Category Archives: French Royalty

French Royalty, Royal documentaries

Marie-Antoinette

In French

“Il y a deux jour, c’était le triste anniversaire de l’assassinat de la reine Marie-Antoinette. Pour la 219éme fois, les français et les royalistes ont honoré la mémoire de cette grande reine, de cette mère qui fut digne jusqu’à la fin alors que la tyrannie parisienne la menait sur l’échafaud.

A cette occasion je vous propose de redécouvrir un documentaire de Secret d’histoire présenté par Stephane Bern et intitulé Marie Antoinette intime.”

French Royalty, Royal documentaries

‘The French Revolution, The Monarchy, and Maximilien Robespierre’ Two Documentaries.

Here are two documentaries regarding the French Revolution  “… which abolished the absolute monarchy in France…”  The first documentary, produced by the History Channel, is simply entitled, The French Revolution.  Overall, the program is okay.

The second documentary by the BBC is entitled, Terror Robespierre and the French Revolution.  Here is a synopsis:

The watchwords of the French Revolution were liberty, equality and fraternity. Maximilien Robespierre believed in them passionately. He was an idealist and a lover of humanity. But during the 365 days that Robespierre sat on the Committee of Public Safety, the French Republic descended into a bloodbath.

‘The Terror’ only came to end when Robespierre was devoured by the repressive machinery he’d created. This drama-documentary tells the story of the Terror and looks at how Robespierre’s revolutionary idealism so quickly became an excuse for tyranny, and why a lover of liberty was so keen to use the guillotine.

And, finally, here is the documentary I tweeted earlier.  Nonetheless, I decided to add it to this post.  The program is entitled, Filthy Cities: Revolutionary Paris.

The host, Dan Snow, kindly informs the viewer that in the 18th century inside the famous Château de Versailles it actually smelled like, well, a garbage dump.  Apparently, various writers at the time who visited the palace noted,  “… the squalor inside was unspeakable… the corridors acted like public lavatories for courtiers… livestock even defecated in the great gallery…”

EW!

If you can stomach watching the program, because it is a tad gross, click here to watch.