Nearly everyone who has ever had to take a history course knows who Marie Antoinette was. Most people at least know that she was a French queen who was beheaded via the guillotine. But, you may be wondering, why am I writing about a historical figure on a pet blog? Learn more about Marie Antoinette’s Papillons here!
Marie Antoinette Loved Papillons!
Papillons, the breed of my dog Kitsune, are thought to be one of the oldest toy breed dogs in European history. Although not always called Papillons, ancestors of today’s butterfly dogs were common among European royalty. Written histories of early Papillons can be hard to find. But the breed’s evolution was well documented through works of art. The earliest Italian paintings of small dogs thought to be the ancestors of today’s Papillons are from around 1500. Papillons are quite commonly found in early paintings of royal or wealthy merchant class families.
A Royal Pardon?
Marie Antoinette was supposedly a fan of the breed, so much so that one story suggests that she carried one of her beloved pets with her to the guillotine. Her Papillon, as the story goes, was pardoned from suffering the same fate as it’s former master, and was cared for, along with another one of Antoinette’s Papillons, inside a house in Paris. That house, to this day, is still known as ‘The House of the Papillon”.
While Marie Antoinette’s leadership skills may have been questionable, no one can fault her excellent taste in dog breeds! Sometimes I wonder if perhaps Kitsune is aware of the royal associations of his breed. He comes from a long line of royally spoiled pups!
I always love to hear from my readers – comment below! If you know your pets’ breed or breed mix, have you ever read any interesting historical stories about them? I think it can be so interesting to learn about the origins of different breeds. It’s funny to think that I, apparently, have something in common with a French monarch from the 1700’s. I’m sure in every other way our lives couldn’t be more different. How funny that we both have/had an affinity for such an adorably mischievous dog breed.
17 Comments
Honestly, I had no idea about the history of papillons! I also did not realize they are the oldest toy breed dog in European history. Thanks for sharing this interesting fun fact!
Isn’t it interesting? A lot of historical paintings from Europe feature small dogs that are thought to be the ancestors of today’s papillons. Apparently, the breed is so old that there isn’t really a lot of written history about how they were originally developed. I’ve always wished I could find more written historical data about them, but I guess writing stuff down just wasn’t as important back then as we’d consider it to be today.
What an interesting piece of history! I’ve always been fascinated by Marie Antoinette, but I never heard of her love of Papillons. Thanks for sharing.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
I bet it’s something that mostly papillon owners/lovers know about, lol! Thanks so much for your comment. 🙂
People who find art galleries boring have never done research like yours into dogs or cats, or even fabrics or fruit. It may only have been the affluent in society who had portraits painted but through them, we can discover the history of dogs like Kitsune (and I didn’t know about the House either – wow!) as well as track their progress around the world.
Do we need to call Kitsune ‘Your Majesty’ now???? 😉
I remember going to art galleries when I was a kid and finding them rather boring, but that’s not the case now. It’s so interesting how so much of history, things that you can’t even find written accounts of, are recorded through art.
That is so cool! I love learning about the history behind the different breeds that we have come to love today. I am sure that there are many incredible paintings and images showing Marie Antoinette and her Papillons that would make great decorations (the prints, of course) in your house! I am a German Shepherd lover and have often found myself researching the history of the breed.
I love the idea of getting prints of some of the ancient paintings that feature early papillons to use as decor! Learning about the histories of dog breeds is so interesting, especially when you can find fun little stories about dogs and the people who loved them.
Thanks for the history lesson, I love history so this post was really interesting. It amazes me how many breeds were loved and are loved by Royal families and Kitsune is so regal he deserves a crown
Aw thanks! I agree, it’s so interesting to read about the histories of dog breeds and how they may have changed over time.
My daughter thinks one of her dogs is part Pappillon. They are such cute dogs and I loved reading a little bit about their history. I’m glad that Marie Antionette’s dog was spared.
Papillons are such fun dogs, with an interesting history to boot! I was glad, when I was researching, to read about her dog being spared too. I’d love to visit The House of the Papillon someday!
Very interesting. I need to look into more depth about the Persian Cats. They are an old breed and came from Persia, but it would be fun to find out more about their history.
It is fun! Or at least I think so – especially when you can find interesting stories like the one I found about Marie Antoinette. I bet there’s some interesting stories about Persian cats out there too!
I don’t have much time to read histories; I did find it interesting that Rottweilers actually come from Italy, rather than Germany which is what we always thought.
I’m not a history buff by any means, but I think it can be really interesting/useful to learn the histories of how our dog breeds developed. I didn’t know that about Rottweilers!
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