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Marie Adélaïde of France

Versailles, 23 Mar 1732 – Trieste, 27 Feb 1800

8 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 23 Mar 1732

    Born in Versailles

  2. 27 Feb 1800

    Dies in Trieste, aged 67

Family

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Parents

During her lifetime

She lived through 8 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Versailles.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1730s · Marie is born in Versailles

In the news1738

Introduction of road labor corvee

In 1738, the crown introduced the corvee, a system of forced labor requiring peasants to build and maintain the royal roads.

Getting around

Sledding down the Alps

Adventurous travelers crossed the snowy Mont-Cenis pass in winter using a sled called a ramasse, which could slide down the slope in just fifteen minutes.

In the news1734

French forces re-occupy Modena in 1734

In July 1734, French and Piedmontese troops occupied Modena, causing Duke Rinaldo to retreat to Bologna for three years until 1736.

Daily life

Daily struggles for light and water

Domestic lighting relied on oil lamps, tallow candles, or wax candles, which were expensive and labor-intensive to manage. Families often had to fetch water manually from communal fountains, as running water in homes was not available.

What people wore

Basic Attire of Ordinary People

Ordinary French men typically wore a simple shirt, a frac, breeches, stockings, and leather shoes. Ordinary women wore a shirt under a corset, a skirt, an apron, a fichu, and a bonnet.

Music

Public concert series started in Paris

Starting in 1725, Parisians could attend public concerts organized by the Concert Spirituel society, which performed in the Tuileries Gardens when the Opéra was closed for religious festivals.

At the table

Bread as the Foundation of Daily Meals

The staple of the ordinary diet was bread, often consumed as a soup by soaking pieces in water, broth, or vegetable mixtures. This meal structure, centered on a starchy base accompanied by secondary savory foods, remained remarkably stable for centuries.