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How did the French Revolution begin?
With the fall of the Bastille.
Similarly - How did the American Revolution begin?
With shots fired at Lexington and Concord.
Those are the stock answers, but neither marked the first act of open defiance of the crown.
Americans would say the Boston Tea Party or Boston Massacre or Stamp Act riots marked that.
The same is true for the French Revolution.
Frenchman may say the erosion of royal authority that overthrew France's social order began with the Estates General in 1789, but before that the first event to both rock the foundation of monarchy and also display open defiance of royal authority was the Diamond Necklace Affair or the Affair of the Queen's Necklace.
THE STORY
This article retells that story. This story that launched the French Revolution was one of the most notorious public scandals of history. It involved great fortunes made and lost, of avarice, mystery and intrigue, it pits great forces in French society against each other, but in the end severely damaged the monarchy to the reat detriment of both, and destroyed for all time the eputation of the second highest public figure in the French monarchy.
The story starts with three players, the first is that famous public figure - the Queen of France: Marie Antoinette. This story had its root cause, its currency and appeal from this most star-crossed figure of French history.
THE QUEEN
Marie Antoinette was an Austrian princess when she came to France, at age 15, in 1770, to marry the crown prince. She and husband Louis XVI were still teenagers when they ascended the throne in 1774.
Unlike her shy awkward husband, Marie Antoinette was admired for her legendary beauty, grace and elegance and her tastes which set fashion trends for Europe. She took pride in her appearance and in her ancestry, as a princess of Habsburg, the oldest royal house of Europe.
The young queen was also proud. Many would say arrogant. Her arrogance brought resentment from old nobility of France, a country which had been at war with Austria for much of the 18th century.
Marie Antoinette also attracted gossip for her inability (due to Louis's impotence) to become pregnant and produce an heir to the throne, for her youthful disregard of court etiquette, and for her frivolous and costly lifestyle. This lifestyle included gambling, masked balls, late night rendez-vous and rumors of her having had numerous love affairs with both men and women.
Even by 1785, an underground literature existed that reviled the Queen in pornographic songs, pictures and pamphlets. Much of Marie's fast and lose behavior in her first decade in France was a reaction to her marital frustration; but in 1778, Louis had an operation and the couple at last had children.
By 1785, Marie Antoinette had given birth to three children. She was maturing and her lifestyle had grown far more sedentary and less extravagant.
But that change was hardly noticeable to the informed public and did little to assuage those who had already developed their dislike for her.
THE NOBLEMAN
Against this backdrop in 1784, now enter the two key players in the story - one, a great nobleman, the other, a woman swindler who dupes him.
The nobleman is also the highest figure in the French Catholic Church. He is Louis René Édouard de Rohan, Cardinal of France, and son of one of its oldest and most famous noble houses.
However, Rohan has a problem. He is in disfavor at the French court. The Queen's mother Maria Theresa did not like Rohan, as frivolous dandy, when he served as a diplomat to Austria. After her mother scorned him, Marie Antoinette refused to receive Rohan and has not even spoken to him for a number of years.
For 10 years, Rohan has longed to become a member of the Queen's close circle, with the new favors and patronage that could bring.
Despite his position as Cardinal of the Church Monsieur Rohan is also quite the dandy. He has many love affairs and it was his dissipate life style that first angered the Austrian Empress who advised her daughter the young Marie Antoinette not to associate with Rohan.
Yet the amorous Rohan is attracted by the Queen's beauty and fancies that if she would only admit him to her circle, he too might partake in her amorous favors, of the type frequently rumored in court.
THE SWINDLER
The swindler in this drama is a woman adventurous the Countess de la Motte. She is the daughter of the old and famous Valois family, but the family has long lost its resources. She is quite impoverished when she arrives in Paris.
But Lamotte is also quite attractive and brazen in her desire to escape poverty and obtain an aristocratic obtain a life of comfort and leisure. She seeks to enlist the sympathy of the royal court in the fate of a woman from one of France's old houses. She is given to fainting spells at court and in doing this has at last received notice from Madame Elizabeth, the kings sister who provides her with some funding. She is also noticed by Cardinal Rohan.
By 1784, she has become the mistress of Cardinal Rohan. Even though she has not succeeded in obtaining the interest or support of the Queen or even met the Queen, Lamotte succeeds in convincing Cardinal Rohan that she has the favor of Marie Antoinette.
Rohan fully subscribed to the tales in court circles of Marie Antoinette's sexual dissipation, with both men and ...women!
Using her full figure and attractive looks to great effect, Lamotte spins stories that convince Rohan that she, Lamotte, is becoming one of the Queen's new lesbian love interests, just as Rohan hoped to become her lover as well.
THE NECKLACE
Now enters the object all seek - the necklace. This is not just any necklace but a necklace of diamonds that possesses an astounding 2800 carats!!
First there was a choker of seventeen diamonds, five to eight carats each; from that hung a three-wreathed festoon and pendants; then came the necklace proper, a double row of diamonds cumulating eleven-carat stone, finally, hanging from the necklace four knotted tassel.
The diamond necklace cost 1,600,000 livres. As we will soon see this necklace has a price tag equivalent to a "ship of the line". Today that would be a battleship or more likely an aircraft carrier. So, in today's currency, what's an aircraft carrier cost the government to manufacture. The equivalent of $US 100 million? $200 million? more??
A One Hundred MILLION dollar necklace. Truly a necklace worthy of any Queen - even Marie Antoinette!
But for the makers of this fabled necklace there is a surprise in store.
The jeweler Charles Bohmer had the beautiful necklace made in the early 1770s for the mistress and favorite of the King of France - Madame du Barry.
But the old King Louis XV died and du Barry was banished from court before the necklace was completed and sold. Bohmer placed his hopes on the new Queen to purchase the necklace. In time, the young Queen would model the diamond necklace before her ladies.
Then, the surprise.
Despite her reputation for extravagance, this necklace was too expensive even for Marie Antoinette. The Queen would not purchase it or permit Louis to buy it as a gift for her.
"Better to buy a new ship of the line (battleship or aircraft carrier equivalent) than to spend such a sum on a necklace, regardless of how beautiful..,." she said.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Boehmer too had seen Lamotte at court. Like Rohan, the jeweler too believed the Marie Antoinette rumors at court. The jeweler appreciated Lamotte's looks, believed she had the Queen's favor and sought her out as an intermediary.
Knowing Rohan's keen desire to obtain the Queen's favor, La Motte saw her opportunity to trade on the belief of both men in her intimacy with the Queen to satisfy the desires of both men and enrich herself. She told the cardinal that the queen wanted him to secretly purchase the necklace on her behalf.
The cardinal was to obtain the necklace from Bohmer and give it to Mme La Motte, expecting the queen to pay for it. Of course, Marie Antoinette never saw the necklace. When she succeeded in obtaining the necklace the plan was that La Motte would give the diamonds to her husband, who would take them to London and sell them. Lamotte forged letters from the Queen to Rohan attesting to her interest in the necklace, approving the plan and Lamotte's role, and
indicating Rohan could expect return to the Queen's favor.
THE RENDEZVOUS
The letters satisfied Rohan for a time, but at Versailles, Marie Antoinette ignored Rohan as always. Rohan wanted a real sign of the Queen's new interest in him.
Rohan needed more and it was at this moment in the gardens of the Palais Royal in Paris the final piece to her puzzle fell in place. It came in the from of a 25-year old streetwalker, Madame d'Olivia, buxom and blonde, with an arrogant strut, such that people called her "queen". Lamotte was at once captivated by the young d'Olivia's striking resemblance to 29-year old Marie Antoinette.
And so, Cardinal Rohan did get the sign of favor he wanted from the Queen... or so he thought. On a summer night in 1784, Lamotte outfitted the woman in a lawn dress, the same as the famous Marie Antoinette "en gaulle" painting then on exhibit.
The veiled woman briefly met the Cardinal in the gardens of Versailles, late at night as Antoinette was rumored to meet her lovers. The false queen gave
the cardinal a rose. She said, "All may be forgiven..." and hurried away, leaving the Cardinal under the illusion that he had met Marie Antoinette.
THE CONFRONTATION
Unaware of the real drama unfolding, Marie Antoinette was busy preparing herself for the part of the saucy barmaid Rosina in the controversial play Marriage of Figaro.
On the day of one her rehearsals, that Boehmer's invoice for the necklace arrived and was discarded by the Queen. Later, Bohmer came to Versailles and
spoke to the Queen's servant Madame Campan, seeking payment. He displayed forged letters signed by her circulated around Paris, and told how Rohan was involved in acquiring the necklace.
At last, Marie Antoinette realized the serious of the case, and summon Bohmer to Versailles. She was furious with Rohan, so was Louis XVI.
The king's advisors understood the grevious insult to the Queen's honor committed by the Cardinal, but they also recognized his great position and the less than ideal position of the monarchy in huge debt and with an unpopular queen . Advisors recommended the matter be handled quietly with delicacy. But the fury of the Queen and her husband's determination to
avenge the honor of his wife could not be ssaged. The royal couple would settle for nothing less than a public arrest and trial of Rohan
They arranged for the arrest of the Cardinal, the highest clergyman in France, in the most public way, handing him the arrest warrant in the great hall of Versailles with hundreds present.
He was brought before the King and Queen, who confronted him with the swindle and would hear none of his professions of innocence and that he too had been made the fool.
THE TRIAL
The public arrest of the Cardinal of France before the entire court on the Festival of the Assumption, August 15, 1785 had already caused a national sensation.
Now, the further acts of King and Queen that followed to force a public trial added new fuel the fire of public interest and imagination.
That this nobleman with whom she had not spoken a word in 15 years would dare to presume that she, Marie Antoinette, would meet him at a secret rendezvous, was a serious insult to her name and reputation. The proud Queen demanded public vindication of her good name.
The matter could have been handled quietly at the court or by the Vatican. Louis's advisors once again suggested caution, but the wavering King agreed with his wife that there must be a public trial to vindicate her honor. The trial must be before the Parlement of Paris.
France of 1785 was not used to such public events.
While rumors of Marie's errant behavior were prevalent in capitol, they now became sensation for all of France. The charge against the Cardinal was lese-majeste, insult to the dignity of the Queen.
For months, the nation was gripped by the mystery of the diamond necklace and the recounting of the queen's reputation that led Rohan to believe she
did participate. The public was riveted by the accounts and characters, the swindler Lamotte, the prostitute who impersonated the Queen, the $100 million necklace at stake at a hard time when the country faced bankruptcy.
Through it all, Lamotte held to her story that the Queen was behind it all and had the necklace.
THE VERDICT
The case to defend the Queen's dignity would never have been easy. Though she never appeared, this case put the life of Marie Antoinette was on trial.
Many jurors could believe based on her past spending and lose lifestyle that Marie Antoinette was capable of these activities and that the Cardinal was reasonable in his beliefs. The Cardinal struck a sympathetic figure as he pleaded his devotion to the queen and that he only sought to serve her.
But this was no ordinary court, it was a court of nobles in Paris, where Rohan was a great and wealthy family, where many had been at odds with the king and many more still resented the queen. Add to that onsiderable sums were passed in bribery by the Duc of Orleans and other disaffected noblemen.
The trial ended with the cardinal acquitted of the charge of lese-majeste. La Motte was found guilty as a thief and imprisoned. Lamotte's husband likewise found guilty but he would serve no time since he had fled to England before the arrests where he was busy fencing the stolen necklace.
His wife Madame LaMotte bore the full brunt of royal and parlementary wrath. She was also publicly flogged, and branded. As she struggled against the branding iron, the poker slipped and impaled her breast. Lamotte hurled imprecations for all to hear: "It is the Queen who should be branded not me!"
THE UPROAR
The night of the verdict, against constable's advice, Marie Antoinette attended a charitable benefit at the Paris Opera.
When the verdict "Rohan Acquitted" was announced, the opera house erupted with a huge burst of applause. The crowds then whistled and hooted at
the Queen, who left in dismay. That night she would weep at Versailles with her ladies in waiting.
Repudiation of a French sovereign by court verdict and public rebuke had never before occurred. The first act of defiance that would gather to cause the Revolution had now been struck.
Within the year, Lamotte escaped to London. With her husband they enjoyed the money from the diamond necklace, now broken up, but she also took to the quill to spread malicious rumors about Marie Antoinette.
THE LIBELS
Pamphlets by Lamotte of new stories of Antoinette's sexual appetites and orgies at Versailles, and her claimed love letters between Rohan and the Queen became a new sensation in France. These pamphlets, many leud and pornagraphic in nature were now smuggled into France by the thousands.
The limited court literature against Marie Antoinette in the capitol, by virtue of the necklace case, had now become commonplace throughout France.
The economic position of the country worsened and King Louis, who drew closer to Marie in her sorrows of the diamond necklace case, increasingly turned to her for advice in economic advisors. The Queen's increasing role and national disgrace weakens the position of Louis and the monarchy. Her presence
galvanises and emboldens the opponents of the regime.
THE REVOLUTION
Revolution could have been averted in France after the necklace case, just as it could have been averted in America after the Boston Tea Party, but a course of action was now set in motion.
The monarchy was humbled by the noblemen in court and people, all done with impunity. Going forward, the opponents of the regime, first among the nobles, later among the merchants, finally in the peasantry take heed and don't let up, until the final violent overthrow of the French monarchy and the Terror among its citizens that followed.
The nobles who sought to check Louis's power and others like Phillipe Egalite who resented the king, came to be caught up themselves in the whirlwind of Revolution.
That Revolution would claim the lives of thousands of nobleman including Phillipe, and end the privileges nobles held in France. This was not what the nobles intended when they sought to vindicate Rohan and strike a blow at the king and queen.
THE REVERSAL
When Marie Antoinette learned of the necklace affair, she instinctively insisted on a public trial to avenge the offense to her honor and dignity.
No one could have imagined then how her act of hubris would trigger the catastrophic upheaval of Revolution in the 7 years that followed.
In 1786, royalty reigned supreme. Madame Lamotte was imprisoned and branded, Rohan was acquitted at trial but forced from his Cardinal post to a remote posting. Marie Antoinette sat on her throne, still the glamorous powerful Queen of France, meeting out punishment to those who dared transgress her honor.
But 7 years later - in 1793, all the roles had reversed.
The Revolution that got its start with the Affair would reverse the positions of the three players in this story. In 1793, Lamotte who had escaped her prison lived in comfort in England. The fortune she and her husband shared from the necklace was enhanced by the amounts made from the sales in France of her best-selling pamphlets against the queen. Lamotte had become a hero of the Revolution. In 1793, Rohan too was living in comfort in exile. In the early years of Revolution, he returned in triumph and was elected to
the Assembly. But Rohan saw the violent turn of revolution against the nobility and clergy including his family. Rohan escaped France to live out his life in a comfortable exile.
In the ultimate role reversal, the hunter became the prey.
1793 saw the final destruction of Marie Antoinette - humbled, humiliated and finally beheaded by her own subjects.
The years of Revolution took everything away from Antoinette - her palaces, her jewels, her servants, her fine clothes, her friends and her family. Gone were her beauty and finery in which she took such pride and all the other trappings of her once fabulous life. In the end, Marie Antoinette was alone.
She was taken from her prison cell, as a poor broken widow in her rags, old before her time.
Now, it was SHE, Marie Antoinette, once the Queen who would be the prisoner in the dock. SHE would have to answer the charges of the revolutionary tribunal, including the necklace case allegations of Madame Lamotte.
Madame Lamotte died in London in 1793 before Marie Antoinette's trial. Had she not died, it is entirely possible Lamotte herself might have had the pleasure of testifying in person against the Queen she detested.
But Lamotte's testimony was not needed. By 1793, there was no shortage of those eager to give testimony as the former queen was tried for her life. The verdict Guilty. The sentence Death, was never in doubt.
THE END - QUEEN BEHEADED
These charges still rang in her ears in the jeers of the crowd as Marie Antoinette road to her date with Madame Guillotine. The former Queen now rode in an open cart, her hands tied behind her back, and held in tether like a chained dog.
At this time, her old adversaries had flourished, it was the turn of her tormentor to face punishment - Marie Antoinette was beheaded at age 37, her fair head held high for the populace to cheer her death.
Such was the pendulum swing of great French Revolution, first set in motion by the case of the Queen's necklace.
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