Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, better known as the marquis de Lafayette, was born in 1757. He was from a well-to-do family and was orphaned at an early age. In his teens he spent time at the court of King Louis XV. He was well-liked at Versailles, but he felt clumsy and countrified and never quite fit in with his fellow aristocrats.
In 1774 Louis XV died and his grandson, Louis XVI, came to the throne. The new king was not much older than Lafayette, and like Lafayette he had been married for several years. Queen Marie Antoinette is remembered today as the woman who said about starving peasants, "Let them eat cake," but she didn't really say that. Although she was young and flighty when she became queen, she was never stupid or heartless.
The queen was, however, more interested in clothes and parties than the plight of the average working person. Her young husband was mostly interested in hunting and tinkering in his locksmith shop. Meanwhile, many of their courtiers were caught up in enthusiasm over the American Revolution, which started in 1775. No one was more enthusiastic than Lafayette. He went to America, befriended George Washington, joined the Continental Army, and became a general.
Louis XVI provided aid to the American colonists. The assistance of the French was vital to the American cause. When Lafayette returned to France, however, he didn't exactly receive a hero's welcome. In fact, the king promptly put him under house arrest for sneaking off to America without permission! After a few days Louis relented, released Lafayette, and accepted the marquis back into royal circles. Marie Antoinette, who had looked down her nose at Lafayette before the American Revolution because of his provincial ways, now treated him with more favor. With her approval he was appointed commander in chief of the king's dragoons.
The French Revolution broke out in 1789 and, of course, led to the bloody deaths of many of the French aristocrats who had so ardently supported the American Revolution. Lafayette did want to reform the government, but he also wanted to save the lives of the king and queen. When a mob of angry women marched on Versailles, screaming for the queen's death, Marie Antoinette and Lafayette bravely faced the crowd together. After the mob saw Lafayette bow to the queen and kiss her hand, their rage turned to cheers of "Long live the queen!"
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