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"Marie Antoinette".


I was surprised to read comments in the press about the "Marie Antoinette" film, referring to her as a licentious person.

Many people regard Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (ăntwənĕt`, äNtwänĕt`), 1755–93, queen of France, wife of King Louis XVI and daughter of Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. She was married in 1770 to the dauphin, who became king in 1774. as a good, moral individual, true to her Catholic faith. Her husband, King Louis XVI

Louis XVI, king of France

Louis XVI, 1754–93, king of France (1774–92), third son of the dauphin (Louis) and Marie Josèphe of Saxony, grandson and successor of King Louis XV. In 1770 he married the Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette. His early attempts to enact reforms and to appoint competent and upright ministers met with general approval, but his character was unsuited to provide the leadership needed to control the complex social
, was also a good-living person. He was one of the few French kings not to have had mistresses. Upon ascending to the throne, Louis was already locked into a situation where 25 percent of the national income was spent on Versailles. While conditions in the country were far from perfect, the 'storming' of the Bastille Bastille (băstēl`) [O.Fr.,=fortress], fortress and state prison in Paris, located, until its demolition (started in 1789), near the site of the present Place de la Bastille. It was begun c.1369 by Hugh Aubriot, provost of the merchants [mayor] of Paris under King Charles V. is said to have freed only nine prisoners, some of whom were there for good reason. Louis also forbade his soldiers to fire on the mob to prevent bloodshed, and this probably ensured his capture and later execution. Technically, Louis and Marie Antoinette were guilty of treason since they had contacted and corresponded with members of courts in other countries for assistance. Their apprehended flight from France also increased opposition to them.

My wife and I recall walking to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris for Sunday Mass and stopping along the way at the Conciergerie, the prison along the Seine where Marie Antoinette was held until her beheading in the present Place de la Concorde. Her husband, Louis, had been executed earlier.

Napoleon, upon being appointed First Consul, was told by Abbe Sieyes that Louis had been a tyrant tyrant, in ancient history, ruler who gained power by usurping the legal authority. The word is perhaps of Lydian origin and carried with it no connotation of moral censure. With the growth of the constitutional, democratic form of government, especially at Athens, in the 5th cent. B.C. the word took on its negative sense. Many tyrants ruled well and with benefit to their subjects.. Napoleon replied, "He was no tyrant. If he had been, you would still be saying Mass and I would be a captain in the army." Sieyes (1748-1836) was the individual who developed the departement system used in France today.

A few years ago, during a vacation in Louisiana, we visited the town of Martinville. There is a statue of Evangeline for which the actress, Dolores del Rio, was the model. In the Catholic church in Martinville, one can still see a baptismal font donated to the church by Louis XVI with an inscription around the lid in French.

It is said that after his marriage to Marie Louise Marie Louise, 1791–1847, empress of the French (1810–15) as consort of Napoleon I and duchess of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla (1816–47), daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (later Emperor of Austria as Francis I.) She was married (1810) to Napoleon I and was the mother of Napoleon II. When Napoleon I was defeated (1814), she fled to Vienna. of Austria, the grand-niece of Marie Antoinette, Napoleon sometimes referred to Louis as "my uncle." Both the captors of King Louis and those of his wife attested to the serene and dignified way in which the royal couple faced death. The historicity of the positive testimony from hard core adversaries and enemies can scarcely be doubted.

Ottawa, ON
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Title Annotation:LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Author:Curran, W.J.
Publication:Catholic Insight
Article Type:Letter to the editor
Date:Dec 1, 2006
Words:401
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