On This Day: Louis XVI Marries Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette was born Maria Antonia, Archduchess of Austria. Her parents arranged for her to marry Louis, dauphin and heir to France’s throne, to strengthen the Austro-Franco alliance. She was renamed Marie Antoinette and sent to France on May 7, 1770.

Marie was a carefree 14-year old with a year of tutoring in French language and culture; Louis was an awkward, introverted 15-year old who preferred hunting to accepting the duties of a monarch. They were not a well-matched couple and showed little affection for each other.

Louis and Marie Antoinette were married on May 16. After the ceremony, the two were sent to their wedding chamber, expected to begin work on producing an heir. But the two were unable to consummate their marriage, and their sexual relationship became a much-debated topic within the circles of the French and Austrian courts.

Louis gained a reputation for being impotent, both sexually and as a leader, while Marie Antoinette drew criticism for failing to produce an heir.

In 1777, Marie Antoinette’s brother, Joseph II, traveled to France and gave Louis sexual advice. Within months, the marriage was consummated and Louis had professed, “I delight in the pleasure, and I regret that I wasn’t aware of it for so long!” A year later, Marie Antoinette would give birth to the first of four children.

It is still unclear why it took seven years for the two to consummate their marriage. The most repeated theory is that Louis had a sexual dysfunction, but historians have largely debunked this notion. Most believe the two were simply inexperienced and not attracted to each other.

Following his father’s death in 1774, 20-year-old Louis XVI ascended to the throne during a turbulent period in French history. A mounting economic crisis had turned the public against the monarchy, and Louis’ ineffective economic reforms further enraged the people.

He was a self-doubting and indecisive leader who hoped that appeasing the revolutionaries would solve his problems, but the lack of effectual reforms further jeopardized the future of the monarchy. Marie Antoinette was also unpopular, with a reputation for living extravagantly and caring little for the common citizen.

In Oct. 1789, Revolutionary forces stormed the palace at Versailles. Louis and his family were taken to Paris and confined in the Tuileries palace. Three years later, France was declared a republic and the monarchy was stripped of its power.

On Dec. 11, 1792, Louis was put on trial for a “multitude of crimes in order to establish your tyranny by destroying its liberty.” He was found guilty on Jan. 15, 1793, and executed by guillotine on Jan. 21.

Marie Antoinette would be executed nine months later. In her final letter, she expresses sadness for leaving her children but writes that she is “calm, as one is when one’s conscience reproaches one with nothing.”

Historian E.M. Vidal argues that Marie Antoinette has been unfairly portrayed as “the queen who danced while the people starved.” This reputation is derived from street pamphlets, the “libelles,” created to satirize the monarchy and French society.

In reality, after the birth of her daughter in December 1778, she became less extravagant, eschewing the late-night gambling and parties that marked her youth, according to PBS. She lived very modestly for a Queen and gave generous amounts of money to the needy.

Furthermore, writes Vidal, the famous “let them eat cake” remark attributed to her was actually said by the wife of Louis XIV.