Execution of Louis XVI

Louis XVI, former King of France since the abolition of the monarchy, was publicly executed on 21 January 1793 during the French Revolution at the Place de la Révolution in Paris.

Others (even some who had supported major political reform) condemned the execution as an act of senseless bloodshed and saw it as a sign that France had devolved into a state of violent, amoral chaos.

Louis' death emboldened revolutionaries throughout the country, who continued to alter French political and social structure radically over the next several years.

Following the attack on the Tuileries Palace during the insurrection of 10 August 1792, King Louis XVI was imprisoned at the Temple Prison in Paris, along with his wife Marie Antoinette, their two children and his younger sister Élisabeth.

The Convention's unanimous decision to abolish the monarchy on 21 September 1792, and the subsequent foundation of the French Republic, left the fate of the former king open to debate.

[2] With the question of the King's fate now occupying public discourse, Robespierre delivered a speech that would define the rhetoric and course of Louis's trial.

To propose to have a trial of Louis XVI, in whatever manner one may, is to retrogress to royal despotism and constitutionality; it is a counter-revolutionary idea because it places the revolution itself in litigation.

Unlike some Girondins (Pétion), Robespierre specifically opposed judgment by primary assemblies or a referendum, believing that this could cause a civil war.

[5] While he called for a trial of Queen Marie Antoinette and the imprisonment of Louis-Charles, the Dauphin of France, Robespierre advocated that the King be executed despite his opposition to capital punishment: Yes, the death penalty is, in general, a crime, unjustifiable by the indestructible principles of nature, except in cases protecting the safety of individuals or the society altogether.

Ordinary misdemeanours have never threatened public safety because society may always protect itself by other means, making those culpable powerless to harm it.

Most Montagnards favoured judgment and execution, while the Girondins were more divided concerning how to proceed, with some arguing for royal inviolability, others for clemency, and others advocating lesser punishment or banishment.

Louis made a number of requests, notably asking for an additional period of three days before his execution and a final visit from his family.

[11] Louis was awakened by his valet Jean-Baptiste Cléry at around 5 a.m., and was greeted by a host of people including Jacques Roux, who was appointed to report on the day's events by the Paris Commune.

[11] The city had 80,000 men-at-arms (National Guardsmen, fédérés, and riflemen) occupying intersections, squares and posted along the streets, as well as cannons placed at strategic locations.

After initially refusing to permit Sanson and his assistants to bind his hands together, the former king was ultimately convinced by Edgeworth, and his own handkerchief was used instead of rope.

[16][17] After walking to the edge of the scaffold, Louis signaled to the drummers to stop and proclaimed his innocence to the crowd and expressed his concern for the future of France.

[11] The order has also been attributed to others, including Santerre's aide-de-camp Dugazon, maréchal de camp Beaufranchet d'Ayat, and the drummer Pierrard.

[18] The executioners fastened Louis to the guillotine's bench (bascule), positioning his neck beneath the device's yoke (lunette) to hold it in place.

[19] Edgeworth, Louis' Irish confessor, wrote in his memoirs: The path leading to the scaffold was extremely rough and difficult to pass; the King was obliged to lean on my arm, and from the slowness with which he proceeded, I feared for a moment that his courage might fail; but what was my astonishment, when arrived at the last step, I felt that he suddenly let go my arm, and I saw him cross with a firm foot the breadth of the whole scaffold; silence, by his look alone, fifteen or twenty drums that were placed opposite to me; and in a voice so loud, that it must have been heard at the Pont Tournant, I heard him pronounce distinctly these memorable words: "I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge; I Pardon those who have occasioned my death; and I pray to God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France.

One of the assistants of Sanson showed the head of Louis XVI to the people, whereupon a huge cry of "Vive la Nation!

arose and an artillery salute rang out which reached the ears of the imprisoned Royal family.In his letter, published along with its French mistakes in the Thermomètre of Thursday, 21 February 1793, Sanson emphasises that the King "bore all this with a composure and a firmness which has surprised us all.

At the foot of the scaffold we decided to tie his hands, but less because we feared that he might defend himself than because we thought he might by an involuntary movement spoil his execution or make it more painful.

Jacques Roux, a radical Enragé and member of the Paris Commune, was assigned to write a report on Louis' death.

[22]Speaking to Victor Hugo in 1840, a man called Leboucher, who had arrived in Paris from Bourges in December 1792 and was present at the execution of Louis XVI, recalled vividly: Here are some unknown details.

The executioners numbered four; two only performed the execution; the third stayed at the foot of the ladder, and the fourth was on the wagon which was to convey the King's body to the Madeleine Cemetery and which was waiting a few feet from the scaffold.

The executioners wore breeches, coats in the French style as the Revolution had modified it, and three-cornered hats with enormous tri-colour cockades.

[23]In Le nouveau Paris, Mercier describes the execution of Louis XVI in these words: ... is this really the same man that I see being jostled by four assistant executioners, forcibly undressed, his voice drowned out by the drums, trussed to a plank, still struggling, and receiving the heavy blade so badly that the cut does not go through his neck, but through the back of his head and his jaw, horribly?The body of Louis XVI was immediately transported to the old Church of the Madeleine (demolished in 1799), since the legislation in force forbade burial of his remains beside those of his father, the Dauphin Louis de France, at Sens.

In pursuance of an executive order, the body lying in its open coffin was thrown onto a bed of quicklime at the bottom of the pit and covered by one of earth, the whole being firmly and thoroughly tamped down.

A popular but apocryphal legend holds that as soon as the guillotine fell, an anonymous Freemason leaped on the scaffolding, plunged his hand into the blood, splashed drips of it onto the crown, and shouted, "Jacques de Molay, tu es vengé!"

De Molay (died 1314), the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, had reportedly cursed Louis' ancestor Philip the Fair, after the latter had sentenced him to burn at the stake based on false confessions.