Maria Theresa of Austria was born on 13 May 1717 as the eldest of two surviving daughters of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Her father attempted to secure her succession to the Habsburg lands with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. She eventually succeeded him, although it triggered the War of [read more]
Maria Christina of Austra was born on 13 May 1742 as the daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, who celebrated her 25th birthday that day, and Francis of Lorraine – Holy Roman Empress and Emperor. She was reportedly her mother’s favourite child and was nicknamed Mimi in the family. She was 13 years old when [read more]
At the end of April 1774, King Louis XV of France began to suffer from bouts of fever. He had been warned by his doctors “not to make love quite so often.” His beloved mistress, Madame du Barry, tried to comfort him. The Duke of Croÿ wrote, “For eight days, the King often looked and [read more]
Read part two here. On 2 August 1793, Marie Antoinette was removed from the Temple to the horror of Elisabeth and Marie Thérèse. They cried themselves to sleep for weeks. They were searched almost every day but were left alone otherwise. Marie Antoinette wrote a last letter to Elisabeth before her execution, but the letter [read more]
Read part one here. Elisabeth joined her brother and his family in the Tuileries, where some semblance of social life was kept up. She and Marie Antoinette supervised the education of the Dauphin, Louis Charles, and Madame Royale, Marie Thérèse. In June 1791, she accompanied her brother and his family on their unsuccessful escape attempt, [read more]
Elisabeth was born on 3 May 1764 as the daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France and Maria Josepha of Saxony in the Palace of Versailles. She was baptised the same day in the palace chapel by the Archbishop of Rheims in the presence of the King and the rest of the royal family. She was [read more]
Copyright © 2023 | MH Magazine WordPress Theme by MH Themes