What Does Let Them Eat Cake Mean?

‘Let them eat cake’ is the traditional translation of the French phrase ‘Qu’ils mangent de la brioche’, said to have been spoken in the 17th or 18th century by ‘a great princess’ upon being told that the peasants had no bread. The French phrase mentions brioche, a bread enriched with butter and eggs, considered a luxury food.
Let them eat cake A saying that shows insensitivity to or incomprehension of the realities of life for the unfortunate. Rousseau, in his Confessions, tells of a great princess who, on being informed that the country people had no bread, replied, “Let them eat cake.”

Did Marie-Antoinette say ‘let them eat cake’ in French?

At some point around 1789, when being told that her starving subjects had no bread, Marie-Antoinette supposedly sniffed, ‘Qu’ils mangent de la brioche’— ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ in French.

What does the idiom’let them eat cake’mean?

The educated masses are aware of the mass inflation that was ravaging the French people at the time of the French Revolution, therefore the ingredients to purchase the items needed to make a cake would have cost a fortune. The idiom let them eat cake means ‘Screw them’ ‘You can’t eat that!

What Let them eat cake meaning?

“Let them eat cake” is the most famous quote attributed to Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution. As the story goes, it was the queen’s response upon being told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread.

Is Let them eat cake a metaphor?

One biographer has claimed that Louis XIV’s wife, Marie-Therese, was the first to utter ‘Let them eat cake,’ but it remains unclear whether the story is strictly factual or simply a metaphor of the decadence of the French aristocracy.

How do you use Let them eat cake?

In current use, it can be a flippant response to being asked how some group will deal with being treated less fairly. A: ‘How are workers supposed to survive on minimum wage when every single dollar of it is going toward their rent?’ B: ‘What do I care? Let them eat cake!’

What happened to Marie Antoinette’s head?

Lamballe refused to take an oath against the monarchy, and on September 3, 1792, she was delivered to the hands of a Parisian mob; they cut off her head and paraded it on a pike outside Marie-Antoinette’s windows.

What was Marie Antoinette famous for?

Queen of France before the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette (1755–93) is famous for being overthrown by revolutionaries and being publicly guillotined following the abolition of the monarchy in France.

What is cake by the ocean meaning?

Cake by the ocean is a euphemism for having sex at the beach. It comes from the title of the band DNCE’s 2015 debut single, “Cake by the Ocean.”

Are there any living relatives of Marie Antoinette?

Historian Delorme convinced the association to have the DNA testing done, which proved that the heart had belonged to someone who shared DNA patterns not only with Marie Antoinette-conserved locks of her hair were tested-but with living descendants of her dynasty including the Queen of Romania and her brother, Prince

Are there any French royalty still alive?

France is a Republic, and there’s no current royal family recognized by the French state. Still, there are thousands of French citizens who have titles and can trace their lineage back to the French Royal Family and nobility.

Did Marie-Antoinette really say “let them eat cake”?

‘Let them eat cake’ is the most famous quote attributed to Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution. As the story goes, it was the queen’s response upon being told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread.

Why did she say let them eat cake?

“Let them eat cake” is the most famous quote attributed to Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution. As the story goes, it was the queen’s response upon being told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread.

Who said let them eat cake?

The pandemic has adversely affected many industries and one of them is the luxury brands market to Europe have now been reduced to #throwback Instagram posts. But they say change triggers invention and that is exactly what Hermès, the French designer

What is the origin of let them eat cake?

“Let them eat cake” is a phrase famously attributed to Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France during the French Revolution. At some point in 1789, after being told that the French population was facing a bread shortage, because of the poor crop harvest and the rodents, and as a result, was starving, Marie Antoinette replied with “let them eat cake!”

Let them eat cake – Wikipedia

The phrase ″Let them eat cake″ is widely credited to Marie Antoinette, albeit this is incorrect.″Let them eat cake″ is the conventional translation of the French phrase ″Qu’ils mangent de la brioche,″ which is claimed to have been spoken in the 17th or 18th centuries by ″a noble princess″ upon learning that the peasants were deprived of their daily bread supply.The French term refers to brioche, a loaf of bread filled with butter and eggs that is considered a delicacy in France.The princess’s careless disregard for the starving peasants, or her lack of awareness of their suffering, is interpreted as reflected in the phrase, according to some.

While the remark is widely credited to Marie Antoinette, it was said before to the French Revolution, making it impossible for the quotation to have originated with Marie, and it is also highly unlikely that she ever said it in her lifetime, either.

Origins

The phrase appears in book six of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions, which was written in 1765 and published in 1782.The first six volumes of Rousseau’s Confessions were written in 1765 and published in 1782.In the book, Rousseau describes an incident in which he was on the lookout for bread to go with some stolen wine that he had taken.While feeling a little out of place in his nicely attired state to enter a typical bakery, he remembered the words of a ″great princess″: The final option of a magnificent princess, who, when told that the peasants had no bread, said, ″Then let them eat brioches,″ was the last straw for me.

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confessions of a Philosopher Rousseau did not identify the ″great princess,″ and it is possible that he made up the tale because the Confessions are not often accepted as being totally true.

Attribution to Marie Antoinette

In 1789, during one of the famines in France that occurred under the reign of her husband, King Louis XVI, the remark is reported to have been said by Marie-Antoinette.However, it was not until more than half a century later that it was assigned to her.The anecdote was never mentioned by anti-monarchists during the French Revolution, but it gained significant symbolic significance in later historical accounts when pro-revolutionary commentators used the phrase to decry the upper classes of the Ancien Régime as oblivious and rapacious in their behavior.The phrase was particularly powerful because ″bread was the staple food of the French peasantry and working class, absorbing 50 percent of their income, as opposed to 5 percent spent on fuel; the entire topic of bread was therefore the result of obsessional national interest,″ according to one biographier of the Queen.

In 1765, when Marie Antoinette was nine years old, Rousseau wrote the first six books of the French Revolution, which were published when she was 26 and eight years after she was crowned queen.Because of Marie Antoinette’s growing unpopularity in the final years before the start of the French Revolution, it’s possible that many people attributed the term to her as well.In the years after her marriage to Louis XVI, her opponents frequently pointed to her apparent frivolity and very real spending as elements that contributed considerably to France’s severe financial predicament.Her Austrian origins as well as her gender further undermined her credibility in a country where xenophobia and chauvinism were beginning to exercise significant impact on national politics at the time.Despite the fact that the reasons of France’s economic difficulties stretched well beyond the royal family’s expenditures, anti-monarchist polemics stigmatized Marie Antoinette as Madame Déficit, claiming that she was responsible for the country’s financial collapse on her own.Exaggerations, false incidents, and blatant lies were used to malign her family and their courtiers by these libellistes, who published stories and articles vilifying them and their courtiers.

It would have been a natural slander to put the famous remarks into the lips of the much despised queen, especially in the current turbulent political environment.Alphonse Karr published an article in Les Guêpes in March 1843 in which he ascribed the term to Marie Antoinette.

Attribution to Maria Theresa of Spain

  • The Queen’s personality, internal evidence from members of the French royal family, and the date of the saying’s origin are all cited as reasons for objecting to the legend of Marie Antoinette and the comment.
  • The legend of Marie Antoinette and the comment are cited as reasons for objecting to the comment.
  • In the opinion of Antonia Fraser, the infamous story of the ignorant princess was first told 100 years before Marie Antoinette in relation to Marie-Thérèse, the wife of Louis XIV, citing the memoirs of Louis XVIII, who was only fourteen at the time Rousseau’s Confessions were written and whose own memoirs were not published until much later in life.
  • In his tale, Louis XVIII does not name Marie Antoinette, but he does state that the story was an ancient tradition, and that the family had always thought that Maria Theresa was the one who coined the expression.
  • However, Louis XVIII is just as likely as everyone else to have had his memories distorted as a result of the rapid diffusion and distortion of Rousseau’s original comment during his reign.
  • Fraser also reminds out in her book that Marie Antoinette was a wealthy patron of charity who was struck by the condition of the impoverished when it was brought to her notice, which makes the comment out of character for her given her previous charitable activities.
  • As a result, it is even more doubtful that Marie Antoinette ever stated the sentence in question.

A second point to consider is that there were no actual famines during the reign of King Louis XVI, and only two instances of severe bread shortages, the first occurring in April–May 1775, just a few weeks before the king’s coronation on June 11, 1775, and the second occurring in 1788, the year before the outbreak of the French Revolution.The flour shortages in 1775 triggered a series of uprisings in northern, eastern, and western France, which were collectively referred to as the Flour War at the time (guerre des farines).Letters sent by Marie Antoinette to her relatives in Austria during this period reflect a position that is diametrically opposed to the spirit of Let them eat brioche.

The fact that we are witnessing individuals who are treating us so nicely despite their own difficulties makes us feel more obligated than ever to do everything we can to ensure that they are happy.The King appears to be cognizant of this reality.― Marie Antoinette, 17th century One major issue with the dates associated with Marie Antoinette’s attribution is that at the time the phrase first emerged, she was not only too young to have spoken it, but she was also residing in a country other than France.Despite the fact that Rousseau’s Confessions were completed thirteen years earlier, in 1769, they were not published until 1782.Marie Antoinette, who was just fourteen years old at the time, would not arrive at Versailles until 1770, having traveled from Austria.Due to the fact that she was absolutely unknown to him at the time of writing, she could not possible be the ″great princess″ referred to in the passage.

Other attributions

  • Another theory is that after the revolution, the phrase, which was initially attributed to a wide variety of princesses of the French royal family, eventually became associated with Marie Antoinette because she was, in effect, the last and best-remembered ″great princess″ of Versailles, as opposed to other princesses of the French royal family.
  • It had previously been credited to two of Louis XV’s daughters, Madame Sophie and Madame Victoire, who were both killed in the French Revolution.
  • Alexandre Dumas credits the phrase to the Duchess of Polignac, a favorite of Marie Antoinette’s who appears in his novel Ange Pitou (1853), which was published in 1853.

Similar phrases

  • When Emperor Hui (259–307) of Western Jin was informed that his people were starving because there was no rice available, according to the Book of Jin, a 7th-century chronicle of the Chinese Jin Dynasty, he said, ″Why don’t they eat porridge with (ground) meat?″ (), demonstrating his inability to perform.
  • After an unfavorably received series of articles suggesting that out-of-work Kentucky coalminers should ″learn to code″ so that they could support their families was published in 2016, the phrase ″learn to code″ has been repeated numerous times as an act of cynical repudiation and harassment against journalists who are likewise out of work or who are perceived to be out of touch or to be lacking in journalistic integrity.

See also

  • Noblesse oblige

References

  1. ″Yandex.Translate – English to French ″Let them have some brioche.″ ″www.yandex.com/translate/en/ On the 20th of December, 2018, Fraser, Antonia, and others (2002). The Adventures of Marie Antoinette. Publisher: Anchor Publishing Group
  2. ISBN: 978-0385489492
  3. Lever, Évelyne
  4. Temerson, Catherine. xviii, 160 pages (2000). Marie-Antoinette was the last Queen of France, reigning from 1789 until 1799. Page numbers: 63–65
  5. ISBN number: 978-0312283339.
  6. Page numbers: 63–65 Susan S. Lanser is the author of this work (2003). ″Eating Cake: The (Ab)uses of Marie-Antoinette.″ ″Eating Cake: The (Ab)uses of Marie-Antoinette.″ Dena Goodman and Thomas E. Kaiser published a book titled (eds.). Writings on the Body of a Queen: Marie Antoinette’s Autobiography. Pages. 273–290 in Routledge’s The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Language. It has the ISBN 978-0415933957. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s translation of Rousseau (translated by Angela Scholar) (2000). Confessions. Page 262 of the Oxford University Press publication in New York. Then there is the story of a great princess who was asked why the people of the countryside didn’t have any bread and she replied, ″Because they eat bread.″
  7. Johnson, Paul
  8. Johnson, Paul (1990). Intellectuals. Harper & Row Publishing Company, New York, pp. 17–18. ISBN 9780060916572. Many of the ‘facts’ that he so openly acknowledges are wrong, skewed, or non-existent when examined in the light of current research.
  9. Lady Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey, page 124.
  10. Fraser, pages 473–474.
  11. Hunt, Lynn, ed., provides a thorough examination of this historical phenomena (1990). Eroticism and the Politics of the Body It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press under the ISBN 978-0801840272. Thomas, Chantal (2001). The Wicked Queen: The Myth of Marie-Antoinette and Its Origins is a book on the history of Marie-Antoinette. Zone Books, ISBN 978-0942299403.
  12. Fraser, pages. 254–255.
  13. Fraser, pp. 254–255. Véronique Campion-Vincent and Christine Shojaei Kawan have collaborated on this project. ″Marie-Antoinette and her famous saying: two scenographies and two centuries of disorder, three levels of communication and three accusatory modes,″ Annales historiques de la Révolution française, 2002, full text
  14. ″Marie-Antoinette and her famous saying: two scénographies and two centuries of disorder, three levels of communication and three accusatory modes,″ Annales historiques de la Révolution française, 2002, full text
  15. Pages 284–285 of Fraser’s Marie Antoinette are devoted to her. Nabu Press, 2012. p. 91. ISBN 978-1278509648.
  16. ″Allow them to eat cake.″ Lettres de Marie-Antoinette, Vol. 1. Nabu Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1278509648. The Phrase Finder is a tool that helps you find phrases.
  17. retrieved on September 18th, 2012
  18. Book of Jin, Fourth Volume
  19. ″From Coal To Code: A New Path For Laid-Off Miners In Kentucky.″
  20. ″The weaponization of ‘learn to code’.″
  21. ″From Coal To Code: A New Path For Laid-Off Miners In Kentucky.″
  22. ″From Coal To Code: A New Path For Laid-Off Miners In Kentucky.″
  23. ″From Coal To Code: A New Path For Laid-Off Miners In Kentucky.″ Thinkprogress.org, accessed on February 1, 2019.
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Notes

A somewhat modified version of the famous saying was stated in an earlier 1841 book of Les Guêpes: ″If there is no bread, one will eat bread out of a brioche.″

Bibliography

  • Barker, Nancy N., Let Them Eat Cake: The Mythical Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution, Historian, Summer 1993, 55:4:709
  • Barker, Nancy N., Let Them Eat Cake: The Mythical Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution, Historian, Summer 1993, 55:4:709
  • Barker, Nancy N., Let Them Eat Cake: The Mythical Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution, H
  • Campion-Vincent, Véronique, and Shojaei Kawan, Christine, Marie-Antoinette and her infamous saying: two scenographies and two centuries of disorder, three levels of communication, and three accusatory modes, Annales historiques de la Révolution française, 2002, p. 327
  • Campion-Vincent, Véronique, and Shojaei Kawan, Christine, Marie-Antoinette and her infamous saying: two sc

The Story Behind ‘Let Them Eat Cake’, Marie-Antoinette’s Famous Quote

  • 07/30/21 Let them eat cake, Marie-immortal Antoinette’s words, are among the most renowned quotations in the history of the world.
  • Is it possible that Marie-Antoinette said, ″Let them eat cake?″ What was it about Let Them Eat Cake that was offensive?
  • She served as the wife of King Louis XVI of France and as the Queen of France throughout the French Revolution.
  • When Marie-Antoinette was informed that her famished peasants were unable to eat bread, she is said to have sniffed and said, ‘Qu’ils mangent de la brioche,’ which translates as ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ in French, at some point around 1789.
  • ALLOW THEM TO EAT CAKE MEANING: Because brioche is more expensive than bread, the tale has been used as an illustration of Marie-obliviousness Antoinette’s to the plight of regular people and their everyday lives in France, according to some historians.
  • With such rude statement, the Queen cemented her reputation as a despised emblem of the decadent monarchy and encouraged the revolution that ultimately resulted in her (literally) losing her head in 1793.
  • TIP: These are the greatest Parisian Cakes, having been created and developed in the city of light!

Who Was Marie-Antoinette?

  • Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna (1755 –1793) was an Austrian princess who was born and nurtured in the court of the Habsburg monarchy in Vienna.
  • Louis Auguste, the future Dauphin of France, proposed to Marie-Antoinette when she was just 13 years old, and the two were married the following year.
  • This planned marriage was an attempt to bring Austria and France back together after a period of conflict.
  • Marie-Antoinette arrived in France in 1770, and she and her husband, the Dauphin, resided at the sumptuous Palace of Versailles with their children.
  • The Dauphin succeeded to the throne as Louis XVI in 1774, after the death of King Louis XV of France.
  • Marie-Antoinette was already the Queen of France when she was just 20 years old.
  • It was Marie-tendency Antoinette’s to live lavishly, and she enjoyed throwing elaborate balls in the Palace and throwing grandiose parties in the Gardens of Versailles.

When she needed to get away from the rigors of the French court, she journeyed discreetly to Paris or spent time ‘playing the peasant’ in the hamlet that had been erected just for her inside Versailles.More information on Marie-Antoinette may be found here.Marie Antoinette had little power despite the fact that she was the Queen of France at the time.

She remained an Austrian who maintained close relations with her family in Vienna, and as a result, King Louis XVI never talked politics with her or sought her counsel on state matters.The Queen of France was unable to do much beyond hosting sumptuous parties, donating to charity organizations, and bearing successors to the French throne.At the start of her existence in the French court, Marie-Antoinette was well-liked by everybody, and she was admired for her beauty and charity, among other qualities.Over the years, there was rising dissatisfaction with the Queen’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties, especially at a time when the whole city of Paris was starving.Prepare for your visit to Versailles.

Did Marie-Antoinette Say Let Them Eat Cake?

According to historians, the remark ″Let them eat cake″ attributed to Marie-Antoinette was a hoax spread by a rumor. In light of the facts, it appears that Marie-Antoinette did not say ″Let them eat cake,″ and that the famous remark was said by someone else long before Marie-Antoinette was crowned Queen of France. What we do know is as follows:

1. We Find Versions of Marie-Antoinette’s Quote Let Them Eat Cake Years Before

  • Folklore scholars have discovered several variants of the same saying, some of which are slightly different, all around Europe.
  • In the 16th century, there was a story of a noblewoman who was perplexed as to why the starving peasants weren’t eating Krosem, which was a type of delicious bread.
  • In Rousseau’s book Confessions, we discover the remark ‘Qu’ils Mangent de la Brioche,’ which was stated by a ‘great princess,’ which is set in France.
  • A year before Marie-birth Antoinette’s in 1767, Rousseau’s book was written when she was still a child and living in Austria, far away from the French court.
  • Who said it was okay for them to eat cake?
  • In this remark from Let Them Eat Cake, it is thought that Rousseau was referring to either Queen Maria-Thérèse, who was the wife of King Louis XIV and lived around 100 years before Marie-Antoinette became Queen of France, or to himself.

2. Queen Marie Antoinette Actually Cared About Her People

  • However, historians believe that, despite Marie-undoubtedly Antoinette’s opulent lifestyle, she was an intellectual lady who was sensitive to the plight of France’s destitute and starving inhabitants.
  • Throughout her time at the French court, Queen Marie-Antoinette was generous in her donations to charity organizations.
  • We can also see that she cares about her people in some of her letters to her family in Austria, albeit in her own unique way, in some of these letters.
  • The Let Them Eat Cake speech by Marie-Antoinette, in any event, was used to highlight the disconnect between the nobility in France and the situation of the country.

Trying to Kill the Rumors

  • Consequently, it appears that the Marie-Antoinette statement Let Them Eat Cake was subsequently linked to her declining popularity, which is consistent with this theory.
  • Marie-Antoinette was in such trouble!
  • As was the case with the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, her image was irrevocably ruined as a result of a statement from someone else’s book.
  • The year 1843 marked the first time the quote was associated with the ill-fated Queen in print.
  • When a French writer called Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr discovered the quotation ″Let Them Eat Cake″ in a book from 1760, when Marie-Antoinette was just five years old, he denounced it to the authorities.
  • Karr believed that by doing so, the myth that she was the inspiration for the famous remark would be put to rest once and for all, but it did not succeed.
  • More information may be found by clicking here.

Stories from the City of Lights Return to the Home Page

Urban Dictionary: Let them eat cake

  • The Marie-Antoinette statement Let Them Eat Cake, it would appear, was later used to justify her declining popularity, as evidenced by the following: Marie-Antoinette was such a disappointment!
  • A statement from someone else ruined her image permanently, just as it did in the case of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace.
  • The year 1843 marked the first time the quote was associated with the ill-fated Queen.
  • The quotation ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ was discovered in a book from 1760, when Marie-Antoinette was just five years old, according to a French writer called Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr.
  • However, it did not succeed, as Karr had anticipated, since it did not put a stop to rumors that she was the source of the famous phrase.
  • For further information, please visit this site.
  • Tales from the City of Light Return to the main page of this website

Let them eat cake

What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Let them eat cake’?

  • Many English expressions have obscure origins, and their origins are unknown.
  • Despite this, many people believe they are aware of the origin of this particular one.
  • Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793), the Queen consort of Louis XVI, is commonly credited with the painting.
  • Her alleged words came after she was informed that the French people were unable to obtain bread due to a lack of supplies.
  • The original French phrase is ‘Qu’ils mangent de la brioche,’ which literally translates as ‘Let them eat brioche.
  • ‘ (brioche is a form of cake made of flour, butter and eggs).
  • Most people believe that Marie-Antoinette had little understanding of the suffering of the poor and even less concern for them.

This perception is correct.However, there are two issues with this interpretation: 2.The statement, in so far as it can be proved to be linked with the French nobility, can be construed in a variety of ways, for example, it could have been intended as a sarcastic or even a sincere attempt to present cake to the poor as an alternative to the bread that they could not purchase.

Regarding the origin of the expression, two notable contemporaries of Marie-Antoinette – Louis XVIII and Jean-Jacques Rousseau – both believe it to have originated from a source other than the Queen of France.According to Louis XVIII’s diary Relation d’un voyage a Bruxelles et d Coblentz (1791), the remark ″Que mangent-ils de la croûte de pâté?″ (Why don’t they eat pastry?) was said by Marie-Thérèse (1638-1683), the wife of King Louis XIV, who was born in 1638.That narrative, on the other hand, was published over a century after Marie-death, Thérèse’s and as a result, it should be regarded with some care.The 12-volume autobiographical book Confessions, published by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1770, is the most well-known of his works.The following passage is in Book 6, which was written in 1767: ″At last I recalled the idiotic words of a royal princess, who, when informed that the village people had no bread, said, ″Then let them eat pastry!″ ″Then let them eat pastry!″ Marie-Antoinette arrived in Versailles from her home Austria in 1770, two or three years after Rousseau wrote the text above.She was the first French monarch to live at Versailles.

  • Whatever the ‘great princess’ was – it was most likely Marie-Thérèse, not Marie-Antoinette – she was not Marie-Antoinette.
  • However, although she has earned a reputation as a lavish socialite, this reputation appears to be unjustified, and it serves as a reminder that history is written by the victorious.
  • ″It is absolutely evident that in witnessing the individuals who treat us such kindly despite their own misery, we are more obligated than ever to strive hard for their pleasure,″ she was said to have added.
  • Nonetheless, the French revolutionaries held her in much lower regard than we do now, and she was guillotined to death in 1793 for the crime of treason, which she denied.

What does ″Let Them Eat Cake″ Mean? (with pictures)

  • It is not known where many common English expressions come from.
  • Despite this, many people believe they are aware of the origin of this particular rumor or rumor.
  • In general, Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793), the Queen consort of Louis XVI, is credited with the painting.
  • Her alleged words came after she was informed that the French people were unable to obtain bread due to a shortage of supplies.
  • In the original French, the phrase is ‘Qu’ils mangent de la brioche,’ which means, ‘Let them consume bread’ (brioche is a form of cake made of flour, butter and eggs).
  • Most people believe that Marie-Antoinette had little understanding of the condition of the impoverished and much less concern for their well-being.
  • With such understanding, there are two problems: 1.

There is no evidence of any kind that Marie-Antoinette ever said those words or anything similar to them, and 2.The phrase, in so far as it can be shown to be associated with the French nobility, can be interpreted in other ways, for example, it could have been either ironic or even a genuine attempt to offer cake to the poor as an alternative to the bread that they couldn’t afford.3.

Regarding the origin of the statement, two famous contemporaries of Marie-Antoinette – Louis XVIII and Jean-Jacques Rousseau – both believe it to have originated from a source other than the Queen of England.According to Louis XVIII’s record Relation d’un voyage a Bruxelles et d Coblentz (1791), the question ″Que mangent-ils de la croûte de pâté?″ (Why don’t they eat pastry?) was said by Marie-Thérèse (1638-1683), the wife of King Louis XIV, in 1658.It is important to note that because that report was published more than a century after her death, it should be viewed with care.Written in 1770, Confessions, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is a 12-volume autobiographical masterpiece.The following passage is in Book 6, which was written in 1767: ″At last I recalled the idiotic comment of a royal princess, who, when informed that the rural people had no bread, said, ″Then let them eat pastry!″″ Marie-Antoinette arrived at Versailles from her home Austria in 1770, two or three years after Rousseau wrote the text above.She was the first French monarch to live in the palace.

  • No, it wasn’t Marie-Antoinette, no matter who the ‘great princess’ was.
  • It was perhaps Marie-Thérèse.
  • However, although she has earned a reputation as a lavish socialite, this reputation appears to be unjustified, and it serves as a reminder that history is written by the winners.
  • In her own words, ″It is very evident that, in witnessing the individuals who treat us such kindly despite their own hardship, we are more obligated than ever to strive hard for their pleasure,″ she remarked.
  • In spite of this, the French revolutionaries held her in much lower regard than we do now, and she was executed by guillotine for the crime of treason in 1793.
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What does it mean when they say let them eat cake?

  1. Was it ever explained what it meant when someone said, ″Let them eat cake?″
  2. Was she serious when she said let them eat cake?
  3. Who was the first to suggest that they should be allowed to eat cake?
  4. Who said you had to provide cake?
  5. What was Marie Antoinette’s true statement?

What does it mean when they say let them eat cake?

A remark that demonstrates insensitivity to or incomprehension of the realities of life experienced by those who are unlucky.

Did she actually say let them eat cake?

  • ″Let them eat cake,″ according to historical records, was never stated by Marie-Antoinette.
  • While there is no evidence to support this, we do know that people have been attributing the phrase ″Qu’ils mangent de la brioche″ to her for about two hundred years – and refuting it for nearly as long.
  • The remark was initially associated with Marie Antoinette in literature in 1843, according to a source.

Who first said let them eat cake?

  • Nothing in the historical record supports the assertion that Marie-Antoinette actually stated, ″Let them eat cake.″ While there is no evidence to support this, we do know that people have been attributing the phrase ″Qu’ils mangent de la brioche″ to her for about two hundred years – and rejecting this claim for nearly as long.
  • When the remark was originally published in print, it was in reference to Marie Antoinette.

Who said give cake?

Marie-Antoinette It is said that Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution, said, ″Let them eat cake,″ which is the most famous remark associated with her. According to legend, that was the queen’s answer when she was informed that her starving peasant peasants were unable to get food.

What Marie Antoinette really said?

It is said that Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution, said, ″Let them eat cake,″ which is the most famous remark associated with her. According to legend, that was the queen’s answer when she was informed that her starving peasant peasants were unable to get food.

Did Marie-Antoinette Really Say “Let Them Eat Cake”?

  • It is said that Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution, said, ″Let them eat cake,″ which is the most famous remark associated with her.
  • According to legend, that was the queen’s answer when she was informed that her starving peasant peasants were unable to get food.
  • In part due to the fact that cake is more expensive than bread, the story is often used in order to illustrate the Queen’s obliviousness to the realities and daily lives of regular people during her reign.
  • But, did she ever say those exact words in her life?
  • Most likely not.
  • Because, for one, the supposedly original French phrase that Marie-Antoinette is credited with saying—″Qu’ils mangent de la brioche″—doesn’t quite translate as ″Let them eat cake.″ It translates to ″Let them eat brioche,″ which is a good thing.
  • Of course, the fact that brioche is a delicious bread prepared with eggs and butter, and is almost as decadent as cake, does not actually alter the meaning of the narrative in any way.

However, the queen would not have been referring to the type of dessert that English people are accustomed to thinking about.More importantly, there is no historical proof that Marie-Antoinette ever uttered anything along the lines of ″Qu’ils mangent de la brioche″ or anything else along those lines.How did the quote come to be linked with Marie-Antoinette, and how did it come to be associated with her?

As it happens, folklore historians have discovered tales that are identical to this one in various regions of the world, albeit the specifics vary from one version to the next.As an example, in a story gathered in 16th-century Germany, a noblewoman asks why the starving poor don’t just eat Krosem (a sweet bread).Stories about monarchs or aristocracy who are unaware of their privileges are famous and ubiquitous folklore, mostly because they are amusing.Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a French philosopher, is said to have been the first to use the precise phrase ″Qu’ils mangent de la brioche″ in literature, according to some sources.Jacques Rousseau recounts a version of the incident in Book VI of his Confessions (published about 1767), giving the phrase to ″a magnificent princess.″ The princess Rousseau had in mind at the time, Marie-Antoinette, despite the fact that she was still a child, is highly unlikely to have been the one in question.Since the revolutionaries were influenced by Rousseau’s works, it has been speculated that they may have taken this remark, fraudulently attributed it to Marie-Antoinette, and circulated it as propaganda in order to arouse opposition to the monarchy.

  • However, this has not been proven.
  • But current academics are suspicious of such assertions because there is no proof of the statement appearing in the revolutionary newspapers, pamphlets, or other materials that were issued by the revolutionaries.
  • The first known source that connects the quotation to the queen was published more than 50 years after the French Revolution, which is rather remarkable given its age.
  • An article in the magazine Les Guêpes published in 1843 said that a passage from a ″book dated 1760″ had been uncovered by French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, who asserted that it demonstrated that the myth concerning Marie-Antoinette had been spread falsely.
  • Rumor?

He was probably only repeating something he had already heard, just like so many of us.

Marie-Antoinette

Top Questions

Why is Marie-Antoinette so famous?

How did Marie-Antoinette come to power?

What was Marie-Antoinette’s reign like?

What was Marie-Antoinette’s family like?

How did Marie-Antoinette die?

  • Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna von sterreich-Lothringen, originally German Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna von sterreich-Lothringen von sterreich-Lothringen von sterreich-Lothringen von sterreich-Lothringen von sterreich-Lothringen von sterreich-Lothringen von sterreich-Lothringen von sterreich-Lothringen von sterreich Her name is connected with the collapse in the moral authority of the French monarchy during the latter years of the ancien régime, despite the fact that her courtly extravagance was only a tiny contributor to the financial difficulties that beset the French state during that era.
  • In the face of turmoil, she refused to change, and her strategy of court opposition to the rise of the French Revolution eventually resulted in the collapse of the monarchy in August 1792.

Early life and role in the court of Louis XVI

  • It might be said that Marie-Antoinette was a victim of circumstance in more ways than one.
  • After the Seven Years’ War, she spent her early adulthood as a piece on the diplomatic chessboard of Europe, as France and Austria struggled to traverse the complicated web of allegiances that had come to characterize the continent in the aftermath of the conflict.
  • She was only 14 years old when she was married to the dauphin Louis, grandson of France’s King Louis XV, on May 16, 1770, in the Holy Roman Empire.
  • She was the 11th daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his wife, Maria Theresa.
  • It followed her throughout her life, and she carried the stigma of being a representative of Austria at a time when any association with Vienna was unwelcome in France.
  • In addition, she was unlucky in that Louis, who was shy and uninteresting, turned out to be an inattentive spouse.
  • The queen had withdrew by the time Louis XVI arrived to the throne in May 1774, seeking company and distraction among a group of favorites and politically susceptible associates, whom she would have avoided if her private life had been more satisfying at the time.

From this point forward, the princesse de Lamballe became her closest friend and confidante.When it came to politics, Marie-Antoinette was obliged to take a significant political role during the Revolution because of her husband’s personal weakness and lack of political convictions.There has been a great deal written about her influence in French domestic and international affairs between the accession of Louis XVI and the start of the Revolution, and it is likely that this has been overstated.

However, her efforts to achieve the restoration of Étienne-François de Choiseul, duc de Choiseul, to his rightful place in power in 1774 were failed.It is more accurate to attribute Turgot’s downfall in 1776 to the hostility of chief royal adviser Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas, as well as the differences that arose between Turgot and foreign minister Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, over French participation in the American Revolution, rather than to direct intervention by Queen Anne.During that time period, Marie-Antoinette was not engaged in politics other than as a means of obtaining favors for her friends, and her political power never surpassed that which had previously been held by the royal mistresses of Louis XV.In foreign policy, she experienced hostility from both Louis XVI and the Duchy of Vergennes in her attempts to further Austrian interests, and it is evident that her brother, Emperor Joseph II, was very disappointed by her lack of success in this endeavor.Even her indulgence of the constant requests of her favourites, such as Yolande de Polastron, comtesse de Polignac, did not result in a significant drain on the state’s finances, according to historians.While her other court expenses were tiny in comparison, they contributed to the massive debt amassed by the French state during this period (1770s and 1780s).

  • After Queen Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI were unable to consummate their marriage and the queen was left childless in the 1770s, rivals, including the king’s own brothers, who stood to inherit the throne in the event of her childlessness, began to circulate slanderous reports of her alleged extramarital affairs.
  • In the Affair of the Diamond Necklace (1785), the queen was wrongfully accused of having had an illicit connection with a cardinal, which brought the vilifications to a head.
  • It damaged the monarchy’s reputation and prompted nobility to actively resist (1787–88) any financial changes proposed by the king’s ministers, which resulted in the collapse of the monarchy.
  • This episode was particularly damaging to the queen’s reputation since, since the birth of her daughter Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte in December 1778 and the birth of the dauphin Louis in October 1781, she had been living a calmer and more traditional life than she had previously.
  • In March 1785, she gave birth to her second son, the future King of France, Louis XVII.

The French Revolution

  • The queen’s unpopularity was at an all-time high when the Estates-General assembled at Versailles in May 1789, despite the fact that she had supported Jacques Necker’s return to power at the end of August 1788 and accepted the concession of double representation to the Third Estate.
  • Her exclusion was due to the fact that she was perceived, albeit without justification, as a member of the reactionary coterie of the king’s brother Charles, the comte d’Artois, and because of the criticisms leveled against her by the king’s cousin, Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d’Orléans, regarding her character.
  • She appeared to have had little political impact by the end of May, maybe because she was preoccupied with the sickness of her eldest son, who passed away in early June.
  • During the crises of 1789, as well as the crises that followed, Marie-Antoinette demonstrated that she was more powerful and determined than her husband.
  • A multitude stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789, and the queen failed in her attempt to persuade Louis XVI to seek safety with his troops in Metz.
  • XVII.
  • However, throughout the months of August and September, she was effective in encouraging him to oppose the measures of the Revolutionary National Assembly to abolish feudalism and restrict the royal prerogative that were underway.

Thus, she became the primary target of the populist agitators, and their hostility contributed to the narrative that, when told by a government official that the people had no bread, she sneered, ″Let them have cake!″ (″They’re making brioche!″ exclaims the author.) Following intense public pressure in October 1789, the royal family was forced to retreat from Versailles to Paris, where they were taken prisoner by the Revolutionary movement.During this period, the queen was separated from many of her closest friends, who had fled France following the fall of the Bastille, but she maintained a high level of personal courage that helped to keep the royal family together during both the French Revolution and the subsequent calamities.In part due to Louis XVI’s inability to make a decision, Marie-Antoinette would come to play an increasingly prominent role in the covert conspiracies to free the royal family from their virtual captivity in Paris.

A letter from the queen to the comte de Mirabeau, a prominent member of the National Assembly who aspired to reestablish the power of the monarchy, was sent in May 1790.Mirabeau, on the other hand, was never completely trusted by her, and she was unwilling to consider the possibility of a civil war, which would have been the inevitable conclusion of Mirabeau’s first ideas.They asked for an exodus to the interior of France as well as a plea for royalist assistance in the provinces, which they failed to get.Following Mirabeau’s death in April 1791, the queen sought assistance from émigrés and acquaintances living in other countries.The arrangements for the royal family’s escape to Montmédy, on France’s eastern boundary, were hatched with the support of the Swedish count Hans Axel von Fersen, French nobleman Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, and royalist commander François-Claude-Amour de Bouillé.In order to escape from Paris on the night of June 20, they planned for the royal couple to be captured near Varennes (on June 25) and led them back to the capital.

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End of the ancien régime and execution

  • After the royal family’s failed attempt to flee the country, Marie-Antoinette attempted to salvage the rapidly deteriorating position of the crown by entering into secret negotiations with the leaders of the constitutional monarchists in the Constituent Assembly, namely Antoine Barnave and Theodore and Alexandre de Lameth, who were members of the Constituent Assembly at the time.
  • To curb the growth of republicanism and bring the Revolution to a conclusion, Barnave and his brothers formed the Club of the Feuillants, a group of like-minded individuals who came together under the flag of the Revolution.
  • In order for them to have a secret arrangement with the queen, they agreed that when the constitution had been altered in order to strengthen the executive authority of the king, Louis XVI would accept and implement the changes in a loyal and effective manner.
  • The Feuillants’ foreign policy goal was to urge the émigrés to return to France and to prevent Emperor Leopold II (Marie-brother) Antoinette’s from becoming embroiled in a counterrevolutionary crusade against the country.
  • Despite her adoption of the constitution in September 1791, the queen cautioned Leopold II that she did not support either their domestic or international policies.
  • Barnave and the Feuillants were a source of concern for the queen, who remained distrustful of them.
  • Instead, she argued that an armed assembly of the powers was required in order to negotiate from a position of strength for the restoration of royal authority.

The Feuillants’ peaceful strategy was stymied by this deceit, but it did not deter the émigrés from pursuing more aggressive plans for the restoration of the ancien régime, which they continued to pursue.Despite the fact that France had declared war on Austria in April 1792, Marie-continued Antoinette’s involvement in Austrian affairs infuriated the French even more.The storming of the Tuileries Palace and the collapse of the monarchy on August 10, 1792, were spurred on by widespread public dissatisfaction with the monarchy.

Marie-Antoinette was imprisoned in Paris jails for the rest of her life after her execution.The princess de Lamballe, who had remained loyal to the queen throughout the Revolution, was imprisoned alongside her mother and other royals.On September 3, 1792, after refusing to swear an oath against the monarchy, she was handed into the hands of a mob in Paris, who hacked off her head and paraded it around the city outside Marie-windows.Antoinetté’s The execution of Louis XVI was ordered by the National Convention in January 1793, and the queen was placed in solitary imprisonment in the Conciergerie in August of the same year.In 1793, she was hauled before the Revolutionary tribunal and guillotined two days later, on October 14, 1793.Those in charge of editing the Encyclopaedia Britannica Adam Zeidan was responsible for the most recent revisions and updates to this article.

The life and death of Marie Antoinette: everything you need to know about the last queen of France

What was it that drove Marie Antoinette from being the nation’s sweetheart to becoming a public enemy? We’ll tell you all you need to know about her life and death…

Marie Antoinette: in profile

What took Marie Antoinette from being the nation’s darling to being a public adversary is unknown. We’ve compiled the facts regarding her life and death for your consideration…

Marie Antoinette’s early life

  • Marie Antoinette was born in 1755 as the Archduchess of Austria, and she spent her formative years in Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace and Hofburg Palace.
  • She was the 15th child of Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.
  • She was baptized ‘Maria Antonia’ and was affectionately called as ‘Antoine’ by her family.
  • It was in the vibrant court of Vienna that she and her siblings spent their formative years as their mother plotted their futures, intent on using her big family to the nation’s benefit.
  • Typical of a royal woman’s education at the period, Marie received instruction in singing, dancing, and musical instrument playing among other things.
  • During her childhood, Marie Carolina shared a governess with her older sister, Maria Carolina, and the two sisters remained close throughout Marie’s adulthood.

The marriage of Marie Antoinette to the future King Louis XVI

  • The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1756 between France and Austria.
  • After the commencement of the Seven Years’ War (1754–63), which was a series of wars between the major powers of Europe over British and French possessions in the United States, this pact vowed that both countries would assist one another.
  • After much deliberation, King Louis XV of France and Marie’s mother came to the conclusion that a marital alliance would be necessary to ensure the pact between the French and the Austrians.
  • As a result, on April 19, 1770, the 14-year-old Marie was legally married to Louis XV’s heir, his eldest grandson Louis-Auguste, in a proxy marriage.
  • In May 1770, after meeting for the first time with her future husband on the 14th, an official wedding ceremony was held at the Palace of Versailles on the 16th of same month.
  • When Marie made her first public appearance as a member of the French royal family in June 1770, an estimated 50,000 people flocked to the streets of Paris in anticipation.
  • Marie was the first female member of the French royal family.

Because the audience was so eager to view the adolescent, at least 30 people were killed as a result of the frantic rush to get a glimpse of him or her.During this public event, several of Marie’s contemporaries were taken by her beauty and complimented her on it.According to historian Emily Brand, ″While there were some murmurs regarding her Austrian ancestry, her future appeared to be bright.″ She established the court she would build over the following 20 years with a whirlwind of celebrations at Versailles.

The fact that the pair would not consummate their marriage until seven years after their wedding became a popular topic of conversation and derision became a popular topic of discussion.The splendor of French royal life soon drew Marie into its fold, and she began attending costly balls and partaking in gambling.Her spouse, on the other hand, preferred to stay out of the spotlight.Seven years later, the pair would finally tie the knot — a fact that became a popular topic of conversation and mockery both in court and among the general public.Following a bout with smallpox, King Louis XV passed away on May 10, 1774.Marie, who had not yet reached the age of 19 when her husband ascended to the throne as King Louis XVI, became the first female monarch of France.

  • Despite the fact that Marie’s future appeared to be safe at this time, the rest of the country was trembling with turmoil.
  • It wasn’t long after her husband’s coronation in June 1775 that areas of the kingdom were engulfed in rioting over the price of bread, according to author Emily Brand.
  • ″Years of high taxes and poor economic policies had resulted in a population that was starving.″

Did Marie Antoinette have an affair?

Answered by Emily Brand
  • Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1756 between France and Austria.
  • During the Seven Years’ War (1754–63), which was a series of wars between the biggest powers of Europe over British and French possessions in the United States, this contract vowed that both nations would help one another if the war broke out.
  • Finally, King Louis XV of France and Marie’s mother concluded that a marital alliance would be the best way to ensure the continuation of the pact between France and Austria.
  • Marie, who was 14 at the time, was married by proxy on April 19, 1770, to Louis XV’s heir, his eldest grandson Louis-Auguste, as a result.
  • The official wedding ceremony took place at the Palace of Versailles on May 16, 1770, after she had seen her husband for the first time on May 14, 1770.
  • On the first day of June in 1770, more than 50,000 people congregated on the streets of Paris to catch a sight of Marie-Antoinette during her first public appearance as a member of the French royal family.
  • Because the audience was so eager to see the boy, at least 30 people were killed as a result of the frantic rush to view him.

On this public event, many of Marie’s contemporaries were taken by her attractiveness and complimented her.According to historian Emily Brand, ″While there were some murmurs regarding her Austrian ancestry, her future appeared promising.″ She established the court she would develop over the following 20 years with a flurry of celebrations at Versailles.The fact that the pair would not consummate their marriage until seven years after their wedding became a popular topic of conversation and derision became a popular subject of discussion.

The splendor of French royal life soon drew Marie into it, as she attended costly balls and indulged in casino gaming.Her spouse, on the other hand, preferred to stay out of the public eye.The couple would not consummate their marriage until seven years later, which became a popular topic of discussion and scorn both in court and among the general public as a result.After catching smallpox, King Louis XV died on May 10, 1774.When her husband, King Louis XVI, ascended to the throne, Marie, who was just 19 years old, was named queen of France.However, despite the fact that Marie’s future appeared to be safe at this moment, the country was roiled by upheaval.

  • It wasn’t long after her husband’s coronation in June 1775 that areas of the kingdom were engulfed in rioting over the price of bread, as explained by Emily Brand.
  • ″People were going hungry after years of high taxes and poor budgetary measures,″ says the author.

Marie Antoinette’s children

  • The first three years of Marie’s reign as queen were marked by the absence of children.
  • Maria Theresa was very aware of her daughter’s precarious situation, and she inundated her with instructions on how to influence others.
  • She even requested confidential briefings on her daughter’s behavior from the ambassador in Paris.
  • By 1777, Marie’s brother Joseph, who was then the Holy Roman Emperor, had traveled to Versailles to try to figure out why the couple was failing to fulfill their obligation to conceive a family.
  • In Brand’s words, ″his conclusion was straightforward: lack of experience, coupled with an apparent shared indifference.″ He did have an effect, however, since the queen became pregnant shortly after his arrival.
  • Marie gave birth to her first child, Marie Thérèse Charlotte, in December 1778.
  • She was Marie’s first child.

A son, Louis-Joseph, was born in October 1781, and two more children, Louis Charles and Sophie Hélène Béatrice, were born in 1785 and 1786, respectively.According to Emily Brand, ″It was a great comfort to everyone when the queen gave birth to her first son, Louis-Joseph – but regrettably, her mother did not live to see it.″ An 18th-century painting of Marie Antoinette of France and two of her children strolling around the grounds of Trianon Palace, painted in 1785.Adolf Ulrich Wertmuller created this painting.

Stockholm, Sweden’s National Museum is a must-see.Featured image courtesy of Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images

Why did the French dislike Marie Antoinette?

  • During the 1780s, France endured bad harvests, which resulted in an increase in the price of grain as a result.
  • In addition to the government, the government was experiencing significant financial difficulties, and Marie’s extravagant lifestyle at the court was soon under fire.
  • A large number of pamphlets and satires were published around the kingdom, reflecting the public’s displeasure with the queen’s lavish spending habits.
  • Meanwhile, deadly rumors spread that Marie was having an affair with Hans Axel von Fersen, a Swedish count who was a close colleague of Marie’s at the time.
  • There have been some questions raised about the paternity of Marie’s children.
  • When Marie began construction of a quiet agricultural town on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in 1783, she raised the bar on her extravagant spending even further.
  • Le Hameau de la Reine (also known as ‘The Queen’s Hamlet’) was built to provide a respite from the bustling court of Versailles for the queen and her closest associates.

It was equipped with a farmhouse, cottages, a mill, and farm animals.During the day, Marie and her ladies-in-waiting would dress up as shepherdesses and act as if they were peasants, strolling around the farm and milking the cows and sheep.Marie even hired slaves to help with the upkeep of the settlement and the maintenance of the animals.

Although this retreat appeared to be pleasant, members of the court and general public claimed that Marie was making fun of French peasants by dressing up as shepherdesses and behaving as if she was in financial distress.

What was the Affair of the Diamond Necklace?

Answered by Emily Brand
  • Marie Antoinette had long been the subject of rumors, but in a society characterized by a burgeoning print culture, her alleged misdeeds became inescapably public – and disastrously so in 1785.
  • In what became known as the ‘Affair of the Diamond Necklace,’ the queen was accused of masterminding a diamond robbery that was, in reality, the plot of poor noblewoman Jeanne de la Motte, who was imprisoned for her crimes.
  • With the help of an out-of-favor cardinal, La Motte was able to secure a necklace worth 1.6 million livres by convincing him to procure the item and arrange payment on behalf of ‘the Queen,’ using her as a go-between.
  • By the time the fraud was discovered, it had already been dismantled and sold.
  • The trial concluded that La Motte was guilty, throwing suspicion on the Queen and solidifying her reputation as a liar and a spendthrift in the process.
  • French policymakers spent the following years debating how to overcome the country’s political and economic stagnation.
  • It was personal sorrow that overshadowed Marie Antoinette’s response to the national disaster that was building around her.

Following the loss of their youngest daughter in 1787, their son and heir died in June 1789, leaving them with no children.While this was going on, members of the nobility – such as Louis’s brother the Count of Provence and cousin the Count of Orleans – grew increasingly dissatisfied with Louis XVI’s approach to pressing governmental matters: Louis was unable to decide how to address

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