A place for friends to meet... with reflections on politics, history, art, music, books, morals, manners, and matters of faith.
A blog by Elena Maria Vidal.
"She was not a guilty woman, neither was she a saint; she was an upright, charming woman, a little frivolous, somewhat impulsive, but always pure; she was a queen, at times ardent in her fancies for her favourites and thoughtless in her policy, but proud and full of energy; a thorough woman in her winsome ways and tenderness of heart, until she became a martyr."
"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."
"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
A Note on Reviews
Unless otherwise noted, any books I review on this blog I have either purchased or borrowed from the library, and I do not receive any compensation (monetary or in-kind) for the reviews.
I am disappointed to hear that Nancy Goldstone fills her book on Marie-Antoinette with the same lies that the revolutionaries used to destroy her reputation. I so enjoyed Goldstone's books on Elizabeth Stuart and Marguerite de Valois. But to say that Marie-Antoinette's youngest children were illegitimate is utterly contrary to what we know about the Queen. And Louis XVI may have been high-functioning on the Asperger's/autism spectrum but that did not keep him from loving his wife and fathering children. So many old fallacies resurrected. What a shame! From Caroline Weber at The New York Times:
In her new biography, “In the Shadow of
the Empress,” Nancy Goldstone seeks to tell “the story of a family of
immensely strong women, beginning with Marie Antoinette’s formidable
mother, the empress Maria Theresa … and three of her daughters, of whom
the notorious queen of France was but the youngest.” (The other two are
Queen Maria Carolina of Naples and Marie Christine, Duchess of Techsen.)
Goldstone, the author of books about Catherine de Medici and Mary,
Queen of Scots, is drawn to female royals who defy “tradition and
stereotype,” and on that count her new subjects have much to offer.
Regrettably, her book does not.
The
problem starts with the “selected genealogy” that opens the book, where
Goldstone lists the two youngest of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI’s
four children, Louis-Charles (later Louis XVII) and Sophie, as the
illegitimate offspring of Count Axel von Fersen, a Swedish officer whom
the queen undoubtedly loved, but with whom, as the scholar Susan Lanser
wrote in 2003, “no one yet … has been able to establish whether she had a
consummated relationship.” Indeed, historians and biographers generally
agree that the evidentiary record cannot answer this question
conclusively.
On
the one hand, speculation about the nature of the pair’s involvement
was rife at Versailles, where scabrous rumor-mongering — especially
about the ladies of the court — had flourished for more than a century.
On the other, Marie Antoinette’s rank subjected her to the
round-the-clock company and scrutiny of countless attendants, domestics
and (during the French Revolution) guards. So closely monitored was her
existence that of her 15-year friendship with Fersen his own diary —
which Goldstone includes in her bibliography, and which Stefan Zweig
describes in his influential study of Marie Antoinette as “a record of
incomparable value for those who love ‘hard facts’” — identifies just
one specific date on which the pair may have spent the night alone
together. That hypothetical tryst occurred in February 1792, nearly
seven years after Louis-Charles’s birth and five and a half years after
Sophie’s. Even so, Goldstone justifies her claim about the two
children’s paternity by asserting without qualification that the “Nordic
dreamboat” was “the queen’s lover” and “stayed with her many nights.” (Read more.)
I cannot even begin to say how ridiculous the idea of a 1792 affair is, because the Queen was under house arrest at the Tuileries, with guards outside the door and coming into her rooms at all time of the day and night. I have written more about this HERE, HERE, and HERE. And in my bio of Marie-Antoinette, HERE.
Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, Dauphine of France, wife of Louis the Dauphin, was the mother of Louis XVI. It is said that her little grandson, the tragic Louis XVII,
resembled her a great deal, as can be seen in the portrait below. It
gives further lie to the ridiculous rumor that Count Axel von Fersen
fathered Louis-Charles (Louis XVII).
Take comfort in knowing that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI are, in all likelihood, saints in Heaven. They were totally, 200 percent, martyred for the Faith and I credit you immensely for your well-researched and cited books that back it all up. In time I pray that the rotten fruits of freemasonry (democracy and socialism) will be destroyed and once the Great Monarch returns to power in France, the lies about Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette will be exposed and corrected once and for all.
Marie-Antoinette "en gaulle" by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
#1 in Kindle Biographies of Royalty!
Marie-Antoinette, Daughter of the Caesars: Her Life, Her Times, Her Legacy
An Audible Bestseller
Marie-Antoinette, Daughter of the Caesars: Her Life, Her Times, Her Legacy
An Amazon Bestseller
Trianon: A Novel of Royal France
My Queen, My Love: A Novel of Henrietta Maria
Available from Amazon
The Saga of Marie-Antoinette's daughter, Marie-Thérèse of France
A Novel of the Restoration
In Kirkus Top 20 for 2014! And #1 in Kindle Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction
"In every Eden, there dwells a serpent . . . ."
#1 in Kindle History of France!
The Night's Dark Shade: A Novel of the Cathars
Listen to Tea at Trianon Radio
All about Marie-Antoinette!
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3 comments:
Take comfort in knowing that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI are, in all likelihood, saints in Heaven. They were totally, 200 percent, martyred for the Faith and I credit you immensely for your well-researched and cited books that back it all up. In time I pray that the rotten fruits of freemasonry (democracy and socialism) will be destroyed and once the Great Monarch returns to power in France, the lies about Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette will be exposed and corrected once and for all.
Thank you for your kind words.
I think i know who the Great Monarch is but i prefer to keep that to myself for now.
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