Professor Katherine Astbury

Joten arctoduchessi Maria Antonia of Austria syntyivät 2. novemberin 1755, 15. 16. lapsen empressa Maria Theresa, 1740 Hapsburga-kirjaston jäsen, ja isä empressa Francis I. Hänen isänsä, Maria Theresa, oli poliittinen voimakkaus, joka sopii valtion ja duplomatiikan osallistumisessa.

In 1756 she made a momentous alliance with Austria's age-old enemy France, reversing 200 years of hostility. At court in Vienna they spoke German, French and Italian, and Maria Antonia grew up sliding between being called Antonia and Antoine. All the girls in the family had Maria as a first name, so they tended to avoid that. They were all called Maria? They were all called Maria. It was a family tradition. The girls all had Maria as a first name. So how do you solve a problem like Maria?

who's also called Louis. We've got all the girls in Austria called Maria and all the boys in France called Louis. Louis' father has died and he becomes heir to the throne in France. He's known as the Dauphin. And at that point Maria Theresa decides that this is going to be a great way of reinforcing this new alliance between the age-old enemies, Austria and France. Louis is only a year older than Antoinette, but that's considered good because they're quite close in age. But he's described as a lanky, silent, nervous lad.

What's the vibe? Is it fun? Are people happy? Those are the only two options. I'm going to sidestep comparing the wedding to either. She arrives in May 1770 and meets King Louis XV.

Tämä ei ole lopputulokka, koska juhlipäivällä asioita tulee haastavaa. Tiedät miksi? Miksi se olisi haastavaa uuden kaverin kanssa? He eivät tiedä, mitä he tekevät. Ei vain se. He eivät tiedä, mitä he tekevät yleisössä.

Kate, talk us through it. So, the archbishop blesses the bed. That's definitely going to get you in the mood. That's really going to get you in the mood. Louis XV then hands the Dauphin his nightshirt. So the grandfather is there offering advice. They then have to lie down in front of the king and the entire court to prove that they have shared the same bed. The king's advice...

Was it useful, Kate? Did Louis rise to the occasion, so to speak? Louis did not rise to the occasion. The marriage was unconsummated for seven years. Is he gay? Or traumatised?

Not perhaps as well as it might have done. They're both still very young, they're very inexperienced. She has nothing to do, because the marriage isn't consummated, she's not going to get pregnant, and therefore her sole reason for being at court can't exist. So she fills her time with gambling, with balls.

with going incognito into Paris, to balls, to the theatre. She gathers around her a group of young people nearer her own age. She's not interested in being polite to the older members of court. She hates the really strict etiquette of court, so she does all she can to sort of sidestep that. She'd rather have a little bit of privacy. She doesn't want to spend all her time in the public eye.

And really she carries on living the life she'd lived whilst she was the wife of the heir to France, rather than changing her behaviour once she's become queen. So Jen, how do you think she's doing on RateMyMonarch.com? Do you think the people of France are pleased about their new queen? I'm guessing the people of France, and they are very vocal as a people.

I'm really sorry that you're in poverty, but have you had jelly and ice cream before? Kate, the most important thing, of course, she produces an heir. She does produce an heir. That's really what makes a difference. She does, finally. She has a daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, born in 1778. Another Marie. Another Marie. She has Louis-Joseph in 1781. He will die aged seven just before the start. He was the dauphin. He dies just before the start of the French Revolution in 1789.

Louis Charles, who is born in 1785, and Sophie-Hélène Béatrice in 1786, who dies aged one. So she has four children, two of whom will die in her lifetime. It did help her popularity.

Okay. So, particularly decorative arts and music. She uses her influence to move public tastes to a more modern, cosmopolitan style of music. She sets the agenda in the theatre. She certainly sets the agenda when we come to fashion as well. And what about politics? So the way that the French court had developed over the 18th century was that the mistress of the king was the one who had power.

The king's ear and could be the one to sort of get favours and advantages from. Because Louis isn't interested in taking a mistress, people expect Marie-Antoinette to gain them favours. But she has a very fine line to tread because she can't be seen to be overstepping her mark. Exactly. Her role as consort, her role is to bear children.

So she's in a slightly awkward position and accused of meddling because there isn't anyone else to take the flack. So she's effectively queen and mistress because she has the king's ear. So it's all concentrated down onto her.

One of the things that lots of people know about Marie Antoinette is her extravagant clothing. She was accused at the time of spending too much money on dresses, although in her defence she is supposed to be promoting the superiority of French culture. She represents the nation and is keeping dozens, if not hundreds of people employed as a result of being the face of France in that sense.

Mutta taas Marie Antoinette löytää itseään kriittisenä. Hän on kriittisenä kriittisenä liittymään liittymään liittymään liittymään liittymään liittymään liittymään liittymään liittymään.

Se on näyttänyt aiemmin todella kasuaalisesti. Suomalaiset suomalaiset suomalaiset suomalaiset suomalaiset suomalaiset suomalaiset suomalaiset suomalaiset

A con artist tries to persuade the former French ambassador to Vienna to buy a necklace to get him back into Marie Antoinette's favour. This is a necklace that Louis XV had ordered for his mistress, but never bought, and Marie Antoinette had turned it down. The former French ambassador, Roanne, thought that it was a good way of getting back in the Queen's good books, buys it, and then finds that he's been completely duped by the con artist, who's taken the jewels and done a runner.

Kyllä, ja hän on hyödyttänyt taiteilijaa, jota hän voisi soittaa kunnossa. Se on semmoinen konnollinen asia. Ja puhuttiin Marianne Toinetteen, ja hän sanoi, että katsokaa, mitä? En ole koskaan kuullut tätä kaveria. Roanne ajatteli, että hän tapahtui kunnossa, kun hän tapahtui sellaiseen seksiaalisuuteen. Ja kaikki uskottiin, että se oli täysin vahvaa, että hän voisi tapahtua kunnossa Versaillesin iltapäivänä. Ja siksi ei kukaan ajatellut, että se oli mitään yleisöä. Tällä hetkellä hänen reputatiivansa oli koko ajan pysähtynyt.