Marie Antoinette and Louis
XVI
Marie Antoinette
Background
1755-1793
 Born an Austrian Archduchess
 Married Louis XVI at age 14
 Became queen of France four years later

Reign
Appointed friends to positions of power
 Spent enormous amounts of money on
diamonds, gambling and clothes
 Gave birth to a boy in 1781 (Louis Joseph)
 Had a small village at Versailles

People resented the fact that she was
Austrian and spent money laviciously
 Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI decide to
stay at Versailles, even after the Bastille
falls
 People thought she said “Let them eat
cake” upon hearing about the suffering of
peasants (never said it)

A mob storms Versailles in October of
1789
 Rumors had spread that Versailles was
holding all of the grain
 Her and Louis XVI are forced to reside at
the Tuileries (pronounced “twooleries”)
 She will try to escape in 1791, but will fail
and will be a prisoner here until 1793

1783
1793
She is put on trial for conspiring with other
countries
 Her brother was Leopold II, Habsburg
Emperor
 Found guilty of treason and sentenced to
death
 On Oct 16th, she was paraded around Paris
for an hour and finally executed

Louis XVI 1754-1793
Reign
Loved at first, but resented for his
indecisiveness
 His indecisiveness allowed Marie
Antoinette to make most of the decisions
 Still acts as king, even though under
house arrest at Tuileries

Tuileries
Tries to escape to Austria in 1791, but
captured
 The Brunswick Manifesto is intercepted
July 25th, 1792

– This said that Prussia would punish France if
the royal family was harmed
The Brunswick Manifesto is taken as proof
that Louis is collaborating with foreign
countries
 Louis is arrested August 13th and France is
declared a Republic on Sept. 21st
 Louis was accused of high treason and
sentenced to death (Jan. 1793)

Timeline
Must have 10 events from French
Revolution
 Need four pictures, color and a title
 This will be graded and will come in handy
next week

Writing Assignment
Pretend you are on the jury for the trials
of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI
 You must determine two things

 Are they guilty?
 If they are guilty, what should their sentence be
 You need 10 sentences total