Marie-Antoinette, Daughter of the Caesars

by Elena Maria Vidal

  27. Bertière, p. 364.

  28. Webster, Paul. “Marriage myths.” The Guardian. August 2, 2002.

  29. Webster, 1937, p. 157.

  30. Fraser, p.156.

  31. Lever, ed., p. 291. Letter from Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, August 30, 1777.

  32. Ibid, p. 293. Letter from Comte de Mercy to Maria Theresa, September 12, 1777.

  33. Seward, Desmond. Marie Antoinette. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1981, p.81.

  34. Bertière, pp. 374, 401.

  Chapter 6: Death and Coronation

  1. Marie-Antoinette, Reine de France, I, p. 41. Letter from Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, January 13, 1773.

  2. Seward, p. 43.

  3. Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche et al. Correspondance secrète entre Marie-Thérèse et le comte de Mercy-Argenteau, avec les lettres de Marie-Thérèse et de Marie-Antoinette, 2 Volumes. Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1874, I, pp. 63-64. Letter from Comte de Mercy to Maria Theresa, November 12, 1773.

  4. Brière, p. 64.

  5. Ibid, p. 67.

  6. Fraser, p. 116.

  7. Brière, p. 68.

  8. Cronin, p. 74.

  9. Ibid, p. 68.

  10. Lever, ed., p.183.

  11. Ibid.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Delorme, p. 96.

  14. Cronin, p. 77.

  15. Ibid.

  16. Ibid.

  17. Ibid, p. 79.

  18. Fraser, p. 134.

  19. Vidal, Elena Maria. “The Happy Day of France.” Tea at Trianon, November 10, 2011.

  20. Petitfils, p. 210.

  21. Leo XIII. “Nobilissima Gallorum Gens: On the Religious Question in France His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, February 8, 1884.” New Advent, 2007.

  22. Kurth, Godefroid. “Clovis.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908.

  23. Petitfils, pp. 209, 211.

  24. Dawson, William Francis. Christmas: Its Origin and Associations. London: Elliot Stock, 1902, p. 9.

  25. Goyau, Georges. “Hugh Capet.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.

  26. Kanehl, Steven R. “Jehanne la Pucelle: A mini-biography, February 1431.” The Joan of Arc Center.

  27. Bertière, p. 248.

  28. Lever, ed., p. 215. Letter from Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, June 22, 1775.

  29. Bertière p. 249.

  30. Lever, ed., p. 215. Letter from Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, June 22, 1775.

  31. Smythe, Lillian C. The Guardian of Marie Antoinette: Letters from the Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, Austrian Ambassador to the Court of Versailles, to Marie Thérêse, Empress of Austria, 1770-1780, 2 Volumes. London: Hutchinson and Company, 1902, I, p. 419.

  32. Gazette de France, no. 49 (19 June 1775), 221.

  33.Doyle, William. “The Execution of Louis XVI and the End of the French Monarchy.” History Today, Issue 36, March 2000.

  Chapter 7: Their Most Christian Majesties

  1. Campan, p. 93.

  2. Lever, ed., p. 225. Letter from Marie-Antoinette to Count von Rosenburg, July 13, 1775.

  3. Ibid, p. 226. Letter from Maria Theresa to Comte de Mercy, August 13, 1775.

  4. Webster, 1937, p. 52.

  5. Campan, p. 94.

  6. Dégert, Antoine. “Gallicanism.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Cronin, p. 349.

  9. Shawn Tribe, “Bonniwell: The Solemn Mass in the Gallican Rite of the 7th-8th Century.” The New Liturgical Movement, October 10, 2009.

  10. Seward, p. 128.

  11. Anderson, James Maxwell. Daily Life During the French Revolution. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2007, p. 61-62.

  12. Miltoun, Francis. Royal Palaces and Parks of France. Boston: L. C. Page and Company, 1910, pp. 43-46.

  13. Grubin, David. “Grand Park.” Marie-Antoinette and the French Revolution. David Grubin Productions, September 13, 2006.

  14. Thrale, Hester Lynch. “Thrales meet King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.” Thrale.com, 20 September 2009.

  15. C. Weber, p. 93.

  16. Campan, p. 46.

  17. Yonge, pp. 62-63.

  18. Schama, Simon. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. New York: Vintage Books, 1989, pp. 419-420.

  19. Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin. Portraits of the eighteenth century: historic and literary, Volumes 1-2, translated by Katharine Wormley. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1905, I, p. 465.

  20. Campan, p.165.

  21. Bernier, ed., pp. 211-212. Letter from Marie-Antoinette to Marie Theresa, February 17, 1777.

  22. Fraser, p. 160.

  23. Yonge, p. 94.

  24. Campan, p. 167.

  25. Rocheterie, Vol. I, p. 119.

  26. Saint-Amand, Imbert de. Marie Antoinette and the End of the Old Régime, trans. Thomas Sergeant Perry. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914, pp. 4.

  27. Webster, Nesta H. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during the Revolution. New York: Gordon Press, 1976, p. 175.

  28. Webster, 1937, pp. 292-293.

  29. Campan, pp. 71-72.

  30. Petitfils, p. 299

  31. Webster, 1976, pp. 41-42.

  32. Webster, 1937, p. 206.

  33. Ibid., p. 207.

  34. Ibid.

  35. Petitfils, p. 246.

  36. McCullough, David. John Adams. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002, p. 202.

  37. Ibid.

  38. Ibid., p. 213.

  39. Ibid., p. 203.

  40. Ibid., pp. 212-213.

  41. Nagel, Susan. Marie-Thérèse: Child of Terror. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008, p. 49.

  42. Delors, Catherine. “Lapérouse, explorer extraordinaire, at the Musée de la Marine.” Versailles and More. May 20, 2008.

  Chapter 8: Follies and Escapades

  1. Fraser, pp 146-147.

  2. Hamilton, Ross, “Playing with Chance: Rousseau's Illumination.” The Romanic Review, May 2004, Vol. 95, No. 3.

  3. Barnhart, Russell T. “Gambling in revolutionary Paris — The Palais Royal: 1789–1838.” Journal of Gambling Studies, Summer 1992, Volume 8, Issue 2, pp. 151-166.

  4. Bicknell, pp. 95-97.

  5. Campan, p. 96.

  6. Rocheterie, I, p. 147.

  Chapter 9: Marie-Antoinette and the Arts

  1. Rocheterie, I, pp. 46, 107.

  2. Bernier, ed., p. 40. Letter of Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, July 12, 1770.

  3. Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France et al. Royal Memoirs on the French Revolution, translated by John Wilson Croker. London: John Murray, 1823, p. 184.

  4. Goodman, ed., pp. 54-55.

  5. Vigée-Lebrun, Louise-Élisabeth. Souvenirs of Madame Vigée Le Brun, translated by Morris Franklin Tyler. New York: R. Worthington, 1879, p. 40.

  6. Ibid. p.46.

  7. Delors, Catherine. “Marie-Antoinette’s best likeness.” Versailles and More, July 28, 2008.

  8. Ibid. “Marie Antoinette naked?” Versailles and More, November 8, 2012.

  9. Lever, ed., p. 293. Letter from Comte de Mercy to Maria Theresa, September 12, 1777.

  10. Goodman, ed., p. 65.

  11. Cronin, p. 216.

  12. Brown, Leah Marie. “Tuesday's Treasure: Marie Antoinette's Books.” Titillating Tidbits: The Life and Times of Marie-Antoinette, January 10, 2012.

  13. “Legacy Library: Marie Antoinette.” The Library Thing. http://www.librarything.com/profile/MarieAntoinette

  Chapter 10: Marie-Antoinette and Music

  1. Cronin, pp. 217-218.

  2. Campan, p. 85.

  3. Wygant, Amy. “Fire, Sacrifice, Iphigénie.” French Studies: A Quarterly Review, 60.3. 2006, pp. 305-319.

  4. Smythe, II, p. 403.

  5. Saint-Amand, Imbert de. The Duchess of Angoulême and the Two Restorations. New York: Scribner's, 1901, p. 33.

  6. Elliot, Grace Dalyrmple. Journal of my life during the French Revolution. London: R
. Bentley, 1859, pp. 65–66.

  Chapter 11: Marie-Antoinette and Fashion

  1. Holland, Rupert Sargent. The Story of Marie Antoinette (ebook). New York: A.J. Cornell Publications, 1910, pp. 95-96.

  2. Fraser, pp. 148-149.

  3. Webster, 1937, pp. 60-61.

  4. Ibid, p. 31.

  5. C. Weber, p. 109.

  6. Delors, Catherine. “18th century court costume and Marie-Antoinette.” Versailles and More, September 8, 2009.

  7. Fraser, p. 175.

  8. Rocheterie, p. 183.

  9. Hosford, Desmond. “The Queen’s Hair: Marie-Antoinette, Politics and DNA.” Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, 2004, pp. 183-200.

  10. Delpierre, Madeleine. Dress in France in the Eighteenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997, p110.

  Chapter 12: Marie-Antoinette and Her Journey of Faith

  1. Brière, p. 125.

  2. Ibid, pp. 186-196.

  3. Fraser, p. 40.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Lenôtre, George. The Last Days of Marie Antoinette, translated by Mrs. Rodolph Stawell. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1907, p. 219.

  6. Petitfils, p. 246.

  7. Rocheterie, Vol. 1, p. 324.

  8. Ibid, Vol. 2, p. 69.

  9. Tour du Pin, Madame de la. Memoirs: Laughing and Dancing Our Way to the Precipice. London: The Harvill Press, 1999, p. 74.

  10. Rocheterie, Vol. 2, p. 69.

  11. Louis XVI, Roi de France. Testament de Louis XVI. Dijon: Noëllat, 1816, p. 26.

  12. Ibid, p. 28.

  13. Marie Antoinette, Reine de France. Lettres de Marie-Antoinette, recueil des lettres authentiques de le Reine, Tome II. Paris: Alphonse Picard et Fils, 1896, pp. 441-444.

  Chapter 13: Holidays at Versailles

  1. Rocheterie, Vol 1, p. 324.

  2. Yonge, p.183.

  3. Campan, p. 209. Montjoie, p. 140. Yonge, p. 239.

  Here is a translation:

  “Lovely and good, to tender pity true,

  Queen of a virtuous King, this trophy view,

  Cold, ice and snow sustain its fragile form

  But every grateful heart to thee is warm.

  Oh, may this tribute in your hearts excite.

  Illustrious pair, more pure and real delight.

  While this your virtues are sincerely praised,

  Than pompous domes to servile flattery raised.”

  4. Duindam, Jeroen Frans Jozef. Vienna and Versailles: The Courts of Europe's Dynastic Rivals, 1550-1780. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 136.

  5. Delors, Catherine. “La Fête des Rois, Feast of the Kings.” Versailles and More, January 6, 2011.

  6. Bernier, ed., p. 102. Letter of Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, February 15, 1773.

  7. Webster, 1937, p. 21.

  8. Bernier, ed., p. 104. Letter of Maria Theresa to Marie-Antoinette, March 3, 1773.

  9. Ibid, p. 159. Letter of Maria Theresa to Marie-Antoinette, March 5, 1775.

  10. Ibid, p. 160. Letter of Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, March 17, 1775.

  11. Campan, p. 26.

  12. Ibid, p.94.

  13. Smythe, II, p. 672.

  14. Jordan, David P. The King's Trial. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1979, p. 87.

  15. Élisabeth of France, Madame. The Life and Letters of Madame Élisabeth de France, Sister of Louis XVI. New York: Versailles Historical Society, 1899, p. 279.

  16. Chalon, p. 235.

  17. Rocheterie, I, p. 329.

  18. Spawforth, Tony. Versailles: A Biography of a Palace. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008, p. 84.

  Chapter 14: The Children of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

  1. Nagel, p. 48.

  2. Ibid.

  3. McCloy, Shelby T. The Negro in France. Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press, 1961, p. 30.

  4. Ibid, p. 101.

  5. Fraser, p.168.

  6. Ibid, p. 170.

  7. Campan, p. 139.

  8. Smythe, II, p. 614.

  9. Delorme, pp. 170-171.

  10. Nagel, p. 48.

  11. Campan, p. 144.

  12. Rocheterie, I, pp. 243-245.

  13. Romer, Isabella Frances. Filia dolorosa, memoirs of Marie Thérèse Charlotte, duchess of Angoulême, the Last of the Dauphines, Vol.1. London: Richard Bentley, 1852, p. 13.

  14. Yonge, p. 226. Webster, 1976, p. 81.

  15. Cronin, p. 270.

  16. Chalon, p. 456. Fraser, p. 431.

  17. Rocheterie, I, p. 324.

  18. Ibid, II, pp. 65-66.

  19. Fraser, p. 424.

  20. Lever, Evelyn. Marie-Antoinette: The Last Queen of France. New York: Macmillan, 2001, p. 303.

  Chapter 15: Marie-Antoinette and Friendship

  1. Yonge, p. 458.

  2. Petitfils, p. 280.

  3. Goodman, ed., pp. 199-238.

  4. Marie-Antoinette, Reine de France. “Portrait charmant, portrait de mon amie.” The LiederNet Archive. http://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=58693

  5. Translated by Professor Maryse Demasy.

  6. Bernier, ed., p. 193.

  7. Webster, 1976, p. 108.

  8. Yonge, pp. 458-459.

  9. Duindam, p. 94.

  10. Marie Antoinette, Reine de France, II, 1896, p. 205. Letter of Marie-Antoinette to the Duchesse de Fitz-James, December, 1790.

  11. Tour du Pin, p.14.

  12. Campan, p. 97.

  13. Hanet-Cléry, Jean-Baptiste C. Journal of What Took Place at the Tower of the Temple During the Captivity of Louis XVI, translated by J. Bennett. London: Longman, 1828, pp. 23-24.

  14. Duindam, p. 94.

  15. Webster, 1937, p. 147.

  16. Smythe, II, pp. 588-589.

  17. Lever, ed., p. 256. Letter of Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, September 14, 1776.

  18. Ibid, p. 294. Letter of Comte de Mercy to Maria Theresa, September 12, 1777.

  19. Ibid, p. 384. Letter of Comte de Mercy to Maria Theresa, July 18, 1780.

  20. Feuillet de Conches, F., editor. Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette et Madame Élisabeth: lettres et documents inédites, Tome Premier. Paris: Henri Plon, 1864, p. 246. Letter of Louis XVI to the Duchesse de Polignac, July 29, 1789.

  21. Nagel, p. 29.

  22. Campan, pp. 162-163.

  23. Vidal, Elena Maria. “Madame de Polignac and the Politics of Calumny.” Tea at Trianon. December 6, 2007.

  24. Gontaut, Duchesse de. Memoirs of the Duchesse de Gontaut, trans. by Mrs. J. W. Davis. 2 Volumes. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1894, I, p. 104.

  25. Ibid, p.105.

  26. Ibid.

  27. Ibid, p. 107.

  28. Ibid, p.108.

  29. Ibid, p. 110.

  30. Ibid, p. 113.

  31. Ibid, p. 114.

  32. Ibid, p. 118.

  33. Ibid, pp. 121-122.

  34. Webster, 1976, p. 64.

  35. Nagel, p. 66.

  36. Campan, pp. 107, 109-110.

  37. Ibid, p. 113.

  38. Rocheterie 2, p. 364.

  39. Marie-Antoinette, Reine de France. Lettres inédites de Marie-Antoinette et de Marie-Clotilde de France (sœur de Louis XVI), reine de Sardaigne. Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1877, p. 87. Letter of Marie-Antoinette to Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, June 1785.

  40. Lever, ed., p. 219. Letter of Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, July 14, 1775.

  41. Brière, p. 109.

  42. Élisabeth of France, Madame. The Life and Letters of Madame Élisabeth de France, Sister of Louis XVI. New York: Versailles Historical Society, 1899, p. 37. Letter of Élisabeth of France to the Marquise de Bombelles, June 25, 1787.

  Chapter 16: Gentlemen Friends

  1. Bernier, ed., p. 161. Letter of Comte de Mercy to Maria Theresa, March 18, 1775.

  2. Ibid, p. 163. Letter Maria Theresa to Marie-Antoinette, June 2, 1775.

  3. Smythe, p. 562.

  4. Ibid, pp. 560-564.


  5. Goyau, Georges. “Marie Antoinette.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.

  6. Ligne, Charles-Joseph (prince de). The Prince de Ligne: His Memoirs, Letters, and Miscellaneous Papers, 2 Volumes, selected and translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley. Boston: Hardy, Pratt and Company, 1902, I, pp. 197-201.

  7. Ibid, pp. 201-202.

  8. Yonge, p. 69. Marie-Antoinette, Reine de France, I, p. 37. Letter of Marie-Antoinette to Maria Theresa, December 15, 1772.

  9. Campan, p. 105.

  10. Fraser, p. 128.

  11. Campan, pp. 128-129.

  12. Ibid, p. 117.

  13. Tytler, Sarah. Marie Antoinette: The Woman and the Queen. London: Marcus Ward, 1883, pp. 95-98.

  Chapter 17: The Fersen Legend

  1. Ligne, I, p. 197.

  2. Hézècques, Félix. Recollections of a Page at the Court of Louis XVI, translated by Charlotte M. Yonge. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1873, pp. 26-27.

  3. Tour du Pin, p. 14.

  4. Chalon, p. 187.

  5. Petitfils, p. 284.

  6. Ibid, p. 287.

  7. Lever, ed., p. 360. Letter of Monsieur de Creutz to Gustavus III, April 10, 1779.

  8. Webster, 1937, p. 281.

  9. Chalon, p. 188.

  10. Webster, 1937, pp. 281-282.

  11. Chalon, p. 235. Seward, p. 128.

  12. Seward, p. 168.

  13. Webster, 1937, p. 282.

  14. Ibid, 1976, p. 105.

  15. Fraser, p. 203.

  16. Ibid, p. 217.

  17. Bertière, pp. 388-390.

  18. Ibid, pp. 388-389.

  19. Campan, pp. 162-163.

  20. Bertière, p. 541.

  21. Foreman, Amanda. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. New York: The Modern Library, 1998, p.177.

  22. Ibid, p. 308.

  23. O’Meara, Barry Edward. Napoleon in Exile: Or, A Voice from St. Helena: the Opinions and Reflections of Napoleon on the Most Important Events of His Life and Government in His Own Words, Volume 2. Philadelphia: W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1822, p.110.

  24. Croker, John Wilson. “An Answer to O'Meara's Napoleon in Exile,” The Quarterly Review, Vol. 28. New York: T. & J. Swords, 1823, pp. 60-61.

  25. Webster, 1976, p. 108.

  26. Ibid, p. 111.

  27. Ibid, p. 112.

  28. Ibid, 1937, p. 289.