Sometimes fake news has an effect for centuries and is then passed on as facts. The phrase “Let them eat cake,” which is said to have been made in the face of the miserable masses of people revolting because of the lack of bread, is probably the only quote that is generally known from France’s Queen Marie Antoinette. Of course, she never said the sentence. He wouldn’t have suited her either, according to a new biography by historian Michaela Lindinger.
In the recently published book with the lavish title “Marie Antoinette. Between Enlightenment and Fake News. At the Center of the Revolution. Queen of Lust.” a differentiated picture is drawn of the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, who is usually portrayed as decadent and only fond of luxurious court life, her hairstyle or clothes.
There is no doubt that she was a “victim” of the power-driven marriage policy of the ruling houses in the 18th century: at the age of 14, she was married to the French heir to the throne, Ludwig (Louis), who was only a little older, and thus became a Dauphine, and four years later following her death from smallpox by Louis XV. to the queen of France and Navarre.
Even if the image of the vain and egocentric princess did not come regarding by chance, according to Lindinger’s research, Marie Antoinette was also characterized by her naturalness, her urge to change, her courage to break new ground and break with old patterns. Unlike her ponderous husband Louis XVI. she also recognized the signs of the Age of Enlightenment. If one believed the author, Marie Antoinette also drew her conclusions from it. For example, she reduced her expenditure on jewelry in order to make it available to the state budget, while Ludwig devoted himself primarily to drinking wine and hunting.
The biography paints a detailed picture of life at the court of Versailles, which, despite all the splendor, had unexpected lows to offer. Apart from the fact that the young (heir to the throne) couple did not have any children for a while because the Dauphin in particular had never been told how a marriage should be carried out, strange habits sometimes prevailed. The German aristocrat Liselotte von der Pfalz, who also married into Versailles, is quoted as saying that she might not take a single step out of her room “without seeing someone pissing”.
There was “a hierarchy that said who was allowed to use a privy and when, but everywhere in Versailles thousands of people relieved themselves everywhere: behind the curtains, in all corners, in temporarily empty rooms, in the attic, in linen cupboards that stood ready in the corridors for the work of the chambermaids…” Conclusion: “One would not like to imagine the smell in the castle, despite the countless heavy perfumes that all the noble ladies and gentlemen at the famous ‘perfumed court’ used profusely .”
Elsewhere, too, the author relativizes the idea of a carefree and glamorous life at court. Right at the beginning she describes how Marie Antoinette charmed both the common people and the nobility upon her arrival in France: “She opened her mouth and smiled. The enthusiastic audience saw a row of youthful, straight, light teeth.” That was more than extraordinary at the time, although Marie Antoinette was of course still young at the time of the strategically friendly use of snarling. In general, however, the reality at the end of the 18th century looked like this: “Hardly anyone over 40 might call their own many teeth.”
That was not much different at the court of Versailles than for the rest of the population. In general, the gulf between the aristocracy and the common people was wide, but Marie Antoinette subsequently became more than just a victim of social contradictions. She also faced a pronounced xenophobia. It is no coincidence that the term “l’autrichienne” (the Austrian) was also pronounced by enemies and schemers at court as “l’autre chienne” – i.e. “the other bitch”. The mood was therefore partly directed once morest the monarch from Austria at court, before that of Luis XVI. completely negated French Revolution got going.
Marie Antoinette also ignored warnings from her brother, the enlightened Emperor Joseph II, that the signs were pointing to revolution in France. However, the accusations leveled once morest them following they actually broke out in 1789 were often greatly exaggerated or even fabricated. The author cites numerous examples that Marie Antoinette very well had a caring streak that was removed from arrogant conceit. She even wanted to bring a poor orphan boy who had been hit by her carriage on a trip to the country to Versailles and give him the appropriate education and training there. The fact that he was ultimately sent away once more was not due to her but to court intrigues directed once morest her.
The process before a revolutionary court, which began in 1793, got completely out of hand, as can be seen in the rather freely formulated biography, which was written without detailed references to sources. Dozens of contradictory testimonies are documented, some of which apparently lack any basis. For example, that she maintained an incestuous relationship with her son and generally led a sexually excessive life. In truth, however, eroticism may not have played a dominant role in Marie Antoinette’s life.
Deprived of her royal rank, “Antoinette Capet” was sentenced to death and guillotined on October 16, 1793. But the revolutionary newspapers gave her something like respect for her upright walk to the scaffold: “The bitch was daring and cheeky to the end.”
Of course, the present book is not an acquittal either. Nor does it try to wash the monarch clean, who lost her head just before her 38th birthday. However, it provides a diverse and critically scrutinized picture of Marie Antoinette on the one hand and the society of her time – whether retro-aristocratic or popular-rebellious – on the other.
S ER VICE – Michaela Lindinger: Marie Antoinette. Between Enlightenment and Fake News. At the heart of the revolution. queen of lust Molden Verlag, Vienna 2023. 304 pages; 30.00 euros. ISBN 978-3-222-15087-6.
