2015 at 12:13:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you for asking. I will include a section about Advent and Christmas at Versailles in the book about Marie-Antoinette. The new release date for the book is Feb 11, 2016.; December 30, 2015 at 2:55:00 PM EST
Kaitlyn said...: Oh yes! I was wondering what the King and Queen did at Christmas. Would love to know what traditions there were at Versailles! Also, will a lot of information be included about Louis as well as Antoinette?; December 30, 2015 at 9:18:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, there will be a lot about Louis.; December 30, 2015 at 9:30:00 PM EST
Kaitlyn said...: Glad to hear it. You can do them both justice! Their lives were so entwined. It would be wrong not to include them both. His story is integral to hers and vice versa.; December 31, 2015 at 3:12:00 PM EST