the State
31 december 2004
Louis XVI's testament
the Testament of King Louis XVI
(Archives Nationales, Paris, dated 25 Dec 1792; given by the King to M. Baudrais, a municipal officer, on 21 Jan 1793, a few moments for he left for his place of execution. Baudrais immediately signed his name to authenticate it and deposited it with the commune, where it was signed and certified by Coulomneau, the secretary, and Drouel, the vice-president).
"In the name of the Very holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
To-day, the 25th day of December, 1792, I, Louis XVI King of France, being for more than four months imprisoned with my family in the tower of the Temple at Paris, by those who were my subjects, and deprived of all communication
whatsoever, even with my family, since the eleventh instant; moreover, involved in a trial the end of which it is impossible to foresee, on account of the passions of men, and for which one can find neither pretext nor means in any existing law, and having no other witnesses, for my thoughts than God to whom I can address myself,
I hereby declare, in His presence, my last wishes and feelings.
I leave my soul to God, my creator; I pray Him to receive it in His mercy, not to judge it according to its merits but according to those of Our Lord Jesus Christ who has offered Himself as a sacrifice to God His Father for us other men, no matter how hardened, and for me first.
I die in communion with our Holy Mother, the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church, which holds authority by an uninterrupted succession, from St. Peter, to whom Jesus Christ entrusted it; I believe firmly and I confess all that is contained in the creed and the commandments of God and the Church, the sacraments and the mysteries, those which the Catholic Church teaches and has always taught. I never pretend to set myself up as a judge of the various way of expounding the dogma which rend the church of Jesus Christ, but I agree and will always agree, if God grant me life the decisions which the ecclesiastical superiors of the Holy Catholic Church give and will always give, in conformity with the disciplines which the Church has followed since Jesus Christ.
I pity with all my heart our brothers who may be in error but I do not claim to judge them, and I do not love them less in Christ, as our Christian charity teaches us, and I pray to God to pardon all my sins. I have sought scrupulously to know them, to detest them and to humiliate myself in His presence. Not being able to obtain the ministration of a Catholic priest, I pray God to receive the confession which I feel in having put my name (although this was against my will) to acts which might be contrary to the discipline and the belief of the Catholic church, to which I have always remained sincerely attached. I pray God to receive my firm resolution, if He grants me life, to have the ministrations of a Catholic priest, as soon as I can, in order to confess my sins and to receive the sacrament of penance.
I beg all those whom I might have offended inadvertently (for I do not recall having knowingly offended any one), or those whom I may have given bad examples or scandals, to pardon the evil which they believe I could have done them.
I beseech those who have the kindness to join their prayers to mine, to obtain pardon from God for my sins.
I pardon with all my heart those who made themselves my enemies, without my have given them any cause, and I pray God to pardon them, as well as those who, through false or misunderstood zeal, did me much harm.
I commend to God my wife and my children, my sister, my aunts, my brothers, and all those who are attached to me by ties of blood or by whatever other means. I pray God particularly to cast eyes of compassion upon my wife, my children, and my sister, who suffered with me for so long a time, to sustain them with His mercy if they shall lose me, and as long as they remain in his mortal world.
I commend my children to my wife; I have never doubted her maternal tenderness for them. I enjoin her above all to make them good Christians and honest individuals; to make them view the grandeurs of this world (if they are condemned to experience them) as very dangerous and transient goods, and turn their attention towards the one solid and enduring glory, eternity. I beseech my sister to kindly continue her tenderness for my children and to take the place of a mother, should they have the misfortune of losing theirs.
I beg my wife to forgive all the pain which she suffered for me, and the sorrows which I may have caused her in the course of our union; and she may feel sure that I hold nothing against her, if she has anything with which to reproach herself.
I most warmly enjoin my children that, after what they owe to God, which should come first, they should remain forever united among themselves, submissive and obedient to their mother, and grateful for all the care and trouble which she has taken with them, as well as in memory of me. I beg them to regard my sister as their second mother.
I exhort my son, should he have the misfortune of becoming king, to remember he owes himself wholly to the happiness of his fellow citizens; that he should forget all hates and all grudges, particularly those connected with the misfortunes and sorrows which I am experiencing; that he can make the people happy only by ruling according to laws: but at the same time to remember that a king cannot make himself respected and do the good that is in his heart unless he has the necessary authority, and that otherwise, being tangled up in his activities and not inspiring respect, he is more harmful than useful.
I exhort my son to care for all the persons who are attached to me, as much as his circumstances will allow, to remember that it is a sacred debt which I have contracted towards the children and relatives of those who have perished for me and also those who are wretched for my sake. I know that there are many persons, among those who were near me, who did not conduct themselves towards me as they should have and who have even shown ingratitude, but I pardon them (often in moments of trouble and turmoil one is not master of oneself), and I beg my son that, if he finds an occasion, he should think only of their misfortunes.
I should have wanted here to show my gratitude to those who have given me a true and disinterested affection; if, on the one hand, I was keenly hurt by the ingratitude and disloyalty of those to whom I have always, shown kindness, as well as to their relatives and friends, on the other hand I have had the consolation of seeing the affection and voluntary interest which many persons have shown me. I beg them to receive my thanks.
In the situation in which matters still are, I fear to compromise them if I should speak more explicitly, but I especially enjoin my son to seek occasion to recognize them.
I should, nevertheless, consider it a calumny on the nation if I did not openly recommend to my son MM. De Chamilly and Hue, whose genuine attachment for me led them to imprison themselves with me in this sad abode. I also recommend Clery, for whose attentiveness I have nothing but praise ever since he has been with me. Since it is he who has remained with me until the end, I beg the gentlemen of the commune to hand over to him my clothes, my books, my watch, my purse, and all other small effects which have been deposited with the council of the commune.
I pardon again very readily those who guard me, the ill treatment and the vexations which they thought it necessary to impose upon me. I found a few sensitive and compassionate souls among them - may they in their hearts enjoy the tranquillity which their way of thinking gives them.
I beg MM. De Malesherbes, Tronchet and De Seze to receive all my thanks and the expressions of my feelings for all the cares and troubles they took for me.
I finish by declaring before God, and ready to appear before Him, that I do not reproach myself with any of the crimes with which I am charged.
Made in duplicate in the Tower of the Temple, the 25th of December 1792."
LOUIS
Posted by willy at 11:19 am to 01 - King | the State | Comments (4)
Mainthe State
19 december 2004
Louis XVI
Portrait de Louis XVI en costume de sacre by Antoine-François Callet (1741-1823)
oil on canvas 273 cm x 198 cm, Chateau Versailles, France
Posted by willy at 01:42 pm to 01 - King | the State | Comments (1)
Mainthe State
01 december 2004
Marie Antoinette
Queen Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette and her children (at Versailles) - 1787 by Vigée Le Brun
Oil on canvas, 104" x 82", Versailles, France
Self Portrait-1790 by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842)
oil on canvas, 100 cm x 81 cm, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
The painting on the easel is of Marie Antoinette done from memory.
Marie Antoinette was born November 2, 1755 in Vienna, Austria. She was the youngest and most beautiful daughter of Francis I and Maria Theresa, Emperor and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. Marie Antoinette was brought up believing her destiny was to become queen of France. She married the crown prince of France in 1770. Four years later she became queen when her husband was crowned King Louis XVI (House of Bourbon).
Archduchess Antonia grew up in the highly moral environment of her mother's court. Maria Theresa was a strong leader, beloved by her people. The busy empress supervised her children's upbringing as closely as she could, but Antonia's education was left largely in the hands of a governess who was happy to spoil the pretty, high-spirited little girl. Antonia spent more time playing than studying, although she enjoyed her music lessons and became an excellent harpist and dancer.
Unlike so many royal couples, her parents had married for love and truly enjoyed family life. Although the court was a place of great formality on important occasions, in private the royal family was rather casual. Antonia regarded her mother with awe but was close to her good-natured father. A shadow fell over Antonia's sunny life in 1765, when her father died of a stroke at the age of 56.
A few years later, Antonia's childhood came to an end. Her mother had arranged Antonia's marriage to the dauphin (crown prince) of France to cement an alliance between Austria and France. In 1770, at age 14, Marie Antoinette left her homeland and travelled to the French palace of Versailles to be married.
Her 15-year-old groom, Louis, was fat, awkward, and shy. He neglected his royal duties in favor of hunting and working in his locksmith shop. He also suffered from a medical condition known as phimosis which prevented him from fathering children for the first seven years of his marriage. The public, knowing nothing of this, blamed Marie Antoinette for her failure to bear heirs to the throne -- as she would so often be blamed for things beyond her control.
The court of Versailles was more rigid than Maria Theresa's court, and Marie Antoinette yawned and giggled openly during royal ceremonies. As time went on she became increasingly rebellious. She insisted on going out alone or with a few companions, instead of surrounded by attendants. She picked her own friends and even her own clothes, refusing to wear corsets and stays. When her brother visited the court he commented disapprovingly that she had bad manners and was not doing her job.
Many French people hated the queen for her Austrian blood and her formerly frivolous ways. She was rumored to have had numerous affairs. The most persistent rumor centered on Count Hans Axel Fersen, a Swedish diplomat. He was definitely one of the queen's favorites, but it is doubtful that they were lovers. Yet Marie Antoinette was reviled in pornographic songs, pictures and pamphlets. Someone even published a fake autobiography in which the queen supposedly confessed her sins, calling herself a prostitute.
Marie Antoinette was also called Madame Deficit and blamed for the country's financial problems. It is true that she enjoyed a lavish lifestyle; her mother wrote to warn her that "a queen can only degrade herself by this sort of heedless extravagance in difficult times." But Marie Antoinette was not quite as foolish and spoiled as the public believed. It certainly is not true that she said "Let them eat cake" when told that people were starving. As a woman and a foreigner she made a convenient scapegoat for the nation's problems, and it seemed that no slander against her was too wild to be widely believed.
As she matured Marie Antoinette became less extravagant. She tried to change her image by wearing simple gowns and posing for portraits with her children, but her efforts had little effect on the unforgiving public. The greatest damage to her reputation was created by a scandal in which she played no part at all: the Diamond Necklace Affair.
In 1789 the French Revolution erupted. Its causes were many, but much of the revolutionaries' fury focused on Marie Antoinette. On October 5 a mob of Parisian women marched on Versailles, shouting for the queen's blood. Some members of the mob were actually men in dresses, under the theory that royal troops were less likely to fire upon women.
When Marie Antoinette heard about the approaching mob she remained calm. "I know they have come from Paris to demand my head, but I learned from my mother not to fear death and I shall await it with firmness," she said. When the mob appeared outside the palace, Lafayette advised her to show herself on the balcony. Bravely she stepped out and faced them alone. As voices shouted, "Shoot! Shoot!" the queen bowed her head and curtsied. Then Lafayette joined her, bowed to her, and kissed her hand. He was considered a great hero, and his action impressed the crowd. "Vive la reine," they shouted ("Long live the queen!")
Because the king was apathetic, it fell to Marie Antoinette to negotiate with revolutionaries on the royal family's behalf. She also secretly urged Austria to intercede in France. When France went to war with Austria, Louis and Marie Antoinette were charged with treason. In 1792, the year the institution of royalty was officially abolished in France, the royal family was moved to the Temple Prison. They were treated fairly well and were permitted to live together. In December of that year Louis's trial began. He was found guilty and sentenced to death, and on January 21, 1793 he went bravely to the guillotine.
In October Marie Antoinette, now called "the Widow Capet," was tried and, like her husband, convicted of treason and sentenced to be guillotined. On October 16, 1793 she was taken through the streets of Paris in an open cart. She maintained her dignity to the end. On the scaffold she accidentally stepped on the executioner's foot, and her last words were, "Monsieur, I ask your pardon. I did not do it on purpose."
Posted by jacob at 09:52 am to 02 - Queen | the State | Comments (6)
Mainthe State
30 november 2004
Edward VI
Portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
c. 1539 Oil on oak, 57 x 44 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington
Edward VI (1537-1553) king of England and Ireland from 1547, son of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. Since Edward was only ten years old at the time of the coronation, the government was first entrusted to a lord protector, the king's uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who was executed in 1552 and replaced by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland. The king's health, never robust, deteriorated in 1553 and Northumberland made efforts to induce the dying boy to alter the succession in favour of his own daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey.
Posted by willy at 08:42 pm to 03 - Prince | the State | Comments (0)
Mainthe State
Jane Seymour-Anne of Cleves
Jane Seymour, Queen of England by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
1536 Oil on wood, 65,5 x 40,5 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Portrait of Anne of Cleves by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
c. 1539 Parchment mounted on canvas, 65 x 48 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris
Jane Seymour, the eldest daughter of Sir John Seymour, was lady-in-waiting, first to Catherine of Aragon, then to Anne Boleyn. 20 May, 1536, only one day after Anne’s execution, she became Henry’s 3rd wife. She died after giving birth to her husband’s desperately hoped-for male heir, later Edward VI (ruled in 1547-53).
Anne of Cleves (1515-1557) German princess, daughter of John, Duke of Cleves, a noted champion of Protestantism in germany, was chosen as his forth wife, first of all for political reasons. But there was also one more reason and this is where Holbein lost the King’s favor. Holbein was sent as a painter-ambassador to execute the portrait of Anne. It was a difficult task, in fact, he found himself between a rock and a hard place. Henry VIII liked the portrait, but when his bride arrived to the marriage ceremony in 1540 he found her more like a ‘fat Flanders mare’. This cost Holbein dearly in prestige. The marriage was annuled by parliament six months later. Anne of Cleves obtained a handsome settlement from Henry and lived in quiet comfort in England until 1555.
Henry’s two subsequent wives were English.
Posted by willy at 08:35 pm to 02 - Queen | the State | Comments (0)
Mainthe State
Henry VIII
Portrait of Henry VIII (1540) by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543)
Oil on panel, 88,5 x 74,5 cm
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome, Italy
Henry VIII (1491-1547), second son of Henry VII, King of England from 1509. Outstanding political and military figure, he was also remembered in history for his multiple and unsuccessful marriages. In 1509, he married his brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon. In 1533, Anne Boleyn became his second wife. In 1536, the Queen Catherine died and Anne Boleyn was accused of infidelity and executed. The day after her execution Henry married Jane Seymore.
Posted by willy at 08:27 pm to 01 - King | the State | Comments (0)