As a little girl, I had somehow managed to pick up a sufficient amount of European history to know that Marie-Antoinette had been a gray-haired queen of France. When I learned that the real name of my great-grandmother, whom I called Mom, was Mary Antoinette, I could not believe my luck. My Mom was old…
Tag: Marie-Antoinette
Austrian Anomalies
Looking for Understanding in France and New York I don’t know much about Austria beyond the Sound of Music. Little makes sense to me about Austria despite my efforts to understand. How could the homeland of Marie-Antoinette, who herself struggled under the rigidity of French culture, devolve to such a hierarchical and peevish monarchy less…
Celebrating Louis XVI
Accomplishments besides Marrying Poorly Louis XVI, king of France, was born 261 years ago on August 23, 1754, and what many seem to remember about him is his wife, Marie-Antoinette, originally of Austria, and his general ineffectiveness in leading his country—hence, its revolution in 1789 and his eventual visit to the guillotine in 1793. Yet,…
Wherever I Go, There’s Rochambeau
Recurring Characters in Historical Travels Revered as a hero in the American Revolution, the Comte de Rochambeau’s efforts helping the new country ward off the British are commemorated along the Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail—almost 700 miles extending from Massachusetts and Rhode Island south to Virginia. Plaques mark his presence at various points along his historic…
The Takeaway from Boscobel
During my nonblogging hours, I spend a fair amount of time thinking about what educators intend to teach students and whether and to what extent students are actually learning what their instructors intend. I can’t help but wonder whether I’ve ever mastered any of the learning outcomes established by an historic institution. I suspect I’m…
“I Survived the French Revolution and Didn’t Even Get a T-Shirt”
History, for me, is best understood in manageable nuggets. I keep targeting the French revolution because of the convergence of so many ideas: the roles of church, state, kings, budgets, freedom, violence, revenge. I can’t imagine I’ll ever understand it, or why it flowed quite the way it did, but I keep looking and reading…
Visit Versailles via ‘Farewell, My Queen’
Does anyone understand Marie Antoinette? How someone, anyone, the queen of France could be so entirely oblivious about what was going on all around her entirely befuddles me. Every time I make excuses for her—she was too young for her role, her husband was supposed to be in charge—I can’t help but think of another…
The Oblivious Queens of Versailles
Visiting Versailles, the palace of French kings, and the Conciergerie, the prison where Queen Marie Antoinette spent her last days, one can’t help but wonder, How could it possibly have ended like this? Elements of the story do make sense: the queen seemed largely unschooled, her spouse weak, her home far removed from any squalor….