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Let Them Eat Cake
"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "'", said to have been spoken in the 18th century by "a great princess" upon being told that the peasants had no bread. The French phrase mentions brioche, a bread enriched with butter and eggs, considered a luxury food. The quote is taken to reflect either the princess's frivolous disregard for the starving peasants or her poor understanding of their plight. Although the phrase is conventionally attributed to Marie Antoinette, there is no evidence that she ever uttered it, and it is now generally regarded as a journalistic cliché. The phrase can actually be traced back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's '' Confessions'' in 1765, 24 years prior to the French Revolution, and when Antoinette was nine years old and had never been to France. The phrase was not attributed to Antoinette until decades after her death. Origins The phrase appears in book six of Rousseau's autobiographical '' Confessions'', whose first six ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic, and educational thought. His ''Discourse on Inequality'', which argues that private property is the source of inequality, and ''The Social Contract'', which outlines the basis for a legitimate political order, are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau's sentimental novel ''Julie, or the New Heloise'' (1761) was important to the development of preromanticism and romanticism in fiction. His ''Emile, or On Education'' (1762) is an educational treatise on the place of the individual in society. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—the posthumously published ''Confessions (Rousseau), Confessions'' (completed in 17 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and prior to his death was also known as Lady Antonia Pinter. Mel Gussow"The Lady Is a Writer" '' The New York Times Magazine'', 9 September 1984, Sec. 6, Health: 60, col. 2. Print. The New York Times Company, 9 September 1984; retrieved 8 April 2009.Antonia Fraser"Writer's Rooms: Antonia Fraser" '' Guardian'', Culture: Books, Guardian Media Group, 13 June 2008; retrieved 8 April 2009. (Includes photograph of Antonia Fraser's study.) "In a Frank Interview, the Famed Writer Talks about Motherhood, Catholicism, Her Parents and Soulmate Harold Pinter", ''The Times'', News Corporation, 5 July 2008, 9 April 2009. she and her siblings converted to Catholicism, following the conversions of their parents.Daniel Snowman,"Lady Antonia Fraser" '' History Today'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of Jin
The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with Chancellor (China), chancellor Fang Xuanling as the lead editor, drawing mostly from official documents left from earlier archives. A few essays in volumes 1, 3, 54 and 80 were composed by the Tang dynasty's Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizong himself. However, the contents of the ''Book of Jin'' included not only the history of the Jin dynasty, but also that of the Sixteen Kingdoms period, which was contemporaneous with the Eastern Jin dynasty. Compilation Over 20 histories of the Jin had been written during the Jin era itself and the subsequent Northern and Southern dynasties, of which Eighteen History Books of Jin, 18 were still extant at the beginning of the Tang dynasty. Yet Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizong deemed t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yolande De Polastron
Yolande de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac (Yolande Martine Gabrielle; 8 September 17499 December 1793) was the favourite of Marie Antoinette, whom she met when she was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, the year after Marie Antoinette became the Queen of France. She was considered one of the great beauties of pre-Revolutionary society, but her extravagance and exclusivity earned her many enemies. Biography Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron was born in Paris in the reign of King Louis XV. Her parents were Jean François Gabriel, Comte de Polastron, seigneur de Noueilles, Venerque and Grépiac (1722-1794), who served as French ambassador to Switzerland, and his wife, Jeanne Charlotte Hérault de Vaucresson (1726-1753), who via marriage became the Duchesse de Polastron. As was customary with aristocrats, most of whom bore more than one Christian name, she was generally known by the last of her names (Gabrielle). She was born into a family of ancient aristocratic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the most widely read French authors. Many of his historical novels of adventure were originally published as serial (literature), serials, including ''The Count of Monte Cristo'', ''The Three Musketeers'', ''Twenty Years After'' and ''The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later''. Since the early 20th century, his novels have been adapted into nearly 200 films. Prolific in several genres, Dumas began his career by writing plays, which were successfully produced from the first. He wrote numerous magazine essay, articles and travel books; his published works totalled 100,000 pages. In the 1840s, Dumas founded the Théâtre Historique in Paris. His father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was born in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princess Victoire Of France
Victoire of France (Marie Louise Thérèse Victoire; 11 May 1733 – 7 June 1799) was a French princess, the daughter of King Louis XV and the popular Queen Marie Leszczyńska. She was named after her parents and Queen Maria Theresa, her great-great-grandmother and the consort of Louis XIV of France. Originally known as ''Madame Quatrième'', signifying the fourth daughter of the King (an older sister, Marie Louise, had died in February 1733, before her birth), she was later known as ''Madame Victoire''. She outlived eight of her nine siblings, and was survived by her older sister Madame Adélaïde by less than a year. The sisters were collectively known as '' Mesdames''. Life Early years Princess Victoire was born at the Palace of Versailles on 11 May 1733. She was the seventh child and fifth daughter of King Louis XV of France and Queen Maria Leszczyńska. Unlike the older children of Louis XV, Madame Victoire was not raised at the Palace of Versailles. Rathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princess Sophie Of France
Sophie of France (Sophie Philippine Élisabeth Justine; 27 July 1734 – 2 March 1782) was a French princess, a '' fille de France''. She was the sixth daughter and eighth child of King Louis XV and his queen consort, Marie Leszczyńska. First known as ''Madame Cinquième'' (an older sister, Marie Louise, had died in 1733), she later became Madame Sophie. She and her sisters were collectively known as '' Mesdames''. In 1777, Sophie and her elder sister Adélaïde were both given the title Duchess of Louvois. Biography Early life Sophie Philippine Élisabeth Justine was born on 27 July 1734 in France. She was the eighth child and sixth daughter of King Louis XV of France and his charitable wife, Marie Leszczyńska who was nicknamed "The Good Queen" by the common people. Sophie is less well known than many of her sisters. Her birth at the Palace of Versailles was relatively unremarked. Her second name, Philippine, was given in honour of her older brother Philippe, who ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defined as his 13th birthday) in 1723, the kingdom was ruled by his grand-uncle Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, as Régence, Regent of France. André-Hercule de Fleury, Cardinal Fleury was chief minister from 1726 until his death in 1743, at which time the king took sole control of the kingdom. His reign of almost 59 years (from 1715 to 1774) was the second longest in the history of France, exceeded only by his predecessor, Louis XIV, who had ruled for 72 years (from 1643 to 1715). In 1748, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745. He ceded New France in North America to Great Britain and Spain at the conclusion of the disastrous Seven Years' War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of the Duchy of Lorr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city and state. Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The country occupies an area of and has Austrians, a population of around 9 million. The area of today's Austria has been inhabited since at least the Paleolithic, Paleolithic period. Around 400 BC, it was inhabited by the Celts and then annexed by the Roman Empire, Romans in the late 1st century BC. Christianization in the region began in the 4th and 5th centuries, during the late Western Roman Empire, Roman period, followed by the arrival of numerous Germanic tribes during the Migration Period. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flour War
The Flour War refers to a wave of riots from April to May 1775, in the northern, eastern, and western parts of the Kingdom of France. It followed an increase in grain prices, and subsequently bread prices; bread was an important source of food among the populace. Contributing factors to the riots include poor weather and harvests, and the withholding by police of public grain supplies from the royal stores in 1773–1774. This large-scale revolt subsided following wheat price controls imposed by Turgot, Louis XVI's Controller-General of Finances (before the supply recovered), and the deploying of military troops. The Flour War was part of a broader social and political crisis during the Ancien Régime. Recent analyses tend to treat this event not only as a revolt caused by hunger, but also as a prelude to the French Revolution. Causes In Ancien Régime France, bread was the main source of food for poor peasants and the king was required to ensure the food supply of his subje ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coronation Of Louis XVI
The coronation of Louis XVI, King of France and Navarre took place in Reims Cathedral on 11 June 1775, which fell on Trinity Sunday. Louis XVI had come to the throne the previous year in succession to his grandfather Louis XV who had reigned for 59 years. It was the first coronation since 1722 and only the second since 1654 due to the longevity of the two previous monarchs, Louis XIV and Louis XV. The city of Reims in Champagne was the traditional site of French coronations, a ceremony that stretched back in some form to the baptism of Clovis I in the city. The ceremony was performed by Charles Antoine de La Roche-Aymon, the Archbishop of Reims. Louis was crowned alone, his wife Marie Antoinette, whom he had married in 1770 in a dynastic match to support the Franco-Austrian alliance, was not crowned as by the 18th century Queens weren't crowned. The couple were childless at the time of the coronation but went on to have several children following the birth of Marie-Thérèse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased death, mortality. Every inhabited continent in the world has experienced a period of famine throughout history. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Southeast Asia, Southeast and South Asia, as well as Eastern Europe, Eastern and Central Europe, suffered the greatest number of fatalities due to famine. Deaths caused by famine declined sharply beginning in the 1970s, with numbers falling further since 2000. Since 2010, Africa has been the most affected continent in the world by famine. As of 2025, Haiti and Afghanistan are the two states with the most catastrophic and widespread states of famine, followed by Palestine (confined to Gaza Strip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
