Madame Royale Research Paper

In this letter, he disapproved of the reduction of his royal powers and personal wealth, which affected his lifestyle and authority. He denounced the Revolution, National Assembly, and its constitution. Copies of the letter circulated in public and revealed to people that “Louis had lied to the French” when he swore an oath “before God and the nation to uphold the constitution” (102). Not only did he leave behind his people but his flight would have led to a civil war between revolutionaries and loyalists aided by foreigners. On top of that, deputies of the National Assembly dealt with the aftermath of a missing king: paranoid Parisians suspecting a conspiracy, people storming the palace, and palace servants being accused of treason. This added to the “profound sense of desertion and betrayal” by a king that people saw as a “good father” (222). Out of disgust, they denounced Louis: calling him all sorts of names, took down portraits of him, and covered “in black the word royal” on signs, buildings, and other public places (110). The “myth of the kingship had been shattered” because nobody knew what to do with Louis at this time (104, 108). Some wanted exile or imprisonment whereas others suggested reinstating him as only a figurehead, and some thought about a “republic without a king” (108). Either way, they no longer

In Timothy Tackett’s When the King Took Flight, it’s explained how Louis XVI’s flight to Varennes resulted in escalating events to happen in the French Revolution that changed and shaped the history of France. In his flight to escape the revolution and upon his capture, he unintentionally created a domino effect that rippled throughout France with consequences that were far from his original plans when attempting to escape the country. This essay will explain how the flight to Varennes radicalized the revolution by further weakening the monarchy and its authority along with its image, that the most significant reaction was that it opened ideas to new forms of government, and that the seeds for this radicalism was already present.

When he was nearly five years old, King Louis XIV acquired the throne of France, one of the most powerful states in Europe at the time, although Louis’ intention was to expand this supremacy further than any antecedent king had before. Directed by Cardinal Mazarin for the first 18 years of his rule, King Louis XIV developed an affinity for absolutism early on, a form which he would pursue in almost every aspect of his life, begetting consequences that both harmed and benefited him. His title as “The Sun King” became synonymous with autocrat, especially when Cardinal Mazarin died, leaving a young Louis with the reigns to France. Over the span of his 72-year reign, King Louis XIV brought about governmental reform, triumphed in wars, and established his royal estate Versailles, each of which, among others, provided their own challenges and defined Louis’ reign and character as perceived by those around him and abroad. Every aspect of Louis’ rule has been interpreted deeply, exposing faults in some while revealing strengths in others, creating an imbalance of accomplishment which has produced debate over Louis’ overall success in his role as the King of France. However, King Louis XIV’s susceptibility to flattery and immoral persuasion, paired with his personal motivations and immoral decision-making, deem him an inadequately educated monarch who fell vastly short of ideal, for the entirety of his monarchy ultimately left France deprived of resources and its people impoverished.

The revolution developed rapidly in the months May to October 1789, sparked by the King’s refusal to put forward a programme of reform in order to satisfy the Third Estate during the meeting of the Estates General on the 5th May 1789. Consequently, the Third Estate assembled in order to take the Tennis Court Oath agreeing not to disperse until France had a Constitution. Fearing his position was being threatened by the radical Third Estate, Louis contemplated using military force and ordered the stationing of 20000 troops round Paris in preparation to dissolve the National Assembly by force if necessary. On the 11th July 1789, Louis made the mistake of dismissing Jacques Necker, who was not only popular with the Third Estate but

The French revolution was a very rough patch of history where people had a struggle to live because of the struggle to find food. Louis the sixteenths note described France as, “authority ignored, personal property violated, people’s safety everywhere in danger, crimes remaining unpunished, and a complete anarchy established above the law”. King louis did his very best to make the peoples actions seem absurd in order to hopefully make them reconsider what they had done, however, it would have very little effect on their actions. Finally, the note concludes by King louis the sixteenth offering himself back to the people as a king. The note quotes, “Come back to your king; he will always be your father, your best friend.”

The assembly proceeded to grapple with its primary task, the drafting of a constitution. In the constitutional preamble, known in history as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the delegates formulated the revolutionary ideals later summarized as Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. While the Constituent Assembly deliberated, the hungry population of Paris, a hotbed of discontent and of rumors of Royalist conspiracy clamored for food and agitated for action. On October 5-6 a large body of Parisians, mostly women, marched on Versailles and laid siege to the royal palace. Lafayette, on demand of the crowd, escorted Louis and his family to Paris. After this episode some conservative members of the Constituent Assembly, which followed the king to Paris, handed in their resignations. In Paris, both the court and the assembly became increasingly subject to pressures from its citizens. Radical sentiment became predominant in the

Madame LaLaurie was born Marie Delphine Macarty in 1780. She was one of five children born to Louis Barthelemy de McCarty and Marie Jeanne Lovable. Her family was part of the prominent white Creole community, mainly because he cousin, Augustine de Macarty, was mayor of New Orleans from 1815 to 1820. The lovely Madame LaLaurie was married three times throughout her life span, being widowed in the first two. Madame LaLaurie birthed four daughters and one son, Marie-Bonja Delphine Lopez y Angulo de la Candelaria, Marie Louise Pauline Blanque, Louise Marie Laure Blanque, Marie Louise Jeanne Blanque, and Jeanne-Pierre Pauline Blanque. Madame LaLaurie was a New Orleans socialite known by many, but she hid a dark secret for many years until a fire at her home exposed the truth.

The Life of King Henry V shows the reader Henry V’s struggle to take his place as the new king of France. The French are hesitant to

“When the King Took Flight” by Timothy Tackett tells the historical story of the royal families failed attempt to escape from Paris to the city of Varennes, in the summer of 1791. The relevance of this event not only sculpted but also changed the course of the French Revolution. Tackett illustrates the complications of the event and the direction the French Revolution was headed, which was subsequently towards republicanism and terror.

6, a crowd gathered outside the Palace at Versailles and demanded that the King and Queen be

The published letter of the king’s reasoning for departure also served the public with rage, and, “equally significant for the future of the Revolution was the dramatic change in attitude toward the king…everything was transformed by the king’s flight.” (Tackett, 101) People in the streets of Paris were throwing out their portraits of the royal family and were seeing the king, the one they praised a week ago, as a deserter and conspirator to their newly-formed and praised government. The use of rumor and newspapers by members of The Cordelier Club also helped spread certain radical ideals in which prompted the idea of turning France into a republic, and of dissembling the monarchy and the king altogether. It was this power in the streets of Paris that would soon grow with every day after the king fled, as, “Outside the Legislative Assembly, however, the more radical revolutionaries had managed to hold the loyalty of most of the provincial club network, giving them a powerful propaganda tool.” (Popkin, 58) The National Assembly was still strong in its number of members favorable of this new constitutional monarchy, but it was in the streets and with the people that the actual aspect of the Revolution was shifting. Members of the National Assembly were getting restless

King Louis XVI believed the revolutionary changes he detested “had been provoked by a few radicals in the National Assembly and their demagogic control of Parisian ‘rabble’ (87).” As thousand flocked to see the kings caravan return to Paris it became evident he had misinterpreted the true influence of the revolution. Many of his loyal subjects rejected the notion removing their hats upon his arrival, a snub to the king and his royal family. Previously under the king’s regime the general public had considered him

Louis carried on an extravagant childhood in the royal palace of Versailles. One day while exploring the enormous palace, Louis ran into Cardinal Mazarin in the spacious Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces). Mazarin spoke to Louis just as a father would, “Now, Louis, you understand that someday you will be the King of France, correct?” The young and innocent Louis responded, “Yes, that’s what I heard.” Mazarin went on to inform young Louis what it meant to be a king and the responsibilities that accompany the title of king.

The lower classes were as poverty-stricken as the French court was luxurious. Each lord had to ensure his favor with King Louis XVI in order to keep his position. Nobles went to tremendous expenses to keep up appearances at all times; so each “hotel” where the nobles stayed was a miniature of any of the King’s twenty palaces. Nobles spent their whole lives

Citation- Price, Munro. The Road from Versailles: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the Fall of the French Monarchy. New York: St. Martin 's Press, 2003.