Paul Girault de Coursac (4 December 1916 – 16 March 2001) and Pierrette Girault de Coursac (''née'' Rachou; 11 November 1927 – 14 March 2010) were two French historians who specialised in the lives of
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
and
Marie-Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...
.
Views
Their works over nearly 30 years write that the king was never governed by his wife. His education was intellectually very complete. He had several lines which he followed throughout his reign, such as preventing civil war and anything that might trigger it. He was never governed by his ministers, and during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
he pursued a consistent policy, playing the game that had been forced on him. Marie-Antoinette's policy during this period was followed without his knowledge. The letters requesting help from foreign sovereigns and presented as from him were fakes from the queen, and his entourage and the
armoire de fer
L'armoire de fer (French: 'iron chest') in general refers to an iron chest used to house important papers. A notable and frequent use of the term refers to a hiding place at the apartments of Louis XVI of France at the Tuileries Palace where some ...
was a pure invention of certain revolutionaries.
Works
* ''Marie-Antoinette et le scandale
de Guines'', Gallimard (1962)
* ''L'éducation d'un Roi, Louis XVI'', Gallimard 1972, F.X. de Guibert (1995) ;
* ''Louis XVI, Roi Martyr''. Tequi (1982) ;
* ''Enquête sur le procès du Roi Louis XVI''. La Table Ronde (1982), F.X. de Guibert (1992) ;
* ''Sur la Route de
Varennes''. La Table Ronde (1984), F.X. de Guibert (2000), (2007) ;
* ''Le Voyage de Louis XVI autour du monde. Expédition
La Pérouse''. La Table Ronde (1985), F.X. de Guibert (2000) ;
* ''Louis XVI et
la question religieuse pendant la révolution''. OEIL (1988) ;
* ''Louis XVI a la parole. Lettres, discours, écrits politiques''. O.E.I.L. (1989), F.X. de Guibert (1997) ;
* ''Entretiens sur Louis seize''. O.E.I.L. (1990) ;
* ''Louis XVI, un visage retrouvé''. O.E.I.L. (1990) ;
* ''Louis XVI et Marie-Antoinette : vie conjugale - vie politique''. O.E.I.L. (1990) ;
* ''Derniers messages de Louis XVI aux Français''. O.E.I.L. (1991) ;
* ''
Guerre d'Amérique et liberté des mers 1778-1783''. F.X. de Guibert (1991) ;
* ''La dernière année de Marie-Antoinette''. F.X. de Guibert (1993) ;
* ''La défense de Louis XVI par
Malesherbes,
Tronchet et
Desèze précédée du procès-verbal de
l'interrogatoire du roi''. In collaboration avec
Jean-Marc Varaut. F.X. de Guibert (1993) ;
* ''
Septembre 1792 la mort organisée''. F.X. de Guibert (1994) ;
* ''Le secret de la Reine : la politique personnelle de Marie-Antoinette pendant la Révolution''. F.X. de Guibert (1996) ;
* ''Histoire, historiens et
mémorialistes du règne de Louis XVI et de la Révolution''. F.X. de Guibert (1997) ;
* ''
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
et
Artois
Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht'') ...
: les deux frères de Louis XVI''. F.X. de Guibert (1999) ;
* ''Découverte''. Bulletin du Comité pour l'étude de Louis XVI et de son procès. Revue trimestrielle publiée de 1973 à 1985.
* ''
Louis XVII
Louis XVII (born Louis Charles, Duke of Normandy; 27 March 1785 – 8 June 1795) was the younger son of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette. His older brother, Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France, died in June 1789, a little over a m ...
''. Ouvrage collectif. Délégation à l'Action artistique de la ville de Paris (1987) ;
* ''Louis XVI, du Serment du Sacre à l'
Edit de Tolérance''. Ouvrage collectif. Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris et l'Association Louis XVI (1988) ;
See also
Declaration of Louis XVI to all the French, on his departure from Paris*
Florimond de Mercy-Argenteau
External links
Site on the life of Louis XVI
{{authority control
Historians of the French Revolution
Coursac
Coursac (; oc, Corsac) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Dordogne department
The following is a list of the 503 communes of the Dordogne department of ...
Coursac
Coursac (; oc, Corsac) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Dordogne department
The following is a list of the 503 communes of the Dordogne department of ...
French male non-fiction writers