The Revolution

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by silverstar

Heres a pic of Marie Antoinette in St Denis... her statue that is..
though I doubt she would have worn a dress so revealing in real life !
Celebheaven • View topic - Marie Antoinette


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That's from her Tomb Effigfy which was erected during the Bourbon Restoration.

I agree the dress is very revealing but possibly an Empire style & not one from M.A. era.

[An Ard Ri]

October 1793 -Desecration of the Royal Burials at the Basilica of St.Denis outside Paris.

Mobs of revolutionaries plundered and sacked the Basilica church.Many tombs were smashed and the royal vaults were broken open where the coffins of the kings,queen,dauphins,princes and princesses lay.The coffins were then opened and the royal remains were then unceremoniously dumped into common pits outside the basilica church.Many of the royal bodies were put on display before being thrown into the mass grave,some had parts removed by ghoulish souvenir hunters. (head of Henri IV,thigh bone of Catherine de Medici,beard of Louis XIII)

Dates of the desecration


August 1793- Philip the Bold,Isabelle d'Aragon,Pepin,Constance of Castile and Louis VI.

October 13th- Henri IV
October 14th- Louis XIII,Louis XIV,Anne of Austria,Maria de Medici,Maria Theresa of Spain,Gaston Duke of Orléans.
October 16th- Henrietta Maria,(wife of Charles I),Philippe duke d'Orléans,Louis XV,Charles V and Jeanne de Bourbon.
October 17th - Charles VI,Isabeau of Bavaria,Charles VIII,Marie d'Anjou,Marguerite de Valois,Francis II,Charles VIII.
October 18th - Henri II,Catherine de Medici,Charles IX,Henri III,Louis XII,Anne of Brittany,Jeanne II of Navarre,Louis X,Jean I,Hugh the Great,Charles II.
October 19th - Philip IV,Dagobert,queen Nantilde
October 20th- Francis I,Claude de France,Louise de Savoie,Louise de France,Charlotte de France,Charles Duke of Orléans and the Dauphin Francis.
October 21st - Philip V,Philip VI.
October 24th- Charles IV
October 25th - Jean II and Louise daughter of Louis XV.

[scooter]

Originally Posted by chabot4me

It has fasinated me how the Queen of England is still beloved by the people of her country. I was struck in surprize when Queen Elizabeth came to the state of Virgina, USA and she recieved a royal greeting from the citizens here in the USA. She had traveled to see Williamsburg Va. For the 300 year celabration. It really was something to see, the Queen of England on soil that rebelled against the home land just over 200 years ago. Not just here in the USA but also adored by many of the people. I guess this speaks volumes of the person the Queen is and the hope for the French monarchy.

Yes, I was recently in Williamsburg, and QEII's visit is mentioned on many parts of the Williamsburg experience.

[COUNTESS]

She is a nice, unoffensive lady. She has never had any political influence anywhere in this nation. No one cares about her, except we like the pomp and circumstance that they pay big bucks for, to entertain us. What she has to do with the French Monarchy, I have no idea. The French became a republic and all the problems caused by their monarchy is long past.

[silverstar]

Something very fundamental happened to our world during those fateful years. Its like a turning point,
a time when the whole ethos of society changed.

Of course, the Americans and the political situation in the US had a lot to do with it and powers behind the scenes that we are not fully aware of .

[silverstar]

That desecration of St Denis is an awful consequence of the
revolution, goullish too.
I think that graves were being desecrated all over France, for eg the tomb of Diana de Poitiers was looted and destroyed, it was as if the French mob were intent on destroying their own history.
Its a wonder that Versailles was nt set on fire, instead it survived...
(unlike the Tuilleries) ... and is now one of the top tourists honey pots in all
of Europe !

[An Ard Ri]

Most tombs both Royal and from the nobility were looted and destroyed,many of them were splendid examples of medieval and renaissance Funerary art/sculpture.

Though thankfully many of them survived thanks to French archaeologist,Alexandre Lenoir who salvaged and saved many from total destruction.

[Isotta]

Actually, we didn't start it ...the English decapitated a fellow named Charles and the world changed. Too bad, he had a great court painter.

Quite a revolution. I think the ripples spread and picked up force over the years.

I do believe that one thing will influence another and that the world was ripe for revolution in ways we never saw before.

[silverstar]

Interesting that Louis 16th , during his humiliating captivity, read a book about Charles 1st trial and execution..... must have made grim reading for the poor guy !

[silverstar]

Imagine if St Denis was in pristine condition , untouched and undisturbed ..... as it was prior to the revolution, that would be quite something !

[An Ard Ri]

The unfortunate Princess Marie Louise of Savoy better known as the Princess of Lamballe met her brutal end on September 3rd,1792.

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I'm looking more into the French Revolution and it had some similarities with the Russian Revolution. Both had weak rulers with unpopular wives who had trouble producing an heir. Both Nicholas and Louis have been described as good men but horrible rulers. Their lack of understanding and distance from the masses caused them to not accept change and lead to their destruction and the destruction of their families; at least Louis' daughter made it out alive.

[starofwonder]

Originally Posted by XeniaCasaraghi

I'm looking more into the French Revolution and it had some similarities with the Russian Revolution. Both had weak rulers with unpopular wives who had trouble producing an heir. Both Nicholas and Louis have been described as good men but horrible rulers. Their lack of understanding and distance from the masses caused them to not accept change and lead to their destruction and the destruction of their families; at least Louis' daughter made it out alive.

perhaps it was the same secret forces ( masonry ? ) that were behind both of these revolutions .

A Royal ... female... hate figure is common to both .

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I've been watching documentary on the history of England and it cracks me up how it conveniently forgets they were the first to kill a King. With that being said it didn't start an all out revolution throughout the continent like the French one. The idea of divine rights of kings and the select few being obligated to no one was destroyed during that period. It took another century but it eventually spread into other countries and took down their monarchs and they never returned.

[CyrilVladisla]

On August 4, 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted.

[starofwonder]

Originally Posted by chabot4me

I was struck in surprize when Queen Elizabeth came to the state of Virgina, USA and she recieved a royal greeting from the citizens here in the USA. She had traveled to see Williamsburg Va. For the 300 year celabration. It really was something to see, the Queen of England on soil that rebelled against the home land just over 200 years ago.

some years ago there was a royal visit to
Germany... which, considering recent history... is even more remarkable !

[starofwonder]

Thinking about it, you d think that the mob would have
looted the Palace of Versailles... when they had the upper hand ...

maybe they did, but Ive never read anything about it .

[AristoCat]

Originally Posted by XeniaCasaraghi

I'm looking more into the French Revolution and it had some similarities with the Russian Revolution. Both had weak rulers with unpopular wives who had trouble producing an heir. Both Nicholas and Louis have been described as good men but horrible rulers. Their lack of understanding and distance from the masses caused them to not accept change and lead to their destruction and the destruction of their families; at least Louis' daughter made it out alive.

Another interesting fact:

Both Louis and Nicholas II had wives that were of German origin and were profoundly hated to the point of being made a scapegoat.

[wyevale]

Starofwonder - Versailles escaped looting, as the Parisian mob brought the Royal Family back to Paris with them 'under their protection' ..[ i.e imprisoned them..]
As a result the focus of hatred moved from Versailles to the Tuileries [the residence of the Royal Family in Paris] which was indeed attacked and looted on the 10th August 1792, just days before the Monarchy was abolished and France became a Republic.

[Moonmaiden23]

Originally Posted by AristoCat

Another interesting fact:

Both Louis and Nicholas II had wives that were of German origin and were profoundly hated to the point of being made a scapegoat.

Yes, that is true. And the bodies of both families were desecrated after they were murdered, yet had monuments or churches consecrated to their memory years later.

So many similarities.