II.

Birth and Marriage

Born in Vienna on November 2, 1755, Marie-Antoinette was one of the daughters of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa. At the age of 14 she was promised in marriage to Louis, the heir to the French throne, and was married to him the following year, on May 16, 1770, at Versailles. The marriage was intended to cement an alliance between the Bourbon dynasty of France and her parents’ dynasty, the Habsburgs of Austria.

Vivacious and beautiful, Marie-Antoinette was received approvingly by her young husband and his grandfather, Louis XV, on her arrival at the French court. However, her husband, a plodding, bashful youth, at first appeared indifferent to her, and her natural vitality found expression in gaiety and extravagance. When her husband assumed the throne in 1774, Marie-Antoinette became queen of France. In 1778, a daughter was born. Two sons and another daughter followed.