Marie Antoinette's

Before her royal wedding, the Duchess of Lauzun had never met her husband to be.  Amélie was engaged to the Armand Gontaut-Biron, who would become the duc de Lauzun. The boy was gifted with both ambition and charm (and he wasn't hard on the eyes either!)

He had had a few flings here and there so one can imagine the suspense to an engagement with a lady he did not know.  What did he know? She was very accomplished.  Raised by a grandmother who was an infamous member of the court of Louis XV, Amélie was well versed in court etiquette.  Elegant and graceful, she had been described as "exquisitely beautiful."  Elegance and grace certainly don't hurt a girl's beauty!

So it may not be surprising that the young duc had to see his beautiful bride to be.  An arrangement was made for him to attend a ball where Amélie would also be in attendance.  He would go in a disguise as not to be recognized by the guests.  When he got there,  he saw his bride, and was happily captivated by her beauty!

Unfortunately for Amélie, her husband-to-be was admiring the beauty of a Mademoiselle de Roth. Oops!  When he figured out his error and saw Amélie, as exquisite as she was, her beauty paled in comparison to Mademoiselle de Roth.  A circumstance beyond her control, the duc had a bad first impression, and never let go of that!

Johanna Öst, 2009. Digital Photograph. Website.

After rumors circulated that he was to marry Adelaide, the king's daughter, the Duc de Chartres' luck took an unexpected turn.  Of course, there was nothing wrong with marrying a daughter of France, but the suggested match never fully fabricated.  In fact, had he had his way, he may well have married one of the daughters, but not Adelaide (he had eyes for Anne Henriette de France!) The young duc, who was only 18, was hot on the market, and his father was ready for the boy to settle down and live a wholesome life.

Marriage
Daughters of France aside, a bride was chosen for this bachelor duc, Louise Henriette de Bourbon Conti, who strutted around Versailles as Mademoiselle Conti.  She was absolutely stunning.  The couple had a winter wedding, December of 1743.  The ceremony was held in the chapel of Versailles (same chapel Marie Antoinette was married in years later) and the couple was married by the famous Cardinal de Rohan.  The entire royal family attended the ceremony, including the duc's old flame, Henriette (below).

Adelaide (left) Anne Henriette (right)

The duc's puppy love for his cousin faded quickly once he was wed to Louise Henriette.  The couple was enamored with each other, and they were not afraid of a little PDA.  In what was described as "ridiculous" and "almost scandal" the couple affectionately began their wedded lives in what can only be described as true happiness.

The Honeymoon Ends
The hot passion these two newlyweds shared started to fade a few years after they started their lives together. Six years after the wedding at Versailles, reports of the duc's living were less than desirable.  He was staying out until all hours of the night, gaming, and in debt.  He drank too much and hung out with society far below his rank.  Overall he seemed to be having a good time.


His beloved wife was keeping herself very busy with a lover and was rumored to have several lovers aside from her constant.  This scandal was made public in 1751 when the duc finally told his wife enough was enough.  He made it very clear that she was not to see the lover again ...or else..she would be sent away to a convent!

Louise Henriette had grown up in one and was not ready to go back.  She threw a fit and refused to even dine with her husband. (ps she was also pregnant at this point...but by who...!) Needless to say, things didn't look so good. For whatever reason, the couple reconciled, but Louise Henriette passed away in 1759 just 32 years old. It didn't take long for rumors to spread that the cause of her early death was due to her unfaithful wedded life. 

Rome is said to have been founded on April 21st, by Romulus and Remus.  To celebrate the mark on our calendars ( you did mark this date down right?) here are some 18th century views of the famous capital.

Frédérique Louise Wilhelmine and Mrs. Francis Russell. Both ladies wear day gowns in white, with diaphanous layers. Accessorized with a pastel silk ribbon around the waist to enhance both a slim waistline and femininity. Who wore it better?

Who wore it better?

Here is Marie-Louise de Parma, in her splendid wedding gown, at age 13!  Granddaughter of Louis XV, she married her cousin,  Charles IV of Spain in 1765.  Her wedding gown is light and layered, with soft pinks, floral greens and ivory. Diamonds and pearls mix to showcase her status, and she wears a bracelet with a miniature portrait of her betrothed on it.

The above image shows the path of letters from 1700-1751 in England.   Correspondence was coming and going from major cities and within counties.  Stanford Uni has created the project Electronic Enlightenment, and you can view the interactive tool to see where letters were going during these years.  You can view specific cities or just drag the map around to see paths.  There is also an option to select correspondents, whose letters were going where. The project is based on a large sample of correspondence from the period.  My favorite option is the flow!

Sadly there are only 2 letters represented for Louis XV's correspondence! 

 View the project here.



Oh yea, and another project:

Inspired by all the talk of Royal Weddings, I have compiled some lush images straight from Sofia Coppola's 2006 interpretation of Marie Antoinette's royal wedding.  The wedding was only a brief chapter in the movie, but the filming, costumes, decor and choreography were very impressive.  The ceremony was shot in quite a bit more detail than I had expected, and even the reception is included (with full dances and toasts!).  Reception photos after the jump!

Ok everyone, enjoy all the royal wedding fuss! Lets have a relaxing weekend. Pull out the pearls and hey, why not open a bottle of champagne? Cheers!

Reading this description of Marie Antoinette's wedding day at Versailles may sound all too similar.  I bet there will be a similar scene this Friday, except hopefully no rain!

Here is a fascinating account of the quality of bread in France right before the storming of the Bastille. Although this individual had the means to secure himself a decent bit of bread, you can just imagine the horror of those who could not, or if they did, received the worst of the worst.

"The nearer the 14th of July approached," says an eye-witness,' "the more did the dearth increase. 

Every baker's shop was surrounded by a crowd, to which bread was distributed with the most grudging economy... This bread was generally blackish, earthy, and bitter, producing inflammation of the throat and pain in the bowels.

I have seen flour of detestable quality at the military school and at other depots. I have seen portions of it yellow in colour, with an offensive smell; some forming blocks so hard that they had to be broken into fragments by repeated blows of a hatchet.

For my own part, wearied with the difficulty of procuring this poor bread, and disgusted with that offered to me at the tables d'hote, I avoided this kind of food altogether. In the evening I went to the Cafe du Caveau, where, fortunately, they were kind enough to reserve for me two of those rolls which are called flutes, and this is the only bread I have eaten for a week at a time."

Galart de Montjoie. ["French Society before the Revolution."] In Histoire de la Révolution de France. S.l.: s.n., 1797. 53, ch. XXIX, quoted in Hippolyte Taine, The French Revolution,(New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1913), 4.

The Borgias, Season 1, Episode 1