Archive for August, 2007
Was Marie Antoinette A Good Queen
August 31st, 2007
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Question: What would be a good noble name during the French Revolution?
I'm playing a role of a French noble during the Revolution for a mock trial and was wondering if there was a good name I could use. Could anyone think of a good backstory too? I have to submit a testimony of my defense for the king and queen (Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette)
Thank you for your unbelievably insightful advice Oscar. I'm quite well aware of what I'm supposed to do and I don't need smart ass remarks. I'm not supposed to copy someone directly. >:(
Answer: i guess some good male names would be Pierre, Jacques, Jean, Marc, Jean-Louis, Guillaume...etc. last names -- maybe Toussaint, Cousteau, Duval, Beauregard...etc. try looking up "French names" on google or something.
and as for a backstory...sorry, i can't help you there! good luck, though! 
Marie Antoinette is the Queen
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French Revolution And Marie Antoinette
August 25th, 2007
Question: why Marie Antoinette important to the French Revolution?
I know she married Louis XVI at the age of 14 in order to build a diplomatic alliance between her birth family and the family of her husband but why was she so important to the French Revolution???
Answer: Marie Antoinette was a key cause of the French Revolution despite her lack of involvement in many of the events which led up to the French Revolution in 1789.
The people of France never completely accepted their Austrian queen because she was Austrian and France and Austria had had conflicts in the past.
In beginning of her reign, Marie was a party animal and infamous for her frivolous spending. At this time, all of France was facing economic hardships and starvation and famine had plagued the land. The people had disliked the monarchy and now they hated it even more because of their Queen who spent so much yet had little idea of the ruin of France since she had her own private estate away from the situation.
In 1784 - 1785, the Diamond Necklace Scandal tarnished the royal family's reputation. Jeanne de la Motte with a few other people conned an admirer of the Queen, Louis Cardinal de Rohan into purchasing an extremely expensive diamond necklace as a secret gift for the Queen. Although the Queen herself had rejected the offer from the jeweler. The diamond necklace was secretly divided and Motte profited from the sales. When payments were due and the Queen was approached she denounced them and word spread of her so called purchase. Since the Queen had been known as a spender and the people had already grown to hate her, she was blamed and deemed sole responsible instantly.
The Palais Royale was a public estate opened by a jealous relative of the king. Since this estate belonged to a relative of the king, the press was uncensored. Various press items such as cartoons which made fun of the king and queen were vitriolic and accelerated the hatred of the monarchs. At the Palais Royale during the scandal, anyone had access and so the reputation of the monarchs were destroyed.
Summary: Austrian descant resulted in lack of complete tolerance, frivolous nature and spending ticked off people, catalyst of Palais Royale which ticked off people, diamond necklace scandal which ticked off the poor people. So basically Marie Antoinette made the monarchy extremely unpopular which was one of the causes of the French Revolution, as absolute rule was undesirable this was one of the reasons it had to go.
The French Revolution History Channel #7
