Axel von Fersen: The Man Who Loved Marie Antoinette
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2021
- Axel von Fersen was a Swedish count who had a tragic life. He lived through the stormy times of the second part of the 18th century that had an impact on his life. Entirely devoted to the woman he loved, Fersen was, to his regret, unable to save her.
The images used are in the Public Domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Music - YT Audio Library.
Sources / Further reading
Diary and Correspondence of Count Axel Fersen, Grand-Marshal of Sweden, Relating to the Court of France, Translated by Katherine Prescott Wormeley, London: William Heinemann, 1902
The Letters of Marie Antoinette, Fersen and Barnave, Edited, with a Foreword, by O.G. de Heidenstam, Translated from the French volume (Paris: Calmann-Levy, 1913) by Winifred Stephens and Mrs. Wilfrid Jackson, New York Frank - Maurice INC
A Friend of the Queen, From the French of Paul Gaulot by Mrs. Cashel Hoey, London: William Heinemann, 1895
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Axel von Fersen was definitely a principled man. I was so touched by his letters both to the queen and his own family. His unselfishness and lack of concern for his own safety are commendable indeed. Thank you so much for all your hard work and wonderful presentation!
Thank you so much Cheryl. I am glad you liked the video.
His alleged affairs with married women all over Europe leads me to think he wasn't as principled as one might believe 😜
Axel de Fersen was very close to one of his sisters , Sophie . Letters still survive in which the count expresses to his sister his love for Marie Antoinette .
Isn't it a strange thing, to be heart broken for a person(s) that lived and died generations ago and worlds away? Tragic, tragic.
I know what you mean. His was a tragic and moving story. Thank you very much for watching.
I loved Kirstin Dunst's performance as Marie. She embodied the sweet, loving teenager caught up in a time and circumstances beyond her control, perfectly.
I watched that movie a few times when it first came out and just now realized it’s Jamie Dornan playing Axel.
I like that movie.
He is such an interesting character. He doesn’t get as much coverage as the other players in this tragic story but is such an important part of it.
I agree. Thank you for watching.
He truly and deeply loved Marie Antoinette. His selfless service to the queen is admirable. He never married anyone because of his devotion to Marie Antoinette. It's sad and tragic how he was killed by mob. May his soul rest in peace.
His story was really heartbreaking.
Axel was a man of honour and such courage, he tried to save the woman he loved and the rest of the royal family, thank you as always for this superb video.
Yes, he was. Thank you kindly for your comment.
@@livesandhistories always a plesure and thank you for all the research and work you put in to your superb videos.
@@robertdudley4017 Thank you
He is in Heaven, for sure.
Yes he was. And Marie Antoinette was a sweet lady and loving mother...
He tried so heroically to save Marie Antoinette and Louis.
You're right. Sadly, no one could save them. Thank you for watching.
I think Count Fersen was the most frustrated man of his time: to fall in love and be corresponded by the only woman he could never make his wife took a heavy toll in his life. But I admire him for he gave to devotion a higher level of meaning. There are many videos about Marie Antoinette, there should be as many about Count Fersen.
Thank you for watching.
A tragic love story; when people say that von Fersen and Marie Antoinette did not love each other, I laugh. How obvious could it be? His death was horrible. If I remember correctly, the mob jumped up and down on his chest until his ribcage was crushed. Horrid. Thank you for this sympathetic biography of a true knight and his lost ladylove.
Horrible people.
Somewhere I read that he was hacked to pieces by a mob.
In an enraged mob anything can happen, but his cause of death was determined to a crushed ribcage from people literally jumping up and down on his chest. Ugh, I'm getting images of men holding onto his carriage so they could slam their booted feet on his ribcage with as much force as possible. ~shudders~
From Wikipedua, quoting a contemporary source: "Von Fersen's contemporary, Baron Gustaf Armfelt, stated afterward:
'One is almost tempted to say that the government wanted to give the people a victim to play with, just as when one throws something to an irritated wild beast to distract its attention. The more I consider it all, the more I am certain that the mob had the least to do with it ... But in God's name what were the troops about? How could such a thing happen in broad daylight during a procession, when troops and a military escort were actually present?'"
Awful. At the time he died, Von Fersen was the 2nd highest ranking person in the land, 2nd only to the king. Can you imagine this happening to, say, A US Vice President or a Prime Minister? Awful.
Such a horrible and undeserved death.
Barbaric, where was their humanity and their love of God? Have they no honor at all?
Such star-crossed lovers. He tried to save the Royal Family. To me he was a true gentleman. I am saddened and appalled by the manner of his death. May he rest in peace.
I agree with you, Harriet. I was also saddened to learn how he died. Thank you very much for watching.
What a man, he was! 💜 He's one of my favorite historical people.
I agree. Thank you for watching.
@@livesandhistories Thank you for sharing! 💜
@@rocwyvern1101 You're welcome.
Agreed. Quite a man, indeed.
😔GOD rest his soul. I hope he reunited with her in Heaven.
Yes, indeed. Thank you for watching.
Me, too! It is said Louis XVI was aware of the relationship but did not intervene, showing his essential kindness and concern for his wife's happiness even if not with him. I am glad that Count Fersen and Marie Antoinette were able to have at least a little happiness in an unhappy time.
Axel Von Fersen was truly a Hero. I’m so sorry He couldn’t save the royal family. May they all Rest In Peace. 🙏🏼
Indeed, he was. Thank you for watching.
@@livesandhistories You’re very welcome. I recently joined your channel. It is so amazing!
So passionately devoted he was to the object of his desire...true love!❣Thank you for this wonderful video!
True, indeed. Thank you for watching Sally.
History would've been different had Louis not gotten out of the carriage.
Fersen, what a man!! He totally loved her. So crushing 💔
I agree with you Elizabeth. Sometimes one single gesture can have an impact on history to a very great extent. Thank you for watching.
I love Axel de Fersen, thank you for this video. I don't think there were many videos about Fersen's life on TH-cam, so thank you for this.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching.
There is a nice documentary in french
L'ombre d'un doute.
Marie Antoinette ..there is also a chapter about him
His passion eventually drove Marie Antoinette into a corner
I had never heard of him before this- what an intriguing story! Thank you for this!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching Jenna.
He is central in all the movies made about her.
watch MARIE ANTOINETTE 1938 with tyrone power as count ferson
Such a sad love story that was a true love, how sad he tried so hard to save them, would have been heartbroken when she was beheaded. What a sad and tragic life for both of them. They were not meant to be. How awful for her to to be caught trying to escape, watching her husband beheaded, her son taken away, her daughter taken away put on trial and then beheaded. No wonder she went grey overnight, the trauma must have been mind blowing.
Tragic, indeed. Thank you for watching Sharon.
Indeed it must have been. As an additional bit of cruelty was to forbid her to wear widow's clothing to the guillotine and instead made to wear white--as if accusing her of incest wasn't cruel and unjust enough!
Thank you Axel for your service.
Indeed. Thank you for watching.
Very sacrificing and dedicated man. Even till end he dont want to marry because the woman he love is taken.
Admirable. Thank you for watching.
They can make a movie about his life.
Wow what a story.What a decent loyal gentleman.Yet such a shame the King got out of the carriage but I wonder if the Royal Family thought nothing would happen to them.Thank you for your excellent videos,explaining History so well🌸🌸Such a sad ending and innocent 😪
Thank you Stella.
Excellent, thank you. It’s great that you went into some detail. Most YT history videos only give very introductory material that they get from Wiki. As a lifelong lover of history, I already knew about Count von Fersen’s relationship with Marie-Antoinette and his role in the escape attempt, but not much else about him. I’m subscribing based on this video, from San Francisco.
I'm happy you liked it. I like to research as much as possible on the topics I choose. Thank you for subscribing Kimberly.
Very interesting video. May he rest in peace and honour for me was a true gentleman.
Thank you for watching Harriet.
Wow. What a life. Thank you for such an in depth presentation. I need to listen to this several times as his life and work is so detailed and incidental to the activities of this important time in history.
You're very welcome. Thank you for watching.
You might enjoy the book The Fatal Friendship. It is an anthology of the corresponence between Marie Antóinette and Axel Von Versen.
@@EtreTocsin Thank you🌸🌸
Yes a great and proud saga.
1 11e ~1 2e |d
Why didn't the royal family flee north to The Netherlands which was ruled by Marie-Antoinette's elder sister? They didn't have a close relationship, but wouldn't it have been a shorter journey? Marie-Antoinette's brother, Emperor Leopold, behaved disgracefully and abandoned her.
It could have been another option. Fersen did speak to her relatives but sadly they were very slow in making decisions.
There was no Habsburg queen in the Netherlands in the late 1700’s
Only a Habsburg female regent but that was in the early 1500’s
I believe one of the queen's sisters Maria Amalia was in Italy , Parma . None in Netherlands to the best of my knowledge . Too bad that the queen's eldest brother Emperor Joseph , who was like a father figure to her , was already dead . If he were still alive , the queen and her family could not have been touched by the revolutionaries .
@@erikbeermann7228 I think they mean Marie Antoinettes sister Maria Christina of Austria, who ruled the Austrian Netherlands (todays Belgium) as regent in 1781-1793.
This was the most informative video I have watched on Fersen. Thank you for making it👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
I have never heard of him. What a great video.
Thank you for watching Andria.
What a man…❤
What a truly heartbreaking story of Axel VonFersen. The lengths he went to for the royal family. 😔
Very well said, Andrea. Thank you for watching.
You deserve to be cheated.
Very interesting and beautiful video indeed . Thanks for the upload .
Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching.
So glad to know about Axel.
Thank you for watching.
Axel HAD to feel so enraged at the kings sheer stupidity to leave the carriage for ANY reason while still in France ! After all his hard work it took the king only moments to be responsible for the death of Axels beloved Marie! How he must have wept at her demise , ! What a hero he was ! 👋 🤍🇨🇦🤍🥰
I agree with you Shanny. Thank you for watching.
Sadly, King Louis was not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to the need for discretion.
Marie Antoinette was identified by the Inn's owner because she couldn't refrain from responding to the salutations of people who recognized her. Neither Luis nor her
were aware of the mob's fury against them. They thought they were beloved.
Somewhere, I read that it was Louis who asked Axel to let them go on without him and perhaps flight was fated to fail as the true ignorance was not getting out a long time before, especially in consideration of having funded the American Revolution without reciprocal compensation and trying to undermine the powerful Brits who never have let go of the United States, and considered everything in the United States, their property anyway
Axel von Fersen (the Younger) is very less talked about, at least as far as I know. According to my observations, this video is well-detailed and summarizes his life very well. His death seemed tragic. I was wondering, if you could make a video on Indian royalty, or maybe not? Anyways, it's really a great video. The many incidences linked to his life are wondrous and pitiful to think of.
Thank you for watching. I will keep in mind your suggestion for future videos. As always, thanks for your support.
I agree. It would be fun to learn more about South Pacific, Indian, Asian, and African Royal. Perhaps even lesser known European Royal. For example, Greek, Prussian, Scandanavian, Polish, etc.
I meant royals.
@@cocoaorange1 It is! This channel actually talks a lot about lesser known people who were in no ways less important.
It would be nice to make a video on the late Prince Philip as a token of memory for his death. Or maybe even his mother, Princess Alice. I was also thinking it would fit your content if you had made a video on Princess Ileana of Romania, or perhaps explore the tragic part of famous people's lives, like Percy or Mary Shelley. Anyways, thank you for your hard work.
This is one of the worst shameful history here in Sweden. Alex was terrible beaten and rip to peaces until one of the attackers crushed his chest to death. Axel suffers terrible and the guards did NOTHING. It is such a disgusting history. I have walk the street were it happened and I have seen the place where he died. He was innocent this remarkable man of Sweden.
Very sad ending for this gentleman. I felt moved by his story. Thank you for watching.
I would have done the same. Death to the curr axel!
Poor Fersen 😢😢😢 He genuinely loves Marie Antoinette. It is Otto Johan Tandefelt who broke his ribs by stamping his chest with two feet. However, it's a bit relieving to know that he has a close relationship with his sister, Sophie Piper 😢 RIP, Hans Axel von Fersen. Regardless, some who consider that he and Marie are just best friend or platonic friend. I, myself might believe that their relationship is both platonic and romantic. I still love Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette and Tyrone Power as Axel. Although, the MGM's Marie Antoinette is even older than my dad and at the time colorless to avoid more budget. Countless thanks for your video ❤❤❤ Everything bout' Marie Antoinette, including Axel von Fersen is always arousing my curiousity and interest. From 🇮🇩 with ❤
So glad you found this video useful. From what I've read, it seems more likely than not that Marie Antoinette and Axel were romantically linked. Thank you for your comment.
Another wonderful video! Great work:-)
Thanks again! Glad you liked it.
Is it weird that what got me to click this video is for the explanation why Count Axel exists in the manga & anime "Bara no Versailles(The Rose of Versailles)?
I'm glad you found my video. Hope you liked it also. Thanks for watching.
Appreciate your intensive research as evinced in this video. Your dedication to the subject matter comes through very clearly. Since you like to address aspects of Revolutionary France, may I suggest you do an episode on the little, unfortunate Louis XVII and the mystery regarding his death.
Thank you kindly. I'll keep your suggestion in mind.
I read he was given to Guards/peasants who beat and starved him constantly and made him say terrible things about his mother. I also read there was a plot to save him, probably by Axel but was unsuccessful. They beat and starved him until his death at 10yrs of age. They recently found his bones and compared DNA to that of a lock of Marie Antoinette's hair and they matched. Not sure if they reunited him with his family I heard the French were dragging their feet on this, I could be wrong, happy to hear from anyone else for correction.
@@sharonhart8360 Yes, the reality was even more brutal and unconscionable. The young Dauphin and later Louis XVII was kept in extremely unsanitary conditions without access to water to clean himself and was compelled to utter the vilest abuse towards his own mother. Soon he became so brainwashed that he denounced Marie-Antoinette with unspeakable accusations. He developed tumors all over his body and died a pitiful death. However, there were multiple pretenders afterwards, claiming to have escaped the tower, some more believable than others.
This is biblical. Found it in my browser, I love it.
Thank you for watching Susie. I'm glad you liked it.
Seems like Gustav was more worried about the family than her own family.
Yes, Gustav was really supportive of the French royal family.
Excellent thank you
You are very welcome. Thank you for watching.
Great video. Thank you❤️
Thanks for watching! Glad you liked it Angela.
They sould make a movie of Marie and fersan like the duchess film about there love and stroy I watch it like series.
Watch La Nuit du Varennes it cover the plan the escape and their capture. So sad
Most of his letters were either censored or destroyed I believe. I think I read that family decades later put the stop on the love letters.
I read that many of his letters to the Queen were kept after Axel died by his sister, Sophie. Thank you for watching, Janaya.
Thank you for this vid! It is most interesting. 👍
I am glad you liked it. Thank you very much for watching.
Perfectly executed documentary. You even took the cause of Von Fersen's lynching!
I´m from Sweden, Stockholm. And very interested in history.
Only plus in my book...!
Sincerely
Piero Mengarelli 😊👍
Thank you, Piero. I'm glad you found this useful.
A beautiful country, Sweden, with a rich and interesting history ... All the best to you.
Great video as always🖒 Hey how about the tragic life story of Swedens first royal mistress?
Thank you for watching. Will keep your suggestion in mind for a future video.
Please consider captions for your presentations. Thank you.
Bloody heck! What violent history.
Yes, sadly. Thank you for watching.
🙏
watch the rose of versailles it’s pretty much the same story
A biopic would be great..
Yes. Thank you for watching.
Try "The Scarlet Pimpernel" its inspired by the story of Axel..
in retrospect, it is great good fortune this information is for further insights to stupidity
Por favor!! Traduz em Português do Brasil. Posta as cartas dele para Maria Antonieta. Quero muito conhecer está história. 🙌🙌
Tente usar o tradutor do Google, mas o melhor mesmo é conhecer a biografia do Conde Fersen (ele merecia um filme só sobre ele, já fizeram muitos sobre a Maria Antonieta).
Talvez a carta mais significativa e mais comovente que ele escreveu foi para a irmã e para o pai, num momento em que a família estava em negociação com outras famílias para arranjar um casamento para ele. Ele disse que amava e era amado pela única mulher no mundo que jamais poderia se tornar sua esposa e assim sendo ele pediu para o pai parar de procurar uma noiva, ele decidiu nunca se casar e se resguardar para seu único amor verdadeiro.
O Conde Fersen arriscou a própria vida e chegou a se endividar com seu mordomo para custear a fuga da Família Real francesa. Era para ele ter acompanhado Maria Antonieta até saírem da França mas no meio do caminho o rei Luis 16 ordenou que Fersen fosse para a Bélgica levar uma carta. Não se sabe se o Rei quis poupar o Conde ou agiu por ciúmes, mas sem Fersen administrando a viagem atrasos foram se acumulando e a Família Real acabou sendo reconhecida em Varennes e levada presa de volta a Paris. O resto da história foi uma grande tragédia...
O Conde Fersen voltou para a Suécia e se tornou Marechal, o 2o homem mais influente do país depois do próprio rei. No dia 24 de junho de 1810 ele foi espancado até a morte por uma multidão furiosa que achava que ele tinha participado de um suposto assassinato do príncipe herdeiro do trono sueco. Por grande ironia do destino, 24 de junho foi o dia em que Maria Antonieta e sua família foram capturados em Varennes, uma data da qual Fersen nunca se esqueceu. Ele se culpou a vida toda por não ter desobedecido o rei e acompanhado Maria Antonieta até saírem da França. Depois foi provado que Fersen era inocente e que o príncipe havia morrido por causa de um AVC, mas ninguém foi preso pelo assassinato do Conde.
Existe uma série em quadrinhos chamada "A Rosa de Versalhes" que mostra o romance do Conde Fersen com Maria Antonieta, é muito famosa no Japão e na Europa.
Grata!!!
If they loved each other, why didn't Marie Antoinette flee Paris in 1789? Although she could do this approximately 2 times. And also look at the pictures of how Toinette melts with Louis before his execution.
Of course, I understand that there were love letters, but still I am inclined that Marie Antoinette loved Louis very much and because of this she remained with her husband until her death.
I remember reading that Marie Antoinette declared that she wanted to die at the king’s feet - a statement that proves she was a dignified queen of France. But this doesn’t mean that she was not romantically involved with someone else.
@@livesandhistories Yes, there may have been a romance. But I personally think that he was not as hot as we imagine. It seems to me that in Movies and Series they exaggerate this. Letters speak of love, but love is different. Maybe it was friendship, since Marie Anutanetta wrote in her letters "my beloved friend."
@@vollhov2370 Yes, true.
She was slightly married LOL!
cc would have helped a lot!
Count fersen was the mvp of the Revolution
On Starz HBO it be good stroy I definitely watch such interesting time in history and a queen and count fall in love and a revolution be so good
Thank you for watching Grace.
To love a shallow, spoiled woman takes nothing away from this true gentleman!
He can only be admired for his devotion. Thank you for watching.
He could have also been something of a skirt chasing lothario, coinciding with small stringed instruments which were employed when dancing the Virginia Reel, a talent acquired during his time as an aide to the leaders of the American Revolution. Also, his hesitation in securing Holy Matrimony.
funny...all of queen marie antoinette's favorites were women (the duchess of polignac and princess of lamebelle)
Because she couldn’t have any males around her unless accuse of adultery 😭💀