|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marie Antoinette Queen of France, Guillotined on Oct. 16th, 1793. |
|
|
|
Marie Antoinette Born in 1755, Marie would grow up to become a symbol of extreme extravagance. The daughter of the Empress of Austria, Marie was married at age fifteen to the French dauphin Louis XVI. In 1774 she became Queen of France when her husband inherited the throne. To ease the boredom of French royal life and the marital neglect she suffered, Marie surrounded herself with young friends and dove into a life of pleasure, hosting lavish parties and theatrical events and wearing outrageously expensive gowns and hairstyles. Scandals surrounded her activities, and her wild spending was ruinous as the common people fell deeper and deeper into financial despair. Revolution soon followed and the royal court was overthrown. Both Marie and her husband were tried for crimes against their country. Although tried separately and months apart, they were both were found guilty and sentenced to death. On October 16, 1793 the former Queen was hauled alone in a dilapidated cart to the scaffold in Paris where she was beheaded by the guillotine. |
|
|
|
