I have always felt that Maxime de la Rocheterie's description of Marie-Antoinette is one of the best: She was not a guilty woman, neither was she a saint; she was an upright, charming woman, a little frivolous, somewhat impulsive, but always pure; she was a queen, at times ardent in her fancies for her favourites and thoughtless in her policy, but proud and full of energy; a thorough woman in her winsome ways and tenderness of heart, until she became a martyr. ( The Life of Marie-Antoinette by M. de la Rocheterie, 1893) Marie-Antoinette spent the first fourteen years of her life in Austria, worshiping in Rococo churches and listening to the music of Haydn and the Italian composers. Architecture and music in that time and place celebrated the glory of God in the beauty of His creation. As Queen, her desire to promote beauty around her, especially in the lives of those whom she loved, was an outgrowth of the culture in which she was raised. She loved theater, acting, o...
Go raibh mile maith agat, a Mharion! Diolch yn fawr! I'm inclined to believe that the great man was from Wales, maybe from Ynys Môn (Anglesey). 'Pob lwc Cymru' today against France! Some say St Patrick was from there, so which country is he praying for?!
ReplyDeleteWell he was a Celt!, both places, Brittany in France and the Strathclyde area of Scotland were home to Welsh people at the time so whichever modern country his birthplace is now in he was from the group we now call Welsh. :)
DeleteThanks for the information about Strathclyde. I know that Dumbarton is one of the places suggested as his birth-place but I didn't know that the people there at the time were what we now call Welsh.
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